EVs (electric cars)

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mjr
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by mjr »

Interesting letters in reply to a drive report at https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ctric-cars
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
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RickH
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by RickH »

Interesting to note that in May 2021 the best selling car in the UK was the Tesla model 3 (5,468 sold) beating the VW Golf (4,629 sold) into 2nd place.
Rampant demand for the cheapest Tesla is a sign of the UK public's appetite for electric cars and there are some great finance deals available. Plus they're easily bought online. (Parkers)
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
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squeaker
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Re: EVs (electric cars) - Tesla Y construction

Post by squeaker »

Chanced upon this video about the new Model Y (another SUV :( ). Of interest to me was the construction of the 'platform' (at 2m30s) consisting of two huge pressure die castings attached to a central structural battery pack, which IMO will be a game changer if they pull it off. There's also a new cell design (at 6m).
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Jdsk
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by Jdsk »

Yes.

Tesla's approach to designing and building and updating vehicles is unique and remarkable.

Jonathan
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Musk is very much about building production lines, see also SpaceX's attitude towards building rocket engines, and rockets themselves.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
Ben@Forest
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by Ben@Forest »

I mentioned not trusting an EV to be able to cope with the mileage, terrain, lack of charging points where I work. I did 114 miles one day this week with 7,350 ft of ascent (or if you prefer 183 km with 2,240 m of ascent). I didn't need to put the air conditioning on but it's fair to say two weeks earlier I would have used it.

To the best of my knowledge en route there are charging locations at 10, 89 and 104 miles only (10 and 104 miles are the same location). There are no chargers 'just off the route', you'd need to drive at least six or seven miles round trip to the nearest. I don't know if these were all chargers which could be used on any EV but assuming they are I am interested if EV users here would feel confident about doing this trip without recourse to having to charge?
francovendee
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by francovendee »

A second question would be would you do it in a 5-10 year old EV?
Jdsk
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by Jdsk »

Ben@Forest wrote: 7 Aug 2021, 8:25am I mentioned not trusting an EV to be able to cope with the mileage, terrain, lack of charging points where I work. I did 114 miles one day this week with 7,350 ft of ascent (or if you prefer 183 km with 2,240 m of ascent). I didn't need to put the air conditioning on but it's fair to say two weeks earlier I would have used it.

To the best of my knowledge en route there are charging locations at 10, 89 and 104 miles only (10 and 104 miles are the same location). There are no chargers 'just off the route', you'd need to drive at least six or seven miles round trip to the nearest. I don't know if these were all chargers which could be used on any EV but assuming they are I am interested if EV users here would feel confident about doing this trip without recourse to having to charge?
The EV that I intend to buy would, because it will have a WLTP range > 300 miles. It would probably do it twice.

But I don't see anyone asserting that current (!) BEVS can replace ICEs in all settings. Only that many can in most.

Incompatible chargers don't seem to be a problem. Understanding the suppliers and tariffs might be.

Jonathan
Oldjohnw
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by Oldjohnw »

John
Ben@Forest
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by Ben@Forest »

Jdsk wrote: 7 Aug 2021, 8:42am The EV that I intend to buy would, because it will have a WLTP range > 300 miles. It would probably do it twice.

But I don't see anyone asserting that current (!) BEVS can replace ICEs in all settings. Only that many can in most.

Incompatible chargers don't seem to be a problem. Understanding the suppliers and tariffs might be.

There was a lifestyle (more than technical) article in one of the broadsheets recently of a journo using an EV to drive LE to JOG. Both compatibility and chargers actually not working were problems...
Jdsk
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by Jdsk »

Ben@Forest wrote: 7 Aug 2021, 8:51am
Jdsk wrote: 7 Aug 2021, 8:42am The EV that I intend to buy would, because it will have a WLTP range > 300 miles. It would probably do it twice.

But I don't see anyone asserting that current (!) BEVS can replace ICEs in all settings. Only that many can in most.

Incompatible chargers don't seem to be a problem. Understanding the suppliers and tariffs might be.
There was a lifestyle (more than technical) article in one of the broadsheets recently of a journo using an EV to drive LE to JOG. Both compatibility and chargers actually not working were problems...
This one?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ectric-car

Jonathan
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al_yrpal
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by al_yrpal »

Interesting Podcast...How green are electric cars? By Which...

https://play.acast.com/s/701b377b-a1e7- ... c9a2684f12

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Ben@Forest wrote: 7 Aug 2021, 8:25am I mentioned not trusting an EV to be able to cope with the mileage, terrain, lack of charging points where I work. I did 114 miles one day this week with 7,350 ft of ascent (or if you prefer 183 km with 2,240 m of ascent). I didn't need to put the air conditioning on but it's fair to say two weeks earlier I would have used it.

To the best of my knowledge en route there are charging locations at 10, 89 and 104 miles only (10 and 104 miles are the same location). There are no chargers 'just off the route', you'd need to drive at least six or seven miles round trip to the nearest. I don't know if these were all chargers which could be used on any EV but assuming they are I am interested if EV users here would feel confident about doing this trip without recourse to having to charge?
I drive an MG ZS, and given that 10 and 104 miles were the same location that's a circular route.
I'd confidently drive 114 miles on a charge. If I was feeling particularly conservative I might put 10-15 minutes of electrons in at the 89 mile mark.

The MG ZS isn't an expensive car, it's also as aerodynamic as a proverbial brick.
I did 120 miles two weeks ago - with the air con running in a fully loaded car at motorway speeds, and still had 40 left in the battery. (That's basically 4m/kWh in pretty adverse conditions).
Then when down in Cornwall I was achieving over significantly over 4m/kWh driving around Falmouth and environs and Marazion and environs. That's not exactly terrain that is free from hills, although the car wasn't as loaded, I was still mostly running the A/C.
A/C is a relatively *tiny* energy demand, and the benefit of having a warmer battery to start with outweighs its use.

So 114 miles with terrain, not an issue. I would expect that if the journey started off by going up, that at the half way mark it would look like the journey wasn't possible, but various of the descents on the way back would recover sufficient gravitational energy back into the battery that the journey would not only be possible, but easy.

When you say "to the best of my knowledge" there are only these chargers - can I suggest you have a look on ZapMap
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
Ben@Forest
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by Ben@Forest »

:oops: :cry:
[XAP]Bob wrote: 7 Aug 2021, 10:11amI drive an MG ZS, and given that 10 and 104 miles were the same location that's a circular route.
I'd confidently drive 114 miles on a charge. If I was feeling particularly conservative I might put 10-15 minutes of electrons in at the 89 mile mark.

The MG ZS isn't an expensive car, it's also as aerodynamic as a proverbial brick.
I did 120 miles two weeks ago - with the air con running in a fully loaded car at motorway speeds, and still had 40 left in the battery. (That's basically 4m/kWh in pretty adverse conditions).
Then when down in Cornwall I was achieving over significantly over 4m/kWh driving around Falmouth and environs and Marazion and environs. That's not exactly terrain that is free from hills, although the car wasn't as loaded, I was still mostly running the A/C.
A/C is a relatively *tiny* energy demand, and the benefit of having a warmer battery to start with outweighs its use.

So 114 miles with terrain, not an issue. I would expect that if the journey started off by going up, that at the half way mark it would look like the journey wasn't possible, but various of the descents on the way back would recover sufficient gravitational energy back into the battery that the journey would not only be possible, but easy.

When you say "to the best of my knowledge" there are only these chargers - can I suggest you have a look on ZapMap
It's a linear route for the first ten miles then l used a circular route. The whole thing could have been linear.

Furthermore normally l don't cross the
major road where the 10/104 mile charger location is, l use a junction further north - so l could drive that route passing no chargers at all.

I used Google to find the chargers, it may or may not be accurate but l do know that three garages l pass have no EV charging capacity - yet.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: EVs (electric cars)

Post by [XAP]Bob »

My point was that most journeys are circular - in that you always go home at some point, so the elevation doesn’t make much difference.

I’d have a look on ZapMap, rather than Google - pretty easy interface.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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