Toyota is right about EVs after all...

[ElPaso Pilot]

I'll stick with our hybrid. Decent fuel "economy", a definite improvement over the range of anything else in the driveway. Now to figure out why the dealer orders all hybrids with hitch receiver. The Ford Escape hybrid is limited to a 1500 pound trailer, and a hitch receiver is a joke.

Bike racks.

 

[StraightnLevel]

Bike racks.

This, precisely. That's why you see a lot of smaller AWD vehicle with hitch receivers but no trailer wiring harness.

 

[FancyG]

Here's where it is: https://airbnb.com/h/casa-isa

I have 14kw in panels and 40kwh in batteries. I'm running lead acid batteries, because sometimes you have to buy what's available and understood by local suppliers and maintenance people. My electronics are from Outback Power.

Batteries are just awful. They are the single most expensive part of an off grid setup. They have a half life and need to be replaced. We have found a program from the federal government to bring power into rural areas, like ours, and have a meeting setup in two months. Hopefully we qualify for that and will get utility power sometime this year. If so, Mexico currently does net metering, which would mean that my panels will be able to bank tons of credits pushing power into the grid and the grid will act as a perfectly lossless battery.

This is the way: https://trophybattery.com/index.php/product/51-2v300e-3ul/

46kW/Victron charger and all peripherals minus cables for $20.6k

Dan is flat-out awesome to deal with and batteries have 10 year full replacement.

Plus your lithium batteries can be drawn down to a very low charge state compared to FLAs.

 

[SoonerAviator]

I'll stick with our hybrid. Decent fuel "economy", a definite improvement over the range of anything else in the driveway. Now to figure out why the dealer orders all hybrids with hitch receiver. The Ford Escape hybrid is limited to a 1500 pound trailer, and a hitch receiver is a joke.

You could still pull a 6x8 trailer with a riding lawn mower with it, or jet ski. Seems like what I'd typically see a crossover SUV towing (when I do see them with a trailer).

 

[StraightnLevel]

 

[Bill]

Near Tampa, so we got to see one in the flesh:

My imposing stature makes it seem small, but in the flesh it seems quite massive. Though I believe its overall dimensions are not far off from your typical pickup.

Sorry, but it reminds me of a bad 8th grade shop project.

 

[genna]

So, I spent some time calculating things. It's not exactly completely comparable due to differences in use and some EPA estimations. But it gives an overall picture.
Gas price: $3.55/Gal. Price has come down since.
Electricity price: $0.146/Kwh. Including delivery, taxes, fees and everything else that is per kwh Price recently went up.

Wall Charging(on the charger every time it's parked at home, even few minutes) test: 860 miles, 11.85 gallons of gas, 282 KWh. Average speed was 29.5mph. This comes to $0.0968/mile
Hybrid only(no plugging in) test: 298.6 miles, 11.46 gallons of gas(25.9mpg), 0 KWh. Average speed was 24.1mph. This comes to $0.1371/mile. This test was a lot less highway driving which I would expect to lower cost slightly. Interestingly, van gives you miles while engine is on, the rest is EV miles(even when regen) the split was 61%Gas/39%EV on this test.

For reference, EPA numbers
Gas only Pacifica: 22 mpg, $0.161/mile(the way I drive, I would expect that number to be lower for my use... Say 19mpg - $0.187/mile
Sienna Hybrid(No plug): 36mpg, $0.986/mile
Tesla Model X(ok, they are not in the same category, but it is the closest thing Tesla makes to a minivan): 0.32KWh/mile, $0.0467
VW Buzz(I can't find real numbers, but taking range/batt capacity at its face): about the same as Tesla(0.30-0.35kwh/mile) depending on configuration

Taking Gas Pacifica 22mpg as a base and using mostly EPA numbers, Sienna and my Pacifica(using plug) would save(assuming prices remain same- right) around $6200 over 100,000 miles. Tesla - $11,400

Is any of it worth it? Largely depends on use cases and priorities in my opinion.

 

[flyingbrit]

Now to figure out why the dealer orders all hybrids with hitch receiver. The Ford Escape hybrid is limited to a 1500 pound trailer, and a hitch receiver is a joke.

It facilitates using a receiver-mounted bicycle rack.