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I have a solar on my house. It's grid tied but it's not hard to modify it and do a battery back-up. I have no EV but I could be totally down for an EV bike. I think most EV owners may already tend to be on the home solar bandwagon. Just a hunch but early adopters tend to be that way.
I would think solar would be top of mind for a self sufficient thinking group. The ability to generate juice absent the grid? Seems like peas and carrots to me.
When we moved to MT my wife bought a Prius. It was great when our kids were still in school and had to be schlepped here and there all the time. Hard to argue with 55mpg. I guess had EV's been more available and tested we may have gone that route. Some of them now fetch great range on a charge.
I have solar on my get-away house. It is nice for sure. Anyone serious about post grid survival should certainly have it. The cost is still prohibitive though....may always be.
Seems to me that it would be easier to just buy an EV. Also safer.
Where I live electricity is about 40 cents a KWH which equates to almost $15/gallon per the EPA's MPG-e comparison rating. I received email from electric company today that they predict our bills will go up 20% soon because 80% of our electricity comes from fossil fuels. So at this rate, gasoline will never be more expensive than electric charging because the utility can raise rates almost as quickly as the gas station can. Even before the recent nonsense the cost of a Tesla quickcharge was roughly $9.00/gallon equivalent on the mainland.
Farmers and other small enterprises have been using this tactic for decades.
But be forewarned: (1) you'll have to fill it up in advance of any anticipated price rises; (2) it will have to be kept outside -- padlocks will discourage stealing gas, and (3) zoning czars, HOAs and other meddlers may consider it unsafe -- or just unsightly to their sheltered eyes.
It's the price to be paid for freedom and/or security.
When I lived in Alaska almost every home had a heating fuel tank next to it. Because the heating fuel didn't have roadway fuel taxes it was usually cheaper to buy than diesel (part of heating fuel cost is delivery charge, so it depended on fluctuating markets if heating fuel was actually cheaper or not). Even though it was "forbidden" a lot of people would run their trucks off the cheaper heating fuel.
And yes, sometimes there were reports of theft of heating fuel.
But, this being the prepper forum, our car is E85 meaning it can run with as little as 15% gasoline in the tank. Not that alcohol is cheaper or easier to come by when TSHTF, but it's not impossible. We can grow sugar cane. We have a neighbor who runs 100% of his diesel farm vehicles off of macadamia nut oil and produces fuel grade ethanol from sugar cane. The crushed mac nut meat makes good chicken feed.
Last edited by terracore; 03-11-2022 at 08:19 PM..
For giggles I typed in a Tesla model Y AWD, set the parameters charging from 0% battery to 100%, grid cost for me is .11 p/kWh, using NEMA 5-20 120v. Total cost to 'fill' the Tesla- $9.20
Tesla cost p/mile is .028 with a 326mi range.
Compared to my wifes old Prius, 55mpg and cheap regular $4.00 p/gal- $.072 p/mi.
But the Y is an SUV, so compared to a new hybrid Toyota
$58,000 for a new Model Y .028 p/mi
$35,000 for a XSE RAV4 (41 mpg) or .097 p/mi.
I dunno- starting to make a little better sense for our electric costs.
While the tank should be a "one time" purchase, but you'd have to do a cost/savings analysis and determine IF it's worth it. The cheapest I saw was 14 gallon, with delivery spout@ $150. That would only fill my Honda HRV once.
Now for my kerosene heater, that's about 3 5 gallon cans worth. THAT might be a better use for it. At about 14 hours of heat/gal, that could last a while.
Now, unless you want to spend time (and fuel) running back and forth to fill it up with smaller cans, I am assuming that you'd have to have 500 gals delivered to your suburban home, and there might be a minimum order, and delivery fee.
Then, as noted, if it's outside, your neighbor will see, and naturally want some, maybe holding you at gun point.
Not to mention town/city/village ordinance s.
I do see empty"food grade" plastic tanks in metal "crate" of 200 gallon s I think, at about $100 on Craigslist. But don't know if it would be safe for fuel use.
Australia supplies almost 50% of global lithium. China is back around 15-20%.
Chile has the worlds most known reserves though.
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