Is the Cyber Truck a Flop?

[EddieWalker]

That's one of several flaws with getting one. How long will the batteries last, what happens in winter when temps are below zero? Does the heat bother them over time? For now, it's an idea that I like, but doubt I'll commit to.

If we get an EV, it will probably be a small commuter car for my wife to run into town with. Currently she drives a minivan because we have 8 Akita's and sometimes, she hauls three of them at a time in their kennels to dog shows, or the vet, or to breed one of them. We'll always have to have a van for as long as we're showing dogs. But for a second vehicle, just to run to town, the EV is worth considering.

 

[rontaki]

A lot of people here talk about buying a used truck. Who's going to want an electric vehicle that will need a battery replacement soon, that costs as much or more than the vehicle is worth?
I know that electricity storage is improving, will that apply to the old used vehicles?

An EV bought now will not have the same kind of resale value when older, as compared to an ICE vehicle.

 

[BackRoad]

That's what I just don't understand about EVs...

If a battery fails in a flashlight, do you throw away the flashlight?

If a battery fails in a vehicle with an ICE, do you throw away the vehicle?

Noooo...you take 5 minutes and swap out the old component and put in a fresh one, and they are standard sized and universal across manufacturers based primarily on voltage.

Battery powered vehicles should be the same way, you should be able to simply and easily swap out the battery.

EVs and their batteries should be designed to be interchangeable and standard sized (based on charge and performance), but which all manufacturers could easily cross-utilize.

Pull into a battery station (same as a gas station) pull into a battery swap lane, and based on 3 or 4 sizes (no different than 87, 89 or 91 octane or even diesel), deinsert the existing battery, insert a fresh charged battery (all mechanized and hands free), run inside for a pee break, grab a Gatorade and hit the road again...

Every battery would have a battery charge/health meter, and you could exchange a dead battery, but otherwise, it wouldn't matter if the battery was on the 100th charge or the 1000th charge. You use it, swap it on your next "refill" for another. Eventually a battery would be retired, but it gets recycled, but the cost is incrementally included in the cost of each battery "refill"...like a 5% tax.

The current approach is so anti-customer, and short sighted to install manufacturer proprietary batteries in every unique brand of EV.

It's like having Ford only gas, Chevy only gas, or Ram only gasoline!

 

[KennyG]

EV batteries are more analogous to engines and transmissions than gasoline. All the EVs essentially take the same electricity which corresponds to gasoline.

I think the EV batteries have been quite reliable. I'm sure there have been some early failures, but there are early engine and transmission failures also. I think those replacements are similar in cost to batteries.

 

[KennyG]

I've been wondering about the overall economy of EVs. It seems that the efficiency of EVs tends to be about 3 miles per kWh. The national average residential electricity cost is now about 18 cents/kWh. So the energy cost of driving an EV if you charge at home is 6 cents/mile.

We are about $3.00/gallon now which means to come out even, an ICE would have to get 50 mpg. If you had a car that got 30 mpg and drove 10,000 miles per year, you would save about $400 per year with an EV. Seems like it would take a long time to save enough to justify the EV.

It's worse if you consider the road tax that EVs don't pay (about $.50 per gallon for us) or if you charge at commercial charging stations.

Ev trucks might actually make more sense if you can deal with the range limitations because they would replace a lower gas mileage vehicle.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

You have to factor in the vehicle cost also.
That's one reason we bought a new Kia Rio (we've had Hyundai Accents). Hard to beat 40 mpg, 10yr 100K mile warranty for under $20K.

 

[ultrarunner]

Some have done well purchasing used for a few thousands with warranty remaining.

Co-worker bought Audi hybrid for 5k from auction.

It had a few months on warranty and the transmission went out… 13k to replace and later the battery light went on and Audi replaced the battery pack under warranty…

 

[BackRoad]

EV batteries are more analogous to engines and transmissions than gasoline. All the EVs essentially take the same electricity which corresponds to gasoline.

I think the EV batteries have been quite reliable. I'm sure there have been some early failures, but there are early engine and transmission failures also. I think those replacements are similar in cost to batteries.

One last post and I'll leave it alone...
One might be able to have a friendly discussion that the EV battery holds the fuel - while the EV electronics and drive motors are more equivalent to the ICE engine and transmission.

But at any rate, with some easy basic design changes, it would be straightforward to decouple the battery to make it self contained and industry wide swappable.

EVs have very few shared standards today other than maybe the plug used to receive an external charging cord.

It seems the primary complaints with EVs which "everybody" makes (including EV owners, though maybe not admitted to) are:

1) limited distance per charge
2) Time required to recharge
3) high cost to surgically replace a dead/old battery

All easily addressed constraints with an industry standard swappable battery. It would remove the majority of the barriers to widespread EV adoption.

Well that, and maybe a redesign of the Tesla Pinewood Derby truck...

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

The problem with an industry standard swappable battery is that battery technology improving rapidly. A standard would be a line in the sand killing innovation. We may get there some day, but we wouldn't want to stop innovation this early in the game.

 

[dsb5610]

General guidance on EV batteries is to keep them between 20-80% for longevity. A swappable scenario would need to have a hard limit on those ranges or some way to report percent of use outside of the range. For fleet use, it may make sense. For personal use, I would not want a battery someone else abused.

We have a 2022 F150 3.5L and a 2023 Lightning (F150L). Paid more for the F150 than the F150L, both purchased new. F150L is our daily driver. Only charge at home.

I would not have considered a Cybertruck even if it was cheaper than an F150L. I have no concern with Teslas in general, but the truck doesn't seem practical and is fugly.

dsb