[aprssig] Tesla Field Day mode (or any EV/Hybrid) at work

[Robert Bruninga]

>> Charging at work is a good answer (for those in apartments w/o a parking
>> space)

>[for] 100 parking places… each with a "$15 Home Depot outlet"
> would require something like 50 weatherproof outdoor
> receptacles and 1500 amps of capacity.

My reference to the $15 standard 120v outlet was in contrast to bureaucrats
(with no EV experience) wanting to install $10,000 charging stations(7 kW)
instead of $15 outlets (1.5kw) .  Running a conduit along a wall with an
outlet every 10 feet is pretty cheap in comparison to installing huge
charging stations each with internet credit card access.  And, we are not
going to need 100 spaces now.  We have 42 EV’s where I work and only 3 of
them need to plugin every day.  So for a place with 100 parking spots, I’d
guess they’d only need about 10 spots for the next several years and that is
only 75 amps at 240 split phase.

>> If just one of those spots is covered with 12 solar panels,
>>  that is enough for free transportation 40 miles a day forever.

> If a solar footprint that size could [work]…, why the heck
> would you put it on the GROUND and not on the VEHICLE???

It won't fit.  A parking space is 10'x20' but a car roof is only about
4'x5'.  But the math is right.  12 panels at 250W times 5 hrs a day is 15
kWh which is the same to travel the daily American average 40 miles in an
EV.

> EVs are only a partial solution to the transportation need ...
> ... some cannot afford to have an EV [for local travel]
> and a gas car to do the rest of the work,
> so we stick with the single vehicle that [does both]

But more than half of all EV's on the market are plugin hybrids that also do
both.  They do all local travel on electricity but have gas for long trips.
And half of all EV's now on the market cost less (with incentives) than the
average gas car:  http://aprs.org/Energy/EV/EV-costs-color-c.pdf

> [until] EV's  have a 500 mile battery, and... charging that's
> as ubiquitous as parking or as fast as pumping 20 gallons of gas
> [they won't] become generally useful.  Until then they're a novelty.

It is a waste to invest in a 500 mile battery when I only drive 35 miles a
day.  And my total time to charge is 10 seconds a day (5 to unplug in the
morning, and 5 to plug in in the evening) and plugging in is as ubiquitous
as the 300 million 120v outlets that are everywhere (or could be in
apartmetns and condos too).

> Hybrids are shown to have the highest cost of ownership,
>... you have 2 complete systems to feed and care for, not just one.

But it does the job of both systems very well and 100% fulfills all needs.
And a 3 year old Chevy Volt coming off lease with the longest daily EV range
(50 miles/day)  and the 350 mile range on trips is only about $12k and can
power a house/shack for a week during an outage..

Again, an EV is not for everyone, but it is a great choice for those who
have a place to park and want to have the security of power anywhere that
can be recharged from the sun.

Bob, WB4APR