It's starting - New California law bans ...

[.358 win]

California took another step toward its goal of ridding the state of all gas-powered engines thanks to a new bill signed by Gov. Newsom on Saturday.

The new law will ban the sale of all off-road gas-powered engines, including pressure washers, generators, lawn mowers, chainsaws and weed trimmers. Under the new law, these machines must be zero-emissions, meaning they will have to be either battery-powered or plug-in.

The new rule will be implemented by January 2024, or as soon as regulators determine is "feasible," whichever date is later. The California Air Resources Board has already started working on executing the law.

Has anyone seen the electric power company trucks, fire trucks ?? Me neither

 

[OM617YOTA]

Meet in the middle. Acquiesce. Its time to give in.

Well, frankly, some of us have lived a bit and seen a bit and are, at this point, simple tired of the Overton Window constantly reframing in the wrong direction.

If I thought for more than a second that those making the proposals, laws, etc were interested in the collective responsibility of (for?) Humanity and not padding their and their families bank account I'd be open for some conciliation.

I dont, so I am not. With all due respect, of course.

When they say compromise, they only mean we should compromise in their direction. Ask them to compromise in our direction, and see what their response is.

As a result, no. We're not compromising an inch.

 

[FrugalFirewoodDad]

I seen a documentary showing the manufacturing process for these lithium batteries and how damaging it is for the environment. Just the amount of other resources it takes. Fossil fuels, water, and rare earth elements was crazy. Just like those almond trees in Cali. 1gal of water for 1 nut??? No wonder lake Meade is drying up. People ain't suppose to live in the desert. The land can only support so much naturally. California needs to focus on desalination of water not all this other crap. They care more about safe zones for iv drug use than if ya got a glass of water.

Missed this. Great post. Nailed it.

 

[FrugalFirewoodDad]

... I see that I missed a lot by skipping pages in this thread. Suffice to say it seems to me that a bunch of you guys have your heads screwed on right. Nice to see/hear.

 

[Ed Penney]

I did give in a little, got me a electric 15 Amp corded Poulon chainsaw to prune my trees, can do it one handed off the ladder. also change the engine on my log splitter to a 5 horse 220 motor. I can always run either off my generator when a rolling blackout happens LOL

 

[GusGus2020]

I did give in a little, got me a electric 15 Amp corded Poulon chainsaw to prune my trees, can do it one handed off the ladder. also change the engine on my log splitter to a 5 horse 220 motor. I can always run either off my generator when a rolling blackout happens LOL

I’ve always wondered what the repair cost is going to be for all this electric equipment when the motors go out (compared to current rebuild costs) - or is it simply a replacement scenario instead of a rebuild situation that most 2-stroke equipment could reasonably handle?

 

[thomasinvancouver]

Until there is support for new nuclear power plants we know they’re full of feel good but accomplish nothing nonsense. Small scale mass produced fail safe nuclear power is completely possible. It’s more than possible and it would completely make obsolete any large scale solar or wind energy.

 

[nick 55]

Has anyone seen the electric power company trucks, fire trucks ?? Me neither

They are coming. I’ve seen Altec utility trucks (think digger derricks and bucket trucks). I work for a truck OEM, and while EV isn’t core business, it will be. The main hurdle is charging infrastructure and for locally based fleets, it isn’t quite the big ordeal. Over the road, yes, but not for those local fire trucks and ambulances, even bucket trucks and other utilities.

 

[a. palmer jr.]

If you can't use your gas lawn mower in California perhaps you shouldn't mow your grass..

 

[James G]

If you like this, keep electing Democrats.

We will never solve this problem - the useless Democrats. There are far too many idiots voting for them, even knowing that they are ruining our country.

 

[Hundred Acre Wood]

They are coming. I’ve seen Altec utility trucks (think digger derricks and bucket trucks). I work for a truck OEM, and while EV isn’t core business, it will be. The main hurdle is charging infrastructure and for locally based fleets, it isn’t quite the big ordeal. Over the road, yes, but not for those local fire trucks and ambulances, even bucket trucks and other utilities.

That's the perfect use for an electric vehicle with today's technology. Fixed area of operation, return to depot at night. School buses, garbage trucks, delivery vehicles, shipping yard trucks... There's quite a few that fit the model. And they emit lots of pollution. That's where we should be focused.

Long distance cars don't really work as well. And they're already really clean. Stop wasting resources on something that has less impact.

 

[.358 win]

They are coming. I’ve seen Altec utility trucks (think digger derricks and bucket trucks). I work for a truck OEM, and while EV isn’t core business, it will be. The main hurdle is charging infrastructure and for locally based fleets, it isn’t quite the big ordeal. Over the road, yes, but not for those local fire trucks and ambulances, even bucket trucks and other utilities.

I haven't heard anything about charging fire equipment when it's on a scene and runs out of,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,electricity. Long hoses for water, now a truck with extension cords.. Hooked up to what ?

 

[nick 55]

Think of it like this, while that truck is running to a local fire, it’s using a fair amount of electric charge, but once it’s on scene, it only needs to power the emergency lights and a pump. Again, not a huge power suck compared to high load driving of a 50k lb truck. Now, like anything, chainsaws, cars, or even TVs, no single piece of equipment is going to work in every single scenario. But for local work, an EV is actually not a bad proposal. I’ve driven an EV class 8 tractor that had a useful range of 150 miles with an 80k gross. Clearly, that would be useless for an OTR but it would work for beverage delivery in say, Chicagoland or Dallas.

Now, I’ve got close experience with fire trucks running out of water instead of fuel…. My in-laws lost their house to a fire Christmas Day when they didn’t have enough water…… in a remote location where even an EV could have kept pumping but no water was available to pump.

I know this will not convince all people that EV is the answer to everything. It isn’t. But it’s a reasonable opportunity to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels in some applications IF the electrical grid is producing sufficient clean energy too (nuclear).

 

[MFV]

Think of it like this, while that truck is running to a local fire, it’s using a fair amount of electric charge, but once it’s on scene, it only needs to power the emergency lights and a pump. Again, not a huge power suck compared to high load driving of a 50k lb truck. Now, like anything, chainsaws, cars, or even TVs, no single piece of equipment is going to work in every single scenario. But for local work, an EV is actually not a bad proposal. I’ve driven an EV class 8 tractor that had a useful range of 150 miles with an 80k gross. Clearly, that would be useless for an OTR but it would work for beverage delivery in say, Chicagoland or Dallas.

Now, I’ve got close experience with fire trucks running out of water instead of fuel…. My in-laws lost their house to a fire Christmas Day when they didn’t have enough water…… in a remote location where even an EV could have kept pumping but no water was available to pump.

You don’t think running a water pump is a high load ?

 

[ericm979]

Fire tanker trucks need frequent re-supplies of water when they are supplying a hose lay and doing stationary pumping. That's provided by water tenders.

When I was on a tanker crew, a lot of the regular operation was local to the national forest district I worked for. That could easily be handled by batteries. However the tanker made some long trips when truck and crew got loaned out to other forests to combat large fires ("mutual aid"). That was some decades ago. I see more of it now that fires are larger and fire agencies have not staffed up to deal with it. A battery truck could handle long trips, it'd just take longer to get there.

It's funny how any discussion of battery powered anything ends up with people proposing more and more outlandish what-ifs. While we're all posting from laptops or cell phones which all use battery technology.

Back to saws. CARB came out with their set of rules and for the most part it tracks the legislation. There's one major exception but it's not saws or generators which were my two biggest concerns. I have already said that I think this is dumb and short sighted so I will not repeat myself. I think that owning a saw shop in Reno will be extra lucrative in a few years.

OTOH it will speed battery saw development. If it means that I'll be able to buy a large battery saw that does not weigh or cost a ton, I'd be ok with that.

 

[Franny K]

It's funny how any discussion of battery powered anything ends up with people proposing more and more outlandish what-ifs. While we're all posting from laptops or cell phones which all use battery technology.

I just happen to be on a laptop and the battery has failed. It is just like a desktop if the cord to the wall is pulled out or there is a power blip. It went for a year or so never charging over 70% or something like that and then I noticed showing 100% charged but really useless. I just thought since you used the word funny I would respond.

 

[Ed Penney]

I’ve always wondered what the repair cost is going to be for all this electric equipment when the motors go out (compared to current rebuild costs) - or is it simply a replacement scenario instead of a rebuild situation that most 2-stroke equipment

 

[Ed Penney]

If you can't use your gas lawn mower in California perhaps you shouldn't

I’ve always wondered what the repair cost is going to be for all this electric equipment when the motors go out (compared to current rebuild costs) - or is it simply a replacement scenario instead of a rebuild situation that most 2-stroke equipment could reasonably handle?

 

[grizz55chev]

I just happen to be on a laptop and the battery has failed. It is just like a desktop if the cord to the wall is pulled out or there is a power blip. It went for a year or so never charging over 70% or something like that and then I noticed showing 100% charged but really useless. I just thought since you used the word funny I would respond.

I just got my android tablet battery replaced and the charging port repaired, in hindsight, I could just bought a newer version of the same device for about $60 more than the repair bill! The deciding factor was it has a lot of content that I didn't want to lose or I would have went for replace rather than repair.

 

[Ed Penney]

It's disposable like most small Poulans, most people I know call the gas ones "pullins"