Author Archives: lukefrugalev

On a recent trip to the west coast, I needed to get from Victoria to Vancouver. I was surprised to learn that one of the cheaper way’s to get there was via sea-plane operator Harbour Air. Not to mention convenient, as I walked from my Victoria hotel, hopped on a sea-plane and walked from theContinue reading “Flying Harbour Air, will they go electric soon?”

Word broke earlier this year that a build your dreams (BYD) had developed a way to fast charge EVs in as little as 5 minutes. While undoubtedly an impressive feat of engineering, as an EV driver, I am not entirely convinced this is a good idea. Mostly because it forces a gas-station mentality on EVs,Continue reading “The 5 minute charging fallacy”

Back in the 2010s, Chinese policymakers saw an opportunity to build their automotive industry, why compete with established western brands on internal combustion, when you can leapfrog and build EVs. It is a brilliant move, many Silicon Valley strategists would be proud (source). But somewhere along the way, the Chinese build capacity to build 50Continue reading “The Chinese bloodbath”

Diesel used to be cheaper than gas, but nowadays its usually quite a bit more expensive. Lets discuss how the Diesel price gap has evolved over time, and why that might be. Briefly, much has changed since the refineries serving the Toronto area were built. Instead of being all about gasoline, Jet-fuel and Diesel nowContinue reading “The Diesel price gap”

By all accounts Chevy has crafted a fine EV in the Chevy Bolt. It is the small EV that feels much larger on the inside, the main bugbear (slow fast charging speeds), has been resolved, and the new Bolt charges at a fairly competitive 150 kW giving it a 10-80% charge time of 25-30 minutesContinue reading “Is the new Chevy Bolt a ghost Chinese EV?”

Do you have home-charging? A very common question when people are considering electric vehicles, if you do park in a garage say, or a carport that you happen to own, and installing a home charger is convenient, you absolutely should consider an EV. But in many ways, its the wrong question to start with, aContinue reading “Is an EV the best car for your lifestyle?”

Lately, much discussion has swirled around building oil pipelines and increasing oil production. Articles with large numbers and the “tag-line” build oil pipelines now, preferrably to Prince Rupert, BC seem to be abundant. All suggesting that more oil production will bring Jobs and Money a plenty. But is oil really the land of milk andContinue reading “The “Oil = Lots o jobs and Money” fallacy”

We have seen EV range steadily increase over the years, my new Kia EV4 now gets an astonishing official range rating of 552 km (source). Further, on the drawing board, are battery designs that could enable 1500 km range (source). Lets discuss the reasons for why more range might be better, despite the obvious costContinue reading “Gas range = EV range”

As winter turns to spring, my solar system is celebrating its first aniversary. Lets look back and see how things went in year 1 of operation. My roof generated 8.3 MWh, a little over half of the 15 MWh my house used up during the same time. There were some teething pains, some wiring problems,Continue reading “A year of solar”

As the US-Canada tradewar grinds on, the Tesla Model 3 was an early casualty. Indeed, Canada had tarriffs in place for both Chinese and US made EVs (with some exceptions relating to the CUSMA trade agreement). Apparently, Tesla only manufactures the model 3 at their US based, or Chinese factories (source). Both of which wereContinue reading “The Tesla Model 3 is “back””