Battery based vehicles of today and tomorrow pt 2

[Grumpycat]

And the outcome is, our dollar has less buying power. Every year the buying power keeps dropping. We are on a fast race to the buying power of ZERO. Oh yeah, the so called currency crash of the global currency system.

The Coming Crash of Cash, when the Dollar Buys No More. -Perry Rockwood, 2008 Booklet

The value of the dollar is based on 1) labor cost, 2) how much one is allowed to keep after taxes, and 3) cost of energy. These three items determine how much real goods one can get for the dollar.

 

[Jstpssng]

I had not seen this before...... The F150 Lightning weighs 6,500 pounds—more than 35 percent more than the gas-powered model.

So "reasonable size" EVs are going to increase wear and tear on the roads. Yet in my state they pay less road taxes, much less.

Vehicles in general have gotten heavier. In some ways that's better... I've broken frames on more '80s vintage Ford pickups than I care to admit. However, we are supposed to put commercial plates on anything with over 6000 GVWR. I finally stopped doing that with my Colorado.

They'll have you self-report your mileage every year when you renew your plates and tax you on that. When you go to sell the car, the mileage better be correct, or they'll sock you for it all plus penalty. All car sales will have to be conducted at the DMV to verify. Yikes!

I've been doing that all of my life. It's supposed to prevent rolling odometers back, which was a common practice back in the "Good Ole Days."

There have been many toy EVs over the years. Many shade tree conversions. Nothing as serious until the Tesla Roadster which paved the way for the Model S.

Mother Earth ran an article about 30 years ago telling how to convert a regular car to electric. I believe that since then they also showed a farmer who converted his Farmall Cub to electric. That would be the cat's meow in a high tunnel setting.

About 20 years ago engineers at the University of Maine took an old Chevrolet S-10 and converted it to solar. The panel covered the entire 7 foot bed. I saw the truck at an agricultural fair and didn't see it running but it was fun to look at.


I don't see myself buying a Tesla; they are too overpriced and I don't like that you only "rent" the software. However, this

MSN

is impressive. Not that the driver was arrested, but that they went over a 250 foot cliff, bounced a few times on the way down yet all occupants survived.

 

[Grumpycat]

Study fluid dynamics and you'll understand. You have to double the speed going from 2 lanes to 1 not to cause congestion for

That works for fluid dynamics but not automobiles.

The safe distance between automobiles is based on time not distance. So the problem is in theory the same amount of vehicles can pass a point at 35 MPH as 70 MPH but for the length of the vehicles themselves.

In practice we don't space ourselves by time but by distance.

 

[Jstpssng]

That works for fluid dynamics but not automobiles.

The safe distance between automobiles is based on time not distance. So the problem is in theory the same amount of vehicles can pass a point at 35 MPH as 70 MPH but for the length of the vehicles themselves.

In practice we don't space ourselves by time but by distance.

Actually, I use the 3 second rule to try to maintain my spacing.

 

[Fixastuff]

That works for fluid dynamics but not automobiles.

The safe distance between automobiles is based on time not distance. So the problem is in theory the same amount of vehicles can pass a point at 35 MPH as 70 MPH but for the length of the vehicles themselves.

In practice we don't space ourselves by time but by distance.

So triple the speed then?

 

[Grumpycat]

Does your vehicle choose what gear to be in or how much air the engine receives? Do you manually advance the timing? We don't use our arms for turn signals or brake indicators. I'm just saying, things are changing and they always have been. Hopefully they change for the better. Wifes car dims the lights for oncoming traffic too. There's no mechanical steering link anymore either. I'm trusting the electronics to steer the car. Pretty scary actually!

Parents had a 1961 Buick Electra with an "electric eye" pod sticking out of the dash which would drop high beams for oncoming cars. Supposedly.

"Drive by wire" doesn't mean the steering wheel, although that is what it sounds like. It is only the accelerator pedal. However I believe my Subaru and F-150 have electric power steering. Suspect both are "drive by wire" on the accelerator pedal. Know the Tesla has electric power steering. My 2016 Yamaha FJR1300 has the throttle-by-wire too.

Saw an article recently proposing a steer-by-wire manual override in what is intended to be an autonomous vehicle.

 

[California]

Regular "truck batteries" would not last long constantly being charged and discharged like deep cycle batteries are made for...

Might have been deep cycle but this looked like kids using all salvaged ingredients.

 

[Grumpycat]

Interesting article about taking a trip in a Tesla in cold weather...had to charge it six times in one day @ $25-$30 a charge.

A brother and sister say they had to stop 6 times in one day to charge their rented Tesla in cold weather after the battery drained quickly

Xaviar and Alice Steavenson said they paid up to $30 each time they needed to recharge their car on their road trip from Orlando to Wichita.

www.yahoo.com

Not very interesting. All they do is make claims and do not back it with data.

Only sometimes were they billed $30 but make it sound like every time.

They say nothing about $/kWh they were paying.

Also makes as if EVs must always charge at public charging stations (The Gas Station Fallacy) with no mention of how it is 3-5 times cheaper to charge at home. Superchargers only exist to facilitate long distance travel. That is what they were doing. And maybe one should similarly complain about how staying in a hotel and eating at restaurants costs so much more than same at home.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

My recollection is that this EV thing pretty much got started by Elon Musk, followed by a few auto manufacturers, and then a cascade of auto manufacturers. They seem to be leading the charge in this (no pun intended).

 

[Grumpycat]

You think like a socialist.

Everyone on the power grid will pay to have it upgraded to support EV's. Even people who will not, or cannot use EV's. Our brilliant government is using tax dollars to build charging stations most of us will never use.

The only people paying for gas pumps are people buying gas.

EVs lower the cost of electricity.

By increasing electric power consumption at night, EVs increase utility revenue without any need for increase in generating capacity or distribution network upgrades.

You are still stuck in the Gas Station Fallacy of believing an EV must fuel under the same rules as an ICE.