Local Man Surprised Electric Cars Use Electricity

"CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever" (carsoffortlangley)
10/21/2020 at 13:49 • Filed to: None

Sometimes.... Jesus christ people are dumb.

Quote from the article:

A Rosedale man thought he was doing his part to help the environment and fight global warming when he bought a Chevy Bolt.But his latest BC Hydro bill has Brian Chwiendacz questioning his decision.Chwiendacz was shocked to see a charge of $287.86 after paying $89.05 and $90.87 on his two previous bills.“We charge the car at home and use our electricity,” he said. “But we were never told, ‘Oh thank you for going green, but the government will now make you pay for that.’ How does this make sense?”

For context, we buy our power from a government corp. For the most part at least.

Not only is this guy an idiot, the fact that he wants to be rewarded with free power forever for buying a Chevy Bolt is the most head-in-ass arrogant way of thinking.

DISCUSSION (79)

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 13:49

https://www.theprogress.com/news/rosedale-man-sees-significant-spike-in-bc-hydro-bill-after-purchasing-electrical-vehicle/

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 13:51

This is the same type of idiot who would buy a Hummer H2 and complain about how poor the fuel economy was.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 13:51

That’s hilarious.

For Sweden > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 13:53

That seems like a larger-than-expected increase in electricity costs though

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 13:54

The Chilliwack reporter didn’t consider asking the guy what he’d spend per month in gasoline prior?

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
10/21/2020 at 13:54

More like “wait I have to pay for the gas?”

CB > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 13:54

Wow. There are no words for how dumb this guy is.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 13:54

Now see how much you would have spent on gas during the same time frame. Some people. . .

Should have bought the hybrid. I heard those don’t require electricity OR gas.

412GTI > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 13:54

r/nottheonion

VincentMalamute-Kim > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 13:56

These people have political opinions and vote.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > For Sweden
10/21/2020 at 13:57

What likely happened is that we have a tier based system. You pay a higher rate per kwh after using a certain number of them. Who knows, this guy could have been right on the border of tier 1/tier 2.

Also, maybe he’s working from home and seeing a larger increase in electric heating/power costs?

So many variables.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 13:58

My last house had no natural gas line and my natural gas bill was zero dollars. Now at this house, just because I HAPPEN to have natural gas and HAPPEN to use it daily, I’m now getting billed for it?! How is it fair to get billed for something I never had to pay for before? How does that makes sense?

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > VincentMalamute-Kim
10/21/2020 at 13:59

At least we know which way he’s gonna vote with the “why can’t the government just pay for this?” line of thinking.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
10/21/2020 at 14:00

To be fair, my last house had NG for heating/hot water heat and my current place was is all electric. My first power bill nearly gave me a stroke.

But, I get you pay for what you use.

Milky > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 14:03

Lol “hydro bill”, when referring to electric part of the bill. My ex said that, forgot it was a Canadian thing. She made fun of me for asking for the check when asking for the bill.

Thomas Donohue > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 14:06

I lived in a condo once that had electric heat, stove, clothes dryer, etc.

I’m a big fan of ‘ Natural’ gas now.

Thomas Donohue > For Sweden
10/21/2020 at 14:07

Would have been a better story if he had average-usage monthly payment plan, and six months from now there was a true-up of $1500+

dogisbadob > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 14:09

Yeah he was shocked

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 14:09

It’s always best to drive your car to town and use a public charger.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Thomas Donohue
10/21/2020 at 14:10

I miss fossil fuel.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Milky
10/21/2020 at 14:12

At least in BC “hydro” is accurate. nearly 100% of our power is hydroelectric

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 14:13

Nah, he sounds more like an “All taxation is theft” kinda guy. Because roads and shit just happen...

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
10/21/2020 at 14:18

Life hacks

My apartment doesn’t meter water or gas use, only electric. We get billed a $15 a month utility fee. The heat is electric baseboard.

But the water heater in the basement is gas, not electric

So guess how I actually heat this place? Hint, it’s very bad for the environment

onlytwowheels > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 14:18

Kinja'd!!!

Goggles Pizzano > CB
10/21/2020 at 14:19

It’s not how dumb he is that gets me . What gets me is that someone this dumb can afford a new vehicle and probably owns his home. What does he do for a living?

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 14:29

the fact that he wants to be rewarded with free power forever for buying a Chevy Bolt is the most head-in-ass arrogant way of thinking.

Clearly he should’ve bought one of the earlier Teslas that get free supercharger access for life! He already has the arrogance to go with it!

ranwhenparked > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 14:29

I had to double check to make sure this wasn’t the Babylon Bee or The Onion, nope, 100% real.

What he ought to do is add up how much gasoline he was buying per month before the Bolt and how much his old electric bill was, and compare that to his electric bill alone now. I mean, unless you’re 100% off the grid with entirely your own solar panels or your own private nuclear reactor in the basement or something, you’re going to be buying energy from somewhere, and it isn’t going to ever be free.

I moved from a house with propane heat to one with oil heat. My propane bill fell to zero, but my oil bill is now way higher than the $0 it used to be, that doesnt seem fair, free energy please, I'm entitled.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Goggles Pizzano
10/21/2020 at 14:31

I mean, he lives in Chilliwack and sounds like a boomer. He could have purchased that house for $5 in 1982 and work managing the produce section of an IGA.

NYankee1927 > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 14:32

It is eye opening when you see the electric costs that come with a car. We are currently having the problem where there are 2 new electric cars in the family. Due to some SW and user bugs, they ended up getting charged during peak usage hours. With that, it kicked us into the “high user” category. Now that we are in the high user category, PG&E won’t let us get on the electric car plan that incentivizes charging during off peak hours. So right now we are paying almost what you’d pay in gas to charge the cars. Thanks and fuck you C alifornia.

CB > Milky
10/21/2020 at 14:32

It’s not a completely Canadian thing. People need an explainer when I mention hydro in Saskatchewan.

Ermahgerd! > For Sweden
10/21/2020 at 14:36

Almost certainly cheaper than what he was previously paying for gasoli ne.

Milky > CB
10/21/2020 at 14:45

I heard at least a few Ontario-ians use it. We broke up and now the border is closed so I have to get my Canadian kicks from letterkenny and Kim’s convenience .

BaconSandwich is tasty. > dogisbadob
10/21/2020 at 14:46

And now the media is so amped up it hertz.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
10/21/2020 at 14:48

Those two viewpoints are not incompatible. “All taxation is theft”people are often the same “Government isn’t maintaining the roads well enough ” people.

ST80MND > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 14:48

When I put the gear selector lever to R for a quick race, it only goes backwards! I don’t get it, I think my car is broken.

CB > Milky
10/21/2020 at 14:55

Oh, you’ll hear it for sure in Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec because the utility is known as Hyrdro officially (for example, TorontoHydro).

Michael > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
10/21/2020 at 14:57

Oh... no.... You don’t run hot water through copper pipes and a fan all day do you?

Kind of a reverse swamp cooler

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Michael
10/21/2020 at 14:58

No, that would actually be pseudo smart, but require a lot of work and thinking.

phenotyp > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 14:59

Honestly, I don’t.

For the most part.

atfsgeoff > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 15:02

I've heard people complain about wireless printers they bought because they still had to be plugged into a power outlet

Michael > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
10/21/2020 at 15:09

I did have an apartment that used hot water for the heating element of the furnace, so it piped hot water into the heat exchanger in the air handler, and back into the cold water feed of the hot water heater. So basically don’t try to take a shower with the heat on?

Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 15:10

“But we were never told, ‘Oh thank you for going green, but the government will now make you pay for that.’ How does this make sense?”

Introduction to Green Party Majority Canadian Governments

by Brian Chwiendacz

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > atfsgeoff
10/21/2020 at 15:11

oh man. I don’t want to live on this planet anymore

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Michael
10/21/2020 at 15:14

That’s a weird way of heating an apartment. No air handler to speak of in this place.

Michael > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
10/21/2020 at 15:17

Saved a few dollars on a furnace and gas permit, I guess

ranwhenparked > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 15:17

If you Google his name, he seems like one of the people that would show up at every monthly township meeting to complain about the parking lot at the baseball field being paved in the wrong shade of asphalt or the police not taking him seriously when he reported the suspicious squirrels by his mailbox.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > Michael
10/21/2020 at 15:19

It’s definitely interesting.

I just leave my gas oven on (I have a CO detector, don’t worry) and the shower running when it’s really cold. Haven’t really had to do that much yet. I’m in the top floor so I get everyone else’s waste heat. Currently 72F in here, 62F outside.

ranwhenparked > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 15:23

I had natural gas in upstate New York, loved it - at the time, we supposedly had the cheapest gas in the US due to the pipelines feeding up from Pennsylvania.

Now, I've got oil, but it's really not so bad. My combined utility bill for water/sewer/electric/trash sits at around $100 a month year round, and there's just the sticker shock of a couple oil deliveries per year. But, it still only works out to like $900 for the season, which is maybe an extra $180 a month.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > ranwhenparked
10/21/2020 at 15:31

Yeah, I did.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > VincentMalamute-Kim
10/21/2020 at 15:33

On e word - Doublethink

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > CB
10/21/2020 at 15:39

I had never heard of that before at all. Not exactly all that many bodies of water to dam up around here though there are a few Tennessee Valley Authority dams further away that might supply a good deal of power. Really no idea where my power is generated.

My bird IS the word > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 15:40

I thought at first, why did his water bill go up? Which was silly, since a small part of my job is hydroelectric.

ibRAD > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
10/21/2020 at 15:57

How DO you heat it?

ibRAD > CB
10/21/2020 at 16:00

I buy my electricity from “Hydro One” Which is generated almost exclusively from nuclear.

ibRAD > Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com
10/21/2020 at 16:05

The Green party of Canada is actually pretty good if you can get past the memes and actually see what they’re about.

Chariotoflove > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 16:16

$200/mo increase? I drive a large V8 car and don’t pay that much for gas a month. I always thought the math came out in favor of electric.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Chariotoflove
10/21/2020 at 16:26

As mentioned to For Sweden, there could be tier or usage based variables at play

Kiltedpadre > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 16:27

I worked at a water treatment plant that handled emergency calls when the office closed. I got two callers that I vividly remember that may be related to this guy.

Guy 1: He called because he didn’t have any water. I ask for the address to see if maybe he was shut-off for nonpayment. He swears that’s not possible because 20 years at his house he’s never payed a water bill. Turns out he’s on a cistern. He thought since the little light telling him his cistern was low had come on that magically the county would send someone out to fill it for him. It never occurred to him that the private company his wife called for water delivery wasn’t run by the county.

Guy 2: He lived in a trailer park. The way trailer parks work is the county puts a water meter at the entrance and all the trailers are fed from that. Any issues after the meter are handled by the trailer park. He had a leak under his trailer and figured since he couldn’t get ahold of the park maintenance crew that the county would send someone to fix it free.

There were plenty more too. It amazed me how many people thought we were responsible for fixing their sprinkler systems.

Chariotoflove > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/21/2020 at 16:31

I think for sure, especially the usage part. I’ m just surprised to see gas and electric overlap by that much. Guess I never thought about the details because I wasn’t shopping.

Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com > ibRAD
10/21/2020 at 16:50

I think they’re okay to keep the other party fools in check and bring more ideas. However, I wouldn’t trust them with a budget and economy.

ibRAD > Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com
10/21/2020 at 16:57

Ironically they’re the only party that actually seems to put out a costed platform, but they are a long way from gaining power at any rate if they ever do build some more popularity. The new leader seems competent from what I’ve seen (not much)

ranwhenparked > Chariotoflove
10/21/2020 at 16:58

I drive a small V6 car and, before I had a company vehicle, was spending an easy $200 a month on gas just for commuting, plus a similar amount for personal mileage.

Chariotoflove > ranwhenparked
10/21/2020 at 17:02

I figured a short commute like I have with in-town driving on the weekends of less than 50 miles a trip would be the perfect scenario for an EV. I could do battery only and not even need an extender. But it turns out, with gas at current prices, I guess it wouldn’t be for me, if prices were what this guy is paying. But then, I don’t know what my local electricity expenditure would be at local rates.

ranwhenparked > Chariotoflove
10/21/2020 at 17:14

I think my driving might be more than average, I’ve never been fortunate enough to have a short commute, and live in a pretty mediocre area, so on weekends, tend to drive a lot to get away somewhere fun.

stiggums > Chariotoflove
10/21/2020 at 17:14

How many miles do you drive for the money you spend and compare that to how many miles he drives for the money he spends. Also, you may want to factor in the cost of maintenance for the respective miles driven.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > ibRAD
10/21/2020 at 17:28

I voted green federally last time.

CB > ibRAD
10/21/2020 at 18:02

Close to the Bruce Peninsula, eh?

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > VincentMalamute-Kim
10/21/2020 at 18:24

Once logic leaves the building, all viewpoints are compatible. The dif fe rence is purely one of which impossible thi ngs you choose t o believe before breakfast.

Left wing magical thinking : The government should supply everything I want, and everything I think the country needs (but nothi ng I think it doesn’t) , and they should fund it by taxing the hell out of everyone except me.

Right wing magical thinking : The government should supply everything I want and not a single thing beyond that , but they don’t get to use any money or any people to do it, and while they * are* doing it, t hey should stay the hell out of my life.

Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com > Chariotoflove
10/21/2020 at 18:49

https://app.bchydro.com/accounts-billing/rates-energy-use/high-bill.html

Some common reasons for a higher than expected bill , include:

Change in season or outside temperature

A new appliance or electronic device, including televisions and set-top boxes (PVRs) ***AN ELECTRIC CAR PERHAPS ???***

Renovations

Your Equal Payment Plan annual adjustment, if your payments have been less than the electricity you’ve been using

He was likely on Equal Payment Plan paying his lower rate pre EV and now BC Hydro has redone the assessment of his usage and is now on the take. He’ll pay this cost all year but next year it’ll probably drop down a bit .

But as CoFL said, this guy is an idiot and doesn’t understand The Law of Conservation of Energy. People have to pay to make car go, switching energy medium doesn’t change anything.

Chariotoflove > Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com
10/21/2020 at 19:45

Yeah, I wasn’t addressing the fact that this guy missed the obvious, only my surprise at how much the electricity cost.

Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com > Chariotoflove
10/21/2020 at 21:26

I will note that the story is slightly misleading. Because the $287.87 is over the course of 2mo and not one so it’s ~$54 more per month. That’s roughly 335 kWh more.

By my calculations. If buddy works near the city and commutes around 100 km [60 mi] everyday during the 5 day work week from Chilliwack, his billing makes perfect sense.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Chariotoflove
10/22/2020 at 00:08

depends if he has his heat on max. its amazing how inneficient that is and will quickly drain the battery. Why they nearly all come with heated seats

Chariotoflove > Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com
10/22/2020 at 00:33

Oh, I didn’t realize that. Yeah, now the math looks better.

Chariotoflove > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
10/22/2020 at 00:39

Good point. Funny, the last two cars I’ve owned have had heated seats, but it almost never matters living in Texas. What I’m enjoying are my ventilated seats!

DipodomysDeserti > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/22/2020 at 03:01

Someone stated who they voted for and wasn’t called a nazi or a cuck? Canada sounds nice.

mhr555 > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/22/2020 at 06:29

How many km’s did he drive in a month? I’d like to see the break down of his travels and compare it to the similar ICE vehicle.

ibRAD > CB
10/22/2020 at 09:13

Closer to Darlington/Pickering! But still not terribly close to either.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
10/22/2020 at 12:05

Nice quote. Seems like there could be a viewpoint that includes aspects of both; we could call it “centrist”.

ibRAD > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
10/22/2020 at 16:45

I have as well for the past few elections. Our local candidate isn’t all that great though unfortunately. Hard to get someone to take it serious when they know they’re not going to win.