DoubleJ
Well-known member
I will keep driving my big truck and fill up on the res for 60.9 a litre. Plug that in!
Ontario's new electric vehicle incentives
- Thread starter Roadghost
- Start date
And it's still costing you more than anything electric. Just sayin.
I own a 1-ton crew cab dually. Maybe you don't remember when gas was $1.40/L, but I sure do. It's cheap now, yes, and it'll probably be that way for a while, but not forever. The manufacturers are singing happy days are here again now that pickup trucks are blowing out the doors like wildfire again, but when the price of gas goes back up a lot of those pickup truck owners will be hurting again, the same as they were in 2006 thru 2008 after years of cheap gas spurred their sales before that. I still have the receipt burried somewhere for the most I ever paid for diesel, in 2008, on our way to Vancouver - $1.61/L. Cost me just short of $250 to fill the tank.
That hurt. We went over 10,000K on that trip with our 5'th wheel behind us and spent just short of $3500 on diesel.
Back to EV's...
The primary reason Saudi pulled out all the stops and decimated the price of oil was to shut down all the competition. Fracking, the oil sands, etc etc were starting to cut into their market share and they didn't like where it was going to take supply in the long run, even if prices stayed up...which they wouldn't, supply and demand basics.
The second reason was that EV's were starting to become more and more realistic when those 2006-2008 prices really spurred it on and they saw demand destruction in the headlights. Before the huge 2008 buildup and spike in oil prices (and by connection, gas prices) there really wasn't any viable highway capable commercial EV options out there short of the Prius which was only a half assed Hybrid, not a true EV...now look - the Leaf, the GM Volt, Spark & Bolt, the Tesla, the BMW i3, Ford Focus Electric, Honda Fit EV, Kia Soul EV, and a crap-ton more...almost all of which were released post 2008.
Yes, cheap gas once again is hurting them (which Saudi hoped all along as part of the master plan, without doubt), but I think the cat is now 100% out of the bag this time and when the prices reach more affordable levels, coupled with tax breaks or incentives, they will become more mainstream, it's inevitable, particularly when they ARE cheaper to run.
Every time I pull up to the pumps and put $40 worth of gas in my POS Aveo I wish I was plugging in at home for $2.50 worth of electricity instead.
My wife commutes into Toronto every day between 3 different sites (2 in Scarborough/Markham, and one in Mississauga once a week) and right now she's spending about $60 to $100 a week in gas.
In a little over 2 years our mortgage is paid off and I think there will be a Chevy Volt in the driveway. As I mentioned in a previous reply I'm confident she would be able to plug in at work during her shift, probably getting enough charge (even at the lower rate) to make it home using minimal gas once the electric is exhausted..
I love fast cars and used to own a Pontiac G8 GXP with a 6-spd (think 4-dr Camaro SS) and was spending about $400/month on gas. I sold it for a decent price and bought the Volt to replace it ... yeah from 1 extreme to the other, but the Volt is a phenomenal car. It's got a backup gas engine for when the battery runs out.
In the summer, i get about 75 km per full charge. Winter about 55. Costs me about 85 cents per night to charge and I can make it to work and back on a full charge unless it's very cold. I now spend about $30/month on electricity plus maybe 1 fill-up per month at $25 for those times I go past the battery's charge and use the gas engine ... best of both worlds!
I missed the GXP and wish I could afford another muscle car but can't ... that's why I now ride!! The bike gives me the excitement back.
Makes me want one even more now. 
I'll probably look for a 2012 when the time comes in 2018...will be 6 years on the battery pack at that point, if it's under 160,000K it'll still be under warranty...and that aside, batteries look like they can be picked up for around $4K now, so if it's soon to be in need when the time comes I'll negotiate that into the purchase, it doesn't seem like a showstopper to me.
Looks like 2012's still fetch mid 20's to 30's.
I'll probably look for a 2012 when the time comes in 2018...will be 6 years on the battery pack at that point, if it's under 160,000K it'll still be under warranty...and that aside, batteries look like they can be picked up for around $4K now, so if it's soon to be in need when the time comes I'll negotiate that into the purchase, it doesn't seem like a showstopper to me.
Looks like 2012's still fetch mid 20's to 30's.
Holy crap...the 2012's are selling for under $10K USD.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/ctd/5417858800.html
$13400 CDN. Even after taxes that's just a touch over 15K, and the import process is pretty straightforward, I've imported a few vehicles over the years.
Hmm.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/ctd/5417858800.html
$13400 CDN. Even after taxes that's just a touch over 15K, and the import process is pretty straightforward, I've imported a few vehicles over the years.
Hmm.
Almost $5000 worth of gas every year is a pretty significant number when you look at it that way. Over a 5 year lease, $25,000 in just gasoline.
$40k?? No way. After the $8,200 incentive AND after taxes it was less than $32k brand new. Granted, I got the base model and had about $1.2k in GM incentives but still, not many cars that drive smooth like this for $40k anyway.
I was in Florida last week and gas was 1.69 USD/gallon. That works out to ~0.63 CDN/L. I didn't see a single hybrid or electric car.
Hopefully someone makes an affordable fun hybrid again (like honda tried to do with the accord hybrid). Use an electric system to fill the holes in the ICE system (using a small battery/super cap/flywheel to store braking energy to aid acceleration without obscene cost). We've still got a long long way to go before plug in makes financial sense.
Hopefully someone makes an affordable fun hybrid again (like honda tried to do with the accord hybrid). Use an electric system to fill the holes in the ICE system (using a small battery/super cap/flywheel to store braking energy to aid acceleration without obscene cost). We've still got a long long way to go before plug in makes financial sense.
-D-
Banned
This electric cars issue is such bs.
They have the technology for decades yet they make it seem like they are still learning.
We had working EV cars in the early 2k.
Why not make the roofs a solar cell therefore the car can trickle charge, direct that energy to the LED's and stereo equipment?
And why are we subsidizing cars as tax payers...
And another thing, what the heck with the parking spots that say for electric cars only...lol
They have the technology for decades yet they make it seem like they are still learning.
We had working EV cars in the early 2k.
Why not make the roofs a solar cell therefore the car can trickle charge, direct that energy to the LED's and stereo equipment?
And why are we subsidizing cars as tax payers...
And another thing, what the heck with the parking spots that say for electric cars only...lol
Because the amount of square footage on the roof of a car, when used for a solar array, is a literal drop in the bucket compared to overall demand. Will it charge the batteries? Sure, so long as the weather is consistently perfect and you don't mind waiting a few weeks before you drive your car again. In the end, the benefits simply do not outweigh the added complexity and cost.
And as you allude to, EV's are indeed nothing new and have actually been around for a long time (turn of the last century, actually), however battery technology is where they have consistently hit roadblocks. Lead acid, the old standard, is simply not a viable option to achieve the weight and range requirements that people expect. Only in the last decade or so has battery technology got to the point where EV's are getting interesting again.
The original electic car made by GM was canned (hi Petrol lobbyist) and instead they introduced the Hummer.
So yes. We are behind on what we couldve learned so many years ago.
They have a see through solar panel now too, not as efficient as the traditional ones but if you start putting them on say.... car windows, all those buildings downtown...
You're gonna have a huge solar wave happening.
And why are they subsidizing and providing prime parking for them...well..to encourage them.
Just like HOV lanes promote carpooling and high occupancy, or express lane at grocery store promotes smaller amounts of groceries, or self-pay lanes promote autonomy, or nexus lanes at the border promote selling out your privacy
superfly999
Well-known member
If electric cars are so great and economical like everyone on here is saying why then:
a) are we needing incentives?
b) why isn't everyone lining up for these electric cars????
a) are we needing incentives?
b) why isn't everyone lining up for these electric cars????
Upfront cost too high for most people to afford it. Just like a lot of people are stuck renting cause home ownership requires a big upfront downpayment.
So incentives sweeten up the deal and might bring those cars into the "more affordable" area part of people's budgets.
In my mind people should be lining up for motorcycles too. Cheaper on gas. Often cheaper on insurance. Much more handling. Etc. But reality is, it's not everyone's cup of tea
plutoz
Well-known member
I talked to the MTO last year about why they weren't offering green plates / rebates to electric bikes (like the Zero). They are well aware of their existence, the market is just to tiny for them to bother. Based on the new rebates and bikes still not being included I guess nothing has changed. Plus I think they generally don't want to encourage bikes in Ontario as someone said previously. I don't think it is any fault of the manufacturers if the province was willing they would be all over it. They just don't see motorcycles as a viable solution to congestion. Given they are parked 2-4 months a year, I can't say I don't agree.
For the record I've had a Chevy Volt as our only family car since 2012, it is fantastic and I'd never go back to a gas-only car. I'm glad we didn't get a battery-only as we would have had to keep our gas car for going out of town. I have a Zero S as well, it is a fantastic bike but I doubt I'll ever be taking a road trip on it.
For the record I've had a Chevy Volt as our only family car since 2012, it is fantastic and I'd never go back to a gas-only car. I'm glad we didn't get a battery-only as we would have had to keep our gas car for going out of town. I have a Zero S as well, it is a fantastic bike but I doubt I'll ever be taking a road trip on it.
