Just got picked on by a C-MAX!

Amen to that

 

Hey...BTDT. During Single 1.0 I spent a year stationed in downtown Seattle (NOAA Complex - Union Ave) and you wanna talk about a love-hate relationship!!!!! Summers in there are as wonderful as the winters are dreadful. I was there at the tail end of the 80's...back when you could walk (stagger) the streets at night.
Best.
City.
Ever.
Well....until you've been there for both seasons (Seattle only has two...wet and really wet!)


If you think that you're going to be on the Left Coast for a few years.....look into something slightly distressed, decorate it in Early American Salvation Army, and put a little sweat into it. You've got your VA and if you haven’t blown your D/I ratio buying stupid stuff you're dead bang certain to get a house loan for not much down (not everybody can.)
Good for you to buy = good for your replacement to rent (or buy from you.)
Military folks make good tenants for rentals since you know they have a job....you know that they're gonna have a job...and if they trash the place you can always involve their chain of command. Wage garnishments are usually just a phone call away but it usually doesn't come to that since even Eleven Bravos have security clearances these days and most clearances get yanked (or denied) from bad credit scores (usta be pot )
No security clearance....no cushy federal job when you pop positive for civilian. And you know what? Those little initials are important!!
I got yanked off of bench work in the 90’s (@ 9.90/hr) and shoved into a job as a satellite operator because of the fact that I already had a clearance and my usta company didn't have to spend kilobucks just to find out whether or not I lied on my application (they're obscenely expensive to adjudicate!) I can still hear the secretary's heels running through the engineering lab when they got around to finding out...
Anyway....you hear that little knock? It’s either opportunity, you’ve ordered take-out pizza, or I'm just obfuscating the thread even more.
Besides.....Green or Blue....the two BEST ways to get East Coast duty are to marry or buy on the Left coast.
I now yield the floor, since I'm sure that some Seattle resident will get their tail all in a twist at having her/his city impugned.
Just something to think about.......from somebody who had made MANY mistakes in his inglorious youth.....yes...including playing grab-a$$ with tailgaters.

 

For those that would like to go electric, why not the Tesla S? Although it sure would be nice if Tesla came out with a more modest sized 4 passenger commuter car, oh and at a slightly more modest price would be great, too!

 

^ Three reasons:
Price.
Price.
And...... (scritch-scritch!) oh yeah!!! Price.

Just kidding!
There's also infrastructure, range limitations, Year 1 engineering concerns, perhaps tow rating, and resistance to road salt.

I'm a fan of developing the technology. Heck...I'd better be!! The Government is spending gigabucks between loans (which will probably be paid back w/ a little interest.....Just like the other two car companies that we're vested in... ) and tax breaks for the mostly wealthy early adopters.
Yeah.
I know.
I'm an apostate, but there's no way that the OP (probably enlisted in the USA if I'm not mistaken, and probably still in his/her twenties...) is going to kick over 80 large for an electric car.
Juuuust sayin'

 

WRONG!!! Especially if it's charged with PV.

 

Just brought up the Tesla because of all the PIP and Volt mentions. Figured, if someone wanted electric, why not a Tesla.

The high price of an S might work out if the package lasts ten to 15 years. How long will those electric motors last? Batteries won't go that long, but prices for batteries should continue to fall. Infrastructure will catch up for electrics, and PV would really impact long term costs of operation and that important energy/carbon footprint.

Note that I wished that Tesla would come out with a more modest sized and priced commuter. Say they developed a reasonably priced electric commuter (please make it as good looking as the S) with the range of 120+ miles from the entry level battery (the 40 kWh battery S has an estimated range of 160 mi). Add the possibility of getting a good deal of its energy via PV. In large numbers (they don't all have to be Teslas) imagine what it might do for city air quality alone.

PV isn't free, you have to buy and install panels and wire them up... but after that, the electrons produced don't involve burning stuff. Most families and individuals have more than one car now anyway. A commuter car is part of the mix for many. So why not an electric? Use the family Prius for long out of town trips or rent.

 

Yeah....right.
I can see somebody trying that in SeaTac.....talk about charge anxiety!

Good News: This re-charge was free!! (*)
Bad news: We had to wait until April when the sun came out to finish!



(*) almost.....you still gotta pay for the PV system!

 

If you're serious about a Pip, look into some of the dealerships on the right coast.
I used to think that Pip owners were either incredibly stoopid, or incredibly down for the struggle....then an interesting thing started to happen.....the prices started to plummet!
I actually looked into it and for a little while you could get '12s for less than some people on the left coast are paying for G3's.
I was facing the possibility of a job location change, and since I can legally charge at work (unlike some of the %$#@! jerks who give the community a bad name by stealing electricity!!! )
Anyway....the thoughts of becoming a Prius owner have died of loneliness again for now.

However (comma!)
Even now...with the latest gas price spike, they're still several thou cheaper on the right coast than they are on the left...and you know what?
It doesn't cost thousands to ship or drive a Pip cross country!!!
(Just sayin' )

Good Luck!

 

30+ for the advanced model is an incredible deal.

 

Unless he is a lower usage customer mixing in some first block energy (first 4740 kWh/year), that rate is more than three years old. The current rate is $0.1071/kWh for ordinary residents in city, higher in the suburbs. And it is going up 30% over five years (the first increment was already applied Jan 1.)