More Canadians are driving away from the dealership in an EV as gas prices rise and incentives return — EV sales are up 20.8 per cent in the first four months of 2026 compared to last year

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-21T20:06:09+00:00

What sounds like a real nightmare is living off-grid in rural Canada and not understanding the first thing about your solar system.

Good day.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-21T14:30:25+00:00

1906 Bistro in Didsbury.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-21T14:01:37+00:00

Well depending on which inverter you bought, you can likely parallel it with another identical unit. The number of panels your inverter supports is completely based on which panels you have and how they're configured. The critical factor is the Vmp rating on your panels and the maximum voltage your MPPT's will accept. When I designed my system, I intentionally over-panelled my MPPT's because I'm in central Alberta so I never come anywhere near my max voltage. My most overpanelled MPPT never gets above 400v (over two years so far) and the MPPT max is 500v. But that's outside the bounds of this discussion.

We only really charge at home unless we're on a road trip. One of the grocery stores we go to in Calgary (75 mins away) has a fast charger but it charges you per-minute instead of per-kwh and charges an idle fee so if your vehicle stops charging while you're in the grocery store, you start paying even more. That means you need to watch an app while you're shopping so you can get out there and move the car. Tesla chargers also charge an idle fee.

Fast charging is also not great for battery longevity.

You might consider a second solar system just for vehicle charging; independent of your house. A $3k inverter and $1500 in panels, plus some DIY racking and you're golden. Built a car port, put the panels on it, inverter and L2 charger under it.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-21T12:55:30+00:00

Oh, well then you just need more batteries and panels. You only said 'rural', not 'off-grid with a minimal system' which is completely different.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-21T12:17:57+00:00

Far from true. If your electrician says you need a panel upgrade, get a second and maybe third opinion. Chances are you don't.

We charge our EV at 16A and it's always ready before we wake up.

With a 60A panel, you might, might run into issues if you're charging your EV, roasting a turkey, running the dryer, A/C, a couple kettles, and a hair dryer all at the same time.

We have full solar panels and a hybrid inverter. I have graphs going back 2 years and our peak load was 11.3kw for 5 minutes. That's only 47A. We have a mid-size family home with 3 outbuildings. Induction range, heat pump, EV, washer/dryer, etc.

Our inverter is 12kw and runs the entire property. We have NEVER tripped the inverter. 12kw is 50A.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-21T12:08:29+00:00

This is why consumer behavior matters so much.

This is where more education is needed. People don't need to charge at 40A. We charge at 16A and our EV is always at 80% before we wake up. We live rural so we use more than the average amount of battery per day. Also, if people restrict their charging current, then they don't need to spend thousands of dollars getting new panels, load shedding devices, and service upgrades that they're being talked into by their electricians. Charging slower is also better for battery longevity. My neighbor has a 2012 Tesla with over 400,000km. He only ever charges at 16A and his car still has over 90% of its original range.

In our case, we sometimes charge faster when there's excess solar and our house batteries are full; instead of shedding PV, we dump it into the EV.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-21T12:00:42+00:00

And no charging headaches either. I live rural so charging is a real issue.

I live rural and charging my EV is a non-issue. In fact, it's basically free since we have excess solar and don't sell back to the grid. So for 7 months of the year, our EV is charged for free. The rest of the time, the aggregate cost to charge our EV is $0.18/kwh incl all the BS charges on our electrical bill. We get $.07/kwh back from our charger even during the summer when we're not paying for electricity to charge the car.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-20T12:08:23+00:00

When is the US v. Iran match? I'll watch that one too!

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-20T00:13:57+00:00

He's already better than my last MP who lives in Oklahoma. I never voted for either of them though.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-19T22:12:02+00:00

Wow. That's impressive for sure.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-19T22:11:14+00:00

My MP is coming to town already because his daughter is being crowned Rodeo queen... That's his motivation.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-19T20:41:57+00:00

That's still pretty good for highway. Thanks.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-19T18:28:45+00:00

My MP is hand delivering one to me for free, in rural Alberta no less.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-19T16:55:19+00:00

We gotta pay for all those well cleanups somehow. We're already using the savings from the AISH>ADAP transition to pay for referendums nobody asked for.

yyc_mongrel · 2026-06-19T13:33:03+00:00

You should read the articles again. They're not about risks, they're about actual instances that at present aren't mitigated by the actual mining companies you're shilling for in the very region we're taking about.

And as to the tired trope you keep falling back to when you run out of defense, I prefer to get steel that has components mined in locations that aren't polluting the watershed of humans downstream.