Thoughts on cars going all electric?

[1gunaholic]

I edited your response. You should open the frunk of a few electric cars. We've worked on chevrolet bolts and the mustang mach e. They both have cooling systems. The prius has a cooling system dedicated to the hybrid drive.

So do the Teslas. If you get a “performance” model, there are extra cooling fans.

 

[Percolater]

Unless it's January, and the temps are in low teens or lower. Gonna want that heater I think.

350-500Wh to run HVAC with a 70kWh battery will get you thru at least 3 days comfortably, with plenty of mileage to get to next charge. Although, that traffic jam would be death

 

[MCgrease08]

Electric cars is the next level in transportation. It’s not yet to the point where it’s ready to displace internal combustion cars like they displaced horses and hitchin’ posts.

And I’m not sure that this society can handle such a thing. They want all electric but they also want renewable energy

Electric will likely the next big leap in passenger cars, but it's just not viable for a majority of commerical transportation applications. Light duty commercial delivery? Mostly. Medium duty urban delivery? Sort of. Long haul heavy duty? Not even close.

But you've honed in on the key point, and that's a lack of charging infrastructure to actually make EVs possible. And of course, this is the real reason the investment community, utilities and politicians are pushing it. There's money to be made in developing the infrastructure.

 

[jamil]

What I'm trying to point out to people, is that these new initiatives aren't _designed_ to be mutually compatible. The two sides are not trying to solve the same problem. Renewable proponents are trying to drive us back to a lower standard of living. Renewable proponents _know_ these equations cannot simultaneously be solved. It's an unsolvable system. At least not in the conventional way people on the side of markets and freedom define "solving" a problem.

But the market geek engineering mentality keeps trying to find the solution, turning the rubik's cube every which way, not realizing they've been given a problem which isn't designed to be solved. The table has been set to regulate our way of life out of existence, but people can't get beyond, "Kewl, my cost to operate is $0.02 per fortnite...now I can tithe more to my Church." It's the "Popular Mechanics Mentality." "We put a Man on the Moon - somehow we'll figure this out; the Bright People will see to it."

You try to point out to a person that the amount of sunlight that falls on their roof and yard during an Indiana winter day isn't enough to move their Tesla to their Megachurch and back...and they simply go back to the latest Kewl article in Popular Mechanics.

No amount of Technology can overcome Thermodynamics.

you can use solar power to charge your home and your Tesla, even in Indiana, in the winter, especially if you just need to drive it to your mega church on Sundays. I remember the grey skies in the winter months from when I lived in Fort Wayne. Solar isn’t all that efficient in Northern Indiana but it is still doable. You’ll need more panels than, say, if you live in Arizona. And obviously you need batteries and an inverter to power your house during no sun days. But it can be done and still be self-sufficient.

You don’t have to overcome thermodynamics. It’s math. How much direct sunlight do you average per day? How much power do you need? Do the math to figure out how many panels and how much battery capacity you need to run your home. How much more power does it take to charge a tesla to get you to your mega church? What are we talking? 10 miles? Meh.

I agree on the other stuff. The more “green” they want the planet the less viable electric everything will be.

 

[Bugzilla]

I posted somewhere here recently that they never had a reality, they were born in a bubble, raised in a bubble, and live in that bubble.

I am making a poll of this: In the world we live in today how many people could identify a wrench?

I saw a few on the women with gun thread!

 

[Franc]

I’ll jump in early and be “that guy”… I love the idea of no cooling system, no transmission, no emission control system, no exhaust system, and no oil changes. I’ll be ready for an EV when they’re ready for me. I have a place in line for a Cybertruck. We’ll see how things look when my chance to buy comes up.

I concur. I am ready for a Tesla 3 for the next family car. Of course there will be another car that runs on gas in the family. For 90% of our need, the ev is more than enough.

 

[Bugzilla]

The progression already got stopped. Nuclear got taken off the table, then government adopted the philosophy "new development must be renewable."

Where is the progress going to come from? In Agriculture, to cite the example you used, genetic engineering has been the game-changer. Where is the comparable game-changer in energy production? Much of what we're talking about with regard to electric technologies is not actually new sources of energy; it's just new ways of capturing, storing, and deploying the same energy sources we already had. Solar and Wind are not changing the game; laws requiring new supply to come from those methods are holding back progress, in California, Europe, and elsewhere.

Coal is renewable, just takes a while!

 

[churchmouse]

Coal is renewable, just takes a while!

Diamonds take longer.....

 

[Leadeye]

Hydrogen is hard to store and I have to ask if you need changes to electrical service to drive an electric car. An extra service to the standard 100 amp many homes have?

 

[cbhausen]

I edited your response. You should open the frunk of a few electric cars. We've worked on chevrolet bolts and the mustang mach e. They both have cooling systems. The prius has a cooling system dedicated to the hybrid drive.

Obviously, I was talking about conventional automotive cooling systems with engine driven water pumps, complex plumbing and gaskets, the possibility of blown head gaskets, seal leaks, etc. Sure, there are failure points on electric vehicles but most of them involve electronics, not mechanical systems at least in comparison to conventional vehicles. How about catalytic converters? You’re kidding yourself if you think the typical EV has as many complex systems as a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle.

I’m not interested in a Cybertruck because I think it will save the world. I’m interested because it’s going to be one bad ass beast of a vehicle that hauls ass and I want one.

I am a born racer at heart and I love the sound of a V-8 in a sprint car. But the day will come, maybe even in my lifetime, where we look back at internal combustion engines and cherish their nostalgic value but cannot deny electric vehicles are now the way to go. It will happen when the time is right. In the meantime, .gov should stay the hell out of the way.

 

[Biggredchev]

Ive thought about covering the roofs on my barns in solar panels and swapping in a 10” forklift motor into the ranger when its 2.3 dies. Chevy volt batteries are cheap. No way I’d want to depend on the electrical grid to charge it.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Hydrogen is hard to store and I have to ask if you need changes to electrical service to drive an electric car. An extra service to the standard 100 amp many homes have?

It will be a real possibility of having to upgrade. Most of the home chargers I've seen need a new 240v 30-50a circuit.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Obviously, I was talking about conventional automotive cooling systems with engine driven water pumps, complex plumbing and gaskets, the possibility of blown head gaskets, seal leaks, etc. Sure, there are failure points on electric vehicles but most of them involve electronics, not mechanical systems at least in comparison to conventional vehicles. How about catalytic converters? You’re kidding yourself if you think the typical EV has as many complex systems as a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle.

I’m not interested in a Cybertruck because I think it will save the world. I’m interested because it’s going to be one bad ass beast of a vehicle that hauls ass and I want one.

I am a born racer at heart and I love the sound of a V-8 in a sprint car. But the day will come, maybe even in my lifetime, where we look back at internal combustion engines and cherish their nostalgic value but cannot deny electric vehicles are now the way to go. It will happen when the time is right. In the meantime, .gov should stay the hell out of the way.

It does eliminate some stuff, but it also picks up some systems and those new systems tend to be more expensive to repair and replace.

Batteries-$5500-20kish

Drive units $3k-10k

Heat pump for HVAC- TBD

It will surely come with it's own set of problems. I think it will just put an end to the 20yo vehicles driving around. Between maintenance cost and resale value dropping people will probably be staying in a fairly new vehicle. Hopefully with a warranty that is worth a damn

 

[Ingomike]

It does eliminate some stuff, but it also picks up some systems and those new systems tend to be more expensive to repair and replace.

Batteries-$5500-20kish

Drive units $3k-10k

Heat pump for HVAC- TBD

It will surely come with it's own set of problems. I think it will just put an end to the 20yo vehicles driving around. Between maintenance cost and resale value dropping people will probably be staying in a fairly new vehicle. Hopefully with a warranty that is worth a damn

And creating a huge divide between have’s and have nots. They are basically destroying auto ownership…

 

[semperfi211]

So this is only cars, not trucks? I doubt that I could tow my toy hauler with 1000 lb motorcycle in the back with any electric vehicle.

 

[patience0830]

You will get more mileage if stuck in a traffic jam. If you're not moving you're not burning energy/ watt hours (Wh).

But you might freeze to death.

 

[tmschuller]

You guys have forgotten an important fact.. we won’t need to worry about all the issues posted we will have flying cars any day now..

 

[Limpy88]

Most traffic problems are human problems. Ev car that have autonomous driving will help alot of traffic problems. So alot less sitting in traffic. Im currently in a wheel chair lucky to be alive, if the person was in a ev with autonomous functions. Could have had a deer meet for dinner tonight, while in my shop working on being free.(chain of events that didn't happen cause the accident)

Wanting to build a windmill, do geo thermal, wood burner, used oil burner, solar panels, and drive a converter ev car. To be self sufficient.

All you boomers.
I dont like change so much I dont even carry it any more.
Oh the government mandates are killing me.


I never listened to the government in the first place.

 

[hoosierdoc]

If there were *really* a strain on the grid; they'd but the kibosh on building new houses / neighborhoods. But they aren't...

The strain is if you consider the amount of electrical energy needed to replace the energy purchased at the gas stations in a community. It would be massive.

Tesla model S has a 100kWh battery. Average daily household power use in US is about 30KWh. Average American drives 14,300 miles a year. Tesla S range is 400 miles.

So under pefect conditions average person would use 3X entire household power consumption evey 9.7 days. A two adult two car family would use 6X power every 9.7 days.

So figure an average uptick of 70% power usage?

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

You act as if reality has anything to do with the stupid **** that pours from the mouths of democrats. I want all women to be 9's or better and dogs to be able to talk but I'm smart enough to know that it isn't going to happen.

Electric is obviously the way of the future but the technology isn't here to support it yet. I'm all in favor of research and REALISTICALLY moving toward that goal but I'm not in favor of people who don't own cars (NYC/CHICAGO/LA) voting in laws trying to force yet another fairy tale upon everyone.

Clearly, you haven't met my dog.