The doctor is in. Who’s first?
My husband and I have some big decisions to make and are hoping you might give us a little insight as a financial mentor. We are in the lucky position of selling our house in BC and moving to Manitoba with a nice profit. Now, we need to decide how much to use as a down-payment and how much to invest, and where. We will (hopefully) have approximately $300,000 to work with after paying all debts. We intend to buy a house under $380,000. We are both around 40 years old have 2 young children (with hardly any RESP savings) and some RRSP savings (not enough, around $30,000 between us). We need to buy a (used) car and keep an accessible emergency fund so we never touch the line-of-credit again. We don’t know what our income/living costs will be yet.
We are torn between low mortgage payments (with a 30-40% down-payment), versus maybe earning a higher rate through investments. We are also extremely aware that crap happens in life – we’ve been through stage 3 breast cancer (healthy 8 years) and layoffs, including my losing a job while on maternity leave – so we are grateful for this opportunity to have that usually impossible emergency fund. Where that money lives, we’re not sure.
And so, the age old question – what to put on the house and what to put in investments and which ones…. your thoughts would go a long way to helping us decide in an informed way (instead of advice from the bank or our neighbour). Thank you so much for your time, Krista.
Glad to hear life’s smiling on you a bit more, K. Controlling stress is surely good for your health. And Manitoba has less of it than crazy BC these days.
As for the house/investment question, two thoughts. First, with mortgage rates at 3% or less and balanced portfolios yielding 7% over the last eight years (looks like more to come) it makes sense to grow your liquid assets (because you don’t have enough) while you use the bank’s money to live on. So, a small down and a big mortgage, locked in for five years. When it comes due you can use some of the investment gains to pay down the principal – having your cake and munching on it, too.
Or, you can be more aggressive. Put the $300,000 against the house, virtually paying it off. Then arrange a HELOC for 65% of your equity and invest that in a prudent portfolio. All interest on the line will be tax-deducible, which is cool. Of course, this means you have demand debt at the same time as more equity – plus the HELOC rate will be higher than the cost of a mortgage. So, some stress there.
In any case, pump up your TFSAs and the RESP. As for an emergency fund, use bank line of credit for that instead of having cash sitting idle. This will cost you nothing if you don’t use it – and 99% of people never do. Total myth.
Good Day Garth: 27 year old male moister seeking your advice and wisdom. I’m posted to Ottawa in August with the military and I’m considering purchasing my first place instead of renting.
I’ve been a renter for 10 years so far largely due to your advice on the Canadian real estate market and the fact that prices where I currently live, in Victoria BC, are insane. I’ve been patient and have taken the facts over feelings approach, especially with the pressure from family members to purchase because I’m “pissing my money away by renting”. While waiting for the right opportunity to buy, I’ve maxed my TFSA and have it invested in diversified, low cost ETFs and I’ve also maxed my RRSP for which I plan on using the newly announced full $35K towards the HBP. I make approx $90K a year and have a net worth of $150K (not all moisters are hopeless) so getting into real estate wouldn’t be throwing all my eggs into one basket.
As part of a military move a lot of the costs are covered like reimbursement for driving across the country, moving company fees, legal fees, inspector fees and cleaning fees. As a first time buyer I will get some breaks at tax time as well. Certain risks are also factored in, such as when it’s time to move back to the coast in 2-3 years’ time I would be covered for up to a $30K loss if my house took a hit in price. They also cover the cost of breaking or moving a mortgage when it’s time to move again. Do these “military move” considerations even things out a bit and make it a decently alright idea to purchase my first home in Ottawa? Or do I continue to rent for a few years and wait out the storm on the horizon? Since it’s military posting season I’m sure a lot of other blog dogs are seeking similar advice. Thanks for your time! Alex
First, Alex, thanks for your service. Keeping Canada peaceful is an unappreciated task most of us take for granted. Well done. Now, give your head a shake.
Yes, I know all about the military’s largesse when it comes to real estate, but there is absolutely zero reason why you should buy a house in Ottawa which you’ll own for only a couple of dozen months. The life of a soldier is one defined by mobility, and two or three years in the current economic context is way too short a period of time to go through the buying-financing-owning-selling cycle. The odds of making money are slim and you could be transferred out of town while your place is still listed. Why complicate things?
After you become a general with a fat pension and settle into a cushy job at DND HQ, then buy a house in Ottawa. So, rent. Dismissed.
And now to Cowtown. More Millennials. But with money. How refreshing.
I’ve been a regular reader of the blog for a years now. I have appreciated and benefited from your humour and logical approach to real-estate and personal investing. Although I’ve never commented or written to you before, I’m excited to finally have something to ask and maybe offer to your blog. What provoked my question was a quick comment I thought I would never see you make, at the end of your post on May 14.
“If you want cheap property with a chance of appreciation, go to Calgary. Get a hat. Big belt buckle. Learn to swagger. Eat beef. Buy downtown. Hurry.”
I wanted to follow up on that comment and understand more why you think that buying in Calgary would be a wise move and more specifically if it is for me. I have successfully fought the rent vs buy battle in the past. My Fiancée thanks me for this now, because we have seen all of our condo-owner friends either take bath when they sold or face huge maintenance assessments.
I’m happily engaged and getting married this summer. We are 28 & 27. We both grew up, went to university in Calgary and work in Oil & Gas sector related jobs. I make about 140k in a business role and she makes about 100k as an Engineer. We have combined about 600k saved. Both maxed RRSP & TFSA with some in unregistered accounts. We currently rent together in an apartment about 10 minutes’ walk from both of our workplaces. Although it’s a great location our current 1 bedroom apartment is starting to be too small for both of us. With a dog and kids as potential additions coming up, we don’t see much point moving into a bigger apartment.
Because of what we have seen happen to friends, we have no interested buying into a condo or townhouse.This leaves us with a rent vs buy decision on a house in Calgary. We’d still like to be relatively close to DT, so consider this question for premium inner-city communities of Calgary specifically where I’d think the answer might be slightly different than the ‘burbs.
Would you mind explaining your optimism for downtown Calgary? Even as a proud Calgarian and Albertan I have a hard time being too bullish for our overall O&G related economy – so how can I get optimistic Calgary real-estate? Would you say we are ready to buy a house? Keeping in mind we mostly likely won’t be moving out of Calgary anytime too soon and would be following the rule of 90. I just want to make sure our first big financial decision as a married couple is one we have fully considered. Thanks, Nate.
First, Calgary peaked about a decade ago. This has been one of the longest melts in modern Canadian real estate history. There is a bottom coming. Not far off, either. A recent survey, in fact, ranked Cowtown as the most affordable market in North America, considering average prices and income. (Vancouver was the worst.)
Second, the Barbarian Premier will be making a difference. Tax cuts, minimum wage chops, budget-balancing, industry-pumping and bare-chested showmanship will be the start of an Alberta turnaround, especially as the world discovers EVs basically suck unless you commute 2 km to Whole Foods to buy your kale. Oil prices won’t sit where they are forever.
Third, you and the betrothed earn $240k a year and are sitting on $600k, at age 28. Heroic. You can easily divert funds to a house downpayment, take on a cheap mortgage, and build equity while you continue to swell the nestegg. The only real danger is being run over by a jealous moister on a fixie. Be careful.
Finally, Marnie. Just to remind us why society’s in trouble.
I turned 40 this year and am struggling with the realization that I’m not going to have enough money to retire. I know it’s a little late in the game but I honestly just got out of debt two years ago, which was a major accomplishment. I have been saving but just into a high interest savings account. I opened a TFSA account and tried to speak to my bank about investing but they were hesitant to suggest that I use it since I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use the money for a down payment on a house. I do have a small conservative RRSP that I’m not contributing to. My bank suggested that I increase it to $25k to use for first time home buyers but I’m not convinced that buying property is the best decision. I live in downtown Vancouver so that would use up all of my savings. I am married with no kids (my husband and I keep our finances separate). Our careers allow us to work worldwide so if we did leave the country but had invested in property, we’d have to sell or rent it out.
I’m unsure what the best plan of action would be for a long term investment at this point. We clearly both have very limited knowledge on home buying, stocks, etc. I feel I’m wasting an opportunity with my money just in a savings account, especially if we won’t be able to retire on savings alone. Your thoughts? Thank you so much!
To recap – forty years old, RRSPs under $25,000, no retirement savings or pension, in debt until recently, living in Vancouver and you’ve been mulling buying a house? Why not a yacht? Or a Bugatti?
Congrats on paying back the loans but, seriously, property in your city is an utter impossibility. Give it up. No open houses. Don’t even visit realtor.ca. Not gonna happen. The only path forward is to cut spending, save big, charge up your retirement account, invest in low-cost ETFs and stay invested. Also, combine assets with your husband for lower costs and so you can have an integrated and balanced approach to preparing for the future. Or, perhaps he doesn’t trust you with money. Wonder why.
161 comments ↓
first?
Once again, WTF is wrong with people….thank goodness Dr Garth is here to give a proper prognosis….they some sick puppies.
“…especially as the world discovers EVs basically suck unless you commute 2 km to Whole Foods to buy your kale…”
_ _ _
And here folks are the limitations of taking advice from a person of a certain age living in the back of beyond. EVs are a perfectly practical alternative for the millions of Canadians who live in urban areas and have the typical commute of 23 km.
Wow. 23 km. – Garth
Marnie:
“Our careers allow us to work worldwide so if we did leave the country but had invested in property, we’d have to sell or rent it out.”
So you’re 40, broke, no kids, and a global location option for work for you and your spouse.
Renting in Vancouver is not your best option.
First hint – research the lifestyle and the cost of living in Portugal.
” Keeping Canada peaceful is an unappreciated task most of us take for granted.”
Err… Yeah…
About that, I note that keeping the peace in Canada has relatively little to do with out military and a whole lot more to do with other factors in Canadian society.
Pretty sure keeping Canada peaceful has more to do with the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific oceans (our greatest defenses), and having a good relationship with our sole shared border neighbour, the U.S. The Canadian military, so far as that goes, has little or nothing to do with keeping the peace in this country. Heck, we don’t even use it to keep the locals in order most of the time. That’s the RCMP’s job.
Anyways… Just a quibble.
I’m all for the Canadian Forces, but there’s a real world out there and in that real world, the Canadian Forces do relatively little, at best, at keeping the peace in Canuckdom.
“Alberta’s new Barbarian premier” ? and Doug Ford is what exactly?
Until EV’s can get 500km in -30C weather do not even consider buying one in cold weather Canada.
Calgary housing price charts:
http://www.chpc.biz/calgary-housing.html
Notice that Single Family Detached prices have been slightly immune to the sell-off since 2014 and yes Alberta does have the highest household earnings (see my earnings chart), but my latest blog post “Seasonal Oil Fear”
http://www.chpc.biz/history-readings/seasonal-oil-fear
…has an implicit warning about real estate prices being affected by the price of oil which if you look at the blog post charts, are signalling a seasonal warning which could easily become a secular mess as the strata sector continues to head towards “GET ME OUT”.
More advice;
Moving to MB, get some counseling. Few moldy BCers can take a real mans winter.
Victoria is full of wrinkly old socialists – get away.
Calgarys greatest asset is that it wont be part of Canada soon. Into Trumps warm embrace we go.
#6 Drill Baby Drill on 05.28.19 at 5:35 pm
“Alberta’s new Barbarian premier” ? and Doug Ford is what exactly?
Dougie Ford is the premier who is going to slash our provincial deficits, start a surplus, slash 1000s of government workers, privatize the Beer Store and in the end be awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics! You heard it here first folks!
#7 Drill Baby Drill on 05.28.19 at 5:36 pm
“Until EV’s can get 500km in -30C weather do not even consider buying one in cold weather Canada.”
Get a grip buddy! With global warming accelerating, you can kiss minus 30C goodbye! You will be swimming in Hudson’s Bay on your next summer vacation in 20 years it will be that warm…
#5 The Wet One on 05.28.19 at 5:35 pm
“About that, I note that keeping the peace in Canada has relatively little to do with out military and a whole lot more to do with other factors in Canadian society.”
That’s right! The good folks of Canada are high on legal weed and in a zen state of tranquility…
Google’s Shadow Work Force: Temps Who Outnumber Full-Time Employees
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/technology/google-temp-workers.html
“especially as the world discovers EVs basically suck unless you commute 2 km to Whole Foods to buy your kale.”
Hey Garth,
My EV has a 260 mile range. I charge it once a week overnight in my garage while I sleep. It is quick and fast. What sucks about that? I live in BC so it’s hydro powered. My EV is a Hyundai Kona. Consumer Reports and other reviewers dig it.
BC Doc
If K does get aggressive, and gets a HELOC at (I am guessing) prime plus .25, they should get some professional advice in regards to where/how to invest the funds.
Will Edmonton market follow the same path as Calgary?
I would’ve thought Edmonton economy got hit harder than Calgary, thus having lower house prices and more potential trajectory for rising house prices
OMG successor to Trudeau has been found. Hack Mark Carney to come back home and finish the ruination of the country?
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/liberal-insiders-see-carney-as-trudeau-successor-star-reports/ar-AAC2Zbl?ocid=spartanntp
So Garth, if EVs suck so bad maybe you should put the real estate blog on pause and save all the major auto manufacturers before they make a huge mistake…
Volkswagen – all 300 models will be electric by 2030
Volvo- All models either fully electric or hybrid as of 2019.
Jaguar Land Rover – All models either fully electric or hybrid as of 2020.
Fiat Chrysler – 30 EV models by 2022
Nissan – 12 EV models by 2022
Ford – 40 EV models by 2022
GM – 20 EV models by 2023
Hyundai/Kia – 38 “green” models by 2025
Garth, have you ever driven an EV? The experience is kind of like when you were perfectly happy with your Blackberry and then somebody handed you an iphone.
60% of all global oil demand is transport. Remember when prices fell from $100 to $30 in 2014? That was due to a 2% oversupply.
Calgary could still be a pretty nice ski bum town, but ski bums don’t have oil & gas salaries that propped up the housing market. RIP Calgary housing.
US recession probably started in current quarter, Gary Shilling says.
The property market in BC has snapped and is sinking.
Calgary definitely a buy opportunity.
Thumbs up for the Hyundai Kona.
Thumbs down to Doug Ford.
Thumbs down to Mark Carney replacing Trudeau.
Two thumbs up for John Horgan, Carole James, David Eby.
I have never been in debt and have 6 figures at all times on hand but I have had a hell of a time saving any extra money the past 8 years – investment growth being the only upside of around 6%.
80k job a year doesn’t cut it anymore in BC. I figured out that a 140+ per year income will allow me to get back on the savings track in BC – rent or own. Otherwise, time to move out of province with the rest of the broke people packing up.
You’re right about the EVs. Right now they are nothing but expensive toys, not very practicable for real world applications.
Unless there is some radical new technology discovered, we’ll still be burning fossil fuels for while, yet. People will continue to buy monstrous pick-up trucks to go to the mall with.
I found it odd that Marnie uses singular pronouns throughout her story: “I’M not going to have enough money to retire.” The fact that she is married is added on almost as an afterthought.
Where is the “WE”? Imo retirement planning should be a joint venture between the spouses.
In the part that Garth published, she says nothing about her hubbie’s finances and it sounds like she is going to have to fend entirely for herself during retirement. But what if hubby is doing very well? In that case, whatever she manages to save will be gravy.
And even if he’s doing not so well, there is still the possibility that they can work together to fund their retirement, which should at least double her financial prospects.
Bitcoin Whales Bought the F**king Dip: Research
My buddy called it perfectly in January. Boom! Doubled investment.
Round 2 mania coming at ya.
John McAfee says you’re stupid if you don’t believe the bitcoin price hits $1 million in 2020. His proof: a crypto time traveler who has ‘never been wrong.’ | Source: REUTERS
“We are in the lucky position of selling our house in BC and moving to Manitoba with a nice profit.”
Sorry K, moving to MB from BC is anything but lucky… No, the grass is not always greener on the other side of the rockies… From someone who spent the first 25 years of their life trying to get out of MB.. And hopefully the last 25 years in BC.
#3 AGuyInVancouver on 05.28.19 at 5:22 pm
“…especially as the world discovers EVs basically suck unless you commute 2 km to Whole Foods to buy your kale…”
_ _ _
And here folks are the limitations of taking advice from a person of a certain age living in the back of beyond. EVs are a perfectly practical alternative for the millions of Canadians who live in urban areas and have the typical commute of 23 km.
Wow. 23 km. – Garth
…….
Stay informed, Garth. “AGuyInVancouver” was simply making everyone aware that the typical commute for Canadians is 23 km each way (this was mentioned on a CBC news broadcast in the last few days). He was not suggesting any e vehicle would only get 23 km without recharging…such is not the case In fact, many right now have an electric range of 200 – 500+ km including the Nissan Leaf 242 km, Kia Niro 385 km, Hyundai Kona 415 km, Tesla Mode S 507 km .
A great chart showing Electric Range for 44 different Electric & Hybrid Vehicles:
https://pluginbc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Electric-Car-Handout_190523.pdf
#11 David Suzuki on 05.28.19 at 6:23 pm
#7 Drill Baby Drill on 05.28.19 at 5:36 pm
“Until EV’s can get 500km in -30C weather do not even consider buying one in cold weather Canada.”
Get a grip buddy! With global warming accelerating, you can kiss minus 30C goodbye! You will be swimming in Hudson’s Bay on your next summer vacation in 20 years it will be that warm…
—
I will buy waterfront cottage and an electric boat if that happens.
Maybe someone even manage to figure out how to capture the energy generated by that big acceleration and it will be all good. Maybe one of those high-school kids, who don’t strike.
Great on that young couple from Calgary. 28 and 27, and probably only in the work force for a maximum of 5 or 6 years given the time at University. Already 600K saved. Must have had no student debt to pay off (engineering school is expensive). Don’t quite see how it is possible to be so far ahead so soon without having good family support. I don’t think they are the typical couple; it would be great for them to share their strategy with others so that they too could learn….
Apparently Canadians are not the only ones sleepwalking into globalized servitude.
“All across America, U.S. farmland is being gobbled up by foreign interests. So when we refer to “the heartland of America”, the truth is that vast stretches of that “heartland” is now owned by foreigners, and most Americans have no idea that this is happening.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-28/american-soil-being-globalized-nearly-30-million-acres-us-farmland-now-owned
The most militarized nation in history has absolutely no restrictions on foreign ownership.
EV’s? 300 range kilometers… estimated range is with the AC off in summer and heater off in winter. Nice with your $80K Tesla sitting in Vancouver traffic with no AC , no music or in winter no heater, defroster or heated seat. Ever sat in a 2-3 hour delay on our so called freeways east, south or north out of Vancouver. Good luck with the battery range. Ever seen 20 Evs sitting at the roadside waiting for tow trucks? Or for that matter waiting for a turn at the few charging stations, if you can find one, learn to wait your turn.. Dinner will be late tonight.
Then comes battery replacement time which on a 5 year old vehicle will cost as much as the depreciated vehicle value. Like buying a used gasoline vehicle and having to replace the motor. Don’t even mention recycling .Cities can’t figure out how to effectively recycle plastics let alone caustic 500Kg batteries by the truck load.
Hang in there Alberta .Your boom days are not over|
Dr Garth, I need some drugs.
I’m feeling a bit fragile…
M44BC
“Visualizing Fragility & GDP: How Stable is Your Country?
In terms of stability, all countries are not created equal. Some are rich, some are poor, some are violent and some are safe. The Fund For Peace, a U.S.-based NGO, stack ranks 174 countries every year based on how stable a country is. Hard data such as economic indicators, security, strength of factions and other indicators are analyzed and compared yearly. Each country, based on its data, is given a score and ranked from 1 to 174. The higher the rank, the more unstable the country. The data may surprise you.
The Fund for Peace stack ranks 174 countries every year based on stability.
Yemen is the newly ranked most unstable country with Somalia slipping to the second most unstable country.
Western Europe, in particular Nordic countries (Finland, Norway, Demark, Sweden and Iceland) continue to be ranked as the most stable countries in the world.
The world’s largest economies (U.S., China, Japan) are noticeably absent from top ten most stable countries.
The African continent continues to dominate the world’s most unstable countries list while Westrn Europe dominates the most stable component. Looking into the details reveals some surprising takeaways.
Top Ten Most Unstable Countries
1. Yemen. Fragility Index: 113.5 – GDP: $31.3B
2. Somalia. Fragility Index: 112.3 – GDP: $7.05B
3. Democratic Republic of Congo. Fragility Index: 110.2 – GDP: $37.6B
4. Central African Republic. Fragility Index: 108.9 – GDP: $1.95B
5. Chad. Fragility Index: 108.5 – GDP: $9.87B
6. South Sudan. Fragility Index: 108 – GDP: $117B
7. Afghanistan. Fragility Index: 105 – GDP: $19.5B
8. Zimbabwe. Fragility Index: 99.5 – GDP: $22B
9. Guinea. Fragility Index: 99.4 – GDP: $10.5B
10. Haiti. Fragility Index: 99.3 – GDP: $8.41B
Top Ten Most Stable Countries
1. Finland. Fragility Index: 16.9 – GDP: $252B
2. Norway. Fragility Index: 18 – GDP: $399B
3. Switzerland. Fragility Index: 18.7 – GDP: $679B
4. Denmark. Fragility Index: 19.5 – GDP: $330B
5. Australia. Fragility Index: 19.7 – GDP: $1.32T
6. Iceland. Fragility Index: 19.8 – GDP: $24.5B
7. Canada. Fragility Index: 20 – GDP: $1.65T
8. New Zealand. Fragility Index: 20.1 – GDP: $204B
9. Sweden. Fragility Index: 20.3 – GDP: $536B
10. Luxembourg. Fragility Index: 20.4 – GDP: $62.3B
The biggest surprise from the data comes from the most stable countries, not the unstable. Nordic countries occupy 50% of the top 10 countries. Western Europe occupies 70% of the top 10. These countries score very high on security, economics and most importantly economic inequality. Nordic countries are some of the most economically equal countries in the world.
While there is a correlation between GDP and stability, the world’s top three largest economies (U.S., China, and Japan) don’t make the most stable countries top ten list. The U.S. doesn’t even break the top 20 coming in at 26. Japan ranks 22nd and China remains in the elevated risk category at 90. In other words, China, despite being the world’s second largest economy is in the top 100 of countries most at risk of instability.
The rankings provide a snapshot in time. The trend of a countries ascent or decline is perhaps more instructive on where a country is heading. In the case of the U.S., it has been in a declining trend for several years despite a robust economy. Fragile State Index 2018 report devotes an entire section to the declining stability ranking of the U.S. and highlights partisan politics as a key contributing factor. ”
28 May 2019
Visualization
https://howmuch.net/articles/economic-fragility-around-the-world
Any place in Canada that’s 23 mile commute involves an extra hour idling in soul sucking traffic. The rest of the country is a wide open expanse of extremes where you wouldn’t dare drive without a full tank of fossil fuels.
Seriously does anybody who lives in Toronto or Vancouver not have a inkling to learn about the rest of the country? Talk about sheltered and tone deaf.
I would love to see an EV transport truck full of potash make it up Rogers pass in January.
Greens are like totally whack and have no idea how our economy even works. News to you, our countrys wealth comes from our resources not from a trip down the street to the pot shop and the starbucks barista.
#26 ……. the math doesn’t add up, 600k at age 27 and 28 and looking for financial advice ? So if they got 600 k together by this age, why not implore the same strategy moving forward, technically they should be millionaires before age 35 …….. I do know people at that age that have that kind of money, inheritance ……….
#7 Drill Baby Drill on 05.28.19 at 5:36 pm
Until EV’s can get 500km in -30C weather do not even consider buying one in cold weather Canada.
Um, why? My commute is 28 km one way. (And no it doesn’t take me an hour, 30 minutes is typical.) A 100 km range at -30C would be plenty. People act like EVs are not practical, when in fact they cover the commuting needs of a huge percentage of people who trundle along the roads every morning in their combustion engine vehicles. Is an EV a solution for everyone? No, but which vehicle is?
Nuance folks. It’s not all black and white.
#11 David Suzuki on 05.28.19 at 6:23 pm
#7 Drill Baby Drill on 05.28.19 at 5:36 pm
“Until EV’s can get 500km in -30C weather do not even consider buying one in cold weather Canada.”
Get a grip buddy! With global warming accelerating, you can kiss minus 30C goodbye! You will be swimming in Hudson’s Bay on your next summer vacation in 20 years it will be that warm…
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The “super smart folks” (lol) like Al Gore, Suzuki and James Hansen said the same thing 31 years ago. And yet much of Canada has had the longest and coldest winter / spring combination in decades.
Still waiting for NYC to be underwater, and the north pole to be ice free in summer…
28 Gored on 05.28.19 at 7:14 pm
EV’s? 300 range kilometers… estimated range is with the AC off in summer and heater off in winter. Nice with your $80K Tesla sitting in Vancouver traffic with no AC , no music or in winter no heater, defroster or heated seat.
***************************
The horror, the heartbreak. A Vancouver “winter” with no heated seats! How would one manage?
Ya gotta come east to Ontario, or any other province for that matter, to fully experience “winter”.
An engineer earning only $100,000?
Presuming she’s a new professional and will work her way up very soon.
Tell me it’s not because the engineer is a woman…
#28 Gored
You get it; imagine trying to drive from Calgary to Edmonton or Regina to Saskatoon or Winnipeg to Churchill,in minus 30 to 40 minus the windchill and hope like hell that there are no accidents that delay a journey; we are just not there yet.
What about the mining and all the plastic that goes into one of these things; can electrical infrastructure handle a sudden change? If not, what is it going to cost the tax payers?
#5 The Wet One on 05.28.19 at 5:35 pm
That’s right! The good folks of Canada are high on legal weed and in a zen state of tranquility…
———————————————-
When friends of mine smoke the ganja, they turn into giggling schoolkids for the next 2 hours and are absolutely unable to have an intelligent conversation. It may be zen tranquility but it seems a lot more like willing idiocy.
#30 not 1st on 05.28.19 at 7:21 pm
Any place in Canada that’s 23 mile commute involves an extra hour idling in soul sucking traffic. The rest of the country is a wide open expanse of extremes where you wouldn’t dare drive without a full tank of fossil fuels.
Seriously does anybody who lives in Toronto or Vancouver not have a inkling to learn about the rest of the country? Talk about sheltered and tone deaf.
_ _ _
Who really cares about the experience of vehicle owners in Bumwad, Sask? 45% of Canadians live in cities over 1 million people. Only 20% live in rural areas. Embrace the future!
“To recap – forty years old, RRSPs under $25,000, no retirement savings or pension, in debt until recently, living in Vancouver and you’ve been mulling buying a house? Why not a yacht? Or a Bugatti?” – GT
///
ROTFLMAO
Yeah, turning 40 I made a similar realization – that I wouldn’t have enough to ‘live’ through retirement (unless I postponed it till 90!)
Made some changes, and started learning about finances as I was just as clueless as the average moister we read about here and there (and probably more).
Mid-fifties now, and DYI investor with a contrarian bent (the real kind) – and should be able to retire by 60.
I made a simple ‘rule’: read something (useful) pertaining to finance/investing EVERY day. Even if it’s 5 minutes worth of time.
Over time, you’ll find out who’s worth listening to and who to ignore. No matter what they say, NO-ONE knows it all and everyone makes mistakes; just make sure to avoid the BIG ones.
TCC
The problem with EV that no-one talks about:
what happens when the entire electrical grid is down?
At least with diesel, you can store some for ’emergencies’ if you live outside city-core – or even making it yourself (the biodiesel type).
EV’s make us even more dependent on TPTB (and their obedient Engineers)
TCC
#39 AGuyInVancouver
Spoken like a “TRUE” WEST COAST moron! There is life and extreme temps outside of west coast that you condensating snowflakes; on never mind; it is pointless.
Cannot wait for that Alberta oil to flow thru those nice new safe pipelines. :)
Lol, the young couple from Calgary sound like a perfect example of what happens when one combines afamily funded post secondary education and assortative mating. Sorta hoping that happens with my daughters as well lol…btw, tuition at University of Waterloo engineering is roughly 20k per year, not including any living expenses. My guess is it’s a bit lower in second tier schools but not much lower….if a kid comes out with the right degree, no debt (thanks mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, uncle etc.etc.) and teams up with a partner with the same situation….sky is the limit.
#11 David Suzuki on 05.28.19 at 6:23 pm
#7 Drill Baby Drill on 05.28.19 at 5:36 pm
“Until EV’s can get 500km in -30C weather do not even consider buying one in cold weather Canada.”
Get a grip buddy! With global warming accelerating, you can kiss minus 30C goodbye! You will be swimming in Hudson’s Bay on your next summer vacation in 20 years it will be that warm…
————————————————————–
And they will be growing bananas in Iqaluit right?
This one is for Smoking Man.
https://nationalpost.com/news/world/wow-what-is-that-navy-pilots-report-unexplained-flying-objects
Do you know what is stable too? Death. Stability is not a good measure for a good outcome.
#36 Barb on 05.28.19 at 7:56 pm
An engineer earning only $100,000?
Presuming she’s a new professional and will work her way up very soon.
Tell me it’s not because the engineer is a woman
———————————————
How much do you think engineers make, Barb? Please back up your inequality premise with data for engineers in that experience range.
#18 TS
Calgary could still be a pretty nice ski bum town, but ski bums don’t have oil & gas salaries that propped up the housing market. RIP Calgary housing.
——————————————————————-
I can see potential for corporations to move their headquarters to Calgary given the much lower prices for commercial real estate and the fact that 1/3 of commercial space in Calgary sits vacant. Plus, the lower housing prices makes it very attractive and an incentive to move employees as well. Happened in the 80s when prices in the lower mainland went whonky.
#39 AGuyInVancouver on 05.28.19 at 8:09 pm
…
Who really cares about the experience of vehicle owners in Bumwad, Sask? 45% of Canadians live in cities over 1 million people. Only 20% live in rural areas. Embrace the future!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Let us know when your cities produce all the food and energy you consume.
An Idiot in Vancouver…
Fraud of Global Warming: A History
http://www.tomatobubble.com/history_of_global_warming_hoax.html
Hey Garth. Don’t be so quick to assume the last writer’s husband shouldn’t trust here with finances. Sometimes, it’s the other way around. Keeping finances separate may have been a result of having to bail out debts he ran up. Possibly in secret. Ask me how I know. The first pillar of domestic abuse is financial abuse, and that can take multiple forms. One of the things, too, that might keep someone in such a situation is the fear of losing so much of what little they may have managed to accumulate. Unfortunately, our no-fault divorce ( and common law) justice system leaves the financially abused partner with very little in the way of legal remedies, and essentially facilitates domestic abuse as a result
#14 BC_Doc on 05.28.19 at 6:26 pm
My EV has a 260 mile range.
——
Not at -30, thru the snow, in the dark it doesn’t.
Maybe it works in BC, but not so much for the “real” Canadian Climate.
The so called remote rural in this country sits on all the wealth. Trillions of dollars of it. The so called populated areas sit on nothing but narrow strips of worthless alluvial outflows.
Mass EVs and green tech will require mass amounts of rare earth elements. Got any of those in Vancouver?
#41 tccontrarian
When the grid goes down, you get the choice of driving a few hundred km on your battery or, perhaps in the future, using your car battery to power your house for the next week so all your food doesn’t spoil.
Have you tried filling up your car at a gas station when the power is out any time in the last three decades? Good luck!
Hey Garth, you’re easily rich enough to buy an EV and try it out. Nobody who buys any of the expensive high range ones ever seems to regret it.
Thanx for buying your EV. I feel no guilt now adding headers and a supercharger on my C6 corvette.
#41 tccontrarian on 05.28.19 at 8:21 pm
The problem with EV that no-one talks about:
what happens when the entire electrical grid is down?
At least with diesel, you can store some for ’emergencies’ if you live outside city-core – or even making it yourself (the biodiesel type).
EV’s make us even more dependent on TPTB (and their obedient Engineers)
TCC
———-
I’d have a wood gasifier hooked to a genset, and charge it that way. Diesel needs an electric pump to get it out of the tanks at the station. Wood is the worlds most abundant and accessible fuel, and burning it is carbon neutral if you’re into that.
EV’s are good for the city dwellers, but suck for pretty much everyone else. When the batteries inevitability crap out, the entire car is junk unless you’re down for shelling out 15-30k for a new battery for a car with 250k+ on it.
#36 Barb on 05.28.19 at 7:56 pm
An engineer earning only $100,000?
Presuming she’s a new professional and will work her way up very soon.
Tell me it’s not because the engineer is a woman…
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It says right in the article their ages – so she is either 27 or 28. Meaning in the workforce for about 5 years. Grossing over $100K is pretty good for the engineering positions I know with that experience [hint – I am an engineer].
Oh, and yes. In my company, it is policy that women engineers get paid at least 25% less than men (…rolling eyes…it has been the law for equal pay for over 60 years…honestly Barb…stop listening to Hollywood actresses complain).
#39 AGuyInVancouver on 05.28.19 at 8:09 pm
I hope your house is the first one to fall into the ocean when Vancouver finally sinks.
What was being said about Calgary 7 years ago.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Calgary+head+office+second+only+Toronto/6548282/story.html
The ignorance on display here concerning electric vehicles is staggering. How long did you people trash talk computers before finally giving up your type-writers?
#135 Stan Brooks on 05.28.19 at 3:02 pm
#126 Tater on 05.28.19 at 1:07 pm
#115 Dana White on 05.28.19 at 10:35 am
I propose a battle in the octagon between Tater and Stan Brooks. Best way to settle this on going battle is a mano to mano fight to the finish in the octagon. Are you gentlemen up to the task?
—————————————————————-
Yep.
Was that a threat? Should I be scared?
You need anger management boy. Relax, have a beer or two. If you feel sexual frustration go to the Mint/Gentleman’s club on Yonge, south of Steels.
You have 1 hour on my account/quote Stan Brooks.
____________________________________
Anyone surprised that Stan pays for sex? Maybe that’s where 8% inflation is!
Garth and many commentators here are poorly informed on EVs. I ask you all to please give them an honest shot – a ride with an owner, and real first hand experience.
Ihcdt9, how often are you plowing through fresh snow in -30 for 200km? Even so, all it would take is a long range ev and being nearly fully charged, which you can be every morning you wake up. $50,000 EVs are less practical in the winter if your commute is over 100km each way, but otherwise golden.
Garth I’ll take you for a first hand ride if you’ve yet to really experience an EV. I’m guessing your blog take came more from the recent TSLA drop than anything else.
#32 Welcome to surrey
—–
Indeed, in my world too the math doesn’t add up. However, I was giving them the benefit of the doubt and it would be great if they could share this strategy. With being out of school for a max of 5–6 years I don’t see how this would be possible without considerable help on the family plan (inheritance, gifts, college). Many people don’t have this help and spend years paying off debt and then trying to save to get ahead (no matter what the salary level is), all the while being super frugal.
@#36 Barb
“Tell me it’s not because the engineer is a woman…’
+++++
I worked in a building that employed over 200 engineers.
The HR Dept would just about slit their wrists every time another engineering firm poached a female engineer from their ranks OR a gal took maternity leave ……..because they almost never came back after their Mat Leave was finished.
From the info gleaned .
The female engineer is 27 and pulling in $100,000 per year. Lets assume she graduated at the age of say….24?
So she only has 3 years max of work experience?
$100k a year in Alberta’s gutted economy for ANY educated 27 year old is nothing to shake a stick at or scream at the “unfairness” of it all ” because she’s a woman”.
What about all the potential male applicants that were just as qualified but rejected because “they needed a women ” to fill the politically correct Human Resources definition of “equality”.
The poor gal is only making $100k per year after 3 years of work experience….
Cry me a river at the unfairness of it all.
@#61 Tater
“Anyone surprised that Stan pays for sex? ‘
+++++
I was kinda thinkin the same thing but I didnt wanna go “there”………ick.
#53 Not 1st on 05.28.19
Man can you please stop with this stupid and petty urban vs rural conflict you have created in your mind???
We urbanites are proud of all of Canada, including the economic engine of Alberta.
Give it up already. You sound easily manipulated.
MF
Anyone surprised that Stan pays for sex? Maybe that’s where 8% inflation is!
//////////////////////
Stan Brooks at a Gentleman’s Club?
All I see is a lot of deflation…
M44BC
#43 Kaganovich on 05.28
I agree, but I’m gonna go with what the other poster said. The 600k most likely involved an inheritance.
Also, and this has been mentioned before on here by other posters, but large salaries are not always stable. They 150k income can vanish quickly.
MF
#32 WelcometoSlurrey on 05.28.19 at 7:37 pm
#26 ……. the math doesn’t add up, 600k at age 27 and 28 and looking for financial advice ? So if they got 600 k together by this age, why not implore the same strategy moving forward, technically they should be millionaires before age 35 …….. I do know people at that age that have that kind of money, inheritance ……….
—————————————————————
I know one who went from net worth of $20 grand to a million from age 21 to 30. 4 years working for wages and 5 years in his own business. My son.
@# 60 Elon Capitalist
“How long did you people trash talk computers before finally giving up your type-writers?”
+++++
Actually I smashed my typewriter when my telephone went from rotary to pushbutton…. and then… a cordless phone so I could sit in the hottub while talking on the telephone……….the future was here.
Ever watch a kid try and figure out a rotary phone?
Or an old tv without a remote?
And when it’s finally turned on…..its black and white….
Hours of amusement…..
#60 Eco Capitalist on 05.28.19 at 9:40 pm
The ignorance on display here concerning electric vehicles is staggering. How long did you people trash talk computers before finally giving up your type-writers?
—-
You’d better get busy explaining how EV’s don’t get half the range advertised in a real Canadian winter.
I’d own an EV in a second, but not until they do the same thing as a gas powered vehicle for the same cost (duh).
(Former Commodore Vic-20 owner)
@ #71 IHCTD9
That’s easy; you plug it in and use the preheat function. Reduces range loss to 20%. That 50% they like to throw around is only if you let the vehicle cold soak for a few hours. In all the places where they have “real winter”, people already plug in (block heaters) and preheat their vehicles (remote starters) so this isn’t a new idea that they’d have to get used to.
Count down to Disclosure.
https://www.bostonglobe.com//2019/05/26/wow-what-that-navy-pilots-report-unexplained-flying-objects/3BnJ7ADiiMCntZZdTGBX6I/story.html?camp=bg:brief:rss:MSN&rss_id=MSN_rss_brief
Here’s the right link
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/wow-what-is-that-navy-pilots-report-unexplained-flying-objects/ar-AABXltD#page=2
@ #70 crowdedelevatorfartz
I see what you did there and yes, watching youngsters scratch their heads over old technology is amusing.
A few notes on EVs:
Global auto manufacturers don’t care whether they work for rural Canadians. The big vehicle markets are China, USA and Europe. The last car designed and built for Canadians was the Acura EV, and even that was a badge engineered Civic.
I think EVs are going to catch on a lot faster than is generally believed.
That said, my Tesla short is buying me a yacht, with plenty left over for commissioning and outfitting. There, — now I’ve offended the snowflakes on both sides of the road.
More Disclosure
They’re preparing the Herd. What will it to to stocks and bonds.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/05/28/ufos-exist-everyone-needs-adjust-that-fact/?utm_term=.a0b307990379
Early computers
#71 IHCTD9 on 05.28.19 at 10:01 pm
(Former Commodore Vic-20 owner)
************************
I had a VIC 20 and was able to use it in about 1982 to log into the university mainframe using a telephone jack and with a television as the monitor.
I believe the 20 stood for 20k of random access memory.
The next one was a Commodore 64. I recall using it as a sort of electric typewriter with memory. It had a Daisy wheel printer and was incredibly loud.
In 1986 I was working at Nova Scotia Power and they had IBM PCs. There was the AT and the XT model.
Spread sheets had been invented by then, Lotus 123. Floppy disks. No network. Each computer was stand-alone. The utility mostly relied on mainframe dumb terminals with COBOl programming. But guess what, the work got done. We wrote reports by hand and secretaries typed them up on electric type writers with memory. We did not revise our reports a 100 times like today. It was actually pretty efficient.
By 2015 I was working in a government office where every sentence in every letter and report was fought over and red-lined as a team of 5 or more including lawyers and engineers (all paid nicely over six figures) emailed it round and round the office. I kid you not. Inefficiency defined. I took early retirement as I could not handle that place any longer. In that case the computers were used to make things a lot more inefficient. We shall revise 100 times because we can.
#61 Tater on 05.28.19 at 9:42 pm
Anyone surprised that Stan pays for sex?
—-
Given the current state of male/female relations in the West, this might not be the insult it once was…(lol?)
FWIW, I’d pay a good buck to see a Tater vs. Stan cage match. I’ll fight the winner :)!
People have all kinds of needs. There are all kinds of solutions.
My mother decided to give up her car (she’s nearly 90 and had a minor stroke) and we bought a mobility scooter with the proceeds of the sale of the car, insurance and registration refunds.
She now gets around the village to do all her errands for next to no money. The thing goes fast enough, has space for all her shopping, more than enough range, and a cheap lead-acid battery. It’s actually fun to drive.
Her only complaint is about rain. Perhaps we should have shelled out for the Boomer Buggy.
My pal’s hybrid Toyota costs him nothing for almost unlimited running around town but with extra range for the few times he does longer trips.
I think my next vehicle will be a hybrid.
#70 crowdedelevatorfartz on 05.28.19 at 10:00 pm
Ever watch a kid try and figure out a rotary phone?
——-
Brings back memories of my kids watching old Sesame Street clips on You Tube. Remember those two Aliens? (Yep Yep Yep yepyepyepyepyep…). There was a rotary phone in one of those, and I had to tell them what it was!
There’s just something that doesn’t ring true about the young couple from Calgary with 600,000 in savings. The timeline is too short. I’m sure they didn’t walk out of university into those salaries so where did the money come from in 5 years.
#57 PastThePeak on 05.28.19 at 9:25 pm
Oh, and yes. In my company, it is policy that women engineers get paid at least 25% less than men (…rolling eyes…it has been the law for equal pay for over 60 years…honestly Barb…stop listening to Hollywood actresses complain
—————
Same where I work. We hire Women Engineers and give them 90 days to show they can work as good as a Man, and if not; it’s a 25% pay cut or they’re kicking pebbles.
It’s totally legal…
#68 MF on 05.28.19 at 9:54 pm
Also, and this has been mentioned before on here by other posters, but large salaries are not always stable. They 150k income can vanish quickly.
MF
———
True. I’ve worked with engineers who drove 2 hrs each way to make 45k. Insane? Believe it, true story.
Hopefully this is a case of making hay while the sun was shining (possible).
#69 Ronaldo on 05.28.19 at 9:59 pm
I know one who went from net worth of $20 grand to a million from age 21 to 30. 4 years working for wages and 5 years in his own business. My son.
———
Nice, I crap on Millennials quite a bit, but I also have to admit some do really make the magic happen. Hopefully he’s got Garth’s number!
#54 My EV is great, thanks! on 05.28.19 at 9:11 pm
Nobody who buys any of the expensive high range ones ever seems to regret it.
—-
I know a guy who had a a first year Ford hybrid Escape. The battery crapped out after the warrantee was up. $12,000.00 for a new one, he burned gas from then on. That was at least a decade ago.
What do you drive, what was the purchase price, and what does a new battery cost?
I’ll Google your answers.
Don’t be shy…
#28 Gored on 05.28.19 at 7:14 pm
EV’s? 300 range kilometers… estimated range is with the AC off in summer and heater off in winter. Nice with your $80K Tesla sitting in Vancouver traffic with no AC , no music or in winter no heater, defroster or heated seat. Ever sat in a 2-3 hour delay on our so called freeways east, south or north out of Vancouver. Good luck with the battery range. Ever seen 20 Evs sitting at the roadside waiting for tow trucks? Or for that matter waiting for a turn at the few charging stations, if you can find one, learn to wait your turn.. Dinner will be late tonight.
Then comes battery replacement time which on a 5 year old vehicle will cost as much as the depreciated vehicle value. Like buying a used gasoline vehicle and having to replace the motor. Don’t even mention recycling .Cities can’t figure out how to effectively recycle plastics let alone caustic 500Kg batteries by the truck load.
Hang in there Alberta .Your boom days are not over|
————-
Agree,
E-cars are not the answer.
However, F-150s are going the way of the Dodo.
Only mass transportation and smaller cars are the answer.
The most practical EVs for much of Canada are still plug in hybrids with a big battery, like the Chevy Volt. Best of both worlds. I can drive all summer on one tank of gas, and fill up for $30 every three weeks in winter (30K km/year). Too bad GM axed the Volt just because the Cruise factory had to close.
I put a range extender on my EV. Simply a 6500W generator (running) strapped onto my roof rack and plugged into the battery. I only need to stop to gas up the generator now. Problem solved.
“Oil prices won’t sit where they are forever.”
Why not? Well, of course they won’t sit where they are for ever they go up and down like an out of control roller coaster, but I think in context you meant they should rise. Why?
No scarce commodity rises to the moon just because it’s increasingly scarce. At some point it reaches the maximum price that its economic utility can bear and demand drops. I would argue that it is possible we are right around that price now, and that the run up to $140 a barrel in 2007 might have precipitated the financial crisis. The economy as we know it is just not geared to run on expensive energy. It needs cheap energy. So it seems plausible that any sustained rise in the price of oil will result in a contraction in the economy such that the price returns to where it is now. Or maybe lower.
For the Alberta economy to grow at this point, we need to increase the “volume” part of “price times volume”. But it’s hard to see how that can be done given the hostile climate towards pipelines. With WTI around $60 USD/bbl we could grow profits by growing volume, but right now the existing transport (pipelines, rail) are at capacity and the province is restricting production because we have a glut of oil. There is therefore no reason to be optimistic about the Alberta economy in the short to medium term.
#71 IHCTD9
It is unlikely the range problem with EV’s in the cold can be fixed in the near term with current technology. You’ll notice the same thing happens to your phone if you leave it in an outside pocket when you go skiing. If you want your phone to last all day outside in the winter, you have to keep it inside your jacket next to your body heat. The cold significantly reduces the life of the battery. And this is with the most modern batteries there are. Those of us who are old enough to remember when cars still had carburetors remember well that the booster cables mostly came out in cold weather.
#61 Tater on 05.28.19 at 9:42 pm
Anyone surprised that Stan pays for sex? Maybe that’s where 8% inflation is!
————————————-
Who said anything about sex? All they do is massages (Sensual and Therapeutic, including Thai), I doubt there is amount of money on this world enough to convince someone (living and breathing) to sleep with you.
As it seems sex is subconsciously on your mind, I am hearing that there is a sex dolls brothel in Toronto,
I would not be surprised if the dolls complain after your visit though.
#56 IHCTD9
You’re going to have to gasify a crap load of wood to put a single charge on an EV. This seems to me to be another case where people don’t understand the energy requirements of various activities. Try and heat your house with wood for a winter and you’ll see what I mean, and that process is much more efficient and requires a lot less energy (most people spend more on gas over a year than they do on heating).
#28 Gored on 05.28.19 at 7:14 pm
…Then comes battery replacement time which on a 5 year old vehicle will cost as much as the depreciated vehicle value. Like buying a used gasoline vehicle and having to replace the motor. Don’t even mention recycling .Cities can’t figure out how to effectively recycle plastics let alone caustic 500Kg batteries by the truck load.
Hang in there Alberta .Your boom days are not over.”
********************
It is amazing what companies / people can come up with when focused on a problem.
DELETED
#60 Eco Capitalist on 05.28.19 at 9:40 pm
The ignorance on display here concerning electric vehicles is staggering. How long did you people trash talk computers before finally giving up your type-writers?
—————————————————————–
My first computer TRS80 Model III 16K in 1982. Purchased for my sons who were 10 and 11 at the time. This was 2 years before many government offices even had personal computers. In two years my eldest was programing in Basic and had enrolled in a night school course at the local college to further enhance his programing skills. Today he is a multi millionaire businessman and credits a lot of his success to this. One of my best investments. I sold the computer recently to a young man for $20.00 after hauling it around and storing if for years. Oh, and my first typewriter was an Olympia portable which I bought in 1961 for $120. I was 15 at the time and this was purchased from savings of my dollar a day job I had at a local restaurant in our town. I then took typing from grade 10 to 12 and managed 65 wpm on a standard Underwood. I sold it in 1972 at which time I graduated to an electric typewriter. And I am the oldest of the dreaded boomers. Still pounding away on the keyboard. I am on my 4th laptop.
http://www.retrocomputing.net/parts/r/radio/TRS80_4/docs/trs80-3.htm
#52 IHCTD9 on 05.28.19 at 8:55 pm
#14 BC_Doc on 05.28.19 at 6:26 pm
My EV has a 260 mile range.
——
Not at -30, thru the snow, in the dark it doesn’t.
Maybe it works in BC, but not so much for the “real” Canadian Climate.
—————————————————————————————-
Stated range on my Kona EV is 415km. With the warmer weather, I’m now hitting 500km per charge.
My Kona has a heat pump to keep the battery warm in the winter and the range up. Keeping it warm and plugged in in my garage will help too.
That said, I anticipate lower range in the winter. Say range drops to 250 km or worse case scenario, 200 km— I’m still good for the driving I do. Long road trips? There’s a level 3 charger in every community and points in between from here to Vancouver.
Price? $5k in federal incentive plus $5k provincial plus $6k for my beater van via the BC Scrap-it program knocked 16 Big off the price of my EV. Not having gas bills is nice. Not spewing green house gases is even nicer. As EV production from car makers comes up, Economics 101 says prices should come down.
As I said above, the car is fun to drive and it feels good to not be cooking our planet every time I drive somewhere.
Seeing houses in the south Okanagan now listing under $300k, $100k more to go and vultching season will begin. I remember about two years ago on a visit being told by everyone to buy now at $500k since houses will never drop to less than $500k.
Listing ID: 178606
I don’t think EV makers care how their vehicles work in Canadian winter. There are so few people in Canada relative to the rest of the world, why would they?
Dear Dr. Garth:
Yesterday I commented, in a glass half-full, rain soaked, EU YVR delirium:
“Canadians are a well educated and savvy bunch.”
As of today, I take it all back:
“The glass was half empty after all.”
Or as #2 Paddy laconically put it:
“WTF is wrong with people”
No truer words.
Justin’s hosting of the “International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy” in Ottawa well attended by Facebook under Parliament’s Subpoena:
https://i.imgur.com/CY7gJT8.jpg
Indignant NDP’ers blaming Facebook for all human catastrophe’s, even before their inception (Luddites).
And here I thought Hell Hath no Fury as a Woman Scorned.
#29 Flop…
Lefty “The Guardian” says this about your “The Fund for Peace – Failed States Index”:
Failed States Index belongs in the policy dustbin
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/jul/02/failed-states-index-policy-dustbin
And that visualization image:
THE Poster Child for Infoxication. Makes anyone want to punch themselves in the head.
On the EV vs. ICE debate today, here is a relatively unbiased review (he owns both):
Electric Cars Myths vs Facts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk7ZTn9g7bY&t=332s
FullyCharged has some excellent reviews on many EV’s (new and upcoming), good and bad:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzz4CoEgSgWNs9ZAvRMhW2A
I am all for EV’s but as with any new technology implementation, there is a Learning Curve. I am not as brave as some of the EV Early Adopter’s commenting today, still:
I admire them. For without them…there would be no “learning” in the Learning Curve for the rest of us Diffusion of Innovation Majority and Laggards.
am i the only person that wish the links in this blog opened in separate windows?
Most of the issues with pure EVs are solved with the current crop of PHEVs. 40-50km all electric range for in-city driving and then a gas engine for longer drives on the highway.
These could be a bridge to full EVs as they allow time for charging infrastructure to build out and legacy automakers to transition from ICE to EV. Also gives more time for battery development.
The new Range Rover Sport PHEV has caught my eye.
DELETED
Marc Carney plans to steal 6 trillion dollars from western taxpayers to fund sustainable development ( giveaways to third world dictators ors and other thieves). If you haven’t read the creation documents ( Brundtoand Commission) and why climate change was invented you’re either a bumbling fool or just another low IQ moron.
There is a lot of Ignorance on this forum on EVs
Range- yes the new ones will do 400kms, but only About 250. That is still enough for 99% of the daily driving of 99% of the people. For the other one percent you can always rent a car if you were driving across the country and that if you don’t have a second ICE car
Cost- Popular vehicle in Canada is the F150 and most of them are not driven by tradespeople. Enough said
Battery longevity- Almost all EVs I have an eight year warranty on the battery. That’s longer than some cars cars can go without blowing a head gasket or crapping out a transmission
All I know is that I went from $120 to drive 400 km to $7 in electricity. And the fact that I’m doing something positive for the environment is a bonus
#83 IHCTD9 on 05.28.19 at 11:01 pm
#57 PastThePeak on 05.28.19 at 9:25 pm
Oh, and yes. In my company, it is policy that women engineers get paid at least 25% less than men (…rolling eyes…it has been the law for equal pay for over 60 years…honestly Barb…stop listening to Hollywood actresses complain
—————
Same where I work. We hire Women Engineers and give them 90 days to show they can work as good as a Man, and if not; it’s a 25% pay cut or they’re kicking pebbles.
It’s totally legal…
==================================
In my company they even advertise the pay gap as a feature when they’re recruiting new engineers!
It’s mostly to hook the guys, but oddly enough it attracts a lot of women too. I guess because they like feeling inferior to men.
and the budget will balance itself on 05.29.19 at 6:38 am
am i the only person that wish the links in this blog opened in separate windows?
=========================
Simple, right click and choose “open in new tab” or “open in new window”.
Oh. You’re on a mobile device?? Sucks.
#66 MF on 05.28.19 at 9:49 pm
#53 Not 1st on 05.28.19
We urbanites are proud of all of Canada, including the economic engine of Alberta.
—-
Really hard to believe that. Any other country with a trillion dollar resource like that would be building pipelines every which way to it, like they did in texas who added 4 million bbls a day in pipeline capacity in 2 yrs which we have been arguing with urban ecofacists about our proposed projects.
You have a warped perspective of what Canada really is. Maybe take a tour in your EV.
Until the Interstate system in the U.S. and the highway network in Canada have an EV charging system infrastructure equivalent to what currently exists with gasoline and diesel stations, electric vehicles are simply not an option.
Unless one can afford a second, or third vehicle to have as kind of a “hobby toy” (like a motorcycle for occasional fun rides, or a convertible sports car), electric cars are way too impractical.
They are kind of just a novelty item in todays world.
Good for show offs, vegans, tree huggers, socialists, holier-than-thou arrogant types, climate change psychopaths, organic eaters, trendies, metrosexuals, effeminates, posers, fake gluten free peeps, downtown condo dwellers, latte sippers, wannabes, bearded hipsters, people that label everything as offensive, lefties, detox tea drinkers, flavoured water guzzlers, #metoo pumpers, realtors, annoying pseudo-environmentalists, and people with really nowhere to go.
Unless your vehicle can handle a serious cross-continental road trip without ever having to worry about where the next “charge” is coming from or how long it’s going to take, or last, EV’s are NOT a realistic option. Yet.
ROADTRIP!!!
>>am i the only person that wish the links in this blog opened in separate windows?
Right-click the link, then open in new window.
#78 Shawn Allen Agreed, it has become a revisionist’s world.
“Unless your vehicle can handle a serious cross-continental road trip without ever having to worry about where the next “charge” is coming from or how long it’s going to take, or last, EV’s are NOT a realistic option. Yet.”
In all seriousness, who the heck does THOSE anymore?
I’ve driven East to Charlottetown, West to Tofino… I’ve crisscrossed the continent multiple times on both sides of the border. Last week I drove from the GTA to Rhode Island and back. And I can tell you, license plates from faraway places are rarer and rarer. The long distance road trip is, for most, nostalgia or a dream. The typical Canadian long distance trip these days involves a passport and two airports.
About the R.I. trip: Saw almost no Canadian plates, and few plates from faraway US states. …But the only Tesla I saw had Quebec plates. …And I got a laugh seeing the guy sporting a Massachusetts “TESLA3” plate on his GMC Yukon — maybe EV didn’t work out for him?
#93 Nonplused on 05.29.19 at 12:26 am
#56 IHCTD9
You’re going to have to gasify a crap load of wood to put a single charge on an EV. This seems to me to be another case where people don’t understand the energy requirements of various activities. Try and heat your house with wood for a winter and you’ll see what I mean, and that process is much more efficient and requires a lot less energy (most people spend more on gas over a year than they do on heating).
____
Rough, but accurate numbers: It would take about 325 lbs of dry wood to charge a 100KW battery (biggest battery in a Tesla S) from empty to full. If you were running dry hardwood, that is roughly 8 cf of wood. That’s a stacked pile of about 26″ x 26″ x 26″.
The thing is, when you’re talking about 100’s of pounds worth of wood fuel – it sounds like a mountain. But looking at 100 lbs of wood laying on the ground – it’s nothing.
A guy can easily stack a bush cord of said hardwood in less than an hour – 4500 lbs worth. That’s enough fuel to charge a Tesla S about 14 times (11,200 km worth of driving if T-S 500 mile range is correct). That’s 2.6 cents per km at $300.00/bush cord. If I were doing this for real, based on the miles I drive in a year, I’d need about 2 cords of wood per year to charge the Tesla S. So about 2-3 days of work for one guy to provide fuel for a year. Or 600.00 to buy it delivered.
But you’re right – electricity is way too cheap to bother with it in real life. Much better to gasify a pickup directly using wood chunks for fuel. Getting to be quite a few folks out there doing this, they get between 1-2 miles per lb of wood, and driving for free.
#91 Nonplused on 05.29.19 at 12:20 am
#71 IHCTD9
It is unlikely the range problem with EV’s in the cold can be fixed in the near term with current technology. You’ll notice the same thing happens to your phone if you leave it in an outside pocket when you go skiing. If you want your phone to last all day outside in the winter, you have to keep it inside your jacket next to your body heat. The cold significantly reduces the life of the battery. And this is with the most modern batteries there are. Those of us who are old enough to remember when cars still had carburetors remember well that the booster cables mostly came out in cold weather.
___
Yep, I killed my first cordless drill by forgetting it my truck. It was half charged and got 2-3 days worth of -15-20 temps before I rescued it. That was all it took, it never got a full charge again, and quickly became essentially useless. Same LI battery as in an EV.
@#72 IHCTD9
“There was a rotary phone in one of those, and I had to tell them what it was!”
****
Yep.
Had an old 1950’s style ( black and chrome and weighed in at about 10 pounds)rotary phone on a table that still worked.
A friend was visiting with their kid.
The kid was bored to tears until they “discovered” the phone, ” Is THAT a phone?”
Yes, its an old rotary phone.”
“Does it work?”
“Yup”
“Can I call my friend?”
“Sure”
He looked at it …unsure of what to do.
I picked up the hand set and said , “You speak into this end and listen in this end. The numbers are dialed here.”
He looked up his friends number on his cell and picked up the handset and began pushing the nunbers…..nothing.
“It doesnt work!”
“You have to “dial the numbers”.
I showed him.
‘COOL!”
He dialed the number and took selfies of himself taking on the ancient communication device that still worked 60 years after it was built in a North American factory…….
58% of new cars sold in Norway in April 2019 were electric:
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/02/709131281/electric-cars-hit-record-in-norway-making-up-nearly-60-of-sales-in-march
Does Norway have much warmer winters than Canada because the EVs appear to be surviving their winter driving conditions? Do Norwegians have shorter daily commutes and drive less than Canadians because EVs seem to be working for their driving distances?
I am not an early adopter— my coworkers with the Leaf and the Bolt were. My Kona is ready for primectime. The future is now.
#107 The Great Gordonski on 05.29.19 at 8:27 am
“Marc Carney plans to steal 6 trillion dollars from western taxpayers to fund sustainable development…”
Congrats on not getting deleted Gordonski! You were batting zero with the big guy…
#92 Stan Brooks on 05.29.19 at 12:23 am
#61 Tater on 05.28.19 at 9:42 pm
Anyone surprised that Stan pays for sex? Maybe that’s where 8% inflation is!
————————————
“As it seems sex is subconsciously on your mind, I am hearing that there is a sex dolls brothel in Toronto,
I would not be surprised if the dolls complain after your visit though.”
You guys have me howling!! Great zingers being lobbied back and forth. I love it!! Keep it up gents!
They’ve admitted it:
“MillerCoors, the U.S. arm of Molson Coors, has said that Miller Lite and Coors Light do use corn syrup, while Bud Light uses rice, to aid fermentation. But it notes that the sweetener gets consumed by the yeast during fermentation, meaning it is not in the final product.”
This straight from the US court case where Molson sued Budweiser for saying that Molson uses corn syrop in their beer.
For those in the know, the biggest part of brewing beer is starch.
Basically, what you do, is grind down whole grain, to get at the white starch in each grain kernel. You then warm that ground up starch to 66.67 degrees, keep it at that temperature for an hour, and the result is sugar.
Enzymes work the magic. They transform starch into sugar, at 66.67 degrees.
You then extract that watery sugar from the grain bed (known as the primary extraction) and the result is, yup, good old malt extract, the primary ingredient in beer.
Problem is, grain is expensive.
So where else to get starch?
Well, corn is full of starch. And so is rice. Both can be purchased for a fraction of the cost of grain.
So those who like to cheat and make beer using things other than grain, will just grind up either corn or rice, to get the starch, and then heat that up to 66.67 degrees, extract the sugar, and voila, you have malt extract made from corn or rice.
Only problem is, it tastes like shyte. Corn beer and rice beer is garbage. It also is full of impurities which require many levels of filteration to remove.
So the big three brewers, using corn and rice, make low quality beer, filter the crap out of it, and then use small amounts of grain to make it taste “beer like”.
They have always denied doing this, but now it comes out in Court. You can’t lie to a Court or a Judge. So they have told the truth.
They make beer with corn and rice.
#85 IHCTD9 on 05.28.19 at 11:22 pm
#69 Ronaldo on 05.28.19 at 9:59 pm
I know one who went from net worth of $20 grand to a million from age 21 to 30. 4 years working for wages and 5 years in his own business. My son.
———
Nice, I crap on Millennials quite a bit, but I also have to admit some do really make the magic happen. Hopefully he’s got Garth’s number!
————————————————————–
IH, actually he is a GenXer born in 71. He reached his first goal in 2001 which was the million. His next one is believe it or not $50 million.
5 MINUTES TO TRUMPLOSION!
Mueller speaks at 11:00 a.m.
The Truth will come out.
All Hell breaks loose very soon after.
PREPARE.
#119 BC_Doc on 05.29.19 at 10:04 am
58% of new cars sold in Norway in April 2019 were electric:
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/02/709131281/electric-cars-hit-record-in-norway-making-up-nearly-60-of-sales-in-march
Does Norway have much warmer winters than Canada because the EVs appear to be surviving their winter driving conditions? Do Norwegians have shorter daily commutes and drive less than Canadians because EVs seem to be working for their driving distances?
I am not an early adopter— my coworkers with the Leaf and the Bolt were. My Kona is ready for primectime. The future is now.
____
Yes, Norway is way warmer than Canada despite what you might think. All Nordic countries are like this. You have to get away from the coastline before you get anything we would consider cold here in Canada.
The reason all these EV’s are sprouting in Norway is because the government has piled the incentives to the moon so folks will buy them, not because they are any better than gas. If these did not exist, the EV’s would not have suddenly exploded in “popularity”.
Obviously it’s a bait and switch, the perks are already being withdrawn. We’ll see how many are still being driven in a decade when these Norwegian EV’s are just another car, and have to stand on their own two feet.
#111 not 1st on 05.29.19
I don’t drive a EV bud.
My Canada is the same as yours, except I understand their are competing interests in a democracy like ours.
The pipelines will be built, but it will take time for the legal system to green light it.
That is not the same as “the urbanites don’t like us and are against us”. That’s basically cynically paranoia and delusion.
Got it?
MF
I think that your advice to the first patient could be revised slightly as she could have her cake and eat it too.
She could pay the house down as much as possible including temporarily cashing out any available non-registered investments. Ideally pay the whole hosuse off. Then get a mortgage (NOT a HELOC) at a 5 year fixed rate so no demand loan issues or variable rates, then invest all the proceeds of the mortgage and deduct all the interest. Ideally, she needs to invest ALL of the proceeds from mortgage and be able to show this on paper or track the amount invested and keep a record. As long as the investments generate income such as dividends or interest, or if she has a reasonable expectation that they will generate income. Comments?
Electric vehicles and Road Trips to Nova Scotia
Dharma Bum at 112 warned:
Unless your vehicle can handle a serious cross-continental road trip without ever having to worry about where the next “charge” is coming from or how long it’s going to take, or last, EV’s are NOT a realistic option. Yet.
ROADTRIP!!!
*********************************
I suspect you can find the next charging station using your cell phone.
And I would point out that the Clansman Motel in North Sydney Cape Breton, in addition to being dog, motorcycle (and investor) friendly was an early adopter and has an EV charging station.
Buy that EV, plan that road trip.
I call BS on the Calgary couple. 28&27 and already make 240K and have 600K invested? Yeah right.
I got an excellent engineering degree from a top Canadian engineering university (newsflash: Calgary is not one of them), co-op program, and I’ve been working longer then they have and I don’t make as much as them.
And yeah, they have 600K net worth? Maybe after their parents gifted them $1mil. These rockstars have been out of school for 4-5 years (engineering school takes 5 yrs if you do co-op) and have 600K after tax money? Only if they made $150k each out of school, parents payed for their school (it isn’t cheap; i would know), and they live for free, as in no rent, bills or grocery bills.
Yeah, this is BS.
Everyone is giving the young couple a hand for having $600K but let’s give Alex a hand as well. He’s 27 with a net worth of $150K but the real wealth lies with his pension. If he makes $70K a year from his pension for 40 years until he croaks, that’s $2.8M. Nice.
https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/hudak-new-real-estate-rules-good-news-for-home-buyers-and-sellers
– wake me up when the changes actually take place.
Can you imagine actually working with an educated realtor? Who had to take a few courses and learn about protecting their client’s best interest?
A sales hungry uneducated realtor in today’s market, is a very dangerous thing.
China’s real economic GDP is much lower than 6.4%. Looking at diesel consumption and shipping of goods down 16%.
China will be in a recession in the next 3-5 years. Donald Trump is next to win, Goldman Sachs stated that today.
I’m glad China after 30 years is going to be in real trouble. People are still believing that China is not a communist government anymore. It still is and the reds here like China, Liberals, NDP anyone.
#36 Barb
An engineer earning only $100,000?
Presuming she’s a new professional and will work her way up very soon.
Tell me it’s not because the engineer is a woman…
——————————————-
For God’s sake Barb…
It’s not news flash that a drywaller earns more than an engineer. (especially after deducting expenses and tax write offs). Not to mention other trades.
Look on Indeed and you’ll notice employers hiring engineers with a PEng (which you can get 4 years after you graduate) for $50K; of course, no takers, but still…
And no, it’s not a gender issue. In fact, women engineers earn quite a bit more than male counterparts. Why? Because each company wants them in order to look diverse (i.e. “50% of our workforce are women”). The problem is only about 3-5% of engineers are females (for Electrical/Computer/System/Mechanical/Mechatronics) and about 20-30% for Civil/Chemical. So what happens when you have high demand and low supply? You’ve guessed it.
Garth
Interesting articles,…but you seem to be staying away from Toronto real estate lately….? Specifically the Condo market.
“Toronto real estate might be slower, but condo prices are still pushing higher. ”
What the heck is going on here!!!!
Do you dare to say some words on this???
Who is arguing EV’s don’t suck…..the absolutely suck. They are the lamest things on earth. Sky=blue, water=wet, EV=lame. There was a EV doing 7 second quarter miles and blowing the doors off dragsters and people booed it….why? Because they suck and they are lame and no one cares.
Trumpocalypse2019, you are Buoy are real geniuses. It is all fake stuff guys.
#121 Dana White on 05.29.19 at 10:20 am
#92 Stan Brooks on 05.29.19 at 12:23 am
#61 Tater on 05.28.19 at 9:42 pm
Anyone surprised that Stan pays for sex? Maybe that’s where 8% inflation is!
————————————
“As it seems sex is subconsciously on your mind, I am hearing that there is a sex dolls brothel in Toronto,
I would not be surprised if the dolls complain after your visit though.”
You guys have me howling!! Great zingers being lobbied back and forth. I love it!! Keep it up gents!
—————————————————————
Nah, I’m going to lay off Stan for a bit. Incels have a nasty habit of lashing out when upset, and I’d hate for anyone in the loony bin to get hurt.
Pure EVs are still over-priced green virtue-signalling luxuries for the urban crowd. Batteries are still too expensive, too heavy, suffer badly in cold climates and take too long to recharge. Maybe in another 5 years as the tech improves.
I live in the GTA and see many Teslas on my daily commute – except in winter where 2/3 are in hiding.
Seriously, I saw 50% less EVs of all makes this past winter than I’m seeing now in spring.
I understand EVs as I own a plugin-hybrid which is essentially a short range EV with a gas tank and ICE generator strapped to it. For my commute, EV mode works fine for 90% of the year. For the colder days, I startup the ICE on the highway to supplement the battery.
However, most currently available plugin-hybrids are reg compliance garbage. They’re useless in pure EV-mode as their batteries are too small/range is too short. With a 30 to 40 km EV range advertised, you’ll loose 40% in winter (yes you need heat, headlights, defroster and audio in Canadian winters) not to mention the added cost of a plugin over the regular ICE version of the car in the first place.
They’ve only made 3 plugin-hybrids with real world usable EV range – the Chevy Volt (RIP), Toyota Prius Prime, and Honda Clarity. Didn’t count the BMW i3 as its too small and really really ugly.
Neither pro or anti-EV – it depends on your needs, the mission and your wallet. Got my Honda for access to the HOV lanes and for the $13K rebate from the Wynne Liberals.
To all EV fans & the Teslarati crowd, just keep reminding yourself where your electricity come from – no not the wall plug or Telsa supercharger you morons. Electricity in Canada is generated mainly by nuke plants, gas-fire or cola-fire plants – not so green. Quebec’s hydro power is the exception.
WHY IS THE B.O.C CAPPING RATES AT EMERGENCY LEVELS WHEN THEY HAVE REACHED FULL EMPLOYMENT???
Rates are not capped. Nor do we have full employment. – Garth
#74 Smoking Man on 05.28.19 at 10:27 pm
Here’s the right link
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/wow-what-is-that-navy-pilots-report-unexplained-flying-objects/ar-AABXltD#page=2
____________________________________________
Wow Old Man I thought according to your words on this blog that everything that came from MSN was fake news! Well congratulations Old Man you just posted some fake news dumb ass.
A bit off topic here. But do you folks think there’s still hope for preferred shares (i.e. CPD from Blackrock)?
“BUY A HOME GET A CAR”
Drove by this sign today on a large billboard…
You know builders are in trouble when then need to give away cars for condos listed “from $330,000”
http://www.cohovillage.com/buy-a-home-get-a-car-free-event.html
Stop with the jealousy, people. The young couple in Calgary could very well be sitting on all that cash. And that’s great.
Remember that it’s not all about money. Some people choose careers that offer experiences (sports marketing/public relations, for instance) versus dry, boring jobs like being a bloody engineer! I have been in countless meetings with engineers – smart people, but most do not have basic communication/social skills. And that’s OK. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.
#138 CanadianGrizzly on 05.29.19 at 12:06 pm
Pure EVs are still over-priced green virtue-signalling luxuries for the urban crowd. Batteries are still too expensive, too heavy, suffer badly in cold climates and take too long to recharge. Maybe in another 5 years as the tech improves.
I live in the GTA and see many Teslas on my daily commute – except in winter where 2/3 are in hiding.
Seriously, I saw 50% less EVs of all makes this past winter than I’m seeing now in spring.
I understand EVs as I own a plugin-hybrid which is essentially a short range EV with a gas tank and ICE generator strapped to it. For my commute, EV mode works fine for 90% of the year. For the colder days, I startup the ICE on the highway to supplement the battery.
However, most currently available plugin-hybrids are reg compliance garbage. They’re useless in pure EV-mode as their batteries are too small/range is too short. With a 30 to 40 km EV range advertised, you’ll loose 40% in winter (yes you need heat, headlights, defroster and audio in Canadian winters) not to mention the added cost of a plugin over the regular ICE version of the car in the first place.
They’ve only made 3 plugin-hybrids with real world usable EV range – the Chevy Volt (RIP), Toyota Prius Prime, and Honda Clarity. Didn’t count the BMW i3 as its too small and really really ugly.
Neither pro or anti-EV – it depends on your needs, the mission and your wallet. Got my Honda for access to the HOV lanes and for the $13K rebate from the Wynne Liberals.
To all EV fans & the Teslarati crowd, just keep reminding yourself where your electricity come from – no not the wall plug or Telsa supercharger you morons. Electricity in Canada is generated mainly by nuke plants, gas-fire or cola-fire plants – not so green. Quebec’s hydro power is the exception.
___________________________________________
Tell that to the dumb ass green party and they will be flabbergasted and dumbfounded. It may take them a week to retort.
I agree with you we have several “hipsters” in our company that tout EVs and that the Tesla is the future of transportation. That is until I tell them they have to drive to a meeting in Ottawa for one day and back. They all start crying that we should fly or train it. I remind them that they receive a driving allowance for the use of your vehicle figure it out! One of them had to rent a car out of their pocket for two trips. The other person had to trade his highly prized Tesla model S with his wife for her Honda gas powered daily driver. What the EV owners do not realize is how the winter cold and age really deprived the batteries of a full range.
#130 Jimmy on 05.29.19 at 11:23 am
Everyone is giving the young couple a hand for having $600K but let’s give Alex a hand as well. He’s 27 with a net worth of $150K but the real wealth lies with his pension. If he makes $70K a year from his pension for 40 years until he croaks, that’s $2.8M. Nice.
___
Indeed – my neighbour across the road is retired military. He got in while still a teen, and retired in 1989. He’s been retired longer than he was in the service – sweet!
Alex is making 90K at 27, that is great on its own. – He’s probably an officer, and so has a degree that the military paid for (no big tuition debt), and his pension is based on his total earnings. He’s likely going to retire in his 40’s with a really decent pension.
All he has to do is resist the urge to buy a house until his 25 years are up!
…And I got a laugh seeing the guy sporting a Massachusetts “TESLA3” plate on his GMC Yukon — maybe EV didn’t work out for him?
___
He’s probably still waiting to take delivery of it…
#137 Tater
“Nah, I’m going to lay off Stan for a bit. Incels have a nasty habit of lashing out when upset, and I’d hate for anyone in the loony bin to get hurt.”
Thank you for your consideration of poor Stanley. He was working himself up in a real lather and seems to have quieted down now that you have posted you will back off. He’s taking his afternoon nap after some electric shock therapy…
#6 Drill Baby Drill
A neanderthal?
#119 BC_Doc
__
Hey Doc, I did a bit of reading on the Kona EV, and it actually looks pretty good overall.
You still have to want one for reasons other than cheap fueling at $50+K CAD IMHO.
#135 Jamie Dimon on 05.29.19 at 11:40 am
Who is arguing EV’s don’t suck…..the absolutely suck. They are the lamest things on earth. Sky=blue, water=wet, EV=lame. There was a EV doing 7 second quarter miles and blowing the doors off dragsters and people booed it….why? Because they suck and they are lame and no one cares.
_ _ _
So many dinosaurs lumbering into the comments section today. Gazing in confusion at the ball of fire in the sky…
I have nothing against EV’s. For many 2 car Canadian families (who live in a house where you can plug it in), where one car can be mostly an “around the city” commuter car, it would work out great.
But the issue today is still cost – same as it was 6+ years ago. An entry level Tesla is still over $50K CAD (usable). Sure, you can buy others for less, but without subsidy you are still over $40K CAD. And what does the used market look like to get some resale or trade in?
In every market where the EV subsidy (always many 1000s of $$$) has been removed, the EV demand has collapsed. Simply put – the primary reason people purchase them is that the governments subsidize them to be equal or less than petrol equivalent. Just not sustainable.
I keep seeing graphs of how the price of (raw, aggregate) batteries is dropping rapidly, or on the solar side how cheap it is per kWh at the bulk level – but these never seem to show up in the finished product.
Maybe someday…
#98 millmech on 05.29.19 at 2:34 am
Seeing houses in the south Okanagan now listing under $300k, $100k more to go and vultching season will begin. I remember about two years ago on a visit being told by everyone to buy now at $500k since houses will never drop to less than $500k.
Listing ID: 178606
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LOL. That house is a tear down on a tiny lot. With a new build you would be into that property for over 600K. Places like that were never selling for 500K, comps show 290-350 with 350 getting you something that is actually livable.
What is with you Okanagan doomers, you guys always post this nonsense. Homes in Penticton have been cheap forever, save the last few years where they were slightly more expensive. You’ve been able to buy a crappy home in the downtown for 300 or under forever, you really think these homes are going to depreciate a further 50%?
And there are tons of homes in the OK for under 500K, you can still get a new build in parts of West Kelowna for that, never mind some of the less popular parts of the region.
#141 Andrew on 05.29.19 at 12:22 pm
A bit off topic here. But do you folks think there’s still hope for preferred shares (i.e. CPD from Blackrock)?
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Well it can’t get too much worse. Long end bond rates dropped like a stone, worst thing that blow <11$ is if BoC backpedals to 1.5% which is very likely by year end all things going the way it is.
Should have taken my own advice and sell that garbage, claim capital loss… As usual preferreds, the wealth destroyers.
#82 Vanreal on 05.28.19 at 10:58 pm
There’s just something that doesn’t ring true about the young couple from Calgary with 600,000 in savings. The timeline is too short. I’m sure they didn’t walk out of university into those salaries so where did the money come from in 5 years
There is just something that doesn’t ring true about a lot of this day’s entries.
For instance mechanical, rotary phones don’t work on today’s digital switching network unless you have specific adapters or your provider maintains two complete systems, one digital, one mechanical. Which, in both cases I doubt. I mean if first gen cell phones no longer work, why would they still support even older mechanical phones?
Nice stories that propel a nice warm and fuzzie narrative but FAKE NEWS!!! Wake up sheeple!
#138 CanadianGrizzly
Pure EVs are still over-priced green virtue-signalling luxuries for the urban crowd. Batteries are still too expensive, too heavy, suffer badly in cold climates and take too long to recharge. Maybe in another 5 years as the tech improves.
————————————–
It will take more than an improvement in ‘tech’. It will require no less than a miraculous change in the laws of physics coupled with a revolutionary means of energy storage that improves upon the phenomenal capacity of hydrocarbons.
Here’s the best paper I’ve read on the subject. You’ll need to set aside about an hour, but I think it’s well worth the time…
https://www.manhattan-institute.org/green-energy-revolution-near-impossible
60 Eco Capitalist
are the new barons lithium?
======
from 800$ to 2000$
renovictions …245 Logan Ave.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/renoviction-leslieville-logan-ave-1.5151943
We gave our second vehicle to a single mom who needed one and bought an electric scooter. I saw these things first in Morocco where they used them to ferry product from the parking lots where the delivery trucks could make it, to deep into the narrow, twisty streets of old town Tangier.
Google up Blaster electric scooter if you’d like.
What a blast for local errands and various doctor and medical appointments.
Because its not an electric assist bike which is speed regulated in BC I can scoot along at 40-50 km per hour. Classified as a kick scooter, its also fine on sidewalks, trails and the like.
Plus it makes me feel like I’m 12 when I’m on it and there hasn’t been a single negative thought from anyone, in fact old and young constantly approach me and ask for the 411 on it.
It also cost just slightly more than insurance and license did yearly on that car. so I’m two years ahead on that game, plus gas. almost enough to buy a flight back to North Africa.
RE: #125 IHCTD9 on 05.29.19 at 11:07 am
“Does Norway have much warmer winters than Canada because the EVs appear to be surviving their winter driving conditions?”
Yeah, it does.
Ever been to Narvik?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narvik
Located 220km North of the Arctic Circle, Narvik enjoys temperate summers and winters that are warmer than Toronto’s. The vegetation includes deciduous forests, which normally are only found far South of the Arctic.
Why is it so warm in Norway?
Because of an Ocean current:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Current
Canada is colder than Norway.
If you want to see how electric cars react in extreme cold, go to Northern Russia, not Norway.
Speaking of engineers, my friend’s son graduated with a mechanical engineering more than two years ago and has yet to land a job even remotely related to his specialty. A young engineer making $100K is doing alright these days, regardless of gender. That market, like so many others, is flooded.
Watch what happens in the next year or so for EV owners… a road tax hit to make your cost of operating same as gas. Someone needs to pay for the roads. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
you are going to have to take my Diesel from my cold dead hands!
Worse comes to worse it can run on hemp seed oil.. true story.