Comment on the true cost of electric vehicles – wasted time by not sharing models and data

Tesla vs Gas: TRUE Charging Cost After 75,000 Miles at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRie5t9GHLw

75,000 miles/28 miles per gallon equivalent = 2,679 gallon gas equivalent

2679 gge * (33.7 KWH/gge) = 90,282 KWH at 100% efficiency

90,283/0.92 efficiency = 98133 KWH purchased

98133 KWH * 0.0798 $/KWH = $6948

But he says $1400.

His miles per gallon seems to be about 28*($6948/1400) = 139 miles per gallon gas equivalent. I searched “average miles per gallon for Tesla” and got “about 130 miles per gallon gas equivalent. But I did not know that when I started, so I guessed 28 mpg. That high efficiency in miles per gallon gas equivalent might be the true item to focus on.

Someone said it needs a spreadsheet. I agree. Making 1.2 Million viewers work out his calculations from word descriptions is just mean spirited.

This (sharing his model only in words and pictures) if everyone spends 15 minutes working out his calculations from scratch means (1.2 Million/4) = 300,000 hours wasted because he did not include a spreadsheet that was instantly usable. The Internet value of human time is about $15 per hour globally. Or $4.5 Million wasted, or not even tried, because he would not put his model into a usable form, and makes everyone solve a long series of word problems.

He drives and never puts his foot on the brake, drives really slow and never accelerates fast. If a gasoline car driver drove that way, their Miles per Gallon would be higher too. The money from taxes is spent on making concrete for roads, and subsidizing mass transit. He could ride a bicycle, or as one person said, get a virtual job and never use a car at all.  You could make gasoline cars that are really light weight and programmed for optimal efficiency. You could strip extra weight off electric ones.

Interesting times we live in. I am sorry, YouTube programmers have not learned how to share a calculator app in a web page yet, for groups trying to share models, data and calculations. Like I said, interesting times.

The real inefficiency is not on the roads, it is in time wasted by large groups trying to share quantitative models and information – because people still use words and pictures when models need data and calibrated algorithms and globally accessible calculators, simulators, and models that all can use.

On 28 Oct 2021 there are 1,289,771 views for a 10:39 video. If every person watches 10 minutes (600 seconds) and the average value of their time is $15 ($32 in the United States and Internet economies tied to the US) that is about 215,000 hours ( $3.2 Million to $6.9 Million) spent for something that should already be globally known, verified and shared. I am sure there are models for electric vehicle cost of ownership – but no universal <model> tag in HTML  . And you did not spend anywhere near a million hours preparing, nor revising and improving the video and it supplementary tools and data, for your audience of more than a million viewers. Shame on you for using inefficient model sharing methods. Shame on you for not following up to improve your rough notes when you saw so many people came looking for reliable and easily used answers – with their cars, their electric costs, their numbers and situations. Shame on you for being lazy.

Richard Collins, Director, The Internet Foundation

Richard K Collins

About: Richard K Collins

Director, The Internet Foundation Studying formation and optimized collaboration of global communities. Applying the Internet to solve global problems and build sustainable communities. Internet policies, standards and best practices.


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