Poll: Do you have, or plan to get, an electric car?

[Bilsch]

@Bilsch have you had the car long enough to get through a good winter storm? Just curious how the cold impacts the Tesla batteries. We know a family that got stuck in a blizzard coming down from tahoe due to dead battery. Our winters aren't even that cold.

I’ve been through a couple Montana winters now and while there is a small amount of loss due to cold it’s not really an issue because there is plenty of battery and these packs are actively heated. If absolutely every mile is needed one can set preheat before departure but I haven’t had to do that. Lots of people run out of gas and get stuck places they shouldn’t be due to poor planning. Having an electric car wont change that.

P.S. How do you get a dead battery coming down the mountain in a car with regenerative braking?

 

[Bilsch]

Is it true you can change settings to Ludicrous speed?

If you paid for silly stuff like that. I didn’t.

 

[Kent88]

 

[NGD]

P.S. How do you get a dead battery coming down the mountain in a car with regenerative braking?

Awesome about the battery. I knew tesla had the best battery tech on the market but thats great. I’ve been curious how it would handle a “real” winter vs. a californias winters. My experience between the two is a California winter is Montanas spring.
It would be speculation on my part as we aren't close to the family. I’m guessing a combination of to much heater, slow traffic, fair amount of heavy snow and possibly not topped off for the 85mi stretch of highway they would have to travel with no chargers. It isn’t a straight shot. You travel over a few peaks before you hit the valley floor.
In fact if it was a 60d (200mi range) I could see it easily happening in slow traffic due to the fact you’d rarely get to regen, extra drag from the snow and your burning the heater the entire time.

 

[S-Met]

How do you get a dead battery coming down the mountain in a car with regenerative braking?

@NGD Mostly nailed this. Traffic from Tahoe or Reno in a snowstorm can be brutal. Bumper-to-bumper crawling. That 87mile journey has taken over 6-8 hrs if there is an accident. Keep in mind, most of California doesn't know how to drive in the snow. ****, most of California can't F-ing drive, period. Not saying othwr states are better or worse, just that greater Sacramento area traffic is ridiculous. Factor in drinking and never having been in the snow, plan on a disaster.

But back on topic, no place to pull over, and its steep up and downs, not a strait cruise down the hill.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Nope, especially when then cost of producing the electric is more than the cost of the petrol. I'm sorry, but tree huggers, we're not there yet. Now, if we could extract hydrogen from water with a simple 9V or 12 V battery. The by product? O2. Hey, isn’t this good? OK, then I’m in.

 

[Bilsch]

Nope, especially when then cost of producing the electric is more than the cost of the petrol.

It is?
Can you kindly direct me to your source for this information?

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Something gives me the impression no matter what link or reference I provide it will not be good enough.

 

[Bilsch]

Something gives me the impression no matter what link or reference I provide it will not be good enough.

If gasoline was cheaper than electricity, wouldn't everyone have a gas generator at their house?

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

If gasoline was cheaper than electricity, wouldn't everyone have a gas generator at their house?

If DC was cheaper the AC wouldn't everyone have DC at their house. What a minute. Benjamin Franklin pushed DC. Was less costly than AC, but AC won out.

There are many factors, other than cost, that go into public utilities. Don't even mention Nikola Telsa.

 

[Bilsch]

If DC was cheaper the AC wouldn't everyone have DC at their house. What a minute. Benjamin Franklin pushed DC. Was less costly than AC, but AC won out.
There are many factors, other than cost, that go into public utilities. Don't even mention Nikola Telsa.

Ok well.. I can't argue with that logic.

 

[NGD]

Hydrogen is one technology I’d love to see advance much faster. That said, I’m hoping to 2021 Toyota Mirai redesign can attract some buyers because the current design is the ugliest damn car I’ve seen in person. The website photos don’t do how ugly it is justice.

edit: typing on a phone is not my forte

 

[Kent88]

Getting a little off topic, but I do recall there being some major news on solar generated hydrogen at some point over the last year, year and a half.

I do like some of the ideas behind hydrogen fueled cars, but it would take major investments to get solar generated hydrogen plants built and operational, along with work I can't comprehend to get sufficient a network of hydrogen refueling stations put in, in order to get it set up.

Whereas charging and battery tech has a lot of momentum already.

But man, if the infrastructure was in place and the solar generated hydrogen plants were going strong, I'd love to have a car that burns clean fuel that I could refuel with the convenience we've come to expect from gassing up an ICE.

Edit: here is a link. Doesn't look like they made hydrogen yet, but they're getting there:
Secretive energy startup backed by Bill Gates achieves solar breakthrough

 

[Bilsch]

I hope they figure out a better way to make hydrogen because the way it is now they just waste natural gas or electricity to make it when it's much more efficient to use the electrons directly to power a car.

 

[OleBrewing]

Waiting for the all wheel hydraulic drive vehicle.

 

[doug293cz]

Waiting for the all wheel hydraulic drive vehicle.

Why?

You can do all wheel drive (4 motor) electric now. To do hydraulic, you'd have to have an electric motor to drive the hydraulic pump, and the friction losses in the pump/plumbing would make it less efficient then the electric direct drive. Also, how would you do regenerative charging?

Brew on

 

[Bilsch]

If you look at the science of hydrogen generation, it is less then half as efficient as just using the electricity directly in a battery electric vehicle. IMO hydrogen is a red herring promoted by oil companies to slow the adoption of BEV.

 

[Kent88]

Is hydrogen a good method of storing energy for times that wind and solar aren't working at their potential?

 

[Bilsch]

Is hydrogen a good method of storing energy for times that wind and solar aren't working at their potential?

Storing in batteries is MUCH more efficient with far lower round trip losses.

 

[doug293cz]

Something gives me the impression no matter what link or reference I provide it will not be good enough.

So that's a no then?

Brew on

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

If DC was cheaper the AC wouldn't everyone have DC at their house. What a minute. Benjamin Franklin pushed DC. Was less costly than AC, but AC won out.

There are many factors, other than cost, that go into public utilities. Don't even mention Nikola Telsa.

Umm... Whut?

 

[Kent88]

I'm no rocket surgeon, so it probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but I didn't understand that either.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I'm no rocket surgeon, so it probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but I didn't understand that either.

I *am* an electrical engineer, but I didn't think a substantive response would have gotten anywhere.

 

[Kent88]

I remember you saying that in that other thread where we were discussing exponential growth.

 

[OleBrewing]

Why?

You can do all wheel drive (4 motor) electric now. To do hydraulic, you'd have to have an electric motor to drive the hydraulic pump, and the friction losses in the pump/plumbing would make it less efficient then the electric direct drive. Also, how would you do regenerative charging?

Brew on

Diesal power.

 

[Kent88]

It's funny, I have asked my spouse several times to put in 110v chargers at the parking lot at work. I said that we put them in at the frat house back in the day so diesel trucks could plug in, and I'm sure some co-workers would appreciate that in the coldest days of winter. All the days where the temperature stays above freezing, those would be an opportunity to charge at work.

Won't do it.

 

[NGD]

@Kent88 If you dont mind me asking, how much do you guys pay per kWh in your area?

Sounds like it would be expensive to have 110v chargers installed. However who doesn't love free charging at work

 

[Kent88]

 

[NGD]

Came across this. GM’s new all electric Hummer. 1000hp and crab crawl mode.

 

[AzOr]

The Jeep looks really cool if I trusted Fiat to make a reliable vehicle.

 

[Kent88]

I grew up with GM vehicles, my spouse's family is all Chrysler/Dodge. We maintain a 1 GM and 1 fiat household. The GM is the car that gets a lot of work when there is no snow, and doesn't go on many long trips. The Jeep is our primary winter vehicle and gets used for long trips because it has more cargo space.

I was hoping that the Wagoneer would be a PHEV van that we could afford and haul kids around in that would make more sense than a Grand Cherokee. Jeep let me down.

I really hope that there are some better options than a Pacifica when the day comes that we trade the current Jeep off.

 

[NGD]

Well shoot, Rivian isnt slowing down. This is downright impressive. Even more so if they kept driving after the test.

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/09/1...towing-test-of-its-r1t-electric-pickup-truck/

 

[AzOr]

It’s a good looking truck as well. As mentioned before in this thread, ev’s have a ton of off road potential.
When these come down in price to the mid 40k’s, I’m in. Or at least a used one in this range.

 

[NGD]

Hopefully it‘s sooner than later. Seems like everyone is trying to one-up tesla at the moment. Sure that half ton EV truck is great, but I just bought a 3 bedroom rental unit in Indiana on an acre of land for less than the base price.

 

[gunhaus]

In 320 or so years when the fossil fuel supply of the north shelf finally begins to dwindle, I'll MAYBE think about it - Get back to me then,

 

[matt_m]

My mom was strongly considering a plug-in hybrid Escape. She's in her 70's and only goes out a couple times a week mostly local so she likely would rarely have needed to buy gas. With her driving frequency, the slow charge from a wall outlet would have met her needs. She wouldn't have saved on gas, but the non-pumping-gas thing for a senior would have been worth it. Only problem is the dealer could only find 2 in the whole country, both a color she wasn't willing to consider. There's currently a 4-month waiting list for orders.

 

[Kent88]

I'm trying to figure out how to convince my parents to go electric. A Bolt EUV should be able to take care of 99% of their driving, and they're kind of a 1.5 car household right now. Dad doesn't feel great about driving public roads these days outside of 5-10 miles from his house, so I'm not sure they'll keep two vehicles when he retires. I've mapped out how far a current gen Bolt can go in cold weather (based on what my Volt can do) from their house, and I'm sure it's possible to put a 240v line into their garage even if it isn't easy.

They don't go on trips in winter. If they go on trips with family they typically don't drive. Basically it's just something where they need a gas vehicle 3-4 times per year.

I've got some time to figure it out, the vehicle they have right now is still pretty new. Hopefully by the time they look to trade again the Bolt EUVs will be available and their range will be just as good as current Bolts.

 

[RePete]

News today.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/au...lash-electric-battery-costs-build-25-n1240754

 

[Kent88]

Shoot. I don't like Elon, but that is good news. If nothing else it'll force competitors to work harder.

 

[NGD]

For people with short commutes or that go out infrequently, old gas in plug-in hybrids can be an issue. My wife has been on the same tank of gas for 1200 miles/month and a half. Some people report the same tank of fuel for 6-8 months before they decide to run it out.