Stop being a slave to the pump. What I realized driving a V8 loaner.

[MidnightRivian]

This is what I realized when Rivian took away my ability to fill up a vehicle with fuel/energy for $15 and replaced it with a loaner v8 Jeep Wagoneer vehicle that instead needs $80 of dinosaur juice to fill up.


Stop being a slave to the pump.

I’m done with spending $80 at the pump every week to put 20-25 gallons into a vehicle that gets 15 mpg - 20 mpg.

im not here trying to save the environment

I’m here trying to save my wallet and I’m done with making the Saudis rich beyond their wildest dream.

I’m here trying to fill up my Fidelity brokerage account with the money I save on gas so I can retire early instead of helping the sheikh buy his 1st soccer team, 8th mansion and 13th Bugatti.

Stop being a slave to the pump in 2023.

Voluntary oil production cuts have just been extended. You can thank Russia and Saudi Arabia for that gift that keeps on giving.

Don’t even get me started on the 50 kW charger by my house that charges me a flat penny for unlimited charging session.

I’m not here to save the environment, I’m here to save my wallet first.

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[moosetags]

Very valid point. Thank you for sharing. That's about where I am.

Brian

 

[iansriv]

Well said. Now, if you could just share the location of that charger please (j/k).

 

[strykerwsu]

The problem is in 5 to 7 years I'm not so sure we all won't be paying close to the same from our electric companies. They have to increase production exponentially and that will cost pretty pennies.

If I was "king for a day", huge home solar incentives to make it less than $10k. Get everyone to help power the grid.

 

[MidnightRivian]

The problem is in 5 to 7 years I'm not so sure we all won't be paying close to the same from our electric companies. They have to increase production exponentially and that will cost pretty pennies.

If I was "king for a day", huge home solar incentives to make it less than $10k. Get everyone to help power the grid.

You can reduce (solar) / hedge (lock in 24 month rates) / subsidize (tax credits) the impact of rising energy prices or make the transition to clean/renewable energy.

Electricity can be created/transported a lot easier/faster and cheaper than fuel/dinosaur juice.

As solar panel efficiency goes up, the break even cost goes down. As the prices of energy rise, the break even for solar drops.

I rather take the risk of rising electricity rates instead of being a slave to the pump.

 

[itselectric]

Had a Jeep Compass rental for a 2,500 mile drive over Labor Day weekend. Everything about it was awful. Slow response, jerky transmission, dirty gas stations that charged $3.75+/gallon and we averaged 26.7mpg.

If we had our DM Rivian, charging costs would have been significantly lower because every POI and every hotel we stayed at happen to have free destination chargers.

We've completed a portion of this trip with our R1T last year and the experience is incomparable. Not to mention a far smoother and more comfortable ride.

Side note, was excited and surprised to see a handful of Rivians in Southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas. They are everywhere!

 

[moosetags]

We have been seeing a number of Rivians in Vermont and New Hampshire. We are a little surprised as the charging infrastucture is almost non existant here. Hopefully, that will be changing.

Brian

 

[fhteagle]

I’m here trying to save my wallet and I’m done with making the Saudis rich beyond their wildest dream.

After having flown private jets "over there" , I can confirm that no, the ~20,000 HRH's do not need any more money from us. But neither do Chevron, Exxon, BP, Shell, Texaco, etc.

Making our own low carbon sources of electricity is the way to go for the environment and for our financial health. That's as true for individuals as it is for entire states of people.

 

[Count Orlok]

you forgot: not being a slave to Iowa corn growers.

 

[COdogman]

I don’t care if someone goes electric because of their wallet, the performance or maintenance benefits, their hatred of oil companies, or their love of the environment. Just do it.

 

[docwhiz]

The problem is in 5 to 7 years I'm not so sure we all won't be paying close to the same from our electric companies. They have to increase production exponentially and that will cost pretty pennies.

If I was "king for a day", huge home solar incentives to make it less than $10k. Get everyone to help power the grid.

Solar and wind are cheaper now and cost will continue to drop as more installed.
OTOH, oil will stay high.

 

[Steve A.]

This is what I realized when Rivian took away my ability to fill up a vehicle with fuel/energy for $15 and replaced it with a loaner v8 Jeep Wagoneer vehicle that instead needs $80 of dinosaur juice to fill up.


Stop being a slave to the pump.

I’m done with spending $80 at the pump every week to put 20-25 gallons into a vehicle that gets 15 mpg - 20 mpg.

im not here trying to save the environment

I’m here trying to save my wallet and I’m done with making the Saudis rich beyond their wildest dream.

I’m here trying to fill up my Fidelity brokerage account with the money I save on gas so I can retire early instead of helping the sheikh buy his 1st soccer team, 8th mansion and 13th Bugatti.

Stop being a slave to the pump in 2023.

Voluntary oil production cuts have just been extended. You can thank Russia and Saudi Arabia for that gift that keeps on giving.

Don’t even get me started on the 50 kW charger by my house that charges me a flat penny for unlimited charging session.

I’m not here to save the environment, I’m here to save my wallet first.

EXACTLY! My commute (6-7 days/wk) is 100+ miles/day, so I used to fill up my Audi Q7 (premium unleaded only) every 4 days per week for $80-$90 per fill up, but it's such a pleasure to NOT have to waste time stopping for that.

Friday will be 12 weeks since I got my R1S on 6/16 which now has 7,700+ miles on it which would be ~19 fill ups in my Q7 costing ~$1,600+. After the 1st month of charging my R1S at home, my wife tried to give me a hard time about our electric bill going up $150+ which I pointed out would have been $650 in Q7 gas!

By my calculations, my R1S home charging costs ~$0.08/mile where as my Q7 costs ~$0.19/mile for GAS ONLY; i.e. not including oil/filter changes, tune ups, belts, hoses, transmission/differential fluid flush-n-fills, etc.

Not to mention that buying my R1S at *pre-order* pricing saved me $19k and I still got the $7,500 EV tax credit thanks to the pre-8/15/2022 purchase agreement loop-hole, so yeah it was a great *economic* move regardless of eco-ideology.

Plus, I'm self-employed, so I'll be writing off 100% of the purchase price via section 179 deduction ($6k+ lb SUV) this year and then taking the standard $0.656/mile business mile deduction which should be another $16k+ tax deduction this year.

Even w/o the pre-order pricing and EV tax credit, I don't know why every small business wouldn't be buying one and writing it off via section 179 deduction plus $0.655/mile.

As always, YMMV, and consult your professional tax advisor. ;-)

 

[JeremyMKE]

This is what I realized when Rivian took away my ability to fill up a vehicle with fuel/energy for $15 and replaced it with a loaner v8 Jeep Wagoneer vehicle that instead needs $80 of dinosaur juice to fill up.


Stop being a slave to the pump.

I’m done with spending $80 at the pump every week to put 20-25 gallons into a vehicle that gets 15 mpg - 20 mpg.

im not here trying to save the environment

I’m here trying to save my wallet and I’m done with making the Saudis rich beyond their wildest dream.

I’m here trying to fill up my Fidelity brokerage account with the money I save on gas so I can retire early instead of helping the sheikh buy his 1st soccer team, 8th mansion and 13th Bugatti.

Stop being a slave to the pump in 2023.

Voluntary oil production cuts have just been extended. You can thank Russia and Saudi Arabia for that gift that keeps on giving.

Don’t even get me started on the 50 kW charger by my house that charges me a flat penny for unlimited charging session.

I’m not here to save the environment, I’m here to save my wallet first.

Well said, having a rental ICE confirmed that I never want to go back. I am however acutely aware that I am a homeowner with a charger in my garage. If I was an apartment dweller and had to rely on public infrastructure my opinion might be different...

 

[Zybane]

People forget that electricity rates will only continue to rise, and states have caught onto EV's and now charge extra EV registration fee's and/or taxes. IMO EV's won't be any cheaper to operate than petrol vehicles in the next 5 years unless you have a ton of solar at home and don't always take long road trips.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

This reminds me of a plate I saw on an i3 (on YouTube) that spelled something like FOPEC.

we used the i3 as our daily for 6 years and thanks to a relatively short commute and it’s efficiency the cost is equivalent to running a space heater a couple hours a day. It wasn’t long after realizing that we made the decision to never go back to ICE.

On a somewhat related note, it’s another Ozone Action Day here in the colorado front range. Does anyone know if these achieve anything? I have a hard time believing that they make anyone drive less, in spite of the free bus fare….

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