Octopus Overlords

Daehawk wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 2:33 pm Cant make gas forever.

stessier wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 2:44 pm The proposal is really just whining - there is no compliance section to the bill.

Daehawk wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 4:19 pm Wyoming still uses typewriters dont they?

Zaxxon wrote: Fri Jan 13, 2023 12:54 am Massive price drops on the 3/Y tonight. The Y LR now undercuts the Mustang Mach-e by $13k, with a 40-mi longer range, better charging network, and quicker drive.

Interesting times ahead. I expected reasonably large price reductions given the price creep over the past 2 years, IRA requirements, and the fact that Berlin and Austin are now at production rates where they're less of a drag on margins. But these are really aggressive.

The mythical $35k Model 3 is back, after the IRA credit and adjusted for inflation from 2018 ($36,500 now), and with considerably more range than the old version.

Zaxxon wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:47 am Ford has entered the chat.

Not enough to even the price playing field, but at least they're firing back.

LordMortis wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:51 am

Zaxxon wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:47 am Ford has entered the chat.

Not enough to even the price playing field, but at least they're firing back.

It's gonna hurt too. Ford has more bloat, a less price efficient build, and support a union standard of living. Tesla's pricing strength is in being a young company not bound by the traditional automotive engineering thinking with less bloat and being (for lack of a better word) anti-labor.

gbasden wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 4:11 am I'm still very happy with my Mach-E. I think I would still make the same choice given my irritations when I had to drive my MIL's Model Y and the legions of boring white Tesla's here. If I had to continually drive long distances and rely on quick chargers I might rethink, but for my mostly local drives I'm glad I have what I have.

stessier wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:48 am The Bolt is my everyday drive while my wife uses the Mach E and I'm still impressed how comfortable the Mach E is every time I get in it.

I just found out that my electric co-op has teamed up with Optiwatt on a pilot program to manage charging. I'll get a $50 credit on my bill for signing up and another $100 on my bill after I've been a member for 3 months. So I just signed up - be interesting to see how it works and if this leads to the co-op providing TOU rates - right now it is a flat rate 24/7, so really doesn't matter when I plug in from a cost perspective. I checked the "Save the Earth" box, so it should prioritize charging when CO2 generation is the lowest while still hitting my departure time requirements. Guess we'll see.

If anyone else wants to sign up with Optiwatt, there is apparently a referral program where we each will get $5. My code is R34YN8.

Edit: Thinking about it, $150 is about 2 months of free home charging across the 2 cars. Not bad.

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:55 am

stessier wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:48 am The Bolt is my everyday drive while my wife uses the Mach E and I'm still impressed how comfortable the Mach E is every time I get in it.

I just found out that my electric co-op has teamed up with Optiwatt on a pilot program to manage charging. I'll get a $50 credit on my bill for signing up and another $100 on my bill after I've been a member for 3 months. So I just signed up - be interesting to see how it works and if this leads to the co-op providing TOU rates - right now it is a flat rate 24/7, so really doesn't matter when I plug in from a cost perspective. I checked the "Save the Earth" box, so it should prioritize charging when CO2 generation is the lowest while still hitting my departure time requirements. Guess we'll see.

If anyone else wants to sign up with Optiwatt, there is apparently a referral program where we each will get $5. My code is R34YN8.

Edit: Thinking about it, $150 is about 2 months of free home charging across the 2 cars. Not bad.

Sweet. We're on a similar pilot program with Xcel. 90% of the time they set the charge start time between 10:30 PM and 2 AM, but last night I was surprised to see my wife's car finished charging at 8:30 PM. We're in the middle of a below-zero cold spell, so maybe the power company's power-smoothing needs are different? Not sure.

stessier wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:58 am

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:55 am

stessier wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:48 am The Bolt is my everyday drive while my wife uses the Mach E and I'm still impressed how comfortable the Mach E is every time I get in it.

I just found out that my electric co-op has teamed up with Optiwatt on a pilot program to manage charging. I'll get a $50 credit on my bill for signing up and another $100 on my bill after I've been a member for 3 months. So I just signed up - be interesting to see how it works and if this leads to the co-op providing TOU rates - right now it is a flat rate 24/7, so really doesn't matter when I plug in from a cost perspective. I checked the "Save the Earth" box, so it should prioritize charging when CO2 generation is the lowest while still hitting my departure time requirements. Guess we'll see.

If anyone else wants to sign up with Optiwatt, there is apparently a referral program where we each will get $5. My code is R34YN8.

Edit: Thinking about it, $150 is about 2 months of free home charging across the 2 cars. Not bad.

Sweet. We're on a similar pilot program with Xcel. 90% of the time they set the charge start time between 10:30 PM and 2 AM, but last night I was surprised to see my wife's car finished charging at 8:30 PM. We're in the middle of a below-zero cold spell, so maybe the power company's power-smoothing needs are different? Not sure.

So do you plug in every night, or just when you need a charge? I generally only plug in 2x/week and my plan was to stay at that for now.

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:03 am

stessier wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:58 am

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:55 am

stessier wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:48 am The Bolt is my everyday drive while my wife uses the Mach E and I'm still impressed how comfortable the Mach E is every time I get in it.

I just found out that my electric co-op has teamed up with Optiwatt on a pilot program to manage charging. I'll get a $50 credit on my bill for signing up and another $100 on my bill after I've been a member for 3 months. So I just signed up - be interesting to see how it works and if this leads to the co-op providing TOU rates - right now it is a flat rate 24/7, so really doesn't matter when I plug in from a cost perspective. I checked the "Save the Earth" box, so it should prioritize charging when CO2 generation is the lowest while still hitting my departure time requirements. Guess we'll see.

If anyone else wants to sign up with Optiwatt, there is apparently a referral program where we each will get $5. My code is R34YN8.

Edit: Thinking about it, $150 is about 2 months of free home charging across the 2 cars. Not bad.

Sweet. We're on a similar pilot program with Xcel. 90% of the time they set the charge start time between 10:30 PM and 2 AM, but last night I was surprised to see my wife's car finished charging at 8:30 PM. We're in the middle of a below-zero cold spell, so maybe the power company's power-smoothing needs are different? Not sure.

So do you plug in every night, or just when you need a charge? I generally only plug in 2x/week and my plan was to stay at that for now.

Typically we'll plug in when a car gets below 40-50%, which generally translates to heading into the weekend and maybe one other night/week. Sometimes I let them go lower but since we are on a TOU rate, I try to avoid having to plug in unexpectedly if something comes up.

stessier wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:05 am

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:03 am

stessier wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:58 am

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:55 am

stessier wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 10:48 am The Bolt is my everyday drive while my wife uses the Mach E and I'm still impressed how comfortable the Mach E is every time I get in it.

I just found out that my electric co-op has teamed up with Optiwatt on a pilot program to manage charging. I'll get a $50 credit on my bill for signing up and another $100 on my bill after I've been a member for 3 months. So I just signed up - be interesting to see how it works and if this leads to the co-op providing TOU rates - right now it is a flat rate 24/7, so really doesn't matter when I plug in from a cost perspective. I checked the "Save the Earth" box, so it should prioritize charging when CO2 generation is the lowest while still hitting my departure time requirements. Guess we'll see.

If anyone else wants to sign up with Optiwatt, there is apparently a referral program where we each will get $5. My code is R34YN8.

Edit: Thinking about it, $150 is about 2 months of free home charging across the 2 cars. Not bad.

Sweet. We're on a similar pilot program with Xcel. 90% of the time they set the charge start time between 10:30 PM and 2 AM, but last night I was surprised to see my wife's car finished charging at 8:30 PM. We're in the middle of a below-zero cold spell, so maybe the power company's power-smoothing needs are different? Not sure.

So do you plug in every night, or just when you need a charge? I generally only plug in 2x/week and my plan was to stay at that for now.

Typically we'll plug in when a car gets below 40-50%, which generally translates to heading into the weekend and maybe one other night/week. Sometimes I let them go lower but since we are on a TOU rate, I try to avoid having to plug in unexpectedly if something comes up.

Ok, thanks. I usually plug in between 30-40%. I've always used departure time charging, so it usually starts up between midnight and 2am. Can't imagine it changing much, but I guess we'll see.

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:14 am Yeah, my guess is you're already doing basically what they'll have you do. Now they'll just pay you to do it--good deal.

I will say that going with 2 chargers on a shared 60A circuit wound up being a great decision for us. It's very nice to never have to care about which car is plugged in, or moving cars/cables, or charging one then the other. We just plug in either or both whenever needed and the chargers work out the schedule.

I'd like it if Xcel adopted your program's incentives, though. I think we got $80 for signing up both cars, and we get $30 each/year or something similar.

stessier wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:19 am

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:14 am Yeah, my guess is you're already doing basically what they'll have you do. Now they'll just pay you to do it--good deal.

I will say that going with 2 chargers on a shared 60A circuit wound up being a great decision for us. It's very nice to never have to care about which car is plugged in, or moving cars/cables, or charging one then the other. We just plug in either or both whenever needed and the chargers work out the schedule.

I'd like it if Xcel adopted your program's incentives, though. I think we got $80 for signing up both cars, and we get $30 each/year or something similar.

We have 2 chargers as well, but each has it's own circuit. One is outside the garage and one is inside (the South not having basements in most houses means at least half of most people's garages is just storage). Only stinks when it rains - otherwise, not a big deal. Someday I hope to own a house where both can park inside - but that's a ways off still.

We truly appreciate you being part of the Electrify America family, and are grateful for all the support you have given us. As part of our commitment to you, we want to make sure we’re transparent about any changes taking place on our network.

Beginning March 6, 2023, we’ll be increasing our per-kilowatt-hour (kWh) and per-minute pricing.

We’ve tried hard to maintain our current pricing, but rising operational and energy costs have now made adjusting our pricing necessary. We shall continue to maintain simple, uniform pricing across the country, and this adjustment ensures we can uphold our commitment to drive electric vehicle (EV) adoption and the future of electric mobility.

As a Pass member, here’s what you can expect to see on March 6, 2023:

The price per-kWh will increase from $0.43 to $0.48
The price per-minute will increase from $0.16 to $0.19 for up to 90 kW, or $0.32 to $0.37 for up to 350 kW

On Friday the US Treasury Department published an update to the way it implements the new clean vehicle tax credit. Introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the new rules restrict the number of EVs that qualify for a federal tax credit of up to $7,500 with income and price caps, as well as a requirement for final assembly in North America and, once the Treasury has written some more guidance, a requirement for domestic content and value in the EV battery.

When the new rules came out in January, there were some complaints that some five-seat crossovers—the Cadillac Lyriq, Tesla Model Y, and Volkswagen ID.4—were being counted as sedans, with a $55,000 MSRP cap; anyone buying any of those EVs with a purchase price of more than $55,000 was ineligible for the tax credit, although the seven-seat Model Y was classified as an SUV and therefore only subject to an $80,000 MSRP limit.

The reason for that was the Treasury using the US Environmental Protection Agency's Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard classification, which categorizes light trucks (including SUVs and minivans) differently from passenger cars. But there's a separate EPA fuel economy labeling standard, used in consumer-facing applications, that already counted the Lyriq, Model Y, and ID.4 as crossovers and not sedans.

Now, to end the confusion, the Treasury says it will use the consumer-facing standard. As a result, those three models that were ineligible unless they cost less than $55,000 are now eligible for the tax credit with sales prices of up to $80,000. (Our guide to the EV tax credit has been updated to reflect that.)

Zaxxon wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 5:36 pm The Mach-e was also 'fixed' in this update. Both the Y and the Mach-e now qualify as SUVs, and have the $80k MSRP cap.

IRS page listing eligible models

Zaxxon wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 5:36 pm The Mach-e was also 'fixed' in this update. Both the Y and the Mach-e now qualify as SUVs, and have the $80k MSRP cap.

IRS page listing eligible models

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:14 amI'd like it if Xcel adopted your program's incentives, though. I think we got $80 for signing up both cars, and we get $30 each/year or something similar.

Zaxxon wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 10:58 am

Zaxxon wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:14 amI'd like it if Xcel adopted your program's incentives, though. I think we got $80 for signing up both cars, and we get $30 each/year or something similar.

I spoke too soon. Xcel's annual 'payment' just came through, and it's $150 for us (in Amazon gift cards). I'll take that.

stessier wrote: Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:20 am Plugshare let's people log their charges which I think is better than a checked/maintained log as it tells you if it was working for an actual use case.