Author Archives: lukefrugalev

Well, seems the inflation ghost is finally creeping into power pricing in Ontario. To little fanfare, the Ontario energy board announced a price increase for residential electricity rates in Ontario. On the ultra-low overnight rate (which I use), the peak rate went up a whopping 38% (from 28.4 to 39.1 c/kWh). Lets look at theContinue reading “Pricing update for Ontario”

A common complaint when it comes to funding the EV charging network, is that just like gas it should pay for it self and be left to the private sector. The fallacy here is that well, gas retail sales are not really profitable. In fact there is usually a convenience store onsite where the profitsContinue reading “Fancy EV charging economics”

Having had solar for six months or so, three of which my utility has given me credits for excess solar, lets look back and see how the financials are stacking up. Primarily the assumptions we made during the system design phase. They key design numbers are “revenue” per kWh, and if you have the capacityContinue reading “Return on your solar investment”

As we start waxing the skis for the upcoming ski season, its time to have a peak at the used EV market. While new EVs can be quite expensive used ones can be quite a bargain, to a point where the whole ownership equation changes financially putting EVs in the lead. As before we setContinue reading “Fall 2025 used EV survey”

About a two hour drive east of Edmonton, AB is the town of Hardisty, AB. Vast majority of Alberta’s oil goes past Hardisty on its way to markets in Ontario, Quebec and the US Mid-west. By some estimates, $90 B/year worth of oil moves through the town of Hardisty. Yet it is a town inContinue reading “Why is the town of Hardisty not booming?”

A few hundred kilometers from Toronto sits one of the worlds wine-making regions. The Niagara peninsula is a wonder well worth a visit. With that, and leaving he teenagers at home, we set out for some high-culture. We had a early evening theatre reservation, which left the better part of a Saturday to go exploreContinue reading “Niagara, Wine and Theater”

An RV park certainly seems like an unlikely allay. There are lots of pickup trucks, perhaps some right leaning political signs. But hidden beneath a frosty face is genuine hospitality, and more importantly, lots of 50 A RV outlets that can charge your car, perfect for some L2 grazing along your journey. There are quiteContinue reading “RV park, a hidden allay in your electric journey”

I now have gotten a few electricity bills after completing all the permitting required to export my solar energy to the grid. With that, its as good of a time as any to reflect. One question that keeps bothering me is the whole net thing. Is it net energy or net money? While most ofContinue reading “What is the net in net metering?”

Recently, a youtouber did a 500 km test-run with a Leaf similar to my 2018 Nissan Leaf in 7 hours and 45 minutes (source). Thats quite different from my 10 hrs and 30 minutes over the 570 km or so from Toronto to Tremblant. Lets explore why, some of the differences are in the cargoContinue reading “Am I doing the Tremblant run all wrong?”

There is no way around this, from the perspective of the car buyer, looking for an inexpensive EV, Canadian EV policy is a mess. The Chinese are tariffed out at 100%, the federal incentive program crashed earlier this year and there is a 25% tariff on non-CUMSA compliant cars (pronounced Tesla EVs). All this meansContinue reading “The Canadian EV policy mess”