I pray you aren’t running a business, because your analytical skills are less than impressive.

Nonsense. Do you know how many Vegas GM sold?

Any business decision is reached via a calculation of the net present value - which is calculated as a set of alternatives to doing nothing. To eliminate the need to support the Vega, GM would have had to do an unprecedented forced buyback of hundreds of thousands of…

Yes, but because the plug-in Prius’ electric range is poor, the tax credit for one is small. While the Volt comes in at $22,633 after its tax credit using my insurance co’s buying service ($30,133 before credit), the Prius plug-in comes in at $27,434 after tax credit ($29,934 before).

So comparing the plug-in versions,…

The Prius doesn’t get a $7500 federal tax credit, though. You’re forgetting that.

The F-150 retooling was a massive job, though - they basically gutted the assembly line and rebuilt it from scratch. Most retoolings for a new model are in the 2-4 week range.

Actually, it isn’t much depreciation.

Those dealers will come well down off the $35-40k mark. My insurance co’s buying service can hook me up with a brand new one for $30,133. Then knock off $7500 for the federal tax credit and you’re at $22,633 for a new one. So $17-20k is only $2600-$5600 in actual depreciation. You…

They’re no more expensive than a Prius when you consider tax credits. Price has little to do with it, except for people thinking that they are more expensive than they really are.

They aren’t actually way above the Prius in price. Once you consider tax credits and standard rebates/discounts, the prices are almost identical, in fact.

I can get a Volt today through my insurance co’s buying service for $30,133 before the federal tax credit. Take that into account and it is $22,633 plus taxes.…

Of course remember once again that the sticker MPG is not what counts towards CAFE requirements - a car with a 30 mpg sticker actually counts as closer to 42 mpg for CAFE standards.

Most every hybrid or electric car on the market already counts at 40 mpg or better for CAFE standards. Several exceed 54.5. And that’s…

PNW high desert? Might want to look into geothermal even. A relative had a geothermal system in western Montana and their bills were obscenely low. They’re pretty easy to install if done during construction - waiting makes it a bit harder.

MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, IL, just outside of St. Louis.

This is a picture of a typical day in the terminal:

Sad fact - if you take a picture of a terminal at CVG, you have 3:1 odds that the picture you just took is of an abandoned terminal.

29 mpg in a diesel is still more expensive to operate than 27 mpg in a gasoline powered vehicle.

However, that’s only part of the story. For example, the Mazda5 only gets marginally better fuel economy than a Honda Odyssey on the highway. If mpg was all you cared about, the Odyssey would win every single day, because…

If you need any help with the system advisor model, please feel free to ask any questions. I’m no expert, but I’ve played with it enough I don’t mind helping others out where I can.

But in any case, yeah, if they’re on the ground you might have to look at them. They aren’t that bad, though, IMO - you can often…

So you’re just building your home?

If you have total free reign, give yourself a large, open flat area pointed slightly west of south as a mounting surface. I’d use Quickmount PV mounts for new construction, or heck, just use a ground mount - the racking is more expensive than rooftop, but you can put it in anywhere…

“I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it.”

$.02 to the estate of…

That’s the short way, too - over the pole. Going by land the long way is much, MUCH further...

One of the dumbest movies I have seen in ages.

Ain’t that the truth? :)

We get a bit of snow, but it naturally clears off our roof, even with good insulation (I’ve got roughly R-45 in the attic, compared to the Energy Star recommended R-38) , within a few days at most in nearly all cases. This year was one of the worst I’ve seen in over 10 years, with snowcover for…

What you said is true - efficiency does drop as temperature climbs.

However, good panels only lose about 0.4% for each degree C above STC. So if it is 95 F out, you're still around 96% of the efficiency you had at STC. That's still pretty darned good. Especially when you live in an area like I do - where 95 normally…