On 04/03/2020 22:12, EVDL Administrator via EV wrote:
On 3 Apr 2020 at 19:03, Jim Walls via EV wrote:
My truck gets about 12 mpg, so 1,250 gallons or $1,062.50 total of
which $832.50 is state tax.
That's a fair bit, but it seems to me that it might not be all that unfair
or unreasonable. Your big truck causes a lot more road wear and
environmental damage than a Tesla 3 or Bolt. Four times as much? Eight
times? Now that I couldn't say.
The big difference for road damage is weight. My truck (most of the
time) weighs about 20% more than a Tesla model S. So am I doing 400%
the road damage? I doubt it.
I understand from your other message that your work requires off-road
driving ability, and you have to be able to haul a ton of cargo. Still,
somebody has to pay for the damage your truck does to our world. You may
not like hearing this, but I think that that has to be either your
responsibility, or your employer's.
Actually it's personal, not work. Although my work also requires large
heavy vehicles at times.
It's a darn shame that US vehicle manufacturers can't figure out how to
build heavy duty vehicles that aren't such fuel pigs. If you lived almost
anywhere else in the world, you could (for example) get a Isuzu D-Max 4WD.
It carries up to 1.4 tons, uses a 1.9 liter Diesel and a 6-speed manual
transmision, and gets 33mpg. (If you insist on a slushbox, make that
30mpg.)
I can well imagine the performance of a vehicle that can carry 1.4 tons,
and runs on a 1.9l engine. Ought to make an original Volkswagon bug
seem like a speed demon. :)
The Isuzu's nearest US relative is the Chevrolet Colorado. It hauls only
3/4 ton, has a 2.8 liter diesel, comes only with an automatic transmission,
and gets 22mpg.
Part of that is that dang near no one wants to drive a stick shift
vehicle anymore. Another part is vehicle safety. It's far easier to
add capability to a vehicle when you don't care if it will protect the
occupants. I can't give you any specifics, but how much weight and
space in that Chevy Colorado is devoted to safety - quite a bit.
Hang in there, though. Eventually maybe someone will build an EV pickup that
will work for you.
Here's an idea. What if you could sign a contract with a company to provide
you the vehicle you needed day by day? For daily use you could have a Tesla
or Leaf. If you needed to get lumber, you could drive to the vehicle depot
and swap ithe Tesla for a pickup for the weekend. For vacations you could
trade it for a minivan or crossover. You'd pay for each by mileage.
Nice idea - not gonna work. It took a month to equip my truck with
power, radios, lights, and a few other things. No rental organization
would let you drill dozens of holes, run conduit, mount radios and other
equipment in a rental vehicle. Can't generally do it on a lease either.
Now what I can, and have done is to rent a more suitable vehicle for
more traditional purposes. For example, a few years ago I needed to
drive solo from the Los Angeles area to Tucson, AZ and back for a long
weekend (about 1,000 miles). Enterprise Rent-a-car was happy to rent me
a car that was far more suited for the purpose. The rental contract and
gas for the rental cost me less than just gas would have been for my
truck - not to mention the other costs related to driving my truck 1,000
miles.
And BTW, I do like driving a stick shift (except in stop and go rush
hour traffic).
--
73
-------------------------------------
Jim Walls - K6CCC
j...@k6ccc.org
Ofc: 818-548-4804
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/k6ccc/
AMSAT Member 32537 - WSWSS Member 395
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