Going Green is Such a Deal

November 2008
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Going Green is Such a Deal

23 November 2008

George Rebane

Steve Monaghan is a sober man and a good county department manager, but his recent piece in The Union left my head spinning. Therein Steve states –

Nevada County now utilizes 11 hybrid vehicles to conduct business. It purchased its first all-electric, zero-emissions truck this month. This truck was 65 percent funded through a grant from the Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District. It will be able to reach 13 county facilities and has a 40-mile range per single electric charge.

An electric truck driven 5,000 miles per year at an estimated cost of $100 for electricity, realizing a $1,600 savings per year as compared to a gas-powered vehicle.

Let’s see now, $100 of electricity divided by 5,000 miles means that it will cost two cents a mile to drive that truck. Wow! where can I get me one of them trucks?

And if that saves $1,600 over a gas powered truck, then driving the 5,000 miles now costs $1,700 or 34 cents a mile. At $2/gallon (today’s price), this means that the county’s truck gets about six miles per gallon. Over the past year at a more normal $3/gallon, the truck would get about nine miles a gallon. Well OK, it’s a mite of a gas guzzler, but we’re not talking about a Prius here.

But it seems more than remarkable that the conversion from gasoline to electricity will yield a seventeen fold (94%) savings. This means that the county is getting one hell of a deal from PG&E on electricity, or someone at the Rood Center has been taking their smoking breaks in the Evidence Room at the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility.

No matter, let’s get some more of those trucks that are 65% funded by the good people of Ohio, and plug them into those great PG&E subsidized power outlets.

Posted in Nevada County

6 responses to “Going Green is Such a Deal”

DaveC

23 November 2008

Few people realize if they purchase a ZAP Electric Truck or sedan, the operator is required by law to posess a 3 wheel motorcycle license. A written DMV test and practical by a DMV examiner is required to get it. Here’s the problem: The person seeking the 3 wheel license has to bring his ZAP to the DMV for the practical test. That means it either has to be towed or trailered to the DMV, or driven by a licensed 3 wheel driver. Learners permits are not issued for 3 wheel vehicles or motorcycles.
I have seen a ZAP in action. They are noting more than enclosed golf carts. Top speed on a full charge is 25 MPH. It might be able to pull the hill on NC Highway from the Fowler Center to Banner, but would certainly not make the first grade going up Banner past Old Tunnel Road.

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Russ Steele

23 November 2008

I hope the electric vehicles bought by the County and Nevada City do not end up like the feel good buys of LNG busses and trollies. It turned out that they were under powered and not suitable for our hilly terrain, and were maintenance nightmares. My mother had an electric golf cart she used in the garden. When the batteries were new, the golf cart was fine, but once the batteries stated to get some time and miles on them, the cart did not go as far on a full charge and it seemed to carry less load. I hope this is not the case with these electric trucks.
Some of the electric cars in San Francisco that were supposed to go 40 miles on a charge. In the San Francisco hills they often could only go 20 miles on a charge due to the extra power needed to make it over those hills. Yes, I have heard the going down the hills are suppose to recharge the battery, but there is energy lost in the process.
The other issue is load capacity. What was the load carrying capacity of the truck this electric vehicle replaced? If that old truck could carry everything need for a job in one trip and it takes the electric truck several trips, the cost of ownership starts to climb rapidly once the drivers time is figured in making all those extra trips. Not knowing how this truck is going to be used, I can not make any estimates.

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Jeff Pelline

23 November 2008

Tks, but sounds like a rerun of an old sitcom. No solutions. How about the NCTC steps out of the box for some pragmatic, short term solutions. The county is just riding the wave — kind of like buying google (GOOG) in the go-go days. You can’t blame them for that. It’s up to the rest of us to “change the game.” In the meantime, I wish more Rotary members would pass “the four-way test.” Kind of like church: practice what you preach.

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Scott Obermuller

23 November 2008

My goodness! What a lot of kill-joys! There you go worrying about payloads and the ability to go uphill and who cares if it can’t go in the snow? The main thing is the higher moral ground that buying one of these carts puts us on. And from those lofty heights, it’s always downhill, no matter where you are headed. Can’t say that I’ve ever seen anything in the back of the county pickups anyway. Wait til Chavez and those Arabs and Persians see this! We’ll show ’em!

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Russ

23 November 2008

Hi Jeff,
I am not a Rotary Member, I found it too controlling for me personally. On the other hand it is a grand organization with a very challenging mission. I support them when ever I can.
How for stepping out to the box. I am all for it if it makes good engineering and scientific sense. When the NCTC was asked to approve the purchase of electric vehicles for Nevada City, I asked if anyone had studied the applications where they proposed to use these electric vehicles. Where they appropriate to the task they were being purchased for? I was informed no one knew of any studies. I vote no on the request, only one no vote out of seven. Later, I spoke to the Nevada City Engineer and he said there were no engineering studies done. My assessment, this was a feel good purchase with no scientific foundation.
The new Volkswagen diesels have demonstrated they can meet the California’s Tier II, Bin 5 air quality standards. The new Jetta is powered by a 2.0-liter four-banger that produces 140 hp and 236 lb.-ft. of torque, it will be the first automobile to meet California’s most stringent emission control standards. No truck version yet, but could a car do the electric vehicle job? Meter reading and Pioneer Park maintenance were the the Nevada City applications. The electric vehicle makes sense in the flat Park, a diesel car might make more sense in the meter reading case. Again, an engineering study could have provided insight to the best solution.

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Mikey McD

24 November 2008

I ditto Scott’s comments. I would only add the following: It warms my heart this holiday season to know that the tax dollars I leave my family to earn each day can go to such philanthropic and meaningful agendas as green trucks.

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