According to this article in the Wall Street Journal the Volt will soon qualify for California's $1,500 tax credit. This confirms what my salesperson, Jim Moran, had told me earlier about the car qualifying for HOV lanes in March. So the full cost of the car will be $32,000 after rebates. With the very low interest rates now on the market, if you can arrange financing, buying a Volt is a good investment (unless you think gas prices will go way down).
Access to carpool lanes is especially valuable. My regular commute to San Francisco in a carpool cost $2.50 vs. $6.00 for non-carpools. But as a driver, it normally takes 10 or 15 minutes of waiting to pick up riders for the casual carpools from the East Bay to San Francisco. Plus, carpooling for the reverse trip is not so simple; most people end up waiting the long evening queue for the Bay Bridge. But just as an estimate, say that the carpool access saves $3.50 per day x 210 working days per year = $735 per year savings in cash plus at least 10 minutes a day in time saved is worth another $350 (10/60 hours x $10/hour x 210 working days/year; yes, $10 per hour is very low, but some of us actually enjoy the time in cars--I like to work on learning my chorus songs where no one can hear all my mistakes). So the carpool access is worth $735 + $350 = $1085 per year for commuters to San Francisco from the East Bay, like I did for many years.
How does that, plus the state rebate, affect the competitive price of a Chevy Volt? The numbers are:
Cost of the car: $41,000
Federal rebate: -7,500
CA rebate: -1,500
Cost: $32,000
Savings on fuel compared to our 1991 Honda Civic, which we traded: $1,281 per year (see calculations at
our one year report on the solar panels and the cost of the car)
New savings due to the carpool access: $1,085
Total savings: $2,366 per year.
At the current interest rate of 3.25% for 15 year loans, that is enough to borrow $27,835--i.e. almost enough to pay for the cost of the car! (Capital Recovery Factor for a 15 year loan at 3.25% is .085; 2,366/0.085 = 27,835)
"Save money--Save the planet" with solar power and electric cars.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
"Everything is going according to plan"
One year of solar power & the Volt—how did we do?
Short answer: “Everything is going according to plan,” to quote Emperor Palpatine. The solar production exceeded our expectation; the Volt cost 2 cents per mile to drive; and we cut our CO2 by over 70%. Still we have a ways to go to be truly sustainable.
The Analysis:
What was our plan?
Our goal was to provide enough power with our solar panels to zero out our electric bill. Note that this does not mean that the solar panels would provide all the electricity to cover the car and the house. Because we charge the car in the off-peak at roughly 5 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh) and because the summer peak hour rate that our utility, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), pays us for electricity that we generate is about 29 cents per kwh, the solar panels do not have to generate all the house/car’s electricity to zero out the bill. Because PG&E will not pay for any extra electricity that we generate—i.e. there is no feed-in-tariff-- it would not pay to produce more electricity than PG& E will reimburse.
Comparing the numbers to the estimate
Our estimate was that the panels would generate 4200 kwh , the house would consume 3600 kwh, and the car would use 3000 kwh for a total of 6,600 kwh for the year. So what are the final numbers?
The solar panels worked like a champ: 4,371 kwh!
Total electricity consumed: 6,460 kwh
Car electricity consumed: 2,400 kwh
House electricity consumed: 4,060 kwh
Final Electrical Bill: Summer peak: -371 kwh x $0.28 = $103.88 (credit)
Partial peak: 36 kwh x $0.09 = $ 3.24
Off peak: 2423 kwh x $0.04 = $ 96.92
Final Total Cost for the year: $ 3.72 (credit)
So the numbers came out pretty close to what we expected. Note that there is an $11 minimum charge per month in addition to this total. Therefore, the total electricity cost is $11 x 12 months = $121. Also, this is not a final exact amount. I’ll let you know if the final numbers have any big surprises from PG&E.
Did the Solar Panels save us money?
Yes! For the 6,460 kwh that we used we paid $121 fixed cost for the electricity. The solar panels cost $12,000 after the 30% solar tax credit. Spread over 30 years that comes to $689 per year. So the cost per kwh was ($121 + 0 + 689) ÷ 6,420 kwh = 12.6 cents per kwh. This is less than PG&E’s low Tier 2 rate for most residential users, which is 13.9 cents per kwh. Our rates would have been above Tier 2 if we did not have solar. The solar panels run the meter backwards, so we never get out of the low tier Tier 1 rates.
In our case, we also spent about $3,500 upgrading our 1927 house’s electrical circuits up to current standards for the solar panels and electric car. This brings our cost up to about 15.7 cents per kwh, which is still less than PG&E’s average rate for residential use, which is 18.6 cents/kwh. Using that average rate, we saved $183 with our solar panels (our electricity cost was $1,011, counting the electrical upgrade, while the average rate cost would have been $1,194).
Also, the cost of solar panel installation has now dropped to under $5 per watt, a 5% savings compared to one year ago, so the cost today would be about 12.1 cents per kwh, virtually the same as PG&E’s Tier 1--i.e. lowest regular residential rate of 12.2 cents per kwh. Also, solar rates are not subject to inflation, so the savings should get better with time.
The only puzzle to me is why anyone who uses more than the baseline of 300 kwh or so per month would not install solar panels—i.e. most people in California, especially if their house is already up to current electrical standards, and they can qualify to refinance.
If you live in the San Francisco’s East Bay, I suggest you give the guys at Super Solar, who installed our panels, a call. Actually now is a perfect time to refinance since interest rates are at record lows.
Did the Volt save us money?
The car on the day we bought it a year ago with new electrical conduits and panels installed (we've since painted them white to match the house).
So what did it really cost to drive the Volt? As reported in the previous post on this blog, we drove 7,900 miles on electricity and 4,800 miles on gas. On gas, the car gets 37 miles per gallon so that’s about 10 cents a mile, or $480 for the year. On electricity the car gets about 3.3 miles per kwh, so it used about 2,400 kwh. This is less than the 3,000 kwh we estimated. Since most of that charging was at night, the cost for driving the car was 2,400 kwh x .04 = $98.00. Note that I’m assuming that the household electricity use during the off-peak is about zero since the solar panels produce electricity on the weekend during off-peak times. If we add the fixed cost of $11 per month and spread it over the average of 535 kwh per month, that adds 2 cents per kwh, so the off peak cost becomes 6 cents per kwh, and the total cost for the car becomes 2,400 kwh x .06 = $144. This gives a cost of $144 ÷ 7,900 = $0.018 cents per mile, say 2 cents per mile.
Our previous car was a 1991 Honda Civic that got 25 mpg. Assuming an average of about $3.75 per gallon for the year (as you know gas prices have been going up and down), the Honda would have cost us $0.15 per mile for gas for a total of $1,905 for gas for the year. The Volt cost $480 for the gas miles and $144 for the electric miles for a total of $624. So we saved $1,281 this year.
Now that’s not enough to cover the cost of the Volt, especially since the Honda had been paid off long ago. However, it is enough to borrow $15,000 for 15 years at the current interest rate of 3.25%. Since the Volt costs $40,000 minus a $7,500 tax credit it has a total cost of $33,500. Since the savings in gas are worth $15,000, the cost of the car is equivalent to $18,500 for a car that gets 25 mpg, i.e. about the same as an average new car today.
My secret plan
OK, so the car “only” breaks even compared to a new car that gets 25 mpg. But wait, I’m a very conservative person. I never plan to buy another car again. We financed the car for 30 years at 4 per cent interest. Now I do assume that I will need to buy new batteries in about 10 years, but I think they’ll be modestly priced, no more than regular auto maintenance would have cost. So how do the Volt numbers look with my 30 year plan?
A gas savings of $1,281 per year is enough to borrow $22,151 at 4% for 30 years. This means that the cost of the Volt is comparable to paying $33,500 – 22,151 = $11,349 for the car. And this does not assume any increase in the price of gas! Anyone want to bet that gas won’t go over $5.00 in the next ten years?
Thus my slogan for buying electric cars—“Save money, Save the planet”
What was the carbon footprint?
The big advantage of a Volt is that it produces a lot less CO2 and other pollutants, especially when combined with solar panels. Our Honda would have used 508 gallons of gas to drive the 12,700 miles that we drove last year. At 27.5 pounds of CO2 per gallon (see: How Clean are Electric Cars?)that would total 7 U.S. tons of CO2.
Our Volt used 129 gallons of gas for a total of 1.77 tons of CO2. The electricity for our house was 68% solar/32% from PG&E. PG&E estimates 0.524 pounds (238 grams) of CO2 per kwh (see the same post referenced above), so I calculate 2400 kwh for the Volt x 0.524 lbs/kwh x 32% PG&E electricity = 402 pounds CO2 = 0.2 tons.
Therefore, the total CO2 from the Volt was 1.97 tons, a 71% reduction compared to the Honda. Note that these numbers are for our car. I read that the average Chevy Volts is getting 111 mpg, so we are guilty of using more gas than the average Volt owner. We’ll try to behave better this year.
Is our Volt/household use sustainable?
Unfortunately, not really. I’ve argued that the earth can only absorb 7 billion tonnes (7.7 billion U.S. tons) of CO2 per year, so we really only get one tonne each. Our Volt produced a little less than 2 tonnes. Since we use about 3 tonnes just on natural gas for our stove, hot water, and household heat, and that doesn’t even count the CO2 produced at workplaces, we really need to eliminate CO2 from our transportation system if we are to have any hope of getting down to a sustainable level.
Fortunately for the Volt, this is not unreachable. If the gas we used were a low CO2 biofuel, that would put our gas driving down to the same range as our electric driving, say 0.2 tonnes total. And if batteries in the future can deliver two or three hundred miles on electricity, we would use much less gasoline on our trips.
What’s next?
So we aren’t there yet, but the Volt is a big step in the right direction, unlike mining the Canadian tar sands, which is a big step in the wrong direction. Let’s hope that the will for self preservation wins out over the oil companies will for profit this year. (Thank you President Obama for saying NO to the Tar Sands once again!—see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obama-administration-to-reject-keystone-pipeline/2012/01/18/gIQAPuPF8P_story.html )
Another step in the wrong direction is that PG&E is proposing to raise the rates for electric vehicles from 4 cents per kwh to 11 cents in the off-peak. While this is still cheaper than gas, it reduces the cost savings for driving electric. Since electric vehicles are still new, I am encouraging PG&E to retain their rates at least for another two years, when all the rates will be reexamined.
Other steps that we should try to take this year include:
· Establishing a royalty/severance tax on oil in California. I just read in Greg Palast’s book, Vulture’s Picnic, that BP bribed the corrupt dictator of Azerbaijan so they would only have to pay a 10% royalty on the oil they extract. But in California we collect ZERO, nada, zip—we’re giving it away for free! How outrageous is that. Even Texas collects 25%.
· End oil subsidies, such as the modest steps that Obama has suggested, and more
· Stop the Keystone XL pipeline, no matter what route it takes
· Add warnings on gas pumps that burning gasoline increases the risk of catastrophic climate change, and encourages people to conserve fuel, to walk, and to use public transit, bicycles, and electric vehicles
· Support a constitutional amendment that declares that corporations are not people, and dollars are not free speech. (See http://movetoamend.org/)
And on the home front: The numbers show that our house used about 4,000 kwh instead of our estimated 3,600. It could be that the motion sensor floodlights we added in the driveway and around the house account for the extra, or it may be that we just need to turn off the lights more! I’m sure we can conserve if we work a bit harder. Also, household-electricity is more expensive than car-charging-electricity since it is more likely to occur during the peak and partial-peak daytime hours. Fortunately, our solar productivity was also above the estimate so the PG&E bill did zero out. I would also love to figure out an economical way to add solar water heating. It just doesn’t seem to pencil out like the solar panels do, especially with an electric vehicle.
Much to do, but it’s been a great year!
Monday, January 16, 2012
The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of Roundup
Boy do we have a doozie of a roundup! Welcome to only the second build challenge in LUGNuts history that involved prizes. For the first challenge with prizes we alerted our big blogging brothers and they, in turn, alerted the rest of the world. The responses and entries were overwhelming...but certain people came for the prizes, then left the group. This time, our strategy was different. We alerted no one and made it so only our most dedicated builders had a chance at winning. This time there were fewer entries but our most dedicated members took the gold...or the LEGO, as it were. Its called The Stuff Dreams Are Made of and has to do with some sort of weird dream sequence written like an old pulp noir detective novel. A mysterious woman walks into a lonely coffee shop where she and the owner have the most intriguing conversation of his lifetime. he keeps wondering if this was a dream because they're discussing anti-gravity, time and space travel...some really heavy stuff. At the end of the night, without even finding out her name or where she is from, she drives off in the kind of vehicle that only makes sense in dreams. We were all tasked with interpreting and building her vehicle.
We couldn't get any celebrity judges for this. Turns out I couldn't afford Johnny Depp and Justin Beiber didn't want to be associated with a bunch of grown-ass men playing with Legos. So Nathan and I (your LUGNuts founders) did the judging in my Seattle Fortress of Solitude over some bread pudding and Three-Peckered Billy Goat Coffee. No seriously, the stuff is called Three-Peckered Billy Goat! And if you ask me, that's just one pecker too many! Anyway, we thought about the entries in terms of "the kind of vehicle that only made sense in dreams", as the challenge was written. Not dream cars. There is a difference. The kind of vehicle that only makes sense in dreams throws away logic in favor of something with a little more feeling and an artist's spirit. With that in mind, we will first list the top three winners followed by the rest of the entries. Enjoy.
First place went to Dylan Denton and his stunning concept Piranha. This car unveils neat surprises from every angle. In terms of "the kind of vehicle that only makes sense in dreams", this space-age ride was the clear, undisputed winner. What makes this entry particularly amazing is that Dylan made up this concept from the ground up. Sure we're all talented builders, but when it comes to making up our own concept designs many of us fall short. I'm including myself into the mix. But Dylan pulls it off with integrity and pizzazz. The solar panel, working headlights, and the mysterious, gothy woman with just a little swatch of green hair dyed like seaweed was enough to skyrocket this entry into super stardom!
Dennis Glaasker is well known for building chromed out big rig trucks. But this time his talent and copious chrome was used to construct this dazzling '32 Ford Hiboy Hot Rod. The presentation and build quality sits somewhere in the upper stratosphere on this one and its just oozing with not to be missed glimmering details and mind bending techniques. While judging, we asked ourselves if it was fair to give a prize to a guy with plenty of photoshop skills and the money and resources to chrome-plate his own pieces. We tried not to be dazzled by all the chrome and imagined all the shiny bits as grey instead. When considering the skill and techniques, our conclusion was still a resounding yes and the well deserved prizes for second place.
First and second place was not even disputed. The decisions were easy. But there were a lot of contenders for third place. The one we kept coming back to...the one that tickled our fancy the most...was Tim Inman's 1938 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic. Only four of these rare beauties were ever made and with its sleek lines and riveted dorsal seam, this riveting ride only makes sense in dreams indeed. Equally as shapely and exotic as the car, was the female fig Tim built to go with it. That helped my vote. And if having a crush on a LEGO chick with a lime green cocktail dress and a shelf for a butt is crazy, then...uh...yeah.
You've seen the best now see the rest. Probably had I have thought this out, it would have been...you've seen the rest, now see the best. It would be like a bunch of openers, then the main attractions. But I didn't think this out and gave you the big shebang first. Now that I've lost most of our readers, I have to admit this '58 or possibly '59 Corvette built by Legogil made me smile. This retro ride and the pretty girl is the stuff dreams are made of for sure.
Lime green comes up a lot in this challenge. That's because in dreams, colors are important, almost symbolic. Builders keyed in in the key lime pie the mysterious woman ordered at the cafe. One of many excellent key lime entries is this second serving of goodness by gil is this lime and black chopper called Mysterious. She's a beauty suitable enough for this intriguing woman of mystery.
My case in point, this third serving of lime by legogil simply called Hot Rod. I looked up lime green in dream interpretation and it turns out it means hope for prosperity. Hmmm, interesting.
Red, as interpreted in dreams, is an indication of raw energy, force, vigor, intense passion, aggression, power, courage, and impulsiveness. Perhaps this is what DoktorZapp was thinking when he constructed this long and low Red Meteor. I have to admit, I did smile a bit when I saw this low-slung 50's era concept.
According to Croc Bomb, The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of may very well be...a Volkwagen Golf. Its kinda like that dream you have about the first day of school where you've made sure you had the proper books, pencils, lunch money, notebooks and class schedules but sometime during 5th period you realize you've been naked all day. I wonder if that has ever really happened to anyone.
It may have likely happened to Peteris Sprogis. Not really, but I had to segue into his blue Motte Two concept coupe somehow and that seemed to be the only logical transition from one idea to another. You try writing this stuff. It ain't easy!
Later he enters this Motte_Ergetta, a futuristic looking car. The story suggested the mystery woman may have been a time traveller. This time travel stuff is difficult business due to what they call The Butterfly Effect. Go back in time, kill a butterfly in China, then through a bizarre chain of events suddenly you're your own grandpa!
When time traveling, its best to leave things exactly as is and be mindful of fashion and slang of the times or else cause undue attention to your time traveling shenanigans. You may find it amusing to freak out the early settlers with your iPhone Touch but it is not a good idea, lest they will burn you at the stake for witchcraft. Oh and Jonathan Derksen built a cool car.
When I wrote the story of the mystery woman, I fancied her as perhaps a time traveller or maybe a denizen of Atlantis. Oldeconoline sees her as a villainous murderess who drives a blocky square...um...thing with walls as thick as castle stone. Its miniland scale on the outside but minifig scale on the inside, as evidenced by the tiny minifig skeletons and captives. Uh...yeah, makes sense to me!
Ace goes and builds us a crazy robot chick with flowing red hair, red moon boots and a Blacktron Spider car...which apparently has red cylinder heads. That's just the kind of craziness that goes on in the future, probably as a cause of the Butterfly Effect. Whatever the future holds, I want in on those robot claws!
Shunazaver was in a whimsical mood so he built a...um...two-wheeled bike, jet car, horsey thingy. I admit the minifig girl does look adorable in her hat and cape. Shuna calls her my crush. Was I projecting myself when I wrote the story? was I the man with the bad hip and was I projecting what my dream girl could be? My hips seem in perfect working order, but my knees...often a bit sore. Maybe he has me figured out.
Or maybe Jason Son has us all figured out with this Pussy Wagon. What's with that lowbrow name? Well, it comes from Kill Bill and unlike the Silverado from the movie, this Pussy Wagon is actually a wagon...a '66 Pontiac GTO, to be exact. This contender for third place had us admiring its shape and with Uma Thurman at the wheel, this is one badass ride! Oh and this post got real lowbrow already way back when I mentioned the three-peckered goat so...no big deal, really.
We go from lowbrow to high class with Ralph Savelsberg's Mercedes 500K Special Roadster. This sophisticated ride also had us considering it for third place with its fine, luxuriant curves and equally opulent Lady In Red figure. Red in dreams can also symbolize sexual impulses. I wonder if the usually straight-laced Ralph knew this while building.
Dohoon Kim goes all black with this Ferrari Enzo. Its Dohoon's first 12-wide and a shining specimen at that. I'm sure dream interpreters would have a field day with the meaning of it's all black design and as he said he is not so good at building figures...she is crammed squarely within the driver's seat.
On the second to the last day of the challenge Raphy cranks out this creation he simply calls...car. While a description is lacking, it looks suspiciously like an early 50's Buick...quite possibly the same '53 I built some time ago. He was feeling rushed and exhausted when he posted as evidenced by the dark grainy photo positioned on the kitchen table, but build quality is a step in the right direction. Some good photos and a write up...might have been just enough to put him over the top.
Rolic did precisely what I had hoped someone would do...plant the vehicle in the back ally nighttime scene portrayed in the story. This reminds me of some untapped potential that was never considered...like who is the man with the bad hip and what was his name in green neon lights outside the cafe? But this is a stunning concept Porsche 918 Spyder with exciting views from every angle. It would have been a strong contender for the win had the presentation not come a little too late.
What would LUGNuts be without a last minute run from Lego911. It would be much more punctual but without that exhilarating feeling that a game could be overturned in the last few seconds. First on the 911 slab is this 1957 Chevy bel Air Sports Coupe...one of the most iconic cars on the planet. Peter's story mentions the girl running from the past...Butterfly Effect be damned.
Next Peter presents the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Hardtop. In life, this car was nearly 20 feet of automotive excellence with rocket taillights, the biggest fins of any production car ever made and a hood the size of a ping pong table. In this entry Peter describes the mystery woman's travels as if along a long black ribbon without a clue as to where or when the ribbon will take you next.
Turns out the next stop on the black ribbon, in this version of the story, anyway, takes the form of a Mercedes-Benz 540 K Autobahnkurier called...Key Lime. Another entry that taps into the wonderfully strange color of the key lime pie she ordered at the cafe, this stunning vehicle was a strong contender for third place and our favorite of the Lego911 run.
When you learn how the long black ribbon of travel works you get to come back to it as often as you want. This time the form is chock full of mid-engine weirdness with this blue DeTomaso Mangusta. The engine was Detroit muscle but the body and chassis was all European design with a rare bumper-less inverted slope nose. This vehicle is completely fitting for such an intriguing woman because Ferraris are so passe after all.
There's a phantom in our midst...according to lego911 anyway. Its a 1970 Citroen SM, what he describes as a...get this...light and fruity car. Light and fruity like a key lime pie perhaps. Peter is surely the only builder to claim he has built more LEGO cars than the run of many real cars. Its true. There were 14,000 of these cars made...911 has built over 20,000 LEGO cars.
And to add to his 20,000 car tally is this 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale in red with nice gold spoked rims from the Lightning McQueen set. Peter is probably still cranking out entries for this challenge almost two weeks after we locked the thread. That's just how Peter rolls. But the LUGNuts challenges are a harsh mistress, especially where big prizes are involved so that's all we got.
Oh and speaking of which, Dylan took home the coveted VW microbus set and chose Francesco, surely for its red classic hot rod rims. Dennis got the yellow creator car along with Mater...cuz he likes his American charm. And Tim takes home Lightning McQueen...also chock full of American Charm.
Alright, that wraps up our very special prize-laden 50th build challenge. Stay tuned for the totally balls out freakin' sweet-ass challenge many of you were born to take part of...design and build a totally new Batmobile. Its called Batmobile:2025. Here's the premise...we all take a trip to the year 2025. (try not to kill any butterflies on the way) Raphy has become a successful young director and is making another Batman trilogy...we all design totally new Batmobiles...'nuff said. Remember, just because the movies are made in 2025, doesn't mean they take place in 2025, so anything goes. Maybe even a freaky new color scheme would be in order.
There has been a lot of talk of time travel this round. Can it really exist? Perhaps Stephen Hawking has already went ahead in time to where they found a cure for his crippling ailment. Or maybe Ralph has already freaked out some colonial settlers with his iPhone Touch and, thanks to the Butterfly Effect, that is precisely the reason why strip clubs now exist. It makes perfect sense to me. Its all your fault, Ralph. Its all your fault.
We couldn't get any celebrity judges for this. Turns out I couldn't afford Johnny Depp and Justin Beiber didn't want to be associated with a bunch of grown-ass men playing with Legos. So Nathan and I (your LUGNuts founders) did the judging in my Seattle Fortress of Solitude over some bread pudding and Three-Peckered Billy Goat Coffee. No seriously, the stuff is called Three-Peckered Billy Goat! And if you ask me, that's just one pecker too many! Anyway, we thought about the entries in terms of "the kind of vehicle that only made sense in dreams", as the challenge was written. Not dream cars. There is a difference. The kind of vehicle that only makes sense in dreams throws away logic in favor of something with a little more feeling and an artist's spirit. With that in mind, we will first list the top three winners followed by the rest of the entries. Enjoy.
First place went to Dylan Denton and his stunning concept Piranha. This car unveils neat surprises from every angle. In terms of "the kind of vehicle that only makes sense in dreams", this space-age ride was the clear, undisputed winner. What makes this entry particularly amazing is that Dylan made up this concept from the ground up. Sure we're all talented builders, but when it comes to making up our own concept designs many of us fall short. I'm including myself into the mix. But Dylan pulls it off with integrity and pizzazz. The solar panel, working headlights, and the mysterious, gothy woman with just a little swatch of green hair dyed like seaweed was enough to skyrocket this entry into super stardom!
Dennis Glaasker is well known for building chromed out big rig trucks. But this time his talent and copious chrome was used to construct this dazzling '32 Ford Hiboy Hot Rod. The presentation and build quality sits somewhere in the upper stratosphere on this one and its just oozing with not to be missed glimmering details and mind bending techniques. While judging, we asked ourselves if it was fair to give a prize to a guy with plenty of photoshop skills and the money and resources to chrome-plate his own pieces. We tried not to be dazzled by all the chrome and imagined all the shiny bits as grey instead. When considering the skill and techniques, our conclusion was still a resounding yes and the well deserved prizes for second place.
First and second place was not even disputed. The decisions were easy. But there were a lot of contenders for third place. The one we kept coming back to...the one that tickled our fancy the most...was Tim Inman's 1938 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic. Only four of these rare beauties were ever made and with its sleek lines and riveted dorsal seam, this riveting ride only makes sense in dreams indeed. Equally as shapely and exotic as the car, was the female fig Tim built to go with it. That helped my vote. And if having a crush on a LEGO chick with a lime green cocktail dress and a shelf for a butt is crazy, then...uh...yeah.
You've seen the best now see the rest. Probably had I have thought this out, it would have been...you've seen the rest, now see the best. It would be like a bunch of openers, then the main attractions. But I didn't think this out and gave you the big shebang first. Now that I've lost most of our readers, I have to admit this '58 or possibly '59 Corvette built by Legogil made me smile. This retro ride and the pretty girl is the stuff dreams are made of for sure.
Lime green comes up a lot in this challenge. That's because in dreams, colors are important, almost symbolic. Builders keyed in in the key lime pie the mysterious woman ordered at the cafe. One of many excellent key lime entries is this second serving of goodness by gil is this lime and black chopper called Mysterious. She's a beauty suitable enough for this intriguing woman of mystery.
My case in point, this third serving of lime by legogil simply called Hot Rod. I looked up lime green in dream interpretation and it turns out it means hope for prosperity. Hmmm, interesting.
Red, as interpreted in dreams, is an indication of raw energy, force, vigor, intense passion, aggression, power, courage, and impulsiveness. Perhaps this is what DoktorZapp was thinking when he constructed this long and low Red Meteor. I have to admit, I did smile a bit when I saw this low-slung 50's era concept.
According to Croc Bomb, The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of may very well be...a Volkwagen Golf. Its kinda like that dream you have about the first day of school where you've made sure you had the proper books, pencils, lunch money, notebooks and class schedules but sometime during 5th period you realize you've been naked all day. I wonder if that has ever really happened to anyone.
It may have likely happened to Peteris Sprogis. Not really, but I had to segue into his blue Motte Two concept coupe somehow and that seemed to be the only logical transition from one idea to another. You try writing this stuff. It ain't easy!
Later he enters this Motte_Ergetta, a futuristic looking car. The story suggested the mystery woman may have been a time traveller. This time travel stuff is difficult business due to what they call The Butterfly Effect. Go back in time, kill a butterfly in China, then through a bizarre chain of events suddenly you're your own grandpa!
When time traveling, its best to leave things exactly as is and be mindful of fashion and slang of the times or else cause undue attention to your time traveling shenanigans. You may find it amusing to freak out the early settlers with your iPhone Touch but it is not a good idea, lest they will burn you at the stake for witchcraft. Oh and Jonathan Derksen built a cool car.
When I wrote the story of the mystery woman, I fancied her as perhaps a time traveller or maybe a denizen of Atlantis. Oldeconoline sees her as a villainous murderess who drives a blocky square...um...thing with walls as thick as castle stone. Its miniland scale on the outside but minifig scale on the inside, as evidenced by the tiny minifig skeletons and captives. Uh...yeah, makes sense to me!
Ace goes and builds us a crazy robot chick with flowing red hair, red moon boots and a Blacktron Spider car...which apparently has red cylinder heads. That's just the kind of craziness that goes on in the future, probably as a cause of the Butterfly Effect. Whatever the future holds, I want in on those robot claws!
Shunazaver was in a whimsical mood so he built a...um...two-wheeled bike, jet car, horsey thingy. I admit the minifig girl does look adorable in her hat and cape. Shuna calls her my crush. Was I projecting myself when I wrote the story? was I the man with the bad hip and was I projecting what my dream girl could be? My hips seem in perfect working order, but my knees...often a bit sore. Maybe he has me figured out.
Or maybe Jason Son has us all figured out with this Pussy Wagon. What's with that lowbrow name? Well, it comes from Kill Bill and unlike the Silverado from the movie, this Pussy Wagon is actually a wagon...a '66 Pontiac GTO, to be exact. This contender for third place had us admiring its shape and with Uma Thurman at the wheel, this is one badass ride! Oh and this post got real lowbrow already way back when I mentioned the three-peckered goat so...no big deal, really.
We go from lowbrow to high class with Ralph Savelsberg's Mercedes 500K Special Roadster. This sophisticated ride also had us considering it for third place with its fine, luxuriant curves and equally opulent Lady In Red figure. Red in dreams can also symbolize sexual impulses. I wonder if the usually straight-laced Ralph knew this while building.
Dohoon Kim goes all black with this Ferrari Enzo. Its Dohoon's first 12-wide and a shining specimen at that. I'm sure dream interpreters would have a field day with the meaning of it's all black design and as he said he is not so good at building figures...she is crammed squarely within the driver's seat.
On the second to the last day of the challenge Raphy cranks out this creation he simply calls...car. While a description is lacking, it looks suspiciously like an early 50's Buick...quite possibly the same '53 I built some time ago. He was feeling rushed and exhausted when he posted as evidenced by the dark grainy photo positioned on the kitchen table, but build quality is a step in the right direction. Some good photos and a write up...might have been just enough to put him over the top.
Rolic did precisely what I had hoped someone would do...plant the vehicle in the back ally nighttime scene portrayed in the story. This reminds me of some untapped potential that was never considered...like who is the man with the bad hip and what was his name in green neon lights outside the cafe? But this is a stunning concept Porsche 918 Spyder with exciting views from every angle. It would have been a strong contender for the win had the presentation not come a little too late.
What would LUGNuts be without a last minute run from Lego911. It would be much more punctual but without that exhilarating feeling that a game could be overturned in the last few seconds. First on the 911 slab is this 1957 Chevy bel Air Sports Coupe...one of the most iconic cars on the planet. Peter's story mentions the girl running from the past...Butterfly Effect be damned.
Next Peter presents the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Seville Hardtop. In life, this car was nearly 20 feet of automotive excellence with rocket taillights, the biggest fins of any production car ever made and a hood the size of a ping pong table. In this entry Peter describes the mystery woman's travels as if along a long black ribbon without a clue as to where or when the ribbon will take you next.
Turns out the next stop on the black ribbon, in this version of the story, anyway, takes the form of a Mercedes-Benz 540 K Autobahnkurier called...Key Lime. Another entry that taps into the wonderfully strange color of the key lime pie she ordered at the cafe, this stunning vehicle was a strong contender for third place and our favorite of the Lego911 run.
When you learn how the long black ribbon of travel works you get to come back to it as often as you want. This time the form is chock full of mid-engine weirdness with this blue DeTomaso Mangusta. The engine was Detroit muscle but the body and chassis was all European design with a rare bumper-less inverted slope nose. This vehicle is completely fitting for such an intriguing woman because Ferraris are so passe after all.
There's a phantom in our midst...according to lego911 anyway. Its a 1970 Citroen SM, what he describes as a...get this...light and fruity car. Light and fruity like a key lime pie perhaps. Peter is surely the only builder to claim he has built more LEGO cars than the run of many real cars. Its true. There were 14,000 of these cars made...911 has built over 20,000 LEGO cars.
And to add to his 20,000 car tally is this 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale in red with nice gold spoked rims from the Lightning McQueen set. Peter is probably still cranking out entries for this challenge almost two weeks after we locked the thread. That's just how Peter rolls. But the LUGNuts challenges are a harsh mistress, especially where big prizes are involved so that's all we got.
Oh and speaking of which, Dylan took home the coveted VW microbus set and chose Francesco, surely for its red classic hot rod rims. Dennis got the yellow creator car along with Mater...cuz he likes his American charm. And Tim takes home Lightning McQueen...also chock full of American Charm.
Alright, that wraps up our very special prize-laden 50th build challenge. Stay tuned for the totally balls out freakin' sweet-ass challenge many of you were born to take part of...design and build a totally new Batmobile. Its called Batmobile:2025. Here's the premise...we all take a trip to the year 2025. (try not to kill any butterflies on the way) Raphy has become a successful young director and is making another Batman trilogy...we all design totally new Batmobiles...'nuff said. Remember, just because the movies are made in 2025, doesn't mean they take place in 2025, so anything goes. Maybe even a freaky new color scheme would be in order.
There has been a lot of talk of time travel this round. Can it really exist? Perhaps Stephen Hawking has already went ahead in time to where they found a cure for his crippling ailment. Or maybe Ralph has already freaked out some colonial settlers with his iPhone Touch and, thanks to the Butterfly Effect, that is precisely the reason why strip clubs now exist. It makes perfect sense to me. Its all your fault, Ralph. Its all your fault.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Chevy Volt a flop?--One year report
It's official--USA Today and the Washington Post both list the Chevy Volt among the flops of 2011. And of course, Fox is unrelenting in its snide and biased coverage of the Volt. So what's the reality?
The big publicized item is that Chevy sold 7,671 Volts in calendar year 2011, which is short of the 10,000 vehicles Chevy said they would produce in 2011. On the other hand Chevy sold 1,529 Volts in December, which would put them on pace to sell a lot more than 10,000 in 2012. Also, the media tends to play down the Consurmer Report's survey that found that Volt has the highest owner's satisfaction of any current car in production (those Volt owners must be crazy!)
Since I just completed one year of Volt ownership, I checked in with my salesperson, Jim Moran, of F.H. Dailey Chevrolet in San Leandro, CA. He said his Volt sales are flat right now because people in California are waiting for the new, carpool-lane-approved, version of the Volt to come out in March. He has "no doubt" that sales will take off significantly at that point. He also said that it looks like the new Volt will qualify for the $1,500 California tax credit, but he wasn't positive on that point (I'll check on this). He also pointed out that the Volt is not offering any rebates--i.e. it sells at the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price, which indicates that the demand is there.
I also asked him about customer satisfaction. He said that people are really excited when they buy the Volt, but they are even more excited after a few months (like me). He tells buyers, "You'll really enjoy driving the Volt," and it is the truth.
For the record, we put 12,711 miles on our Volt since buying it on January 11, 2011. We used 129 gallons of gas for an average of 99 mpg. Interestingly, that is very close to the EPA estimate of 93 mpg for the Volt. Our mpg average was brought down by two trips to San Diego and one trip to Las Vegas (we live in Oakland). Driving just around the SF Bay Area, we traveled 8,036 miles and used 30 gallons of gas, for 266 mpg. So that's the beauty of the Volt--it uses almost no gas for daily use, but you can also drive it out of town on vacation, and it gets decent mileage on the road as well, about 37 mpg. Plus we've had good luck plugging it in at motels, with the manager's permission, and I plugged it in at my mother-in-law's place in San Diego, so our road trips (4,675 miles) were not just on gas, giving us a road average of 47 mpg. For the whole year, we traveled about 7,900 miles on electricity and 4,800 miles on gas--i.e. 62% on electricity.
Coming soon: Our one year's summary of our solar panel's electric production and the cost of solar power & electric cars. (Preview--the numbers look good!)
The big publicized item is that Chevy sold 7,671 Volts in calendar year 2011, which is short of the 10,000 vehicles Chevy said they would produce in 2011. On the other hand Chevy sold 1,529 Volts in December, which would put them on pace to sell a lot more than 10,000 in 2012. Also, the media tends to play down the Consurmer Report's survey that found that Volt has the highest owner's satisfaction of any current car in production (those Volt owners must be crazy!)
Since I just completed one year of Volt ownership, I checked in with my salesperson, Jim Moran, of F.H. Dailey Chevrolet in San Leandro, CA. He said his Volt sales are flat right now because people in California are waiting for the new, carpool-lane-approved, version of the Volt to come out in March. He has "no doubt" that sales will take off significantly at that point. He also said that it looks like the new Volt will qualify for the $1,500 California tax credit, but he wasn't positive on that point (I'll check on this). He also pointed out that the Volt is not offering any rebates--i.e. it sells at the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price, which indicates that the demand is there.
I also asked him about customer satisfaction. He said that people are really excited when they buy the Volt, but they are even more excited after a few months (like me). He tells buyers, "You'll really enjoy driving the Volt," and it is the truth.
For the record, we put 12,711 miles on our Volt since buying it on January 11, 2011. We used 129 gallons of gas for an average of 99 mpg. Interestingly, that is very close to the EPA estimate of 93 mpg for the Volt. Our mpg average was brought down by two trips to San Diego and one trip to Las Vegas (we live in Oakland). Driving just around the SF Bay Area, we traveled 8,036 miles and used 30 gallons of gas, for 266 mpg. So that's the beauty of the Volt--it uses almost no gas for daily use, but you can also drive it out of town on vacation, and it gets decent mileage on the road as well, about 37 mpg. Plus we've had good luck plugging it in at motels, with the manager's permission, and I plugged it in at my mother-in-law's place in San Diego, so our road trips (4,675 miles) were not just on gas, giving us a road average of 47 mpg. For the whole year, we traveled about 7,900 miles on electricity and 4,800 miles on gas--i.e. 62% on electricity.
Coming soon: Our one year's summary of our solar panel's electric production and the cost of solar power & electric cars. (Preview--the numbers look good!)
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Book reviews
Book Reviews for New Year Reading
Here are some reviews of books that I highly recommend for grappling with climate change, oil, coal, solar, electric vehicles and political action. Thank goodness for libraries! I have organized the reviews into four categories, although there is some overlap:
1. Science of Global Warming
2. Climate Chaos--what’s happening and what’s in our future
3. Politics of Climate Change
4. Strategies for Making Changes
1. Regarding Science, James Hansen is the leading climate scientist in the U.S. He warned Congress that global warming was already detectable in 1988. His latest book, Storms of our Grandchildren, explains why CO2 and other greenhouse gasses are the only viable explanation for the increasing global temperatures. Sunspots, eccentricity of the earth’s orbit, and other theories are dealt with scientifically and thoroughly. Arm yourself with this book.
2. This is the scary part--Climate Chaos. These books tell of the terrifying situation we are in. It’s like we’re on the Titanic at the stage where the life boats weren’t getting filled because people couldn’t believe the ship was going to sink. Actually, all of these authors also discuss what we need to do to get off of fossil fuels, but I think these books are strongest on the consequences of failing to do so.
I previously reviewed Joseph Romm’s book Straight Up, a collection of posts from his excellent blog, www.climateprogress.org. For my review see: http://solarpowerelectriccars.blogspot.com/2011/06/straight-up-by-joseph-rommbook-review.html I heartily recommend following Romm’s blog for the latest information on global warming.
Six Degrees, by Mark Lynus. This book takes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimate that temperatures will increase from 1 - 6 degrees Celsius over the next century, and looks at what will happen under each of these scenarios. Given that we are now at 1 degree, and climate is already out of whack, all of the scenarios are very frightening.
Two degrees as an upper limit on temperature increase now seems out of reach given the inaction of the past two decades since climate change became scientifically understood. Still, with two degrees droughts, floods, storms, crop failures and heat waves will be much worse than today.
Three degrees tips us into the realm of likely positive feedbacks (where melting tundra, for example, emits more methane, which stimulates more melting, . . .) And all of the effects that come with two degrees become much worse.
Four degrees makes it pretty certain that Greenland, if not major portions of Antarctica will melt, meaning that most of humanity will have to relocate from inundated coastal areas.
Five degrees and six degrees become so extreme that civilization itself is threatened.
Hot, Living on Earth for the Next 50 Years, by Mark Hertsgaard. I reviewed this book previously; please see: http://solarpowerelectriccars.blogspot.com/2011/03/book-review-hot-living-through-next.html Here are some of the likely catastrophes the book points out that we face by 2050:
· Results of a possible three feet of sea level rise:
o Shanghai--”one third of the city underwater.”
o Bangladesh—“20 percent of Bangladesh underwater and 30 million refugees”
o New York--the probability of extra large floods will increase from 1 in 100 to 1 in 20 annually
o Worldwide--”$3 trillion in assets are located at or below three feet above sea level”
· Four more Category 4 and 5 hurricanes each year (currently 13 worldwide per year).
· “Record drought will become the norm across the western third of North America”
· Andean glaciers will disappear by 2030; 40% of Himalayan glaciers will disappear by 2050
· 98% of the world’s coral will be gone by 2050
Eaarth, by Bill McKibben. Bill is the leading climate change activist in the U.S. Founder of 350.org and organizer of the Keystone XL Pipeline demonstrations at the White House (see: http://solarpowerelectriccars.blogspot.com/2011/11/report-from-washington-tar-sands.html for my description of this event, including a photo of Bill speaking). His book spells Eaarth differently because the old earth that we knew and loved “is gone” and has been transformed into a rapidly changing and uncertain new world with a volatile new climate. Here are some points from the book:
· “In Glacier Park, only 25 of the 150 glaciers that were there in 1850, still exist, and all of them are shrinking rapidly.” (p 43)
· “The new planet is inherently more expensive than the old one. The wind blows harder; more rain falls; the sea rises.”
· “A two foot rise in sea level ‘would make life in South Florida very difficult for everyone.’” (p 64)
· He quotes Swiss Re, the world’s biggest insurance company, “parts of developed countries would experience developing nation conditions for prolonged periods as a result of natural catastrophes” (p 67)
· “Global warming is a negotiation between human beings on the one hand and physics and chemistry on the other. Which is a tough negotiation, because physics and chemistry don’t compromise. They’ve already laid out their nonnegotiable bottome line: above 350 ppm the planet doesn’t work.” (p 81)
· “The next decade will see huge increases in renewable power; we’ll adopt electric cars far faster than most analysts imagine. Windmills will sprout across the prairies. It will be exciting. . .But it’s not going to happen fast enough to ward of enormous change.” (p 52)
· “We need to build a movement more powerful than the energy industry.” (p 56)
· “By midcentury. . . as many as 700 million of the worlds’ 9 billion people will be climate change refugees.”
But Bill is fighting the good fight to save us from ourselves. See his book Fight Global Warming Now, below.
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Tropic of Chaos, by Christian Parenti. This is a terrifying book. It combines economic insight along with climate change, and the picture that emerges is one of failed states with banditry, piracy, terrorism, and desperate surges of refugees. These violently unstable states are unable to compete in the global economy and are battered by crop failures, storms, droughts, and climate chaos. Meanwhile the developed countries become obsessed with border security--fencing, helicopters, drones, dogs, klieg lights, motion sensors, detention facilities, etc.--to keep out 700 million climate refugees. Not a pretty picture.
One important point is that Parenti recognizes that stopping climate change does not require overturning the world’s economic system. He points out that it's not a technical problem; we have the tools—renewable energy, conservation, electric cars, etc. He argues that it's not even an economic problem--corporations have huge cash reserves that could go to solving the problem. The problem is the political power of the fossil fuel industry. From 1998-2008 Exxon spent $23 million to deny climate change. From 2005-2008 the Koch brothers spent $24.9 million to deny climate science. While critical of neoliberal economics, he argues, "If we put aside capitalism's limits and deal only with greenhouse gas emissions, the problem looks less duanting." (p 242) "Either capitalism solves the crisis, or it destroys civilization."
3. Politics is the greatest obstacle we face to stopping global warming. As Bill McKibben said in a speech in Oakland earlier this year, “The scientists have done their job,” i.e. explaining the facts about global warming and that it is caused by fossil fuels and other greenhouse gases. And “The engineers have done their job,” coming up with solar power, wind turbines, electric cars, and all of the technology necessary to provide clean, green energy. The problem boils down to politics. Here are four books that help clarify this:
Big Coal, by Jeff Goodall, Houghton Mifflin, 2006. This is a very well written and dramatic account of the coal industry--its history and evolution in concert with utility companies. He tprovides personal accounts ranging from miners deep underground, to mountaintop removal, to immense mining operations in Wyoming. He shows how coal produces ¼ of the CO2 in the U.S. He also travels to China to document the destruction caused by coal burning there, although he does point out that China still consumes less than ½ the amount of coal per capita that the U.S. does. But their power plants are dirtier, and there are a lot more people in China, so that is a big problem.
Crude World, by Peter Maas, Alfred Knopf, 2009. This book shows that more often than not oil has proven to be curse for the countries where it is found. He travels to Nigeria where environmental damage is rampant, to Guinea where the oil money lines the pockets of its rulers and the people are destitute, to Iraq where the destruction of the country is apparent for all to see. One important fact is that Exxon is not in the top ten of those who control the world’s petroleum reserves (top four are Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela, and Iran, in that order). He also tells how 80% of the former Soviet Union’s hard currency came from oil. The drop in oil price from $30/barrel in 1985 to $12/barrel in 1986 “doomed the dysfunctional corpus that was the Soviet economy.” Overall I came away with the impression that the world today is controlled by a ruthless quest for oil where we are all the losers.
Tyranny of Oil, by Antonia Juhasz, This book has lots of history of the oil industry, written in the spirit of Ida Tarbell, the muckraker who helped break the Standard Oil monopoly 100 years ago. Unfortunately, I can’t find my notes on the book right now, so all I can say is that it is well written and I enjoyed reading it. Make no mistake, oil companies are a powerful and ruthless opponent, and they will not quietly concede that fossil fuels are destroying the planet, and that they need to find other ways to earn a living.
4. The fun part is Making Changes. Here are some books with ideas about how to do this:
Fight Global Warming Now, by Bill McKibben, 2007. This book describes McKibben’s vision of a creative, loving but insistent movement full of art, music, laughter, and positive energy. It also has a comprehensive list of links to organizations doing climate change work.
Profit from the Peak, by Brian Hickes and Chris Nelder, 2008. I was interested to see if this book’s predictions about peak oil would hold true. In some ways they are right on the mark--i.e. oil prices have spiked since 2007 when it was written; also, I understand that many more new oil well drills come up dry than in the past and that new discoveries are not able to keep up with current demand. On the other hand, world production has risen from 65.7 million barrels of oil per day in 2006 to 87.5 million barrels per day in 2010 (per wikipedia), so it is possible that we are still not at the peak. The book argues that tar sands will never be a viable source of oil since the energy return on investment is only about 5:1--much less than the 17:1 ratio for most crude oil supplies today, although better than the heavily subsidized corn ethanol ratio of 1.2:1. It also argues that the amount of natural gas needed to burn the tar sands to make them into oil is excessive and unrealistic. However, with $90+ per barrel oil prices, today it seems that tar sands exploitation is profitable (ignoring all the polluted lakes and clear cut forests). The book explores alternative technologies such as geothermal, biofuels, solar, and wind and takes global warming seriously. The book points toward companies that are providing alternatives to oil, coal, and natural gas; I found it quite informative in many ways.
Solar Revolution, by Travis Bradford, 2006. This book convinced me to add solar panels to our house. It also gives me hope for the future. The key point is that solar prices are dropping every year, and are already below the peak prices for fossil fuels. In other words, at least in California, if you are paying more than the baseline for your electricity, you can already save money by installing solar panels. Since that includes most people, I’m not sure why nearly everyone isn’t doing it—right now! Anyway, Travis is a brilliant economist, masterful with numbers, and has a broad uplifting vision of the industry and the future. I strongly recommend the book.
Plug-in Hybrids, by Sherry Boschert, 2006. I picked this up shortly before we bought our Chevy Volt, and found it to be a very fun read. It talks about people like Felix Kramer and Ron Gremban from http://www.calcars.org/, who have led the movement to transform the U.S. auto industry. She points out that many conservatives, such as former CIA director R.James Woolsey favor electric cars in order to get the U.S. off of oil imports. She chides the major environmental groups for being slow to support electric vehicles (although the Sierra Club is on-board now with it’s http://sierraclub.org/electric-vehicles/news.aspx Go Electric project). And, like me, she cheers for the film “Who Killed the Electric Car”.
Of course reading books is fun, but making changes is even more fun. So let's do this--we can get off of fossil fuels and onto clean energy and electric vehicles!
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