Rivian & Ford - the 'Tesla Killer' Electric Truck

[Cdnfireman]

Lol fly over the Calgary airport and Balzac and see how many commercial buildings already have massive solar arrays.
You better get out there and tell all those companies, including firehalls, that it will never work.

Do they generate electricity. Yup. In viable, reliable quantities useful for anything other than light intermittent loads. Nope. Just because other people do things doesn’t mean it’s a smart thing to do. One by one all those systems will be decommissioned due to poor efficiency and upkeep costs. It’s cheaper for the businesses to just pay the regular power bills.

 

[ABMax24]

Do they generate electricity. Yup. In viable, reliable quantities useful for anything other than light intermittent loads. Nope. Just because other people do things doesn’t mean it’s a smart thing to do. One by one all those systems will be decommissioned due to poor efficiency and upkeep costs. It’s cheaper for the businesses to just pay the regular power bills.

Are you seriously suggesting it costs more to maintain a solar system than to buy power from the grid? Therefore meaning it costs more to maintain a solar system that has no moving parts in which most components are solid state vs maintaining and fueling a multi-million dollar gas turbine that burns millions of cubic feet of natural gas per day and costs $100's of thousands per overhaul?

The costs of a solar power system are upfront, once the system is installed maintenance is essentially zero.

 

[win]

They way you folks are talking these will be everywhere

 

[ABMax24]

They way you folks are talking these will be everywhere

Most likely.

 

[Cdnfireman]

Are you seriously suggesting it costs more to maintain a solar system than to buy power from the grid? Therefore meaning it costs more to maintain a solar system that has no moving parts in which most components are solid state vs maintaining and fueling a multi-million dollar gas turbine that burns millions of cubic feet of natural gas per day and costs $100's of thousands per overhaul?

The costs of a solar power system are upfront, once the system is installed maintenance is essentially zero.

Not at all. What I was getting at was that the building operators will crunch the numbers, realize that the system they installed is at best 14% efficient, and that the power generated and the small amount they get back in terms of selling the power back to the grid won’t come close to the cost of maintenance and battery replacement. Possible hail, freeze/thaw damage requiring panel replacement, possible leaks etc all would cut into the small return the system provides.
The biggest reason companies do this is for public relations. The can put on their website that they’re greener than their competitors. They take the taxpayer funded incentives, install the system, take the tax writeoffs and continue doing business. I bet if you ask them they couldn’t tell you anything about their system or how it will make a polar bears’ life better.
They’d be financially way better off to use the money they put into the solar system for upgraded insulation, LED lighting and more efficient heating systems.

 

[doorfx]

Rivian & Ford - the 'Tesla Killer' Electric Truck

Batteries ? In a grid tied system?
Panels have a 20-25 year warranty that covers everything you just stated.
14% efficient lol
What maintenance?
Inverters are 10-20 year warranty.
Stop flinging bull**** please!!

 

[Stg2Suby]

Re: Rivian & Ford - the 'Tesla Killer' Electric Truck

14% capacity factor not efficiency, but kind of the same thing averaged over the year. The sun is too low on the horizon up this far north to produce high CF numbers. I think in southern states they get up to around 30% CF

edit: sorry seems the panels are around the 14-20% efficient, my bad. The capacity factor numbers also apply though.

 

[ABMax24]

Not at all. What I was getting at was that the building operators will crunch the numbers, realize that the system they installed is at best 14% efficient, and that the power generated and the small amount they get back in terms of selling the power back to the grid won’t come close to the cost of maintenance and battery replacement. Possible hail, freeze/thaw damage requiring panel replacement, possible leaks etc all would cut into the small return the system provides.
The biggest reason companies do this is for public relations. The can put on their website that they’re greener than their competitors. They take the taxpayer funded incentives, install the system, take the tax writeoffs and continue doing business. I bet if you ask them they couldn’t tell you anything about their system or how it will make a polar bears’ life better.
They’d be financially way better off to use the money they put into the solar system for upgraded insulation, LED lighting and more efficient heating systems.

Very few institutions in Canada run batteries in their systems. The bus depot in Grande Prairie being the only one I am aware of, and that is still under construction. Grid tied is the economic way to go, ie no batteries.

Economy panels are usually better than 14% and the best being about 21%, but this efficiency is in turning the sunlight into DC power. The inverters after that are in the 95% range and the rest of the electrical would be in the 99% plus category like all household/commercial wiring. I'm not sure why this would be called inefficient, a 300 watt panel produces 300 watts, the efficiency rating in already figured in that number. FYI the engine in most vehicles hovers barely above 20%, and most people are quite happy to pay to fuel that engine, sunlight is free.

I can't see a lot of systems being dismantled due to inefficiency, in California yes, but those systems are old first gen equipment that is usually being replaced with more modern technology.

Yes it's a public relations deal, but there are real benefits, recently the Harley Davidson dealership in Red Deer put solar panels on their roof, they save enough money on electricity to hire another employee, pretty hard to argue with that.

Here's the video: https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1599598

You are correct however that it is cheaper to replace less efficient items before going to solar power, it can often by 1/5th the cost to replace older equipment with newer more efficient equipment instead of trying to power it with solar panels. But at some point you run out of efficiency, LED lighting is 90+%, high end ac units are really good too. At the end of the day it still takes energy to do work, that's where solar comes in. We managed to get our house down to 30% of the electric consumption of the average Alberta household before we put solar panels on.

 

[jhurkot]

https://youtu.be/poiJDxktMqo

 

[S.W.A.T.]

Reminds of the computer debate, no one will ever buy them they are too big and inefficient........

Remember when cell phones first showed up? Only big shots and those who wanted to be big shots would bmdare to be seen with one.

Seems to me the only technology that we like as it gets bigger is a TV. It's with out a doubt panels will get more efficient, batteries will get better and as more and more companies are in the game the price will come down.

We are currently designing a shop that will have a suite in it. I'm hoping to heat it with our current outdoor boiler that heats our house and trying to see if I can do the rest in 12v. Welder is and the compressor is also gas so what really would I need the extra power for? For the suite I'm hoping to use a propane stove and propane dryer if possible. Probably propane fridge too depending on how the numbers work and if it actually makes sense.

 

[skegpro]

Ford just murdered Tesla and Rivian.

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[jhurkot]

Ford just murdered Tesla and Rivian.

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Murdered? How?

 

[LennyR]

Ford just murdered Tesla and Rivian.

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Agreed , that makes far more sense than the other options I’ve seen advertised. I guess we’ll see how it turns out but from that video presentation , that is one all around cool truck. Great job Ford

 

[doorfx]

Video?

 

[Stompin Tom]

Murdered? How?

by making a pickup and not an electric Delorean.

 

[jhurkot]

by making a pickup and not an electric Delorean.

Are you buying one?

 

[Pedaling pete]

If you are towing a 10000lbs trailer how far will it go on a charge i wonder.

 

[rknight111]

If you are towing a 10000lbs trailer how far will it go on a charge i wonder.

Probably have to put a 3000 watt Honda in the box, and stop for a recharge, it said on the extended range battery you should get 480 km with 1000 lbs in the box in normal weather conditions.

 

[Stompin Tom]

Are you buying one?

nope, but if I were to consider one, I would be much more interested in the Ford product, despite the fact I am not a Ford guy.

 

[Mike270412]