Kim's Place OKC

EV Chargers at facility

Logical_Mongoose said:
While there is a kernel of truth to the argument of power plants being outdated and their capacity level, it is a sentiment that has been used for decades about any/all household items that are hungry for electricity. Most notable was in popularization/propagation of air conditioning starting in the 60's (when central air became "standard" in new home builds). In 1960 the US generated 0.76 trillion kWh of electricity per year and there was no way every home could possibly have their own a/c unit without it devastating the electrical grid.

In 2000, the US generated over 3.8 trillion kWh, an increase of 500% in energy production over 40 years. In 2021, US production was 4.11 trillion kWh; another 10% increase in production even though most consumer appliances/electronics became wildly more energy efficient. For someone (Thanos, perhaps?) to snap their fingers and make all vehicles EV, the US would need roughly 1 trillion kWh additional generated each year for all of them to regularly charge, meaning production would need to increase roughly 25%.

We don't have an EV vs ICE problem, we have a problem with people saying things can't ever change because of how they are right now. Regardless of EVs, our electrical grid is outdated and prone to failure due to lack of proper investment and upkeep. But the "good news" is that the problem isn't a problem if people in power ever actually wanted to solve it. Yes it is a problem that requires funding, but it requires significantly less funding than what the US government has spent on defense since 9/11 ($14 trillion: half of which going to private contractors and over 60% of which the Pentagon admits they can't account for).

Here is a video that decently explains the grid issue in relation to EVs. For the previous paragraph I can't offer a succinct video, only a bottle of whiskey to try and numb the idiocy.

Technology has improved dang near every facet of everyday life, and technology is exponentially more efficient than it was at any point 20-60 years ago. Even if we only matched the 1960-2000 pace of energy production expansion (approximately a 4% increase every year), we would be able to accomplish an "all EV" switchover in roughly 6 years. And that's if every vehicle switched in that timeframe.

There are still plenty of houses out there without air conditioning/central air. No one made everyone give up their horses 10 years after the Model T came along. No one made you sell your Sony Walkman from 1985 in a garage sale once the Sony Discman caught on. No one made us order something on Amazon instead of going to the mall to get it. Most people switched over because the thing they switched over to was better.

EV batteries are going to go through a lot of technological breakthroughs over the coming decades. To think we will still be using the same batteries we are currently using ignores the fact that we haven't been using the same kind of batteries for quite some time.

Lithium-ion batteries as we know them in EVs are only a decade old. While the current supply chain for battery materials is EXTREMELY problematic, it is an addressable issue and the materials we will need 7 years from now might not be the same materials we need right now. Battery technology seems to be making breakthroughs and improvements at a remarkable pace, and companies from Sony to Ford have been pouring billions into R&D on making the best battery. Solid state batteries are almost to market now and will be a game-changer. Iron-air battery technology just had a significant breakthrough that might make us completely rethink home energy storage. The future is too full of promise to write batteries off for issues they have now.

Oh, and to not anger MJ too much about going too far off topic which we all seem to be in agreement here: I think every FAA facility should have their parking lots retrofitted to provide, free to the employee, basic household 20 amp 120v outlets on elevated posts; this way employees can bring their own level 1 chargers if they wish to get a small charge while at work, whilst also being able to accommodate engine block heaters for those of us in cold weather facilities. That would be both a beneficial implementation of Article 70 AND a remedy to Article 121 in the CBA while being something the agency/administration could hang their hat on as a "look at what we did!" type thing. A 20a/120v house outlet running at full draw (roughly 2kw) for 20+ hours a day would cost the government roughly $3 in electricity; someone working a 10 hour shift would get about 35 miles of range while charging at work (depending upon vehicle, charger, driver, etc.).

*In pharmaceutical ad voice* Talk to your local FacRep if Article 121 is right for your facility.
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Wtf are you doing in this career
 
Move78 said:
Wtf are you doing in this career
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Dude, if you knew this guys background you wouldn’t say that, he is a super genius. He can put together analysis like that, and he played the transfer system to get to a cushy 12 in under 4 years and didn’t have to take a hardship to do it like most of you fucks. He also had the balls to quit the union over virtually no reason compared to what pushes others over the edge. This guy will fuck you up, he reminds me of the lead character from Braking Bad. Just more pissed off and more dangerous.
 
FightingIrish2012 said:
Dude, if you knew this guys background you wouldn’t say that, he is a super genius. He can put together analysis like that, and he played the transfer system to get to a cushy 12 in under 4 years and didn’t have to take a hardship to do it like most of you fucks. He also had the balls to quit the union over virtually no reason compared to what pushes others over the edge. This guy will fuck you up, he reminds me of the lead character from Braking Bad. Just more pissed off and more dangerous.
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You might’ve missed the joke
 
Jeff_DOD_Controller said:
Does anyone know where to start a request for an EV Charger to be installed at your facility?
I know whey supposedly did a study before COVID but I’m not sure where it ended up or if it’s been restarted. There is federal legislation promoting it at all federal facilities. I know some facilities have them already. If your facility does how did they request them?
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Are you going to request that they put free gas pumps in too? Or are we just cool with legal discrimination?
 
32andBelow said:
Then it would be a fantastic benefit available to the employees. Someone here already said they have them and have to pay 100 a year.
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Thats wonderful for them. Id be more than happy to pay 100 a year to fill my tank every day at work. But I dont see anyone making that their crusade. What makes a Tesla owner so special?
 
GulfCharlie said:
A bigger push towards solar panels/tiles needs to happen. My plan (don’t judge), is to outfit solar tiles with 3 battery packs to my house (to replace my 22kw generator). I just want the house to be electrically self sufficient to charge the car and power my utilities.
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I looked into this recently. The tesla powerwalls have the capability to power your house during peak hours of the day and recharge/use commercial power during lull periods. In areas when they have variable pricing for electricity depending on the time of day, this effectively pays for itself. Also this prevents any effects of brownouts in your home. I'd never get rid of a generator. I like redundancies.
 
Jcowl said:
I looked into this recently. The tesla powerwalls have the capability to power your house during peak hours of the day and recharge/use commercial power during lull periods. In areas when they have variable pricing for electricity depending on the time of day, this effectively pays for itself. Also this prevents any effects of brownouts in your home. I'd never get rid of a generator. I like redundancies.
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I’ve looked at it as well and just can’t pull the trigger on solar. It would take 15+ years to pay for itself and my electric company only provides 1-1 power exchange up to a 10KW system. I need 17kw to cover my current uses.

As far as the batteries, to install 3 batteries would be 40-50k I think from Tesla. I would need to lose power every other day to even consider something so expensive. Storing power on the cheaper nightly rates would take forever to balance out as well.
 
Mike Kilo said:
I’ve looked at it as well and just can’t pull the trigger on solar. It would take 15+ years to pay for itself and my electric company only provides 1-1 power exchange up to a 10KW system. I need 17kw to cover my current uses.

As far as the batteries, to install 3 batteries would be 40-50k I think from Tesla. I would need to lose power every other day to even consider something so expensive. Storing power on the cheaper nightly rates would take forever to balance out as well.
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That is why iron-air batteries have a lot of promise for the near future. Not nearly as energy dense as lithium-ion at the moment, but for home energy storage it could make complete sense. Might need to double the size of your utility closet; first generation versions will probably be bigger than a water heater for something near 15kwh, but potentially looking at something with a 20+ year lifespan with minimal maintenance and a substantially lower overhead cost.
 
32andBelow said:
I think people that need to tow a boat is a smaller group than people mainly driving to work. But I’m not an expert
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Not just boats, people towing anything, which is a lot, severely limits battery range. Forget stopping to pump gas real quick, you’re waiting AT LEAST 10-15 mins for a partial charge. Forget cold weather performance, we all already know how that impacts batteries, running your heater plays into this as well as electric heater technology in general draws a lot of amps. Forget the cost of a battery replacement, that’s like replacing a gas engine times 3. Also, say a natural disaster happens nearby and wipes out commercial power, no local charging for you. (I bring that one up because I’ve seen gas storage tanks plumbed for manual pumping after a bad tornado)

All in all we are witnessing a time where we’re trying to push something so hard to the masses but the engineering and technology isn’t there yet. EVs theoretically are cool and have performance advantages, but are pretty impractical in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention our infrastructure is nowhere near ready for something like this. Maybe in 10-15 years.
 
NightWatch said:
Not just boats, people towing anything, which is a lot, severely limits battery range. Forget stopping to pump gas real quick, you’re waiting AT LEAST 10-15 mins for a partial charge. Forget cold weather performance, we all already know how that impacts batteries, running your heater plays into this as well as electric heater technology in general draws a lot of amps. Forget the cost of a battery replacement, that’s like replacing a gas engine times 3. Also, say a natural disaster happens nearby and wipes out commercial power, no local charging for you. (I bring that one up because I’ve seen gas storage tanks plumbed for manual pumping after a bad tornado)

All in all we are witnessing a time where we’re trying to push something so hard to the masses but the engineering and technology isn’t there yet. EVs theoretically are cool and have performance advantages, but are pretty impractical in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention our infrastructure is nowhere near ready for something like this. Maybe in 10-15 years.
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If you need to tow then just get a gas truck. There’s a reason why the model y is the best selling car. People like it. It’s not that complicated
 
32andBelow said:
If you need to tow then just get a gas truck. There’s a reason why the model y is the best selling car. People like it. It’s not that complicated
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I agree with you, I was just pointing that out as a downside of conventional EVs. Now, EV semi-trucks is another conversation as I think there are advantages to that. They can match the range of diesel semi’s and can utilize dynamic breaking similar to that of locomotives (putting DC current through an AC electric motor). They’re also big so much more battery capacity is easily achievable.
 
NightWatch said:
Not just boats, people towing anything, which is a lot, severely limits battery range. Forget stopping to pump gas real quick, you’re waiting AT LEAST 10-15 mins for a partial charge. Forget cold weather performance, we all already know how that impacts batteries, running your heater plays into this as well as electric heater technology in general draws a lot of amps. Forget the cost of a battery replacement, that’s like replacing a gas engine times 3. Also, say a natural disaster happens nearby and wipes out commercial power, no local charging for you. (I bring that one up because I’ve seen gas storage tanks plumbed for manual pumping after a bad tornado)

All in all we are witnessing a time where we’re trying to push something so hard to the masses but the engineering and technology isn’t there yet. EVs theoretically are cool and have performance advantages, but are pretty impractical in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention our infrastructure is nowhere near ready for something like this. Maybe in 10-15 years.
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I drive a model y 38,000 miles a year in a cold weather area…. It doesn’t change my driving style, route, and I spend no time waiting for it to charge….if it works for me it will work for 99% of the population 90% of the time.
 

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