Debating canceling my order

[AndyH]

Yeah, this should be moved to another thread... the T Boone Pickens fan club!

Not unless they're buying or driving CNG 18-wheelers...

 

[SanDust]

The good news is that I went to look at the Honda Civic GX CNG car, and I found it to be quite hassle-free. I canceled my AV installation today, and as soon as I locate the right Honda Civic, I'll be canceling my Leaf order. It's bizarre now that the delivery is so close, but I'm completely disgusted with PG&E+electrical contractors. Even the Honda salesman was more competent.

CNG is a great solution. Not for me, I love the sound of silence, but great nonetheless. My only concern would be that the solenoids seem to give out pretty quickly. This should be no big deal but the solenoid is in the tank and Honda won't reinstall an old tank -- it will only put in a new one -- so you have to replace the whole tank. That's a big bill, about the cost of a battery pack. LOL

But the home charger is convenient.

 

[evchels]

Googler,

I'm assuming you've talked to someone at PG&E about all of the different EV scenarios but if not, here's the contact info:

www.pge.com/electricvehicles/
877-743-7782
[email protected]

I also agree with others that in many cases it's the tiered rates that make more of a difference than TOU (though for every rule...) Certainly the best case scenario is to separately meter the car if you can do it- most EV drivers do. It gives you the TOU incentives for charging the car at night, and keeps the car from pushing the rest of your house into the higher tiers. I couldn't tell from the thread why that's not an option for you?

(If the issue is finding an electrician up there, there are enough EV drivers that can be polled...)

However, it's true that while each utility has a few different rate options for EV drivers, there's still work to be done on this front- especially for those who can't get a separate meter. We ended up in that came (are on whole house TOU) and were therefore very concerned about the effect of tiered rates as well as the on-peak usage since there are generally 1-2 people home during the day. We have made an effort to be conservative until we see what the full effect is, and to push as much use as possible into off-peak times, using the timers on appliances, etc. It's only one data point, but I wrote up our experience so far here: http://bit.ly/hWVfmL

Ultimately, the utilities would like to see revenue-grade meters in the EVSEs, which would effectively serve as separate meters for everyone. This is expected to happen ~2014. Meanwhile, I and others continue to push for discussion on alternative rate scenarios. There are a couple that are reasonably simple, promising options, but it's a matter of what can be implemented in the near-term.

 

[electriclarry]

I wonder after waiting like most a lot of you over year when the car comes through in April? May? or June if the CVRP rebate is not NSF, then choice is really easy. If the CVRP is NSF or collecting is in doubt such as a waiting list, well then the Leaf is NOT the only choice anymore. Can one of you higher up in the pecking order do a poll

When you get the call from your dealer and you find the CVRP is NSF, exhausted or in doubt I will

1. Buy the car anyway
2. Might buy the car
3. Not sure
4. Most likely will not buy
5. Will not buy