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Electric cars?

Would you buy an electric car?

  • Already own one

    Votes: 10 5.1%

  • Yes - would definitely buy

    Votes: 43 21.8%

  • Yes - preferred over petrol car if price/power/convenience similar

    Votes: 78 39.6%

  • Maybe - preference for neither, only concerned with costs etc

    Votes: 37 18.8%

  • No - prefer petrol car even if electric car has same price, power and convenience

    Votes: 25 12.7%

  • No - would never buy one

    Votes: 14 7.1%
  • Total voters
    197
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** The fuel tank is under the bonnet above the engine. **

the particular Austin had TWO tanks , one under the bonnet and one conventional one

there seemed to be an issue of the fuel pump on the conventional tank handling the task ALL the time

mind you that MIGHT have been because there was a larger ( worked ) Morris engine under the bonnet

( when you start messing with flywheels and clutches an engine transplant is a high probability too ) OH , and the gearbox was modified as well but i never got around to pulling that apart to see what the heck was done there

but sometimes basic is GOOD , less things to break , less to learn

but we MIGHT have had electrics for the last 50 years and no matter how crude they were then , we could have solved any problems earlier ( except the addiction to fancy bling in your mobile palace )

imagine an electric version of the Trabant. ( probably would have had to use lead-acid batteries , but some improvement in them would have been so bad )

most people don't drive 900 kilometres a day regularly , so for 50 years there has been an obvious niche for EVs , but no , people were sold urban tanks ( SUVs that never go off-road )

now once again they are trying to FORCE an all or nothing choice

and it didn't have to be this way
 
divs4ever said:
most people don't drive 900 kilometres a day regularly , so for 50 years there has been an obvious niche for EVs , but no , people were sold urban tanks ( SUVs that never go off-road )
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Another example is modern utes.

Some of them are so high off the ground that for anyone who isn't substantially taller than average, actually loading heavy things onto them is a pain in the proverbial. As an actual work vehicle they're not that great at all, especially not for anyone going to lots of sites and taking things on and off all day and who's average height or lower.

The "bigger is better" theory isn't always right when it comes to vehicles.
 
Smurf1976 said:
Another example is modern utes.

Some of them are so high off the ground that for anyone who isn't substantially taller than average, actually loading heavy things onto them is a pain in the proverbial. As an actual work vehicle they're not that great at all, especially not for anyone going to lots of sites and taking things on and off all day and who's average height or lower.

The "bigger is better" theory isn't always right when it comes to vehicles.
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actually electric utes ( as in work utes ) is an area i haven't thought of in respect to extra risks , you know crazy things , like penetrating the battery system , large solvent spills , or like using the ute as a mobile power supply , or portable winch .
 
divs4ever said:
using the ute as a mobile power supply
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I can definitely see situations where that would be useful.

Pretty much every council or utility company outdoor worksite will in practice be using petrol/diesel either to run a generator or to directly power equipment since, even though the power grid is nearby or even if the company doing the work literally owns it, it's all too hard making a temporary connection to it versus a petrol driven generator that just works and runs the tools or alternatively using air tools and a diesel driven air compressor.

Now, if the ute simply had standard 10 Amp power points on it, well that makes running mains powered tools really easy.
 
divs4ever said:
answer to No. 4 ... gravity tank ( i had an old Austin with one fitted )

luckily it never leaked onto the engine , but it had one to limit fuel starvation at times

those power costs are liable to increase as global carbon taxes increase you might not be smiling so broadly in 2030

A. to No. 5 that same Austin had a very small flywheel ( and heavy duty clutch ) , tyre traction and whiplash were more of a problem

unluckily that vehicle had no head-rests and a lightly padded dash , so 'rip-your -head-off acceleration ' was vaguely possible with the appropriate tyres
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What is a gravity tank? And how does it answer question 4?

question 4 is obviously referring to EV’s recharging when you go down hill or slow down, but how does a gravity tank achieve this?
 
but in that Hyundai promo ( advertorial ) the car is already set up for such adapters

now IF the power was to fail at a crucial moment ..... ( or maybe affect the vehicle electronics , which might not be noticed until driven )

but i guess time will tell
 
Value Collector said:
What is a gravity tank? And how does it answer question 4?

question 4 is obviously referring to EV’s recharging when you go down hill or slow down, but how does a gravity tank achieve this?
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the gravity tank supplies fuel despite sudden acceleration , or steep inclines ( or low fuel in the main tank )

however a question i could have asked is .. does that recharging putting extra strain on the motor OR train the driver do use the braking system less than they should ( relying on the electric motor/drive-train , more than the dedicated braking system )
 
divs4ever said:
the gravity tank supplies fuel despite sudden acceleration , or steep inclines ( or low fuel in the main tank )

however a question i could have asked is .. does that recharging putting extra strain on the motor OR train the driver do use the braking system less than they should ( relying on the electric motor/drive-train , more than the dedicated braking system )
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it’s doesn’t create any extra strain on the motor, but it does prevent wear on the brakes, and saves fuel.

I guess it does train the driver to use the normal brakes less, because you don’t need to use them as often, which is actually a good thing, you still use the brakes when ever you need to, you never forget how to use them, because you still have to use them you just use them about 10% of the time that you used to to.

The way it works is that when ever you take your foot off the accelerator, the car starts automatically slowing down a bit faster than a petrol car does, but if you need to stop quicker you use the brake, or if you are going down a hill it will basically maintain its speed (rather than continue speeding up) and the extra energy is put back in the battery.

it’s like the air brakes on a truck, except it’s silent, happening automatically wyou release the accelerator, and it recharges the battery.
 
This Electric Truck never needs to be charged because of regenerative braking.

Because it operates on a mountain, bringing a heavy load down the mountain, and driving back up empty it creates more energy on the way down than it uses to get back up, so it never needs to be charged.

 
Smurf1976 said:
I can definitely see situations where that would be useful.

Pretty much every council or utility company outdoor worksite will in practice be using petrol/diesel either to run a generator or to directly power equipment since, even though the power grid is nearby or even if the company doing the work literally owns it, it's all too hard making a temporary connection to it versus a petrol driven generator that just works and runs the tools or alternatively using air tools and a diesel driven air compressor.

Now, if the ute simply had standard 10 Amp power points on it, well that makes running mains powered tools really easy.
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The Tesla cyber truck will come with 240v power outlets in the back, great for using equipment, camping or charging Electric bikes/motor bikes.
 
Here is the high lights of Tesla’s AI day.

its shows how they are progressing with the “training” of their Autopilot system.

it also talks about the super computer they are building to conduct this training.

 
Value Collector said:
The Tesla cyber truck will come with 240v power outlets in the back, great for using equipment, camping or charging Electric bikes/motor bikes.
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Problem is, that 240 volt going through an inverter is going to use up some of the range.
Surely its time Milwaukee developed a an 18 volt DC- DC charger so there is no need to go through an inverter to charge up the tradies batteries.
Gunna have to cart around a huge solar array to recharge when you want to come home.
When we take our van away and usually not in caravan parks, I can keep the 220 amp hour batteries topped up for days on end with 600 watt solar panels, provided we only use the 12 volt Fridge, a few low power lights and the sound system. Provided the sun shines for a good part of the day and we are above the Tropic of Capricorn, and provided we don't use the TV or anything that needs the 1500 W inverter.
Mick
 
mullokintyre said:
Problem is, that 240 volt going through an inverter is going to use up some of the range.
Surely its time Milwaukee developed a an 18 volt DC- DC charger so there is no need to go through an inverter to charge up the tradies batteries.
Gunna have to cart around a huge solar array to recharge when you want to come home.
When we take our van away and usually not in caravan parks, I can keep the 220 amp hour batteries topped up for days on end with 600 watt solar panels, provided we only use the 12 volt Fridge, a few low power lights and the sound system. Provided the sun shines for a good part of the day and we are above the Tropic of Capricorn, and provided we don't use the TV or anything that needs the 1500 W inverter.
Mick
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No it’s a standard power socket, that you can plug anything into rather than using a generator, the Cyber truck has a huge 200 KWh battery with over 1000km of range and yes it does have an option for the rear tray cover to be a solar panel.

its battery is 15 times larger than Tesla’s power wall, which is designed to run your home over night.
 
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Value Collector said:
’s a standard power socket, that you can plug anything into rather than using a generator,
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I can see plenty of use for that in situations like outdoor works (councils, utilities) and so on.

Classic case is an electric jack hammer. There's some pretty decent ones around now, the old approach of a compressor and air tools isn't really needed anymore for a lot of tasks, but they use far more energy than a small power tool battery can supply. Close to 2kW and typically used for a considerable period, the normal method of supplying that being from a petrol driven generator. Being able to just plug it into the vehicle would be extremely convenient.

Running lights and so on is another potential use.

Also unrelated to construction but I can see potential use with food catering vans and so on. Typically there's gas cooking and a generator involved but if the van's being towed by a vehicle that can itself supply plenty of electricity well that's an alternative option.

Lots of possible uses like that. There's a lot of portable generators in existence and in practice the typical use scenario is it's sitting on the tray of a ute or it's placed on the ground next to the vehicle. Point being there's a vehicle nearby if it's being used for roadside works, on farm or similar.
 
Value Collector said:
No it’s a standard power socket, that you can plug anything into rather than using a generator, the Cyber truck has a huge 200 KWh battery with over 1000km of range and yes it does have an option for the rear tray cover to be a solar panel.

its battery is 15 times larger than Tesla’s power wall, which is designed to run your home over night.
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We must be at cross purposes here. I never actually mentioned a generator.
When you say its a standard power socket, I presume you are referring to a 240Volt 10 Amp Ac power socket like in the house. The internals of the Tesla are I believe 110 volt DC.
I understand they already have a DC-DC charger built in to run the non drivetrain systems such as lights, aircon, sound system, power seats, the power management system output screens etc etc.
So either you run an inverter to convert the internal DC to AC 50 HZ, and plug in AC appliances, such as chargers for battery appliances etc , or they adopt the idea I suggested that a new breed of DC-DC chargers are developed to produce a range of DC voltage current limited outputs such as the 18Volt DC output that a lot of the Lithium Ion battery powered tools use. Some devices use 4.8 Volts to charge, some use 12 , and there are probably others i am not even aware of. And of course there is no site at which tradies congregate that does not have at least one radio going.
Mick
 
mullokintyre said:
We must be at cross purposes here. I never actually mentioned a generator.
When you say its a standard power socket, I presume you are referring to a 240Volt 10 Amp Ac power socket like in the house. The internals of the Tesla are I believe 110 volt DC.
I understand they already have a DC-DC charger built in to run the non drivetrain systems such as lights, aircon, sound system, power seats, the power management system output screens etc etc.
So either you run an inverter to convert the internal DC to AC 50 HZ, and plug in AC appliances, such as chargers for battery appliances etc , or they adopt the idea I suggested that a new breed of DC-DC chargers are developed to produce a range of DC voltage current limited outputs such as the 18Volt DC output that a lot of the Lithium Ion battery powered tools use. Some devices use 4.8 Volts to charge, some use 12 , and there are probably others i am not even aware of. And of course there is no site at which tradies congregate that does not have at least one radio going.
Mick
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Elon has said that they will be standard power points, they have said the purpose is that you can run your equipment from the truck rather than run a generator.

110 Volt in the USA and 220-240 else where.
 
JOLT to install 5,000 EV charging stations across Australia.
www.smh.com.au

5000 free fast electric car chargers to be built around Australia

The world’s largest investment manager has bought into the Australia electric car charging network, signalling confidence that EVs are set to take off.
www.smh.com.au www.smh.com.au
From the article:
Drivers using JOLT chargers would receive 7 kWh – equivalent to about 45 kilometres of driving – for free, and be charged for power drawn after that. JOLT would also make money from advertising sold on its charging stations.
All the power it sells will be renewable and the installation of the charging points is expected to begin in Sydney in September. JOLT operates charging stations in Adelaide.

Charlie Reid, a managing director of BlackRock’s Global Renewable Power team, said for the world to reach net zero emissions by 2050, the last internal combustion car engine would need to be sold by 2035. He said this would happen globally and in Australia, whatever government policies were in place, as Australia imported its vehicles.
“With the world heading towards fully electric or hydrogen fleets, Australia will follow suit and will follow quickly,” he said.
“What we find in the Australian market is that people do want to purchase electric vehicles, but they don’t have the infrastructure in place in order to support their purchase. And that’s part of the rationale for our investment in JOLT.”
Mr Reid said the global electric car fleet would have to increase from about 12 million to more than 200 million by 2030.
“That creates a $7 trillion investment opportunity and a $1 trillion investment opportunity in infrastructure to support those vehicles,” he said.
 
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