Author Archives: lukefrugalev

Why are EVs expensive? After all, the battery pack cost is very close to that magical $100/kWh where we are supposed to be at cost parity. Lets look into new car prices on autotrader.ca to see if we have some other market forces at work. We find that new car prices are high, be itContinue reading “New car prices”

Tesla has to much fanfare introduced per kWh billing at least for some of their supercharger locations. Some third party charging networks are following suit, we discuss if that is a good thing? From the perspective of the user, it makes the charging more predictable, as there are occasions where either the station or theContinue reading “Is per kWh billing a good thing?”

The average US home spends about 20% of its overall energy use on hot water heating (source). Much of it via natural gas. Further traditional wisdom suggests that electric water heaters are more expensive to operate than gas (source). Lets check that one, we find that much depends on your energy price assumptions, at theContinue reading “Water heater economics”

Here in Toronto, most homes have a hot water tank. Its mainly used to supply domestic hot water for laundry, dish-washing, showers and the like. But could it also be a source for energy storage? Lets do some math and find out. Indeed a 50 Gallon (200L) tank has the potential to hold about 5Continue reading “Energy storage on the cheap, your hot water tank”

Previously we discussed a simple “peak-shifting” setup, consisting of a small eco-flow delta 2 battery in the Kitchen on a smart outlet which ensures the Eco-Flow charges up at the cheap and green ultra-low overnight rate, discharging to make air-fried treats and hot chocolate during the day. This has been a fairly successful setup, inContinue reading “Solar panel or a bigger battery?”

I recently had lunch with an engineer working for a major legacy automaker. As with automakers these days, this one is very particular about quality. So much so, that developing a new internal combustion engine, is a major ordeal and they are very limited in what they can do in terms of engine improvements. GivenContinue reading “Engine innovators dilemma”

Previously, we discussed using a portable battery to help shift my electricity usage more into the nightly hours. I can largely program the car, the drier and the dishwasher to work their magic in the dead of night, but I do have to make dinner, which by necessity will have to be made during peakContinue reading “Experiments in Peak Shifting: Using a smart outlet”

Now that its fall, why not explore a unique North American crop: Cranberries. Its amazing what you can do with this tarty-sweet deliciousness: Scones, wines, hot dogs and more all need to be sampled. Plus the business of growing cranberries is an interesting one. The fields are flooded three times a year, spring, harvest andContinue reading “Cranberry fest”

Recently, while youtube, I saw a video of a gentleman who decided to sell his 500 mile range EV, mostly because of the perceived poor state of the non-Tesla public charging network. Granted “out-of-spec-Dave” does like to do multi-state road-trips, driving hundreds of miles in a day. This is very different from my driving habitsContinue reading “Does a 500 mile (800 km) range EV need fast charging?”

Here in Toronto, city council is debating a mandate, whereby all ride-share drivers operating in the city must drive an electric car by 2030. Lets discuss this concept in more detail and look at some scenarios. What quality used models are out there that might work for a ride-share driver? What is the charging situationContinue reading “Can a ride-share driver go Electric?”