[crazygringo]

Obviously almost nobody would do it if it weren't net positive.

And why wouldn't it be? The whole point here is for power companies to avoid buying as many batteries themselves, and their own batteries depreciate too.

This isn't hard -- the power company adjusts the price it pays minute per minute, and you set the threshold at which it is profitable for you, taking battery cycles into account. And it becomes a classic supply and demand curve -- it's Econ 101.

[abfan1127]

Uber drivers earn roughly $0.70/mile[1]. Gas at $3/gal and MPGs at 25mpg mean it costs $0.12/mi in fuel. a $30k vehicle driven to 150k miles costs roughly $0.20/mi in depreciation. Without additional maintenance costs, its roughly $0.32/mi to drive a car. Approximating tires, oil changes, brakes, and other maintenance of roughly $0.15/mi, you're looking at total cost to drive at $0.45-0.50/mi.

Do you think most Uber drivers drive for the $0.7-$0.12 = $0.58/mile or the actual cost of $0.70-$0.50=$0.20/mile? Sustainable Supply/Demand doesn't work until all costs are measured.

A Rivian battery is roughly $17k. Estimating 1500 charge cycles [2], that's roughly $11/charge. If you "give back" half a cycle, there's only $1.50 worth of electricity sold back, but its $5.50 worth of battery. Are you expecting to get paid $1.50+profit or $7+profit?

[1] https://www.stilt.com/careers/how-much-does-uber-pay/ [2] https://www.reddit.com/r/Rivian/comments/10onhud/ev_battery_...