Wordle 377

 

Even If Electricity Were Free, It Would Still Not Pay To Buy An Electric Car

The least expensive Tesla, the Model 3 costs about $10,000 more than a Toyota, Corolla.  Even if electricity was free, how long would it take to break-even?

Let's say gasoline is $3.33/gallon.  $10k will buy you 3,000 gallons.  At 30 miles per gallon, this is 90,000 miles.  Okay, so it's possible and this doesn't take into account the lost income from waiting 9-10 years to get your $10k back.

But electricity isn't free...

Our latest bill,  (I ignored all the prices, calculations, delivery surcharges and so forth, I just looked at the KWH and the total cost.) reflects a cost of 43 Cents/KWH.  Using Tesla's claims about the storage capacity of their batteries and the range of the Model 3, we get 4 miles/KWH, so 12 Cents/mile.

If gasoline costs $3.33, a 28 MPG car will cost 12 Cents/mile.

You will never break even!

You will spend $10k, for less range, fewer and slower re-fueling and the same operating cost as a conventional car.

If you live someplace with cheap electricity, remember--even it it was free, you're still driving 90,000 miles before you break-even.

Wordle 376

 After #2, I really thought I had a chance at making a 3, but it was not to be.

Wordle 375

 

Wordle 374

 

Wordle 373

 

Wordle 372

 

Wordle 371

 

Wordle 370

 

Wordle 369

 I think this shows that I am an enlightened man, if not a feminist.

Wordle 368

 

Wordle 367

 

Wordle 366

 

Wordle 365

 One whole year!

Not a single day missed, including much travel, some of which was very remote.

15 losses, today came close to making that 16!

Wordle 364

 

More Discord Midjourney

 

Wordle 363

 A rare 2!

Wordle 362

 15th loss!

Wordle 361

 

Have Axe, Will Travel

This is sort-of a cross between a business plan and a philosophy.  The idea came to me from two directions:  

First, I normally jog past a house which had a pile of un-split tree trunk rounds.  The pile recently disappeared, but had been there for at least a couple of years.  A high school kid could probably earn enough on the job of splitting that pile of fire-wood as it would cost for a decent splitting axe.  

The second direction was my own experience of tree-work.  I cut down trees, on my own suburban lot, because trees need to be removed and doing it myself is much less expensive than hiring a service.  Even so, I wouldn't bother cutting down trees if I couldn't make use of the wood.  I solved this problem by installing a wood burning stove. 

There are 4, (5 if you count the process of burning wood in the stove) main jobs in tree work.

1.  Cutting down the tree.  This is unpleasant.  It involves the use of a chain saw, which is loud, vibrates, spews sawdust everywhere, constantly needs to be repaired, fueled, gassed and oiled and gives off noxious fumes.  Plus, it's really dangerous to operate such a device. Finally, it's really stressful since many trees can fall in ways which could cause damage to property, or death.

2.  Cutting up the tree:  Pretty much all the above applies, except that you can't really damage property.

3. Splitting the wood.  This is actually fun, gives a good workout and isn't particularly dangerous.

4. Hauling and stacking wood.  This is satisfying too.  You get to see a pile of firewood build from nothing to a year's supply.

So, what's the philosophy part of all this?  Most of us have jobs that don't require any physical strength or endurance.  It feels good to use bone, sinew, skill and endurance.  It feels good to be mildly out of breath and have a damp forehead on a cool fall day.  Not just physically good; good like...connected to nature, your own physicality, doing something productive that's tangible.

I think the world would be a better, happier place if everyone did this kind of work a few times per week.  Especially men.  For people who already spend all day, every day, on backbreaking work; they could use more breaks, more time to do mind-work.