Top electric chargers tips and tricks and energy technology Texas from Daniel Sumanth: Before going electric, it’s worth considering a few things. Do you have off-street parking, or charging facilities at work or available locally, and are most of your trips less than 80 miles? If the answer is no, you might find a plug in hybrid offers a better compromise. Why are electric cars so expensive? According to the latest 2022 findings from the Auto Trader Retail Price Index, most types of used cars’ average prices are slowing in growth while the average asking prices of electric vehicles (EVs) are jumping the trend, growing at a rate of 27.5% year-on-year in March 2022 for mainstream models. The average asking price for an electric vehicle is £23,361 – by far the highest out of all other types of powertrains. See even more information on Daniel Sumanth, TX
If your average daily mileage exceeds the range of your electric car, we’d advise you to think twice, but the occasional longer trip should be perfectly manageable. As the technology improves and the average range of electric cars grows, more and more people will find that they could live quite happily with an electric car. The list prices of electric cars can look expensive compared to equivalent petrol or diesel models, even when the Government’s plug-in car grant has been applied, but looks are very likely to be deceiving. List prices are just one part of the cost of vehicle ownership and the overall cost becomes much more palatable when you factor-in the relatively low running costs of EVs – often around 60% of those of a similar petrol model depending on usage patterns. As a general rule, charging an electric car is far cheaper than fueling a petrol or diesel one – even if you use more expensive public charging points.
Although pollution related to solar energy systems is far less compared to other sources of energy, solar energy can be associated with pollution. Transportation and installation of solar systems have been associated with the emission of greenhouse gases. There are also some toxic materials and hazardous products used during the manufacturing process of solar photovoltaics, which can indirectly affect the environment. Nevertheless, solar energy pollutes far less than other alternative energy sources.
Although some customers might still be a little hesitant about making the switch to electric power, one key advantage is that there is a greater selection than ever before. There are small, city car-sized EVs such as the Fiat 500, while Skoda’s capable Enyaq offers SUV practicality, and models from Porsche and Tesla offer plenty of prestige and pace. Also wading into the mix is the brilliant, yet controversial Ford Mustang-badged Mach-E SUV and of course, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 took our Car of the Year award for 2021. There are other benefits to pure-electric motoring besides the environmental credentials – you’ll be exempt from London’s congestion charge zone and from paying road tax. Electric cars still remain more expensive than their combustion engined counterparts to buy, even with the government’s plug-in car grant, but running costs have been shown to be as much as 60% less for electric cars than they are for pertol and diesel ones.
Solar energy has to be used right away, or it can be stored in large batteries. These batteries, used in off-the-grid solar systems, can be charged during the day so that the energy is used at night. This is a good solution for using solar energy all day long but it is also quite expensive. In most cases, it is smarter to just use solar energy during the day and take energy from the grid during the night (you can only do this if your system is connected to the grid). Luckily your energy demand is usually higher during the day so you can meet most of it with solar energy.
A generator for home use will require one of three fuel types: gasoline, diesel, or propane. (Note: you’ll also find duel-fuel generators.) Propane is by far the cleanest burning and it is also the safest to transport. A gasoline or diesel generator often stinks, even when not running. A propane generator does not. If your house has a propane tank, it may be possible to feed the generator directly from it. The downside to a propane generator is there are fewer models available. They’re also a little more temperamental to start because they require priming by opening for the gas and letting it flow for a few seconds.
The Mustang Mach-E is Ford’s first proper effort at a purpose-built electric car: designed to take on Tesla and beat it at its own game. It drives well enough to justify the Mustang badge, but at the same time it’s no hardcore sports car: it’s large and practical enough to fulfil the family SUV brief with ease. A variety of models are offered, with driving ranges from 249 to 379 miles, either rear or four-wheel drive and significant rapid-charging capability. But if you want more, there’s a high-performance GT model available now, too. Read our full review to find out more, and make sure to check out our head-to-head twin test between the Mach-E and the Tesla Model 3 here.
Those appliances in the household with the highest electricity demand are the dish washer, the washing machine, the tumble dryer and the kitchen stove. These can easily be equipped with timer switches, so that they run during the day, when the solar generator on the roof is producing a lot of output, which can be used directly. A high-wattage stove might be a challenge for PV by itself. In this case, a large storage unit (solar battery) can be used as a buffer for short-term load peaks. Because it is not just the number of kilowatt hours on the roof that has to be sufficient, but also the currents made available at short notice. This determines if a storage unit is designed for capacity (in kilowatt hours) or output (in kilowatts).