Battery based electric vehicles of today and tomorrow.

[Gale Hawkins]

WOW you are the EV capital of Europe. I do not know an owner of another EV in the west end of KY. I did see a Tesla at the tire store last year before I bought the LEAF in St. Louis which is 4 hours away. I have seen three other Leafs in Murray KY but have not seen one in a while. Most of the new players are only marketing in the 13 states friendly to EV's. I have had people argue with me that Nissan does not make a car without a gas tank. I did see a guy at the courthouse and he had a new Lincoln Lincoln hybrid. Pure EV cars just have not made any inroads sales wise.

 

[Agvg]

Well, it took some years before it went from cars for EV enthusiast to main stream, thanks to Tesla model S that made EV cool and fast, Tesla S was the most sold car in periods. Now Tesla meets stiffer competition from Audi, Jaguar and Mercedes on EV so it will be interesting to see. On more cheaper cars VW probably will take the lead, as they do on ICE cars with Tesla 3 in the more premium segment. We are a Volvo land so Polestar might take off to.

 

[dragoneggs]

Not sure if this brand has been brought up. A friend of mine is in line for one of these...

Rivian

Yes, he is a little younger than me but I look forward to giving it a whirl.

 

[3930dave]

Well, it took some years before it went from cars for EV enthusiast to main stream, thanks to Tesla model S that made EV cool and fast, Tesla S was the most sold car in periods. Now Tesla meets stiffer competition from Audi, Jaguar and Mercedes on EV so it will be interesting to see. On more cheaper cars VW probably will take the lead, as they do on ICE cars with Tesla 3 in the more premium segment. We are a Volvo land so Polestar might take off to.

I'm curious about typical driving patterns in Norway Ag.

My sense of many parts of Europe is that people tend to live close to where they work - is that fairly typical in Norway ?

Rgds, D.

 

[Agvg]

Commuting 1 - 1.5h one way is quite common, if you live in the inner city owning a car is so unpractical that few bother having one.

We have good charging network so long trips are not a big problem. But most people that own cheaper EV don't need to travel very far or have a ICE as a weekend car. Norway have long distances and large rural or almost empty land, if you live in the most rural areas ICE is still dominating. Hybrids with a electric range of 40 to 60km is also very popular. Many petrol stations are in a process to figure out how to become charging stations as the volum of fuel sold is going rapidly down, and there are talk of upgrading the grid to solve power distribution, Norway uses a odd system with 230V 3 phase for maybe 75% of households and not the more common 400V 3 phase used in most of Europe.

So we take electrification seriously, we have the money to give it a try so why not.

 

[3930dave]

Commuting 1 - 1.5h one way is quite common, if you live in the inner city owning a car is so unpractical that few bother having one.

So we take electrification seriously, we have the money to give it a try so why not.

Meaning 1.5 hours by mass-transit, or driving a personal vehicle ?

A good friend of mine here has made many business trips to Germany. One of the comments he made was how good the passenger rail system was (esp. compared to ours). What struck me even more was the related comment he made - people could live in one city, and quite easily commute by rail to a job in another city in Germany - but many chose not to.

Travel helps gain perspective. Long distance commuting happens all over the world, but that comment by my friend underlined how normalized it is here.

I've worked with people from Europe or Asia who often bicycled to work, or rode motorcycles. Again, less common here.

I'm interested in how different countries adapt to transportation changes, and wonder how the back story helps or hinders.

Being a Nordic country, I'm esp. interested in what people see for range reduction with EV with cold, deep snow, and slippery roads. Driving IC all my life, I know how to derate those engines for those condtions..... EV, I have no direct data yet.

Rgds, D.

 

[Jim Nelson]

I read an article on the Fox news site the other day that said Nissan is trying to create a market for carbon fiber reenforced plastics in an effort to stay a float. I haven't kept up with the market but know that in the Americas Cup yacht world back in the '90s carbon fiber masts were the latest and greatest but terribly expensive.

 

[Agvg]

I have never owned a EV but don't think winter is a big issue, it was on the very early EVs, here are a test

2 Popular Electric Vehicles Tested In Norwegian Winter Conditions

 

[Agvg]

Here I live commuter train is very popular if you work in Oslo, as mentioned cars are all most hopeless to use in the inner city, it takes an hour on the train. But if you work else were 1 to 1,5h in a car is quite normal commuting, bicycle is also very common for short commuting in the warm seasons, but many cycles all year round. Many places there are pedestrian and bicycle roads that makes it safe.

 

[3930dave]

I have never owned a EV but don't think winter is a big issue, it was on the very early EVs, here are a test

2 Popular Electric Vehicles Tested In Norwegian Winter Conditions

Thanks for that. Looks like modern ones are about 20% down. N.B. the comment on the Tesla conditions (deep snow).

Rgds, D.