Synthetic Oil

Oil of Choice

  • Castrol Syntec/Edge

    Votes: 233 8.4%
  • Royal Purple

    Votes: 325 11.7%
  • AMSOil

    Votes: 396 14.3%
  • Valvoline Synpower

    Votes: 160 5.8%
  • Mobil 1

    Votes: 992 35.9%
  • Other

    Votes: 660 23.9%

  • Total voters
    2,766

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Burla

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Some interesting info, 471,426 fully-electric vehicles were sold to American car buyers in 2021. Mind you this is a 83% increase in fully-electric vehicle sales since 2020. Pretty impressive? However, Jan 31, 2022 In 2021, a little under 15.4 million heavy trucks, light trucks, and cars were sold to customers in the United States. Light trucks accounted for about 75 percent of U.S. motor vehicle sales that year. So it seams as if America is still believing gas is the best option for their families but some are moving over. Don't get political please, I find this interesting and am on the record for considering electric myself. Unfortunately for me personally, when I first was considering it not that long ago 34k could buy you a brand new tesla. Now that entry level is over 50k dollars with long range option, I am a little puzzled as we were promising the price of ev's would be going down, that certainly isnt the case. I thought this was good news, just seams like an all around healthy automobile market all the way around. People seam to simply want pick up trucks, that is still where the most demand is.
 

huntergreen

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Some interesting info, 471,426 fully-electric vehicles were sold to American car buyers in 2021. Mind you this is a 83% increase in fully-electric vehicle sales since 2020. Pretty impressive? However, Jan 31, 2022 In 2021, a little under 15.4 million heavy trucks, light trucks, and cars were sold to customers in the United States. Light trucks accounted for about 75 percent of U.S. motor vehicle sales that year. So it seams as if America is still believing gas is the best option for their families but some are moving over. Don't get political please, I find this interesting and am on the record for considering electric myself. Unfortunately for me personally, when I first was considering it not that long ago 34k could buy you a brand new tesla. Now that entry level is over 50k dollars with long range option, I am a little puzzled as we were promising the price of ev's would be going down, that certainly isnt the case. I thought this was good news, just seams like an all around healthy automobile market all the way around. People seam to simply want pick up trucks, that is still where the most demand

60000 dollar vehicle cost. Electric hook up at home cost, and soon the upcoming mileage tax. This won’t be cheap.
 

Different Drummer

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Some interesting info, 471,426 fully-electric vehicles were sold to American car buyers in 2021. Mind you this is a 83% increase in fully-electric vehicle sales since 2020. Pretty impressive? However, Jan 31, 2022 In 2021, a little under 15.4 million heavy trucks, light trucks, and cars were sold to customers in the United States. Light trucks accounted for about 75 percent of U.S. motor vehicle sales that year. So it seams as if America is still believing gas is the best option for their families but some are moving over. Don't get political please, I find this interesting and am on the record for considering electric myself. Unfortunately for me personally, when I first was considering it not that long ago 34k could buy you a brand new tesla. Now that entry level is over 50k dollars with long range option, I am a little puzzled as we were promising the price of ev's would be going down, that certainly isnt the case. I thought this was good news, just seams like an all around healthy automobile market all the way around. People seam to simply want pick up trucks, that is still where the most demand is.
I think a major factor is what the vehicle will be called upon to do for the owner. Perhaps accompanied by how much any individual is willing to adjust their personal desires and needs in a vehicle.
In 2017 the Admiral and I both purchased new vehicles. Hers is a Prius Prime. Mine was my present RAM truck. I will say that her Prius has functioned flawlessly and served her needs admirably. We charge using 120 V and honestly don't notice the effect it has on the electric bill. Because it has hybrid capability she does use it to visit her family in another State. The car has all the bells and whistles. So much so that there are features that she does not use or perhaps is not even aware of. This may sound unbelievable but we visit a gas station about four times a year. And I believe the fuel capacity is around 10 gallons. I will not let her fill the tank because I worry about how long the fuel will sit and age. I drive it for errands around town and have even driven it long distance when we travel together to visit family out of State. However, 150 miles is about the limit for my 6 foot 3 inch 210 pound build.
It is a great little car ( Key word being little). In 2017 the price was quite reasonable. Add the State and Federal incentives and tax credits and it was a no brainer decision at the time.
My RAM has functioned just as reliably and as one might guess, it serves an entirely different role in our lives. Our two long trips a year, Newfoundland in the summer and Florida in the winter are always made in the RAM. Like the Prius it has adequate bells and whistles. It allows us to bring what we want with us, returns very reasonable fuel mileage for a truck and most importantly is VERY comfortable to travel in. 500 mile days are doable even for an old fart like me.
We are a very long ways from building an all electric vehicle that will be able to perform what my truck does for me.
I guess we are a "hybrid family" when it comes to our motor vehicles.
 

Wanted33

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The biggest problem I have is where I live. I live in the Historic District of our town. With that comes a historic power grid that's will go down if a rat pees on cotton. I can just imagine what would happen if just half the homes on my grid plugged up at the same time. Once again we are getting the cart before the horse. But hell, that's what politicians and many Americans do. They never think anything out to a logical conclusion.
 

Burla

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Yeah, I had solar on my last house, it can easily support a vehicle, but we moved to the country and don't have another 35k extra. Solar gives you the ability to go offgrid even if you are in the city, pretty amazing imo. Not saying it is the answer for the "worlds" problems, but it does work. Even on rainy days they produce electricity. If my wife talks me into a tesla, it is gonna have to come with a move where we take the money out of the property and invest in solar. My solar panels produced 2k -3k a year in energy. At a cost of 35 grand it is a long term play, I did get like $6600 off that fed cut, but still it wasnt cheap. I would do it again, not that I am green minded, I really could care less, but I like the fact I can go offgrid during the power shut offs :)
 

Hemi395

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The biggest problem I have is where I live. I live in the Historic District of our town. With that comes a historic power grid that's will go down if a rat pees on cotton. I can just imagine what would happen if just half the homes on my grid plugged up at the same time. Once again we are getting the cart before the horse. But hell, that's what politicians and many Americans do. They never think anything out to a logical conclusion.
This is exactly the problem we have here. The electric grid is so antiquated it can barely keep up with the demand in the summer as is. You go and add a bunch of fast chargers to people's houses plus public ones and you have a recipe for an extended blackout. I can see EVs being practical in the city and suburbs. But in rural America they're just not practical as of 2022.

When they come out with an EV pickup that can tow more and has more range while towing than a diesel truck, I'll consider it. Until then, EVs just don't fit my needs. And it seems I'm not alone.
 
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HEMIMANN

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We worked on next gen batteries in the military (after AGM), the holy grail being power density.
Let me tell you, that's where the expense is.

Just about anyone can make an efficient VFD motor now.

Add application requirements like cab heater in arctic climates, in addition to loss of capacity in the cold to begin with, and you get a short range with frequent recharging.
I'm not pro anything but physics. I know, I know, we should all move or die north of Missouri.
 
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Burla

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they or should I say we, will have to come up with a way to recycle these batteries. I thought maybe lead acid would be easier to recycle, but I see that is an error from what I'm reading.

Studies have predicted that by 2040, there will be more than 7 million tonnes of EV batteries that need recycling. As more of us make the switch to electric power, the need for recycling facilities grows

if we cant figure this out we might run out of EV batteries before we run out of ground oil.
 

HEMIMANN

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they or should I say we, will have to come up with a way to recycle these batteries. I thought maybe lead acid would be easier to recycle, but I see that is an error from what I'm reading.

Studies have predicted that by 2040, there will be more than 7 million tonnes of EV batteries that need recycling. As more of us make the switch to electric power, the need for recycling facilities grows

if we cant figure this out we might run out of EV batteries before we run out of ground oil.

I thought lead acid was simple to recover? Just need to de-sulfate the lead plate or mesh?

It's the lithium metal hydride that's difficult. Embedded conductive metal fragments within the lithium matrix.
 

HK1837

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Batteries, batteries. It is battery technology that needs to improve in leaps and bounds. EV's and DC motors are fine and ready to go, but need batteries to catch up big time. Once this happens internal combustion engines will be essentially obsolete outside of enthusiast circles or specialty applications - like the bulk of steam engines. Home storage off solar will increase big time once the better storage appears. And it may not be a "battery" as we know it. Remember a pumped storage dam is a battery. So is a Hydrogen fuel cell or Hydrogen gasification of Natural gas. Which one comes to the front, only the next decade or so will tell. There is a genius out there in High School right now that will have an idea that solves this.
 

HEMIMANN

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Batteries, batteries. It is battery technology that needs to improve in leaps and bounds. EV's and DC motors are fine and ready to go, but need batteries to catch up big time. Once this happens internal combustion engines will be essentially obsolete outside of enthusiast circles or specialty applications - like the bulk of steam engines. Home storage off solar will increase big time once the better storage appears. And it may not be a "battery" as we know it. Remember a pumped storage dam is a battery. So is a Hydrogen fuel cell or Hydrogen gasification of Natural gas. Which one comes to the front, only the next decade or so will tell. There is a genius out there in High School right now that will have an idea that solves this.

= Potential Energy Density
 

grizzstang

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I don't see the forced roll out of EV's going well for all the reasons listed above already.

In Canada we also get the added benefit of vast distances in between towns and cities and brutal cold that diminishes battery capacity.

Our electric grid is nowhere near ready either. Last summer we were maxed out because everyone was trying to run their AC due to our hot summer.

If we can't keep pace when people run fans and AC in the summer I can imagine what will happen when everyone plugs in their EV when they get home and starts pulling 7200 watts at the same time.
 

Hemi395

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Oh yeah so the other thing i forgot to mention is having worked in the cable industry for 15 years, I got a lot of info from the electricians and lineman during that time. When you have a fast EV charger installed in your house, you will need a separate 100amp service line brought to your house if you are already maxing your current service line out. In some cases that will necessitate addition of an additional transformer. And then that may lead them to run a primary down your street if there isn't one there. Which will then make the local substation have to upgrade components. And on and on.

It's not going to be a simple "let's switch everything to EVs" like they're selling it as. The infrastructure just isn't there. For example, some of our electric lines here are from the 50s. And because we're basically a long curved sandbar, the geography here doesn't support the traditional "grid" that most electric systems can have. It's basically a big series line to the end thats at its capacity currently.

As I said before, I think the potential is there for EVs to be viable for everyone. But battery technology, recycling technology, and the electric infrastructure will need a WHOLE lot of of advancement before they will replace the ICE.

Side note, 4200 miles on 0w40 SS and Whisper quiet:cool:
 

Burla

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Oh yeah so the other thing i forgot to mention is having worked in the cable industry for 15 years, I got a lot of info from the electricians and lineman during that time. When you have a fast EV charger installed in your house, you will need a separate 100amp service line brought to your house if you are already maxing your current service line out. In some cases that will necessitate addition of an additional transformer. And then that may lead them to run a primary down your street if there isn't one there. Which will then make the local substation have to upgrade components. And on and on.

It's not going to be a simple "let's switch everything to EVs" like they're selling it as. The infrastructure just isn't there. For example, some of our electric lines here are from the 50s. And because we're basically a long curved sandbar, the geography here doesn't support the traditional "grid" that most electric systems can have. It's basically a big series line to the end thats at its capacity currently.

As I said before, I think the potential is there for EVs to be viable for everyone. But battery technology, recycling technology, and the electric infrastructure will need a WHOLE lot of of advancement before they will replace the ICE.

Side note, 4200 miles on 0w40 SS and Whisper quiet:cool:

Oh man, that is huge. They wont even allow that here, i tried for a second home, they wont allow a separate service or even more amps unless it is a business zone. The best you can do is get a board with 10 extra amps, like thanks for nothing? guess I need to do more research.
 

Burla

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this is ugly, maybe they don't know the numbers? Which makes no sense, they should be adding jobs? I changed my mind today, if the wife wants an EV she can get one when she is single, lol.

Ford reportedly preparing to slash 8,000 jobs to help fund EV transition​

 
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