My first drive of an EV
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What better way to make sure that nobody wants an EV, than to let them drive one?
Seriously, many of the greenies that sought out and bought an EV, aren't buying another one when buying their next new car. Almost 30%, IIRC. They're buying hybrids or pure IC.
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IT definitely seems like the product is ahead of the infrastructure. Call me in a few years. (Though actually, with the type of driving I do, an electric car would probably not be an issue)
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The product is not ahead of its infrastructure, it's a product that is being misused. EV's were not uncommon in NYC in the early 1900's. What made sense then, still makes sense today...In limited applications, they work fine, although whether they are economically feasible is debatable.
For much of the driving that many Americans do, they're not feasible. Economically or practical. And may never be.
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The product is not ahead of its infrastructure, it's a product that is being misused. EV's were not uncommon in NYC in the early 1900's. What made sense then, still makes sense today...In limited applications, they work fine, although whether they are economically feasible is debatable.
For much of the driving that many Americans do, they're not feasible. Economically or practical. And may never be.
@Jolly said in My first drive of an EV:
.In limited applications, they work fine, although whether they are economically feasible is debatable.
For much of the driving that many Americans do, they're not feasible. Economically or practical. And may never be.
I agree with your first two sentences. The last sentence, I do not agree with that.
I predict in 20 years, there will be battery technology for cars that will allow 800-1000 miles per charge, and the recharge rate will be no more than 10 minutes.
(I guess that only addresses the practical part of your statement. LOL Economically, I am not 100% sure, but my "crystal ball" tells me that it will be economical as worldwide economy of scale (and technical improvement) for these vehicles continues.
I think of big screen TV's and computers and how they have improved so much while dropping in price (vs. Inflation))
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IT definitely seems like the product is ahead of the infrastructure. Call me in a few years. (Though actually, with the type of driving I do, an electric car would probably not be an issue)
@taiwan_girl said in My first drive of an EV:
IT definitely seems like the product is ahead of the infrastructure. Call me in a few years. (Though actually, with the type of driving I do, an electric car would probably not be an issue)
We did some shopping a Meijer this morning. They are installing a 10-unit Tesla station. But I still don't want to take half an hour to charge my car.
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Jon, your #2 bothers me just a bit. I rely on the brake lights of the car in front of me for obvious reasons. If the brake lights don't come on, I may plow into you if I'm slightly distracted or something like dark rainy night driving. Personally, I always consider turning on my brake lights with a gentle push of the pedal just so the person behind me knows I'm slowing down. That's why I hate tailgaters, I always figure they're not that good in reacting to driving circumstances as they think they are.
@Rainman said in My first drive of an EV:
Jon, your #2 bothers me just a bit. I rely on the brake lights of the car in front of me for obvious reasons. If the brake lights don't come on, I may plow into you if I'm slightly distracted or something like dark rainy night driving. Personally, I always consider turning on my brake lights with a gentle push of the pedal just so the person behind me knows I'm slowing down. That's why I hate tailgaters, I always figure they're not that good in reacting to driving circumstances as they think they are.
Apparently this has been an issue with some brands.
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@Rainman said in My first drive of an EV:
Jon, your #2 bothers me just a bit. I rely on the brake lights of the car in front of me for obvious reasons. If the brake lights don't come on, I may plow into you if I'm slightly distracted or something like dark rainy night driving. Personally, I always consider turning on my brake lights with a gentle push of the pedal just so the person behind me knows I'm slowing down. That's why I hate tailgaters, I always figure they're not that good in reacting to driving circumstances as they think they are.
Apparently this has been an issue with some brands.
@jon-nyc that's interesting.
I love the adaptive cruise control in my car. I use it all the time, even in heavy traffic. I wonder how the brake lights function with it enabled.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@jon-nyc that's interesting.
I love the adaptive cruise control in my car. I use it all the time, even in heavy traffic. I wonder how the brake lights function with it enabled.
@George-K said in My first drive of an EV:
@jon-nyc that's interesting.
I love the adaptive cruise control in my car. I use it all the time, even in heavy traffic. I wonder how the brake lights function with it enabled.
I'm pretty sure the brake lights come on with mine - at least, the break light indicator showed. I don't use it because I hate having somebody else brake for me.
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@jon-nyc that's interesting.
I love the adaptive cruise control in my car. I use it all the time, even in heavy traffic. I wonder how the brake lights function with it enabled.
@George-K said in My first drive of an EV:
I wonder how the brake lights function with it enabled.
Asked a friend who is kind of knowledgeable about this, and he said,
"Federal motor vehicle safety standards require the brake lamps to illuminate whenever the service brakes are applied whether they're being applied by the driver or by the vehicle."
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Fun to drive, tons of bells and whistles. Exhilarating performance. Interesting not to have to hit the brakes to stop. You really have to adjust your expectations to the way the car’s features work. The autopilot put me in Tesla jail because I didn’t comply with its demands. It’s different.
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I don’t like that all the co trolls and display cause you to take your eyes off directly ahead. That part is very different.
@Mik said in My first drive of an EV:
I don’t like that all the co trolls and display cause you to take your eyes off directly ahead. That part is very different.
One of the things I absolutely love about my 2017 (!) Audi is the Head-up display.
There are very few things that require your (almost) constant attention. Two of them are the speed limit and your speed. If you want to use the Audi SatNav, that'll be displayed as well. I don't, I use CarPlay.
I imagine all the other crap in a Tesla (particularly the Model 3) with only that huge display, awkwardly placed, is a terrible distraction. How many menus do you have to go thru to change the ambient temp, a radio station....
Gimme knobs, you ... knobheads.
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A Cambridge-based EV manufacturer, though, says it has developed a battery that charges in less than five minutes, roughly twice as long as it takes to fill up a gas-fueled vehicle.
Nyobolt says it has developed a 35kWh lithium-ion battery that charges from 10% to 80% in just over four and a half minutes. Additionally, it says, the battery does not show the degradation of lithium-ion batteries.
The battery, the company says, citing independent OEM testing (though the company did not name who ran that testing), can achieve over 4,000 fast charge cycles, which spans roughly 600,000 miles, maintaining over 80% battery capacity retention.
and
Nyobolt’s battery depends on the chemical niobium, which is not heavily mined at present compared to the production levels of the materials used in the production of lithium-ion batteries.
Nyobolt is just one of many companies working to improve EV batteries. A company called 24M, last month, showcased a battery that is designed to have a range of up to 1,000 miles on a single charge. That battery uses lithium metal rather than lithium ion, which 24M, an MIT spinout, says gives it more energy density.
