Rivian electric pick up

[Roger Perry]

Been a good year, all crops did well after a late spring, prices are holding so I think there is optimism going forward.
With the economy being so strong its made hiring and keeping workers tough, strange thing is its' not really about the money, they start at $15-$18 an hour but you have to throw in extra stuff if you want to keep good hires.

I read that the politicians in California don't seem to support the ag industry the way they should, water issues abound, no new storage being built, restrictions on usage..............is there an increase in idled acres etc.

 

[oil barron]

Been a good year, all crops did well after a late spring, prices are holding so I think there is optimism going forward.
With the economy being so strong its made hiring and keeping workers tough, strange thing is its' not really about the money, they start at $15-$18 an hour but you have to throw in extra stuff if you want to keep good hires.

I read that the politicians in California don't seem to support the ag industry the way they should, water issues abound, no new storage being built, restrictions on usage..............is there an increase in idled acres etc.

I’m not seeing it yet - if anything the opposite with “plant and pump” orchards springing up from outside investors that have no surface water rights and are probably not sustainable for the life of the orchard.
The new state rules allow the water boards within each water shed to come up with a plan to get into balance (pumping out no more than the aquifer re-charge) by I think 2022. If they fail to work together then the government will step in to manage it. Long term the big corporations will likely be able to manage the process better than groups of family farms and you will see the transformation of California to entirely corporate.
I think Washington state is the next big play for the big veg guys. Bolthouse just bought 10s of thousands of acres there for rumoured $30k acre territory.

 

[Roger Perry]

I’m not seeing it yet - if anything the opposite with “plant and pump” orchards springing up from outside investors that have no surface water rights and are probably not sustainable for the life of the orchard.
The new state rules allow the water boards within each water shed to come up with a plan to get into balance (pumping out no more than the aquifer re-charge) by I think 2022. If they fail to work together then the government will step in to manage it. Long term the big corporations will likely be able to manage the process better than groups of family farms and you will see the transformation of California to entirely corporate.
I think Washington state is the next big play for the big veg guys. Bolthouse just bought 10s of thousands of acres there for rumoured $30k acre territory.

We have what are termed "sub-districts", these are made up of farmers and growers on a board of management to manage a region of this valley, I think 6 in total.
Their job is to manage the aquifer and keep it in balance, not to over appropriate the water..........the golden rule is "not to take out more that you put in" if you do, you pay a fee.........based on a per acre ft. If you put in more than you take out then you get a credit or you can sell or lease your credits.
As you know in this locale most irrigation is via center pivots which is perhaps not the best way to irrigate and can be somewhat wasteful, I have subsurface drip on a farm in New Mexico growing Cotton/Melons/alfalfa and although its a bit more hassle its' very efficient.

 

[oil barron]

Well the IPO went well. Market cap sitting at $86Billion vs $77Billion today for Ford.

Either some folks are going to lose a lot of money or there are going to be a lot of Rivian trucks about.

 

[Roger Perry]

Well the IPO went well. Market cap sitting at $86Billion vs $77Billion today for Ford.

Either some folks are going to lose a lot of money or there are going to be a lot of Rivian trucks about.

With the stake by Amazon and Ford in Rivian it is likely to do well.............very well considering they have yet to put a vehicle on the road.

 

[Vizslaman]

The big thing will be having enough service centres for EV's

 

[Yale]

The big thing will be having enough service centres for EV's

…..and electric…..and grid capacity……and resources to make the batteries!

A few ‘small hurdles’.

 

[Vizslaman]

I think my Toyota will have to see me out.

 

[Exfarmer]

…..and electric…..and grid capacity……and resources to make the batteries!

A few ‘small hurdles’.

This grid capacity is going to be the killer, they keep talking it down, yet France has just booked 6 more Nuclear, while we are talking about mini plants on Industrial estates, I can see that is going to be far more popular with the NIMBYs than any wind turbine stuck behind their house

 

[Vizslaman]

I can see a a fleet of ex MOD Chinooks being the breakdown vehicles for rescuing EV Farm vehicles stranded in the middle of nowhere

 

[MrNuts]

Grid capacity is a bit of a red herring, an average EV will travel 3 miles for each KwH, i'm looking an EV as my next car and doing 15,000 miles a year will use approx the same as the wife's hot tub, and nobody says that the grid cannot cope with hot tub usage.

 

[Exfarmer]

Grid capacity is a bit of a red herring, an average EV will travel 3 miles for each KwH, i'm looking an EV as my next car and doing 15,000 miles a year will use approx the same as the wife's hot tub, and nobody says that the grid cannot cope with hot tub usage.

Iam not sure the cost of the average hot tub to run but there is little doubt that when push comes to shove the car will come first and the hot tub will be turned off. I suspect there are plenty shut off know that the electricity has jumped up.
The real issue is that EV’s are predicted to increase the UK ‘s energy consumption by 17Gw continuous usage, about 50% of current. At the same time ASHPs are coming online at the same time and they are predicted to require a similar capacity of power.
This means that in the medium term we are going to need a continuous 70- 75 Gw of production and more at surge times. This compares to the UKs theoretical installed capacity of 80Gw.
While this may sound alright, it ignores that a lot of this capacity is either aging as in the nuclear industry of is intermittent as in renewables.
And finally can these be distributed to where it is needed and many think the entire networkis nowhere near the safety margins we require as a modern society

 

[MrNuts]

All relevant, but all the ev's wont be charging at the same time, the grid needs upgrading for sure, but this is where some joined up thinking is needed, as part of my EV plans are an installation of a solar PV system, this will reduce my reliance on "the grid" for charging the car or/and heating the Hot Tub (the HT doubled our electric costs when run 4,000kWh per year).
Some subsidy for PV systems through cost or low rate finance would help support the grid, along with making it a requirement for new builds.

The real benefit of EV is reducing localised emissions from city's and towns.

 

[Highland Mule]

Iam not sure the cost of the average hot tub to run but there is little doubt that when push comes to shove the car will come first and the hot tub will be turned off. I suspect there are plenty shut off know that the electricity has jumped up.
The real issue is that EV’s are predicted to increase the UK ‘s energy consumption by 17Gw continuous usage, about 50% of current. At the same time ASHPs are coming online at the same time and they are predicted to require a similar capacity of power.
This means that in the medium term we are going to need a continuous 70- 75 Gw of production and more at surge times. This compares to the UKs theoretical installed capacity of 80Gw.
While this may sound alright, it ignores that a lot of this capacity is either aging as in the nuclear industry of is intermittent as in renewables.
And finally can these be distributed to where it is needed and many think the entire networkis nowhere near the safety margins we require as a modern society

How much grid capacity would be gained by not having to run all those oil refineries/ petrol pumps etc?

 

[Barleycorn]

Grid capacity is a bit of a red herring, an average EV will travel 3 miles for each KwH, i'm looking an EV as my next car and doing 15,000 miles a year will use approx the same as the wife's hot tub, and nobody says that the grid cannot cope with hot tub usage.

If you put up a picture of your wife in the hot tub I'm sure we could have a better understanding!!

 

[davidroberts30]

How much grid capacity would be gained by not having to run all those oil refineries/ petrol pumps etc?

not much as a refinery has its own turbines to recover heat/exhaust and can be quite self sufficient

 

[davidroberts30]

@Damomc

 

[Highland Mule]

not much as a refinery has its own turbines to recover heat/exhaust and can be quite self sufficient

They're only self sufficient because they have an on site power station. If they didn't need to make all the petrol/ diesel/ plastic tat, they could export that power instead - Grangemouth alone has probably around half a GW of power output available.

 

[davidroberts30]

They're only self sufficient because they have an on site power station. If they didn't need to make all the petrol/ diesel/ plastic tat, they could export that power instead - Grangemouth alone has probably around half a GW of power output available.

pembroke has at least 1 recovery turbine to generate

 

[MrNuts]

If you put up a picture of your wife in the hot tub I'm sure we could have a better understanding!!

I'm not looking a ban just yet, and it would be better placed on the wreckers thread!