No More Gasoline! No Fossil Fuels!
 

We sold our last gasoline car about a month ago. It was a 2008 Scion xD, with about 120,500 miles on it.

We now have three electric cars, and one electric / pedal hybrid - Bolt EV, e-Golf, Smart EQ, and better.bike PEBL. I will try to take a photo of all four. We are happy to not buy any more gasoline!

With our 10.1kWh solar PV system producing about half of the electricity we use; and all the electricity we buy from the grid comes from 100% renewable sources. We are paying a bit over 2¢/mile for driving, and none of our electric cars have needed any regular service.

We pay about 21¢/kWh total for electricity - that is almost 2X the national average. So, many of you could drive for 1¢/mile - or less. We also heat primarily with mini splits, and once we insulate our house better, we may even be able to drive virtually for free.

Very cool news Neil. Congrats!

Yeah buying gas sucks.
Getting a plug in hybrid hyundai sonata by this weekend.
Because we still go out of town occasionally.
Aside from road trips probably use nearly 0 gasoline too.

Still a decade away
 

I have a small off-grid system, and no highway-capable EV as yet. A solar project/hobby ...

It's great to hear you guys are making progress on the no-gas goal!

.. but cheap, slow-pokes like me ... with cold weather, rough roads and >120 mile trips ... will be another decade before we achieve no-gas ..

It's a journey ...

I should also mention, I have had all electric yard tools for quite a while. My last gasoline tool was a snowblower. Unfortunately, the electric snow blowers (2) have not been very robust, and I am still looking for a long term electric solution.

A shovel? ba-dum *ch*

Thank you, thank you--I'll be here all night.

May 7 be will mark the 12th anniversary of no more gasoline for me.

You want a good electric snow blower?
Going to have to build one. A 3hp, 2 pole, 240v single phase 56TC frame motor might get you stated. A decent one runs around $250. Gasoline and electric motors are generally standardized. Chances are that snow blower uses a 5/8'' shaft motor. Does it use a belt coming off the motor or go into a gear box?
I used to have mostly electric tools when I lived in the city, then i moved to the country, got more land then got electric vehicles.
Still use the electric chain saw, electric pole saw, wood chipper, electric weed eater and hedge trimmer. Left the electric lawn mower at the rental house.
I would really like an electric pressure washer, but ones that don't suck and could almost match the performance of my 7hp gasoline one start over $1,000.

Yar. Big motor with a big battery pack or a long cord, probably fitted to an ex-gasoline snowblower in place of the engine...

How about no fossil fuels?

I have progressed to an electric trimmer (purchased, not built), an electric UTV (or side-by-side .. purchased surplus and in the process of rebuiild) for hauling/planting/fertilizing/etc, and an electric push mower (rebuilt from surplus, running on a pack of 3 leaf cans).

I still need to tackle pushing snow in winter (gas quad with blade), mowing 2 acres of yard (zero turn gas mower) and of course a reliable EV for every day use (The Mazda in my signature has little chance of passing the insurance inspection - it does not meet the enclosed battery cage/vented outside the cabin requirement ... which did not exist when I started the project)

Our electricity in Saskatchewan is 95% Coal ... my house is heated with natural gas .. and I have a wood fireplace .. so fossil fuel free is not a near-term thing for me.

When I get the Mazda running, I may just go off-roading for the fun of it and see how far I can get before I break something that prevents it from running at all ;) It's been a long and expensive project, and I have to get SOMETHING out of it! I can't bring myself to just strip out the parts and then try to find somewhere to store them until the next project :(

No plastic in your shoes, your bicycle, etc, right?

No graphite (coal) in the batteries?

When did they start making graphite from coal?

Graphite may be derived from oil - but it isn't used as a fuel in batteries.
If oil was only used to make graphite for batteries we won't ever run out.

About 1% of the coal mined is graphite grade.
Lots of sources other than coal.
I'm just giving him a hard time.
The graphite used in the batteries could come from any number of sources. Most of the man made sources appear to be petro chemical industry related.