Electric Vehicles

[chrish]

42 minutes ago, Juggernut said:

Even 4-Wheel drive is a misnomer.  Unless you have limited slip differentials in the front and rear, 4-Wheel drive does not exist.

True fact 

[blackbetty]

to comute to my house at the adriatic i need 400 true miles in the snow at night, so no ev for me.

for commuting i use the train

[Out2gtcha]

56 minutes ago, Juggernut said:

Even 4-Wheel drive is a misnomer.  Unless you have limited slip differentials in the front and rear, 4-Wheel drive does not exist.

 

The old addage on the rocks still exists, "lockers before lightbars".

 

I've found you really only need a front locker in a few circumstances, but having the rear locked is essential.

[BloorwestSiR]

My wife and I debated which way to go 18 months when we were car shopping. We looked at EVs, talked with neighbours who owned them and looked at the pros and cons. 

 

Charging wouldn't have been an issue as we have a garage and it has 240V power. Range also wasn't an issue for everyday stuff. 

 

The two biggest hits were the price and the technology, especially the batteries themselves. The Chevy Bolt would have been the cheapest option to meet our needs but at the time they were on a stop/sale due to a battery recall. Everything else was out of our budget. 

 

Then there's the batteries themselves. The tech keeps advancing and as a result, the older stuff gets harder to source so if down the road you need a replacement battery, you could be SOL. Or facing an absurd bill like a Hyundai owner found out when he was quoted $50K for a battery.

 

We ultimately took the middle ground and got a RAV4 hybrid. Best of both worlds. Still have to wait 8 months for it to arrive but we've been very happy with it. Beats our Honda Element for mileage that's for sure. 

 

Carl

 

 

[Shoggz]

Gosh, there's some interesting replies and statements in this rapidly moving thread.. 

 

On the subject at hand, I have a BMW 330e Hybrid company car, and I was fortunate enough that the company upgraded my electrical supply and paid for the installation of  the charging station.

 

I love the concept of EVs but I'm not entirely convinced by the technology yet. It takes about 4.5 hours to fully charge the battery, which then only has a range of 30ish miles.. (20, with the weather as cold as it currently is.) I accept that a fully electric vehicle would have a better range etc.

 

I'm no mechanic or technologist, but for me the nirvana has to surely be a car that accumulates enough charge through the kinetic movement of the wheels turning, braking etc.

 

I remember the dynamo on my bike when I was a boy that meant I didn't need batteries for the lights!

 

I'm sure I'm being awfully naive thinking such a mechanism could be made for cars, but that, to me, seems like the ideal answer..

[LSP_Mike]

Gas powered truck for me. If I drive an hour to pick up hay, towing a trailer as well, I require the reliability. Right now, the optimal place for ev is a city or close suburb. 

[vince14]

1 hour ago, Shoggz said:

I'm no mechanic or technologist, but for me the nirvana has to surely be a car that accumulates enough charge through the kinetic movement of the wheels turning, braking etc.

That's literally how your BMW 330e charges it's battery, through regenerative braking. Each time you use the brakes some energy is extracted and stored in the battery. It isn't efficient enough to charge the battery long-term or to the max, however, which is why you still need to plug it in.

Edited January 19 by vince14

[Pete Fleischmann]

18 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

I saw Musks "bulletproof" Cybertruck demo.

Laughable

 

The very public, armored glass demo was an epic fail. I believe Elon said on Rogan that they were working on solving that issue.

 

this test of the exoskeleton was interesting 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=teRRk-0KHus&pp=ygURVGVzbGEgYnVsbGV0cHJvb2Y%3D

 

I would have liked to see how it performed against some rifle rounds I can think of-

 

 

 

P

Edited January 19 by Pete Fleischmann

[LSP_Mike]

We could have a pint and watch...

[DeanKB]

5 hours ago, LSP_Mike said:

Gas powered truck for me. If I drive an hour to pick up hay, towing a trailer as well, I require the reliability. Right now, the optimal place for ev is a city or close suburb. 

If I was you Mike, I'd also stick to petrol power. The loads you haul, and the potential distances you travel, makes an EV an unrealistic choice. Texas is almost 3 times bigger than the UK, and public transport isn't really an American strength. They'll take off in densely populated European countries first. They'll eventually get to the US, but only once the range increases to make them viable for those huge distances - which will probably be your son's generation, with a bit of luck, because EV's are great fun to drive - instant power, ridiculous levels of torque, the main problem is getting that power through the wheels without spinning them. A couple of times I've found myself doing a Tomas the cat impression, wheels rotating whilst I go absolutely nowhere, before the traction control kicks in.

[jmel]

Tesla Model S owner, here.  I am a car guy.  I build engines and race cars and i will NEVER go back to a gasoline-powered vehicle.  I pay about $50/month to charge my car at home overnight while i sleep.  I wake up each morning with a car fully charged for over 250-275 miles of driving.  It took zero modification to my house electrical system, my insurance rates went down ( i had a Mustang Shelby GT500 prior to the Tesla), and i can outrun and outperform literally any car on the road, all with luxury and technology that is updated via the internet periodically, also while i sleep.  And guess what?  I bought it used five years ago and paid $36k for it. 

 

Are electric cars for everybody?  Nope.  Are they amazing?  Yes.

 

Don't believe everything you read on the internet.  I have had no problems charging my car in the cold. 

 

Jake

 

 

[Out2gtcha]

Right now the issue seems to be charging in the cold (and range in the cold as well) , and the current lack of infrastructure.

 

The way my wife and I overland (long distance camping) with extreme distances between fill-ups, and mostly being in extremely small rural communities that occasionally don't even have a gas station, let alone an EV charging station, there is no way I could have an EV truck. That and the fact that range goes down a LOT when towing like we do, or worse yet, towing in cold weather.

I think it will be a long time before EVs hit their stride for the general public here in the US, for anything other than commuting and running around the city.

[LSP_Ron]

Just the other day I was on the hwy heading back to Calgary and passed a Tesla.  It was about minus 25degC. The guy was wearing a wool toque, scarf, mitts and a heavy coat.  He really looked like he was having a lot of fun in his Tesla.

 

 

[DeanKB]

3 hours ago, LSP_Ron said:

Just the other day I was on the hwy heading back to Calgary and passed a Tesla.  It was about minus 25degC. The guy was wearing a wool toque, scarf, mitts and a heavy coat.  He really looked like he was having a lot of fun in his Tesla.

 

 

That's because the heating in a Tesla seriously eats into the battery life, and hence range, especially when it's cold (which is when you need the bloody heating on!)

 

One good thing about the Kona is that it's online, so when it's cold I turn the heating on via the app whilst it's still plugged in, so the car is nice & toasty before I get in, without eating into the battery.

 

The cold weather reduces the range from around 300 to about 260 miles. Not an issue for me - I don't drive far & Wales isn't that cold (wet, yes...) - but if I lived in a cold, large place like Canada, I'd stick with petrol power, or a hybrid.

Edited January 20 by LSP_Kevin

[DeanKB]

20 hours ago, LSP_Ray said:

I don't think we are there yet in the US to go EV, at least not for long road trips. A guy in Canada bought a Ford F150 LIghtning EV and decided to go cross country to Kentucky, I think it was. He mapped out the charging stations thought he had it all worked out. Except when he got to the first stop and all the chargers were out of order. Searched around, found one at the last minute. Next stop, same problem. That time, he ran out of juice before he found another one. This time, he had it towed to the nearest Ford dealer, told them to charge it for him, rented a gas-powered vehicle and finished his trip.

 

That said, here in AZ, Teslas are really popular as I see them all the time. My daughter bought a Chevy Bolt and drives it all over town. She loves it. But only in town. They have a gas Jeep if they go cross country. I also am curious to see how long the batteries last here. AZ is tough on batteries; they dry out. Most car batteries only last 2 years. My truck battery only lasted 22 months. And that was a 60 month battery.

 

BTW, Toyota is working on a Hydrogen-powered engine. They think that will be better in the long run than electric. Something to keep an eye on. 

Hyundai Kona batteries have a 7 year warranty, Hyundai must have confidence in them to offer that?