What does the looming ICE ban mean for BMW motorcycles?

[Wkoppa]

Unfortunately, when I had my solar system installed some time ago (6 years now I think…) I still had to be connected to the power grid so my solar only pumps energy back into the grid. Essentially giving me a credit on my power usage. I believe that since then, PG&E (Northern California energy provider) has exceptions where as long as you have some kind of storage system, you can pull your home off the grid but I’m not 100% sure on that and could be wrong.

As a result, I don’t charge my vehicles directly from my solar panels. I wish I could pull my home off the grid but since it’s part of a larger housing development that’s probably not likely. Maybe folks in more rural areas get the option./QUOTE]

I hope to get smarter on all this stuff. We live outside a small town and have a south facing roofline on a house heated with hot water natural gas heat. A perfect solar system would seem to be be something that first heats the water in the boiler, then feeds the electrical needs of the house, then to any vehicles or battery storage and lastly to the grid. If you have to feed the grid first I would rather they keep and maintain the solar someplace else and I would pay thru a transparent financial arrangement for them to do that. We have the space for ground mounts but I like the idea of a smaller footprint on the roof but that would raise accessibility issues.


Wayne Koppa
Grayling, MI
#71,449

 

[Omega Man]

I was wondering when/if this was going to be a casualty of electric vehicles-

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/10/business/media/am-radio-cars.html

Having a background in RF electronics, I’m prone to notice changes in devices whether it be a wall charger (wall wort) or a solar field.
It’s really difficult to “shield” a device from an adjacent electronic field- FCC Part 15. For some time I have noticed spurious emissions from the local solar field. Apparently this has moved into the AM radio feature in electric vehicles.
The “health” of your local solar field can easily be tested on your next drive by the field. Just tune to an AM- if your vehicle still has it, station as you approach.

OM

 

[ramble]

Are there ANSI or SAE type standards yet for E. wiring, connectors and appurtenance's ?

 

[Omega Man]

Are there ANSI or SAE type standards yet for E. wiring, connectors and appurtenance's ?

Not sure how standards integrated into these solar fields or how long past inspection to degradation. When the local Fire Department was having trouble with the “noise floor” on the RF monitor for the radio (pull) boxes, I alerted them to this spurious RF.
AM bands are close to the radio box frequencies.
Solar arrays have been tough on the Amateur (Ham) community as well.
OM

 

[Visian]

Unfortunately, when I had my solar system installed some time ago (6 years now I think…) I still had to be connected to the power grid so my solar only pumps energy back into the grid. Essentially giving me a credit on my power usage. I believe that since then, PG&E (Northern California energy provider) has exceptions where as long as you have some kind of storage system, you can pull your home off the grid but I’m not 100% sure on that and could be wrong.

As a result, I don’t charge my vehicles directly from my solar panels. I wish I could pull my home off the grid but since it’s part of a larger housing development that’s probably not likely. Maybe folks in more rural areas get the option./QUOTE]

You're talking about net metering, "returning power" to the grid rom solar for a credit. There's a lot of regulatory mish-mash that isn't worth going into here, and maybe that's why you couldn't get a setup to charge you car from your panels, but it should not be. I am guessing you have no storage battery.

The reason for my question is that we live in a rural neighborhood so we have to have backup/standby generation. When I sited our house, I positioned it to we could have solar panels charging a big-ass battery, which would charge bike and car, and serve as a standby generator when our grid power went off and the sun wasn't shining. Right now we have a Generac generator fueled by LP gas, which we also use to heat our house and cook.

The big-ass battery is the holdup, some are available, but they are expensive! And unless I have not found one yet, there are no off-the-shelf setups... everything is a custom brew, which I see as a big disadvantage.

There are some steps being made, for instance by Generac and Tesla, but the whole process of implementing a system appears to be big voo-doo, at least where I live.

I hope to get smarter on all this stuff. We live outside a small town and have a south facing roofline on a house heated with hot water natural gas heat. A perfect solar system would seem to be be something that first heats the water in the boiler, then feeds the electrical needs of the house, then to any vehicles or battery storage and lastly to the grid. If you have to feed the grid first I would rather they keep and maintain the solar someplace else and I would pay thru a transparent financial arrangement for them to do that. We have the space for ground mounts but I like the idea of a smaller footprint on the roof but that would raise accessibility issues.

I only know enough about this to be dangerous!

We plan to locate the panels off our roof (easier to install and maintain), and the battery in our garage... wired into the charging systems and into our house. I doubt we will ever be off our public grid, but hopefully this serves to reduce the overall demand on base generation plants.

I wish someone could help me design this for less than a $20k consulting fee...

 

[mikegalbicka]

Location can be a big factor for solar and it isn’t always what it appears. You would think Florida would be a prime location for solar. I prepared to make the leap about 5 years ago when a co-op finally came to our county offering to help save on costs. I spent a lot of time getting consulting and design work completed on a system only to find our locally owned electric company actually penalized you for going solar with their rate structure. This doubled the payback period for the system which made it infeasible. At the time the utility’s head man claimed this was coming to the rest of the nation because it was unfair to subsidize solar customers. He recently took another position out west but the disparity still exists for our city.

Reference solar price plan and demand charge at this link.

https://lakelandelectric.com/programs-and-services/solar

 

[Omega Man]

Unfortunately, any of this is only going to save just so much. The electric or gas distribution (infrastructure) needs what it needs and is a constant overhead. An example would be- locally when we have a water usage ban, the complaint is that the municipal water didn't sell enough water and rates have to go up.
It will be the same with the gas tax. As usage slows, there will be an increase somewhere to keep expected revenue flowing.

EV Overhead Charge- Electric Vehicles

Completely off the grid- gas and electric can help but all the "overhead" can't be avoided.

OM

 

[pglaves]

Unfortunately, any of this is only going to save just so much. The electric or gas distribution (infrastructure) needs what it needs and is a constant overhead. An example would be- locally when we have a water usage ban, the complaint is that the municipal water didn't sell enough water and rates have to go up.
It will be the same with the gas tax. As usage slows, there will be an increase somewhere to keep expected revenue flowing.

EV Overhead Charge- Electric Vehicles

Completely off the grid- gas and electric can help but all the "overhead" can't be avoided.

OM

If folks want roads they will need to pay for them one way or another. I just want bikes, cars, big trucks, and semi's to each pay their fair share for damage, deterioration, and service life of the roadways.

 

[Omega Man]

If folks want roads they will need to pay for them one way or another. I just want bikes, cars, big trucks, and semi's to each pay their fair share for damage, deterioration, and service life of the roadways.

Taking that a step further, I just want collected funds go where they are supposed to go and the highest quality work done with those funds.

OM

 

[mhigginbottom]

Wall Street Journal test of Zero DSRX (the adv version of the DSR)

This bike is way too heavy. It needs Toyota’s new battery. The writer also mentions the lack of a clutch which reduces control on rough/soft surfaces, where feathering the clutch is essential.

The standard DSR is such a sweet bike and less heavy (but still borderline heavy). Yet my main fear is putting $25k into a bike just to see it’s battery technology become passé in just a few years.

That said, for shorter rides, the DSR is an exceptional experience. Riding in near silence on twisty mountain roads is a real treat.

I am thinking hard about the Zero FX, which costs less but does less, too. Also thinking I’ll wait and see what HoYaKaSu will come out with. BMW does not seem to be in the picture, maybe they will surprise us with the 100th anniversary bike.

Over on YouTube, there is a great vlog series by a rider from Berlin who rode from Germany to the UK and then did the NC500 in Scotland and a partial WAW in Ireland on a Zero SR/F. Nice young man and I think he gives a balanced perspective on EV M/C touring. He has an entertaining channel called Marc Travels.

 

[rangerreece]

Gentleman’s wager

Anyone care to make a gentleman’s wager (steak dinner) that all ICE will be banned by 2030? Anything less than a total ban will simply be a transfer of power from the people to the elites.

ICE ban would need to include:

Tanks
Aircraft
Spacecraft
Cargo ships
Semi trucks
Police vehicles
Fire trucks
Busses
Political motorcades.
(Basically any and every fossil fuel based engine)

If we’re just talking about banning only the people’s mode of transportation, this whole thread is academic, circular, intellectual masturbation, and not a rational discussion, as it’s environmental impact would be moot.

My position, like the Y2K reference I made earlier, 2030 will come and go and we will still be using Internal Combustion Engines, and those that advocated for their ban will rationalize or “forget” this conversation even happened.

At the current rate a steak dinner in 2030 may cost $500, so it might be worth paying up early if you think you’re going to loose.

 

[mhigginbottom]

Well, the MOA has spoken with pure hyperbole so might as well close this thread as any further discussion about BMW EV M/Cs is a waste of time.

 

[RadioFlyer]

The MOA will be challenged to find rally sites having a sufficient number of chargers to accomodate those who wish to camp on site.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

 

[henzilla]

The MOA will be challenged to find rally sites having a sufficient number of chargers to accomodate those who wish to camp on site.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

You’re funny tonight!

 

[exgman]

 

[pglaves]

The MOA will be challenged to find rally sites having a sufficient number of chargers to accomodate those who wish to camp on site.

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

It is hard enough to find enough electrons for all the CPAP machines.

 

[easy]

It is hard enough to find enough electrons for all the CPAP machines.

Great comment! One of the funniest I've read in a good while.

E.

 

[jammess]

Anyone care to make a gentleman’s wager (steak dinner) that all ICE will be banned by 2030? Anything less than a total ban will simply be a transfer of power from the people to the elites.

ICE ban would need to include:

Tanks
Aircraft
Spacecraft
Cargo ships
Semi trucks
Police vehicles
Fire trucks
Busses
Political motorcades.
(Basically any and every fossil fuel based engine)

If we’re just talking about banning only the people’s mode of transportation, this whole thread is academic, circular, intellectual masturbation, and not a rational discussion, as it’s environmental impact would be moot.

My position, like the Y2K reference I made earlier, 2030 will come and go and we will still be using Internal Combustion Engines, and those that advocated for their ban will rationalize or “forget” this conversation even happened.

I completely agree, 2030 will just come and go and not much will have changed. No politician in their right mind, that wants to remain in office, will ever address the true cause of global warming that being there is just way too many of us creatures on planet earth. Some how I think ma nature will come up with a solution if we as a specie don't. With luck I won't be around.

 

[Visian]

Well, the MOA has spoken with pure hyperbole so might as well close this thread as any further discussion about BMW EV M/Cs is a waste of time.

One of the important distinctions we made when starting this forum is that Board members would participate here as members, not as “officials.”

Here, Reece is just another member, so please treat him like one.

 

[RadioFlyer]

One of the important distinctions we made when starting this forum is that Board members would participate here as members, not as “officials.”

Here, Reece is just another member, so please treat him like one.

There should also be a rule that if a mod participates in a thread as a member then that mod is precluded from acting as a mod in that thread.