However,I hope that all our readers understand that no matter your political views, non-cybertruck Teslas are actually quite efficient and fast-charging EVs, and access by far the best, most extensive and reliable charge network in the US and elsewhere. It is an objective fact that they are are actively helping us clean our air, save our planet, and for owners, get to the backcountry without emissions. Attacks on these cars are simply a tragedy of deeply misguided actions. (On the other hand, if you want to vandalize a Tesla dealership to express your views, well, that would be "beyond the scope" of this newsletter. ) That aside, no matter what your politics, if you're considering an EV right now,  it’s time to look at options beyond Tesla.  Because there are *lots* of options now, and one may be right for you. 

2025 began with Rivian pushing hard on it’s officially announced, upcoming new SUV, the R2 (“coming 2026”, with a $45k “starting” price!).  But there are more, many more new green vehicles to choose from: A US news and world report article listed *fifty-three* EVs available

 in the US. (And *many* more available in Europe and China. ) For those of you just about ready to take the plunge and get yourself an EV, this is GREAT NEWS. Freedom of Choice is the watchword of the EV world today. 

In the USNews... article, there is an entire section devoted to EV SUVs…and another section devoted to “Luxury EV SUVs”. The demarkation makes no sense to me, so don’t forget to look at the “lux” list, which somehow includes the Tesla model Y.  In my neighborhood, as part of the diversity I spoke of, I’ve seen a surprising number of  Honda Prologues and Chevy Blazers. There are complaints about the similarity of the two, but I note that with a 324 mi range RWD model, you could have a good road-tripper machine with 7.9 in of ground clearance.  

I've also seen a KIA EV9 which is big, really big, with 304 mi range BUT with the KIA 800V fast-charging architecture which puts Tesla (and almost everyone else) to shame. (See my article [link], which explains why fast charging is just as important as range, and why it's definitely ok to trade off some range for faster charging). Its ground clearance is given as minimum 7.0 in, but you more often see the figure of “up to 7.9 in”.  Off-road enthusiasts can argue over that one; either way it’s better than a Tesla Y at 6.6”. 

(TLDR: The upcoming KIA EV3 will be an inexpensive smaller SUV. It’s a big loser for us backcountry and long-drive users, however, as it lacks KIAs 800V system.  It’s going to make the 300 mi+ range versions severely slow at charging. I can’t say it enough: charging speed is important for long drives!)

With all these new choices, there is still no single clearly superior long-drive backcountry EV out there –yet. (Maybe the new Rivian will be?) The perfect backcountry EV would gain 140 mi plus range, starting from 20%, in 10 minutes or less, and have good clearance, say 8 inches.( I chose 10 minutes as the minimum practical time for two people to pee, so driving 2 hours, stopping to pee, repeat, has almost no wasted time.) The thing is, ground clearance murders driving efficiency, forcing you to have bigger batteries, which in turn increases charge time. So, this is really the trick.  If the Rivian delivers everything it promises, we may get very, very close. The KIA EV9 (monstorous 100 kWh battery; Tesla Y is around 86 kWh) seems close as well.  There are no specific numbers available for 140 mi range from 20%, but I’m estimating that at around 17 min. Numbers for a Tesla Y are around 14 minutes, but again, little ground clearance. Consider this: The new Ioniq 6 is made for efficiency, so it won’t have any ground clearance to speak of, but it will give you 140 mi range from 20% in a blistering *8:45* by my estimate.  (Try finding the nearest restroom, finding an open stall, and getting two people’s hands clean and dry, and getting back at the car in 8:45. If you can do that, you’re faster than me.  And I want a couple of minutes to walk and stretch, too. )

Waiting for the perfect rig is a big mistake; it will never happen. And if you think next year's model will be it, consider that automakers always lie about performance numbers (dealers lie as blatantly as any politician out there, never trust those numbers), so you cannot trust any number until the EPA (or WLTP) actually rates the car.  In addition, the number you really need, the 140 mi range @70 mph starting from 20%, that is almost impossible to come by until lots of users start measuring it.  The 20% to 80% DCFC charge time is useful, but it’s too long for real “charger surfing”. My advice: If you can’t find the perfect EV, get a short-term lease on one that you have tried out yourself, and that you have a lot of performance data on. You can be guaranteed that EVs will be much better in just two years, and if you live and buy here in the US, there are big loopholes in the "made in america" requirements for lease incentives. Yes, still, today. And you still get $7500 for a variety of different EVs. 

-https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/electric-car-prices

Other EV News

---------------

TODAY'S BIG NEWS FLASH: EV charging is now faster than pumping gas - seriously. CATL the world's largest battery maker had a big fanfare announcement: an: ..."upgraded version of its Shenxing battery, a cell it says can now offer 520 kilometers (323 miles) of range from just five minutes of charging time." BYD recently launched a system it says can charge a vehicle for 400 kilometers in about the same time. If there are a reasonable number of chargers capable of this on any given route, no one can say that ICE cars have less delays. The potential here is incredible, but it does remain to be seen whether we will get the chargers, or how slow US and european automakers will take to provide the same performance.  

-Bloomberg Hyperdrive Apr. 21.

Rebates Live

Up to $7500 rebates are still on... for now.  (Who knows what will happen tomorrow, however.)

Get Excited About ... Mercedes (really)

Not particularly ideal for backcountry use, but still, in the "soon to be released" category, MERCEDES CLA EV KILLS IT - 400 mile EPA range, 800V charging for 200 miles range in under 10 min, approx $54,000.  Promised by end of 2025.

https://electrek.co/2025/03/13/mercedes-cla-ev-finally-here-nearly-500-miles-range/

If you can afford 50 grand, it might be a pretty sweet ride. Perhaps for your second EV?  Perhaps for your non-backcountry using relatives?

The Death of Tesla Greatly Exaggerated? 

Tesla is asleep at the wheel, offending people, and a Chinese car company just ate its lunch... and many lunches for years to come, and the title of "EV innovator".  Let's lead with THE BIG NEWS: Electric car giant BYD recently announced a battery that can be charged to go 400km in just 5 minutes. (And just before this went to press, CATL came up with an even faster system!- details as they become available.) This is just what the US needs, because we have a lot of long distance commuters.  Charging speed makes up for a lot of range anyway, but BYD appears to provide both. Such numbers are often exaggerated, but if this is anything close to true, it is truly a "killer app".  Now, let's contrast with Tesla, the West's only really successful non-legacy automaker, and by far it's best-seller of EVs:  Tesla hasn't introduced a new model in years, and arguably hasn't introduced any major new features in its cars since the introduction of LFP batteries in 2021. These batteries are reall quite "niche" however, being inferior in energy density and cold weather performance; they are only superior in resistance to abuse, and price.  The "refreshes" of the model 3 and Y introduced slight cosmetic changes only - with no substantial gains in range or charging speed. Since those introductions, Hyundai/Kia introduced their lines of 800V faster-charging cars, and now BYD has simply murdered everyone's charging performance. BYD may not get into the US any time soon, but it seems likely that many manufacturers will figure out how to do the same, but Tesla won't have any advantage there. The plunge in Tesla sales the world over has been well documented; thanks to Musk's antics Tesla sales have fallen off a cliff in China, 13% year-on-year worldwide. He's offended plenty of americans, not to mention Europeans - with EU TEsla sales falling 49% in the first two months of the year.  However, the reason this is fatal to Tesla EV sales is ... just read what I wrote above: the number of competing EVs in the US has exploded from a handful to more than 50.  And worldwide, there are many, many more. Tesla's EV business has a very, very poor outlook. (Notably, stock market folks are still betting on Tesla for the robo-taxi ... whatever you might think of that. However, Tesla has a monstrous business in home and utility scale battery storage. Don't count out that company just yet.)

https://apnews.com/article/tesla-sales-recall-trump-byd-b6f5da15be491d16e3020598e3ddf861

EXCELLENT news for roadtrippers - The cost of DCFC, the fastest 

chargers that we depend on for convenient roadtripping, has been falling precipitously.  For 300-400kW chargers, the price was $300/kw in 2020.  For 22, and 24,  the average prices dropped 28% and 26%!!!  New generation chargers tout 95% success rates, and a plethora of companies are emerging - a bright spot is an Italian firm widely respected in the EU and faster and better, Alpitronic, and Seimens and ABB are jumping in as well.  In China, not surprisingly, they can pump out the electrons 63% cheaper than the average 2024 price. (Bloomberg Hyperdrive 250123).  So don’t think for a moment that good DCFC only comes from Tesla. Realize that lots of non-Tesla, and in the future lots more DCFC electrons, are coming. 

Other Backcountry

-------------------

PERMIT SEASON IS UPON US.  recreation.gov releases permits 6 months in advance, so we're already in October for backpacking permits.  Super-popular ones are all gone, but if you're after something less conventional, give it a try.  Except...

EXCLUSIVE EBA REMINDER: April 22 is the release date for Whitney / JMT permits that were returned.  Set your alarm for 06:50 AM, pre-position your browser, and good luck. 

Green Transition

-----------------

THE NEWS HERE IS NOT ALL BAD.  SERIOUSLY.  Despite unhinged lunatic policies to suppress green energy, dirty energy in fact has no chance (except where actual corruption is involved). For several years, over much of the planet, solar has been the cheapest form of new energy, and is faster, and more capital-flexible to build than any competitor. As we saw last year in the unregulated, but hardly green state of Texas, solar plus batteries are absolutely irresistible investments, because although solar+batteries are slightly more expensive than the 

cheapest gas plants, they turn out to be more *valuable*, because you can charge more for almost instantly dispatchable battery power. Global investment growth may decrease a bit in 2025 for many reasons (Bloomberg) but solar panel investment is simply unstoppable. The question is always if it will replace fossil power fast enough to head off tipping points. Recent transition highlights:

• • Global investment in green energy topped $2Trillion in 2024 (11% increase year-on-year; PV mag)

  • For March 2025, US green energy produced more than fossil sources for the first time. -It was sunnier and windier than usual, but it speaks to the pace of new green energy installations. (Canary Media, Apr 11)

  • In California, itself one of the world's largest economies, Solar is likely to outgenerate fossil gas this year (Canary Media April 15)

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/01/31/global-clean-energy-investment-hit-2-1-trillion-in-2024-says-bnef/

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/renewables-fossil-fuels-us-grid

Tariff resiliance:  America’s solar companies have been hoarding panels. "The stockpile is now so big that analysts estimate there’s roughly 50 gigawatts worth in warehouses. It’s enough to temporarily blunt the impacts of US President Donald Trump’s recently announced tariffs." 

(Bloomberg  greener living 4/5/25)

--------------------------------------------------------

Happy 2025: Electric Backcountry Adventurer New Year Newsletter

The end of 2024 showed big surprises in all aspects of EVs and clean and green: We’re getting there.  But quiely. Headwinds and all.

TIMELY: In case you know someone who might be thinking about #greenyourride (their ride?),  astounding deals on electrics are available now! Dealers are responding to potential end of tax credit with amazing corporate incentives - e.g. 0% for Kia EV6.  For the moment, the $7500 tax credit STILL applies to certain EVs. Tell your friends (even erstwhile ICE friends)! 

EV2Backcountry:                Chuck(walla) it all and head for the desert!; cheaper DCFC; Prologue to…? LOOK OUT - price gouging

Other EV News:                  2024 in review; Getting to EV Tipping points (once again, CA in SECOND place) 

Other Backcountry:             Permit time!

Green Transition News:      2024 in Review - we’re getting there! In many ways. And … cement? Really!

(To view in Browser, or to visit us on the web: https://sites.google.com/view/electricbackcountryadventurer)

EV to the Backcountry: 

-------------------------

CHECK OUT THE CHUCKWALLA-As I write this, it’s cold and grey in Berkeley.  Maybe time for some desert hiking/climbing in sunny Southern CA?  The newly designated Chuckwalla National Monument, which promises everything from gorgeous canyons to petroglyphs and golden eagles, lies NE and pretty close to the Salton Sea. One could do this as a rest day side trip from Joshua Tree.  There are convenient 250kW superchargers and EvGo chargers all the way.  (Last ones of both are in upland, CA.) Is there climbing out there?  First ascent possibilities?  Write in if you hear anything on that; EBA readers want to know!

EASIER TO GET EVERYWHERE In 2024 alone, the US added nearly 12,500 DCFCs (https://www.fastcompany.com › Impact). The *rate* of these installs will continue to increase for a while, due to the long lead time from when the IRA was passed, until it is implemented (and until it will presumably be wound down by the next congress). 

PROLOGUE...TO NEXT-GEN TRUCKS? Honda has a new SUV out, and it’s big and beefy. I have seen a brand new one, can’t be sure if it is the 2025 or 2024 year model, but it’s the classic SUV look, nothing “crossover” about it, square and high roofline. There is a tiny “e” somewhere on one badge, but other than that, it’s EV identity is actually hidden (I wouldn’t be sure enough to write about this had I not actually wriggled under the car on my back to verify there were #nopipes). Car and driver rates it as “fast-ish” charging, so disappointingly, it’s no revolution in that respect. But it’s great to see Honda at least getting started on this track.  The Hyundai ioniq5 is screaming fast at charging, due to it’s 800V architecture. However, it’s some kind of "not really" SUV,  like the Tesla Y (slower charging than Hyundai’s premium offerings), without the ground clearance traditional 4WD rigs have to help get into places like Bowman, Shuteye, and the like. The 2025 Prologue had “good” (or at least better than Model Y) clearance, but I could not find an actual figure for that on the web. 

UH-OH, CHARGING PRICE GOUGING? The EBA team is a little embarrassed to admit it, but we didn’t drive an EV to Ouray, CO for climbing this year.   However, we checked out the local DCFC near this winter climbing mecca, only to find that they charge - motheR of GOD - 87 cents/kWh!!!   Our expert checked the local utility, to find that they had CHEAP local electricity rates, (I forget exactly, I thin it was under 20 cents/kWh). Here in CA, I pay around 24 cents/kWh at home, and super chargers in the central valley are a painful 45cents/kWh. But 87 cents, where the retail price is like 20?  Seriously?  THESE FOLKS NEED SOME COMPETITION!  (I find Tesla SC rates pretty uniform. Nerdwallet claims Electrify America chargers are uniformly 48 cents/kWh; you can find one in Buck Meadows on the way to Yosemite, for example. So competition would be truly helpful.)

(NOTE: EARLY JANUARY IS A MUCH, MUCH CHEAPER TIME TO VISIT OURAY than later, both for air fare and hotel!!! Oh, and there is finally a “public” shuttle, only $4 from the nearest airport to Ouray, but it only runs on weekdays.)

OTHER EV NEWS

—————————

2024 was only about bad, terrible, and awful news for EVs.  Except that it wasn’t, not in reality. As far as the popular press was concerned, we elected the “drill baby, drill” EV-hating president, EVs froze in the winter when they weren’t going up in flames, and no one will ever buy an EV again. -Except that they are. More than ever, all over the world. 

The real situation is obvious: US total EV sales INCREASED (yes, really) by 7% 2024 vs. 2023, to 1.3 million EVs. That means that, nationwide, EV sales are 10% of all new cars. What really happened is that Tesla numbers didn’t grow like the Tesla cheerleaders wanted, so the press reported that EV demand “fell off a cliff”.  At the same time, the number of actual EV models available increased dramatically, and so Tesla lost customers to these other models. People are still buying Mach-Es, they are trying out the fast-charging Hyundais, the Cadillac Lyriq (not my kind of thing, but hey, as long as it has #nopipes), and others. A funny result of this absurd year is that Cybertrucks have become a MAGA thing, appearing at Mar-a-Lago and on Tucker Carlson. 

(https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/electric-vehicles/chart-ev-sales-grew-slowly-in-2024-but-still-set-new-records

https://heatmap.news/sparks/trump-cybertruck)  A bit ironic that the MAGA faithful might bring down transportation emissions...

Back to 10% of all US cars: Think about that for a moment. Publicly, oil companies  just chortle when EVs or any kind of transition are mentioned.  But think about how that kind of number would sound to a huge institutional investor: Let’s say you’re a soverign wealth fund manager, and the oil company guys give their pitch for $1B in new drilling financing.  THEN someone with good graphics, perhaps like this (COTW-ev-sales_2025-01-17-023825_khil.png), tells them that "fossil is dying", here’s the chart showing EVs growing no matter what, even in Trump’s America, now do you want to put your country’s long-term investment into oil, or say, lithium/battery tech/electric utilities? I would say that 10% really makes it clear this is no joke. It might be a while before we reach 10% of US fleet total (projected around 2030 by NREL; https://www.edmunds.com/electric-car/articles/how-many-electric-cars-in-us.html). At this point, however, would you invest in gas stations? Oil companies? Would anyone? 

SO YOU THINK CA IS THE #1 EV LOVING STATE?  Think again.  In 2024Q3, Colorado had 25% of registrations EV or plug-in EVs.  In CA that number was about 1 % less.  CO has some of the most generous subsidies for EVs, contributing to that number.  One quarter doesn’t mean everything, but it does mean that CO is not far behind CA in EV adoption. CO has something like an “EV cash for clunkers” program, where you can get up to a few thousand dollars if you ditch your old fossil car. 

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/electric-vehicles/which-state-is-rivaling-california-on-ev-leadership-colorado

CA, are you listening? Do you really want to be #2? 

Other Backcountry

-------------------

PERMIT TIME - A special reminder, exclusive to EBA subscribers - don’t forget that permits for most of the Sierras become available 6 months in advance through recreation.gov.  That means that post-mozzie season permits in July and August are coming up fast, so start planning….

The Green Transition

—————————

The Climate Concerned among us have been dreading the Trump Administration v2.0.  However, it’s a good idea to look at the bigger picture of GHG emissions and what that looks like. Total US equivalent emissions have been falling since 2007. There was a substantial dip during the pandemic, and things have been falling slower in the last year, but the direction is unmistakeable. 

Looking at that in more detail, the drop in emissions has been dominated by new solar and wind, which have been incredibly popular because they are cheaper than natural gas plants in most places. Bloomberg Green (250119) broke this all down in a nice chart, and of buildings, industry, power, oil and gas, and transport.  Power (electrical power) has been steeply declining 2005-2020, somewhat more slowly the last couple years. This is the driver of all change so far.  Most of the others are flat, though one can see a tiny decrease in Oil and Gas extraction emissions. Emissions by Transport *clearly* dominates emissions now. This is why climate folks have been emphasizing so much for so long that we have to transition to EVs. So, on the positive side, Green energy PLUS batteries are so cheap now that there is simply no future in any other source of power. On the negative side, there is widespread dread that federal incentives  might be yanked by Trump, drastically slowing the US adoption of EVs. On the other hand, EV sales are still growing, few people would go back, and these things seem to move by tipping points, which we seem to be closing in on.  So, depending on whether you want to see the clouds or the silver lining, the growth in EVs is only good news, and more growth and acceptance could help us turn the corner and accelerate the decrease in transport emissions. Of course, the REAL challenge coming up is the rise of AI and data centers. Unless green energy meets that (potentially huge) growth in demand, we could see a GROWTH in emissions.  So, there is plenty of good news, but, “we live in interesting times.”

OTHER GOOD NEWS, lots of solar has been going in in the EU, surprisingly, not just in the sunniest countries, but in Germany and other places in the North.  So, for the first time, solar across the EU out-generated dirty coal across the entire EU.  While various countries have long touted their green creds, the poorer and more eastern countries have continued to burn coal - but less and less each year (except 2022, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine). Coal energy is now down to nearly 1/4 it’s level in the mid 2000’s, and solar keeps growing.  Advanced economies can clearly ditch coal. Now if we can just get China, where coal is actually still growing  to quit that, we would be good. (Bloomberg Balance of Power 250123). 

CEMENTING THESE GAINS: One last thing: You’re probably read a lot about Greenhouse gas emissions from cement.  I was really not aware, until a Canary Media article, that the actual CO2 from cement, 8% of global emissions (!), comes from the chemical reaction of transforming limestone into cement, NOT from burning fossil fuels. This is a point of hope, that alternative chemistries could solve this emission problem. For most industries, they need to replace their source of high temperature heat from typically gas ovens to something else - a very energy intensive process that means huge ares of solar panels, not a small ask. 

(https://hello.canarymedia.com/e3t/Ctc/GF+113/d2j6-404/VVQTWC6wtpC6VxJ0631jY5f4W6phD5r5r3VJBN5QLhV03hCZPW95jsWP6lZ3p8W8mnGXz7CmSm3W5fx6GC95GB-PVZvvj34BSxlCN8fvxwkq-JqZW8yc6gR9bgv3_W5XbzFF2KHrZKW22DZ3P4VRp9cW9jJtgD52L7CgW7yzlWj3xJJCtW4zTD4P6JTbPTW9kFmN-4MwBCLN37DHthvzLrJW8yCjTC3LyRH8W1pK1rW37YvldW31crzH7KS3NRW5bcLK_2N6H3XW1V2wxk2jj_CKV-bT3C31WB0kW4VdRYV2m77KpVxCmfq34HqJhW5cpsH32n7Q6_W1XSfkC8PPnvyW6Ml6FG8_WCLMW7P_PR45xwtB6W94B8Vw4mpf1MW6Y6sG06_CljRV-kxtB4XVSQnW4D7vHb1zpzNcVNsF1J4Z0LtvW8R6_hK5dbG_Bf7bxgBz04)

Sept +Oct 2024 Newsletter

------------------

Your EBA team has been a little busy off traveling for about a month, and we got a little bit behind on Newsletters.  Therefore, we’ve combined Sept and Oct into one. 

EV to the Backcountry - Squamish, here we come (BC commits to DCFCs)

The Great 2024 EBA Miter Basin Expedition (SF Bay Area to Lone Pine, CA, Cottonwood Pass / Cottonwood Lakes THs.)  Technical issues with … ice cream opening hours. Tricks for low battery drain! DCFC at random rest stop on East Side

Green Transition - GHG emissions are down in CA and China, because of EV adoption.  It’s working!  Home solar wildly popular in…Germany? New Solar, worldwide, is just going crazy, growing 34% this year. . 

Other EV news - Yes, it *is* true, US consumers are being screwed on EVs; twice as many models are available in the UK.  An affordable Lucid? 

Other Backcountry - What’s up with folding pads? Miso Soup? Yes, definitely!

                                                                     ---

EV to the Backcountry

Special for you Canadians out there (and you know who you are!): 

The ACAN or AK-Canada hwy is considered the last DCFC Desert.  ...but the government of BC, Canada has just committed to putting DCFCs all over all their highways: https://www.squamishreporter.com/2024/09/06/bc-will-complete-electric-highway-linking-sea-to-sky-and-beyond-for-ev-travel/   so, maybe a climbing trip to BC is in order soon, eh? 

The Great 2024 EBA Miter Basin Expedition (SF Bay Area to Lone Pine, CA, Cottonwood Pass / Cottonwood Lakes THs.  )

Since it’s Sept. 10, we can use Tioga pass with a charge in Groveland first, then south on 395. On 395,  we were buzzed by an F- 18 about halfway to Lone Pine-it was like 30 feet above our heads - Crazy!

In the town of lone Pine, we ate at a place called Bonanza Mexican restaurant where they were $19 very plain burritos. When the burrito arrived, it had none of the promised guacamole or perhaps so little we could not detect it. We asked for more, and the waitress made sure we understood she was doing us a huge favor by giving us some.  Bonanza is not on the EBA recommended list. 

We had a great time in Miter basin; it wasn’t quite as remote or spectacular as the previous month’s Gardiner basin, BUT the view looking back at the Miter in front of that lake was super-ultra-stunning. 

When we came back, we did a little extra cross-country to cut off some time to the car.  Doing this we found that our GPS was off by more than 100 m!  We’d never seen this before.  Any of you ever experience that???  Because we were far off, we definitely walked all around the very large parking lot, and we were very disappointed to find that we were the one and only EV at the TH.  Where were all our legions of readers, or why didn’t they bring their EVs? 

We now have the EV drain BEAT:  6 days, ZERO battery drain! (well, zero that showed, anyway.  So, less than 1%, rounded.)   Just do this:  

1\ turn off sentry mode

2\lock car

3\TURN OFF ALL CAR APPS WHILE AT THE CAR - so the car knows now one is “listening”. 

This has effectively killed any noticeable drain, not only backcountry trips but 21 day drips leaving car in front of house.  So, it’s pretty well tested, and we are absolutely sure of less than 1/4% drain/day. 

This parking lot was really, really high, and had a truly incredible, amazing road down, down, down to the floor of Owen’s, and we gained > 8% going down!  

More Fast Chargers on East Side of Sierras

The good news: Lee Vining has a fast charger, a Rivian actually; plugshare lists it as up and running, 200 kW. The bad news: It appears that Rivian only shares its L2 chargers - too slow for road trips, so kinda useless for the rest of us.  (Rumors have it that Teslas can use Rivian's DCFCs in late 2024/early 2025, but those are just rumors on teslamotorsclub.com, and not substantiated.)

---Other Backcountry---

Mosquito Report

...are definitely out in full force in high country July 4-7; I don't know about below 6000' but I was multiply bitten from there on up to 10,500', and it seemed worse and generally more wet the higher I went.  

This will be a bad fire season 

...for sure, as many fires were active already. 

APPRECIATION TO THE USFS: 

Everywhere we go now, CA FS campgrounds and state park restrooms are wonderful. Something changed during the pandemic, and wow, was it for the better. Saddlebag lake campground is the likely unbeatable favorite for cleanest vault toilet in CA. Or maybe anywhere ever. Wow. What a pleasure!

Just 1 Bear Can?

In planning this summer's all-electric adventures, due to my extreme laziness I'm trying to figure out how to carry only one bear can for a long (~ week) trip. It turns out that in many parts of the sierras, there are bear boxes stashed in the wilderness, so for at least a few nights excess food can be put there at least while sleeping. So, ya, it's cheating, but not really.  Anyway, supplied by our long-term loyal reader B.B., here is your list of Sierra Bear Boxes (the HIgh Sierra Trail is full of them): https://climber.org/data/BearBoxes/map.html

---Other EV News---

Battery News - LFP batteries can be thought of as the everyperson's battery. They are not quite as high performance as NMC batteries, they are not as energy dense, but they are more robust to under/overcharging, and cheaper. They just hit the crazy (see below) price of $53/kWh in China, and that means that huge nubmers of EVs in China are cheaper than ICE cars (Bloomberg Hyperdrive 7/9/24 for all numbers in this post). That means that anywhere with easy access to Chinese cars, immediately All of Asia, and soon South America and Africa, will be flooded with cheap EVs. This is great news for the planet (if not great news for first world manufacturing). Red states are installing solar and batteries even faster than CA or NY, because...economics. Price. You can be as red as you want...there's no stopping this.  

Super-Range E-Truck: The GMC Sierra is a gigantic (and therefore not very green) expensive (think $95k+) 4WD truck, that like all the american trucks charges pretty slow (I think one youtuber said 40 minutes to charge at 350 kW, but this could be any spec, really.). There's just one thing about it: 440 mi range. Some youtuber demonstrated that it really got this range  at around 65 mph. That's a big wow. How about a micro-truck with that range, and fast charging?

Just as we thought:  PHEVs really don't do much good. Because they're rarely plugged in.

People don't plug in their plug-in hybrids. These cars typically just extend our dependence on fossil oil, and take a lot of the consumer's money (They are considerably more expensive then either straight ICE or hybrids).  And the extra weight of the batteries actually reduces the mileage compared to a non-plugin hybrid. Walking around my neighborhood, a rather green-minded one, I typically see PHEVs plugged in when they're new... then later, when they are no longer shiny and new, not so much.  The most recent surveys (Bloomberg Hyperdrive 2024 June 28) give between 26 and 54% of  miles driven by private PHEV owners are actually electric. The thing is, for business owned fleet cars, the numbers are shocking, just 11-24% of miles are electric. If the money is not coming out of your back pocket immediately and obviously, most people just default to fossil-oil culture. Here's where this is really terrible: As more EVs are sold, and the demand for fossil oil craters, economists will tell you there's only one way the price of gasoline and diesel can go: down.  Furthermore, it seems to me that utilities are doing their best to make the green transition an excuse to stick it to customers and raise electric rates*. So, people will perceive EVs as expensive (thought electricity costs are going up, operating costs will still be cheaper than for ICE) and gasoline not, so even less incentive to plug in.  So PHEV owners will do what they have always done, and what the oil companies are sooo good at perpetuating, defaulting to fossil-oil culture. Gassing up instead of plugging in, and dooming the planet. PHEV sales are growing rapidly in both China and the US. This has the potential to be super awful for the climate, perpetuating fossil fuel infrastructure for decades. It's not clear how many would-be EV owners are seduced away from EVs toward PHEVs, or if PHEVs replace what would have been fossil cars. However, it is clear this is not a solution for the climate crisis. 

(*Will someone please tell me how when some commodity reaches large scale, the price can go up??? Those utilties are evil!) 

Toyota continues to disappoint in EVs

I saw a fancy Lexus EV in a parking lot recently. Curious, I googled, and got a three thumbs DOWN review for the Lexus RZs: https://www.caranddriver.com/lexus/rz  It turns out that Lexus, owned by Toyota, couldn't be bothered to actually make an electric car.  They just put a slightly different look on the running joke of the auto industry, the toyota BZX4 - the wheels literally came off after customers drove them off the lot. Same as Subaru, new look, same catastrophe of a car.  As the non-profit Public Citizen says, "Drive boring. Drive Toyota."

---Green Transition---

Batteries are just crazy-cheap

 I mean, bat-shit, totally nuts, "you have no idea..", cheap. For years the blue-sky price of batteries was $100/kWh, as in,"this great thing will be possible if we can reach 100." Well, the cost of Chinese LFP batteries means cheaper EVs (i.e. great for most things, not ideal for backcountry road trips...yet) will be everywhere in the world very soon (see above). A drop in battery prices means much, much more however.  One word: Utility-scale.

The price of utility scale batteries dropped 43% in the last year. Your jaw should drop onto the floor. (Mostly due to commodity price drops, some overcapacity.) In the last few years, red state texas has very quietly installed more solar and wind than CA, but where it has really gone nuts is with batteries.  Now that will just accelerate like mad. First, that kills gas-fueld peaker plants. Utilities tried batteries and absolutely loved them, as they repond faster than any other type of storage. That's not all, however: Last year we were aproaching the pie-in-the-sky point of solar PLUS batteries parity cost with gas-fired plants. We just blew past that. Soon, every dirty, money-hungry utility that can get its hands on solar+batteries will.  No matter what country, new energy will be solar+batteries where not wind+batteries or hydro, except in rare circumstances of local lobbying and coal production. The future is here.  I just hope lobbyists don't prevent us from turning off coal and gas plants fast enough. 

Sad: 2.5 Million americans were made displaced from their homes by wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and other climate-related disasters in 2023. 

But good: This is why we can be proud to #greeyourride and #evtothebackcountry

Solar Panels Over Canals

The idea of putting solar panels over irrigation canals is not new, but the numbers are: Canal solar is 2X as expensive as utility PV (reported 7/8/24 by Canary Media).  However: The land is FREE, you boost efficiency by 1.9% (less IR from the ground), and you reduce evaporation (by some unspecified amount- I wish they'd said!)  Imagine telling farmers that this would increase their water allotment by a couple % in the west where folks fight over every drop of water; that would be awfully huge and valuable. This makes this thing rather subtle (benefit varies by land cost and water cost) but potentially very valuable.

2024 June 30 - SOFT LAUNCH of EBA =============================

(Soft) LAUNCH!!!  Yes, the thrilling day you have been waiting for is finally here. The Electric Backcountry Adventurer website version 0 Beta is on-line!  The spare-no-expense, incredibly high quality, absolutely unparalleled cheapo free website is now live: 

https://sites.google.com/view/electricbackcountryadventurer

Loyal readers, we need your help: Please link to and search for our site early and often, so google search engine will actually pick it up.  (Yes, I know, it's a google site, but it's not picked up at all yet, and similar searches get only people trying to rent you e-bikes or electric 4X4s.) In particular, if you don't have a website but post somewhere with the URL, that would be super-helpful. Don't forget #greenyourride #evtothebackcountry and #vanlifenotgreen. And oh yes, #nopipes. 

As usual, feel free to skip below to your topics of interest. Search on "Strictly Backcountry", "Other EV News" and "Green Transition", the section titles below. 

---Strictly Backcountry --- 

Roads to one person's nowhere, another person's paradise

The normally horrendous unpaved road to Lake Bowman, CA is reported to be much better this year. A Tesla model 3 made it there recently (as least as far as the canal). 

On CalTopo, a service for printing very detailed topo maps for the backcountry, I notice lots of roads approaching trails that look sketchy.  For example, 14S102 approaches the drainage just south of Onion Valley, which could be made into some kind of loop including Kearsarge pass.  Well, is this suitable for an EV that doesn't have as much clearance as a Rivian or a Cybertruck? Googling "california 14S102 road conditions" yielded ZERO hits! Now, just googling "14S102 road" gets you a bunch of forest service pages that are super-helpful on hiking trails (I'm going to keep https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5337642.pdf at the ready for the future), and sometimes there are comments on the roads in the google description, but not actually on the page you land on!   So, I'm crowdsourcing this to my dear readers:  If you encounter a funny forest service or CA SR designated road, how do you 1) find out if this is a paved or gravel road, and 2) get a "rut rating", i.e. is it like the road to bowman in 2023 (horrendous, strictly for high clearance 4X4), or like in 2024 (navigable with low clearance vehicles with determined, patient drivers)?

By the way, Caltopo has really good contours and often trails, but checking other apps (we use a cheap GPS map app called topomaps) shows an astonishing inconsistency. Every hiker I know speaks of "roads end" in Sequioa / Kings Canyon (SEKI), but that label doesn't exist in Caltopo. It's labeled as "Kanawyer" - er, sometimes, at some magnifications, not others.  Explorer pass is written about often; doesn't exist in Caltopo. As per usual, use all the tricks for dumb search: If someone calls something "__ mountain", don't forget to try "____ peak", for example. You won't find Bubb's Creek in Caltopo, but Bubbs Creek, no problem. 

One more hint: For modern navigation apps, repeat after me: "Download maps BEFORE leaving. BEFORE leaving, cause you'll never have cell service at the trailhead (almost never, especially when you need it). 

Fancy Glass Roofs A Liability for Backcountry?  

Last weekend the EA team went on a mild hike in the Santa Cruz mountains.  On return, our tall friend M-, probably 6" taller than any of our team members, asked if we knew  there was a crack in our EV glass roof.  WHAT??? was our response.  There were a series of cracks as large as your hand radiating out from a single point at the junction line between the hatchback and the roof.  "Ohplease ohplease ohplease let it be repairable with epoxy" I thought.  Very, very wishful thinking. What we saw was only the outside; from the inside you could see that this was really a series of cracks all the way across the roof, but in the back half, where the front seat folks don't see it. The damage turned out to be some $1770 (though insurance covers it).  Here's the question: Did this happen because something fell from the shade tree we so coveted when parking? Is the EA team just too short to notice this, and could it have been from an earlier trip to Tahoe ( one of us remembered, maybe we heard something?)? Or just the fwy ride to the hike? Tesla haters/vanals? Baseball players?  One of us seriously thinks the location is significant - perhaps something hard but small landed between the hatch and the roof, and somehow when opening/closing the hatch it was squeezed and caused the crack, consistent with the radiating point.  

Whatever the cause, this brings up a point: Glass roofs seem to be really stupid to this writer - especially for the backcountry enthusiast facing trees not supervised by arborists, rockfall, remote parking lots, and roads to the backcountry with big trucks and gravel on them.  The only person who can appreciate them is someone riding in the back; the front seat folks really can't see this. When it's really hot, indeed you want a shade (from our readers in Sacramento, where it is indeed really bloody hot in summer).  Wouldnt' a steel roof with a moonroof, for looking at tall cliffs be more sensible? Soon after Tesla came out with theirs, many makers followed.  I have to question the wisdom of that now, and as a front seat person always, I definitely find the benefit of this to be underwhelming. 

---Other EV News---

 -6/17/24 On an EV trip to LA - A Mustang Mach-E was spotted  in a Tesla Supercharger lot. The person said that (a) the experience was plug-and-play, and (b) he was allowed to charge at ANY V3 supercharger.  The "only thing" was that apparently he waited a very long time to get his NACS (Tesla) to CCS adapter. 

A Cybertruck was spotted in LA with a red wrap on it. Striking, though not everyone's cup of team. A Rivian was spotted with a detailed, subtle, zebra stripe wrap.  Cool!

Bloomberg NEF has it that 18% of global passenger cars sales were EVs last year (reported by LA Times Boiling Point 6/18/24). ICE cars may not be dead, but they are surely dying. 

100,000 Club -   While it's true that Tesla sales were disappointing in Q1, as we said last week, this seems to be the gain of the other 28 or so reasonably capable EVs in the US; the death of EVs widely reported in the media is greatly exaggerated. Bloomberg projects that Hundai/Kia, GM and Ford are all on track to break 100,000 EV sales this year; that is significant as a kind of benchmark that means "mass production" where you get economies of scale. In my book, the Q1 sales of Hyundai/Kia of 23000 cars are "getting there", but are a statistical fluctuation compared to Tesla's 141,000. That's also spread over at least 4 models, so they don't have a "hit" (only around 5000 EV6 sold in Q1). Still, if you don't like Elon Musk (and that includes some of our readers), now you have a choice. Some of our readers are eagerly awaiting an EV6 refresh, due out soon in the US, however, the same applies to Tesla: with a new refresh of the Model 3 just out, and another anticipated for the Model Y, it's not clear how that affects the "great Tesla crash of '24". Finally, US Hyundai/Kia plants, both battery and cars, are scheduled to start opening soon, allowing this to access the tax credits, which will be a big deal for them. (Bloomberg Green, May 28, "The slowdown in US electric vehicle sales looks more like a blip")

---Green transition--- - 

Though wind power has had a bit of a rough year or so, with maddeningly long pandemic supply chain snarls, Mississippi just opened its Delta wind project; 184 MW, its main customer is Amazon. Previously this region was considered poor ground for wind; however, the newest wind turbines are so high, they can tap more plentiful wind at higher altitudes. The Windmills coexist with farmland.  Reuters (reported via Canary Media, 2024 June 18) projects 7 GW total on-shore wind in the US this year, and hundreds of MW off the US East coast. 

Enjoy your July 4!  The EBA team is headed to Clark Canyon, Patricia Bowl, and other East Side of the Sierras adventures. 

6/1/24 

After feedback from our millions of readers (read: a complaint) I am changing the blog format to have four seperate sections:  Backcountry/EV Travel, Other Backcountry, Other EV, and Green Transition. For those of you bitching and whining there's not enough Electric Backcountry Adventure in there, the first section will always be Stricly Backcountry.  The next sections I have news that could be considered a bit wonky about EVs and the Green Transition in General.

The highlights of this issue are: Sonora Pass (CA SR108) Charger desert, EVs are all over but where are the Rivians?, and TLDR: On backcountry footwear. [In the non-strict categories, we have news on the "EV sales collapse-NOT", and Peak Carbon - IN THE REARVIEW!]

Backcountry/EV Travel

Memorial Day weekend saw an EBA trip to Owens River Gorge and Pine Creek Canyon

In the CA Sierras, in summer from the San Francisco area, we mostly go over 120, Tioga Pass, to access the East Side of the Sierras.  The thing is, there can be 6 meters of snow - hundreds of inches - on that pass in Winter.  So most passes close for the Winter, and you have to go waaaaay North to Carson Valley. There are decent Tesla SCs (superchargers) at Topaz lake (not the fastest though) so this is actually easy-and the scenery is spectacular. 

But in late spring, Sonora Pass, SR108 opens - a lot shorter.  Unfortunately, this is a bit challenging for EVs, because SR108 is a terrible supercharger desert. You do this route by going to Copperopolis, which is farther East than the ones on a direct route from SF, BUT it is a bit out of the way to the North. We made the mistake of thinking we could just ignore our car's navigation and go to the usual Mantaca SC on the direct route.  We tried to stop at an L2 chargers; a Tesla branded one listed in their official list was on the fritz (plugshare would have told us, had we checked). Long story short, we wasted a lot of time for almost nothing at a free L2 in Lee Vining, and limped into Mammoth with only ~ 12%.  That was a bit of a nail-biter, and all self-inflicted.  Lesson learned! But it would all be a lot easier if there were SCs somewhere higher up in the mountains, not with just barely enough charge to make it to Mammoth if conditions are good!

Surprisingly, at the hotter-than-you-can-possibly imagine Owens River Gorge, the wildflowers were GORGEOUS!

EVs Everywhere - but not all of them.  On the road in the mountains we saw all kindsa EVs.  Not only have others present regularly at Ownens River gorge for some time, a climbing-only spot, but also at the somewhat remote and mostly difficult hard-core climbing spot of Pine Creek Canyon, a Tesla M3. We saw TONS of Rivians on the highways to the mountains, but we have never seen them in any backcountry parking lot. Cynics amoung us say they are just a fashion statement; I'm wondering if they aren't all at the 4WD camps...?   (In Manteca, in the central valley on the way to the  mountains, we saw a flotilla of various public chargers right next to the T SCs. There was a woman trying to figure out how to charge an EV6, which she said was a rental, and came with no instructions at all on how to charge - how typical.)

So back at the campsite, we're all sitting around at our very fancy car camping setups, with our nice chairs, which were all the same.  At some point, someone gets up and starts trying out cushions - because the darn tables - from every group - are too high for the chairs.  What is this all about? Back home, were there any tables at the right height for the chairs sold at the same store? Nooooo.  Anywhere else? Noooooo.  What gives? 

Other Backcountry

TLDR: Thoughts on backcountry footwear. LaSportiva footwear and I go way back. When I first dived into UL backpacking, I tried the maxim of quick-drying, not waterproof footwear. TRUE: my feet loved loved loved the feeling of good ventillation. PROBLEMATIC: After a cold rainstorm in Granite Park at sunset, absolutely nothing dried, and I realized my feet would have frozen in such footwear. The real dealbreaker, however, is that after a day on the trail to Matterhorn Peak, my feet were so completely disgusting with trail dust, I couldn't deal.  Big vents in the toes mean disgusting toes. Everyone has suggested gaiters, but unless they completely covered the shoe to the toe, and didn't breathe, which would make breathable shoes pointless, they won't work either. So, I've been in light waterproof shoes by Sportiva ever since. 

So what to complain about now? My first pair of gtx ultra raptors very quickly torn apart at the hinge point at the forefoot.  OK, well, let's say that's my fault, they were UL after all.  Next, I chose the leather model of same, with excellent protection at the hinge point. After 14 days in Nepal, the stiching on eyelets was all coming apart.  It was very clear these wouldn't make it two years.  In my day (creaky old toothless voice), hiking boots lasted 15 years!  Of course, they weighed like 5 lbs, but still...  ONE MORE POINT: The Raptors have really soft soles with these weird soft rounded protrusions, some kind of 21st century approximation to waffle protrusions of hiking boots. -These are obviously going to wear away after just a small bit of use.  Isn't that planned obsolescence? Couldn't you make a thin, light sole out of rugged material?   (The traction is generally piss-poor with these as well.) 

My partner said her Oboes lasted great.  So, I went and tried on a small fleet of different models, starting at 4 oz heavier than the La Sportiva leather, going on up to 7 oz heavier.  Except for the Bridger, at a ship anchor-like 7 oz more than the sportiva, they were the kind of crappy shoe that claimed to be a hiking boot because they had a bit of foam in them. They folded over into nothing at the slightest pressure; they would be like wearing flip-flops on a steep descent. So, I'll try the Bridgers, see how they go, but I know Ill want the Sportivas for a lot of mileage and climbing.  So two boots, one for regular hiking and one for UL?  Oy.  

Other EV News-   EV sales collapse-NOT!

We've heard tons of news (brought to you by the American Petrolium Institute brainwashing program) that Tesla sales have plummeted, millions of EVs are rotting on lots everywhere, and EVs are a failure, dead and buried. Well, actual numbers show that -surprise!- when other brands besides Tesla came available, people bought them.  There is a nice plot from Bloomberg Green showing that Tesla's Q1 sales number losses are basically other's gains.  T still dominates all sales, but the small losses for T make for like 56% growth for, e.g. Hyundai, which makes super-fast charding cars.  I calculate you need less then 9 minutes to fast-charge an Ioniq 6 enough to drive two hours at 70 mph.  Try getting two people to pee in 9 minutes, including walking to the bathroom, possible lines, etc. That is just an amazing accomplishment. The weridest thing is that Ford showed a sales increase of like 85% in Q1.  This might just be about deliverying backorders on the F150 lightining pickup, I have yet to figure this out.  Another weird thing: Toyota Q1 EV sales increased ~80%.  I have no idea what this is: Toyotas EVs are crap with crap charging times; who would want one? If there's something I've missed about that, let me know. (Rivian, Mercedes BMW all grew around 60%, I think with new models, Nissan 0%, GM and VW around -15% for things like cancelling the Bolt and crap software, respectively.)

Anyways, this is super-good news, pure and simple.  Why? Because the availability of different types and brands of EVs benefits the consumer, spurs competition, and makes for a healtheir market - think emotionally healthier. Huh?  Consider that a friend of mine cancelled his order for a Tesla based on the offensive behavior of Elon.  The guy supports groups that walk around chanting, "Jews will not replace us", anti-immigrant, and other unsavory folks.  Can you blame him? (I know nothing of the CEO of Hyundai, but you know, you might think such a person would behave a little better, or we'd have heard about it. ) So, now if you don't like one carmaker CEO, there are more to choose from. A plurality of choices means no excuse to #greenyourride. 

Green Transition- Peak carbon!  YES!!!!

Bloomberg says that carbon emissions may have peaked in 2023; they project a fall by a few % this year.  That's mainly due to solar eating the world, especially in China. Now the question becomes, can we reign in data centers, crypto, and AI so it never grows again?  If so, we, and the planet, win! I was very, very surprised to see that the US and EU together are smaller than China, but I was not surprised to see the US share shrinking more slowly than Europe. The rest of the world together is just a little larger than China; China and the rest of the world may be still growing. 

The plot below is from a Bloomberg newsletter from 2024 May. See Bloomberg for full article.