Author Archives: lukefrugalev

My home battery provider has optional DC expansion packs available. Briefly, this would add another 13.5 kWh to the existing 13.5 kWh netting a total capacity of 27 kWh. This would allow me to add DC capacity to my home battery system which would provide some benefits, particularly with Toronto Hydro eh, not forbidding brownContinue reading “The case for a home battery expansion”

Long considdered a stalwarth in the “affordable” EV market, the Bolt EV is a very unique EV. At this price point, 43k CAD (source), it offers loads of range, a roomy interior and decent charging performance. It was never particularly inspiring, but it got the job done at a very sensible price point. It launchedContinue reading “What is up with the Chevy Bolt?”

Lately nuclear has been getting a lot of press here in Ontario. To be clear, we have nothing against Nuclear, provided it can deliver on the original promisse of abundand, clean and most notably cheap electricity. As we go through the math, looking at recent funding announcements and the expected generation from these nuclear facilities,Continue reading “Dougies Nuclear Folly”

Imagine you bought yourself a nice new Tesla Model 3 back in July of 2023, you might have splashed out $85k CAD for a performance variant (source, and source), these days, in early 2026, one can be found for $35k on autotrader. That is a 60% drop over two and a half years, quite theContinue reading “The EV depreciation problem”

Recently the Ontario government and the City of Toronto agreed to study an expansion to the Cities aging transmission infrastructure (source). Planning is underway, to possibly add a third major transmission line to feed the growing city. Toronto’s electricity consumption is estimated to roughly double by 2050. Further, there is the Portlants gas plant, aContinue reading “Does Toronto need another Transmission line?”

Recently we looked at the seasonal solar problem, namely that solar production is at its highest in the summer, but my energy usage peaks in the Winter. As we saw, for now, there is no problem, as I am somewhat of an outlier, and my excess electrons deliver lots of value for Ontario’s summer peakingContinue reading “The day-night solar problem”

Historically, Texas based refineries switched from Venezuelan oil to Canada’s finest as Venezuelan politics became less and less stable (source). Naturally, the thinking goes, with Venezuela “back-in-the-game” Texas refineries might turn their backs on Canada’s finest. Thus, according to Mr. Polievre, we ought to build a second pipeline to the pacific pronto. There are twoContinue reading “The mythical Asian oil buyer”

Lack of an affordable EV is something that has received much press, and yes quite a few posts on this blog (source and source). But is it really a problem? Are cheap cars selling in general? Lets have a look at the top selling list in Canada and see what they go for. As weContinue reading “The mirage of affordability”

Word came in mid December of Fords decision to cancel the F150 lightning. While it has always been too big and too expensive for my taste, it served as an interesting aspirational EV, showing the world that yes you can power your home for days with your EV. Let’s discuss Fords reasons, why I thinkContinue reading “The demise of the F150 Lightning”

Solar is a wonderful way to generate electricity. It does a lot of things right, my roof generates just about all the kWhs that my house needs in a given year, no transmission lines, nuclear waste, air poolution or any of that nasty stuff. But there is one issue, namely, that most of the generationContinue reading “The Winter-Solar Problem”