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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 21.7%

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

    Votes: 78 39.4%

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

    Votes: 38 19.2%

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

    Votes: 25 12.6%

  • No - would never buy one

    Votes: 14 7.1%
  • Total voters
    198
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mullokintyre said:
This dovetails with what I was taught many years ago, but in relation to wet cell lead acid batteries. But according to these guys, it seems to apply to the current crop of lithium batteries.
Click to expand...
The only bit I'll disagree with in the quote you referenced is that it's counter intuitive.

To those familiar with either batteries or power grids, it's the expected outcome - slow charge is always the preferred option and the last thing we need is the equivalent of "download a movie in 30 seconds" type thinking or marketing of chargers in a manner comparable to 1980's audio equipment with big numbers prominently stuck on it.

For the vast majority of users there's no reason why an EV battery ought to charge quickly. Park the car, plug it in an leave it.

I guess that sounds a bit technically elitist but I couldn't think of any other way to put it really. It's not my intent to come across that way but it's the expected situation technically, it's no surprise at all. Fast charging isn't kind to batteries and drawing all the energy over a short period is also problematic on the upstream supply side. Everyone benefits from a slow charge while the car is parked.

Fast chargers have a place for public charging facilities but not in the average household driveway.
 
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It depends who wants to use the battery and when @Smurf1976 , a fast charge at excess times and a slow charge at high demand times(6-9), then a fast discharge at high demand times(6-9), works for some.
 
Basically all “home charging” is considered slow charging, and and as I have said before that’s what most people do.

Also, even if you do super charge all the time, it will degrade your battery faster, but not by a crazy amount (atleast in a trsla. The battery will still probably outlast the life of the vehicle.

If you are a professional driver or someone that drives so much they have to super charge every day, by the time you need to replace the battery you would have saved between $50k and $70k on fuel and maintenance costs, so it’s not a big deal.

Tesla’s do automatically begin slowing charge rates on batteries that have degraded.
 
Here is a Tesla model S that has done 720,000 Km (450,000 miles).

It’s operation was worst case scenario for a battery, It was supercharged multiple times per day, because it was used commercially transporting passengers on long distance trips between LA - Las Vegas - Palm Springs - San Diego, and the operators tried maximise range so allowed the car to go between 100% and 0% state of charge daily which is not good (batteries last longer if you keep them between 20% and 90%.

over its life it had its first battery replaced due to a fault, and the second battery replaced after it wore out.

total maintenance costs over the 720,000 miles were $27,000 US dollars, including the battery replacement.

 
That was great story on the 720k Tesla. Totally thrashed but still going great. In fact better than original with the software upgrades.

I think it's worth pointing out that Teslas build quality has significantly improved since 2015. Allegedly 2021 builds are even more reliable.
 
Versatile electric cargo van. 1.1 tonne payload . Change bodies and size in 15 mins. Charge off it's own roof or solar panels or power supply. Capable of powering a business or home (Bi directional transfer). Cost Mid 50K

Built in South Australia. First trials in November 2021

ACE-EV unveils X1 Transformer electric van that can power a home or business

ACE-EV plans to trial X1 Transformer, a proposed new electric van, with bidirectional charging by the end of 2021.
thedriven.io
 
A personal reminder of the ongoing cost savings of electric cars. Basically $3.5 -$4k a year on fuel, Rego and servicing

BYD is also launching a new platform for it's electric cars. promises 1000 klm range .

The staggering cost savings from driving an electric vehicle

I have owned my Model 3 for two years. I am saving huge amounts on registration, fuel costs and maintenance.
thedriven.io

BYD promises 1,000km range in new EV platform and "Ocean-X" concept

BYD launches new “e-platform 3.0” for electric vehicles and its Ocean-X mid-sized sedan, with the promise of a 1,000km range.
thedriven.io
 
And a reminder of the "hidden costs".
the new Mazda Electric Mazda 3 will struggle against its competitors.
My wife drives a Masda CX5 and absolutely loves it.
I am not so sure she would be enamoured with the new EV mazda offering.
The Mazda MX30 electric vehicle has a paltry 35.5 KWH battery pack which delivers 107 107KW and 271 NM of torque to punch it out.
Thats about the size of battery that I am putting in my glorified electric volkswagon.
The Kia Ev has 65 KWh of life and 455 km range.
At RRP of $65,490, the Mazda is not cheap.
The Hyundai Ionic has a range of 373 Kms, and its RRP is only $49,970.
But the Mazda's real competitor is the petrol powered Mazda 3 which has an RRP of $41k.
You could buy a lot of petrol for that $24,500 difference.
At 2 bucks a litre, and 10 litres per 100kms, its around 2545,000 kms of driving.
Mick
 
sptrawler said:
It depends who wants to use the battery and when @Smurf1976 , a fast charge at excess times and a slow charge at high demand times(6-9), then a fast discharge at high demand times(6-9), works for some.
Click to expand...
For some individuals sure.

At the overall level though there aren't many users who actually need to fast charge a car when it's parked at home, and the idea of using the battery to feed back into the grid at high demand times is a slow rate discharge not a fast one.

Distributors are thinking in terms of taking 5kW out of the car and in the context of a 50 - 100 kWh battery that's a slow rate discharge.
 
I was more thinking along the lines of, it works for the distributor, I wasn't thinking it would work so well for the consumer.

Quote: a fast charge at excess times and a slow charge at high demand times(6-9 PM), then a fast discharge at high demand times(6-9 AM), works for some.

My bolds added
 
There should be lower maintenance costs also on the EV.
 
Not purely an electric car issue, but an example of what is being developed along the AI and autonomous driving technology road.

https://www.drive.com.au/news/toyot...m.au&utm_content=article_1&utm_medium=partner
From the article:
Toyota USA has filed a patent for in-car camera technology designed to record traffic violations committed by other vehicles.

The exact types of traffic infringements are not mentioned, though it’s understood Toyota's system focuses on intersections with traffic lights, to catch drivers running a red light.
According to patent documents, the autonomous system can identify and capture a traffic violation on camera, capture identifying markings (such as the vehicle's registration plate), and then send the photo and data about the infringement to a server. It is not yet clear whether the images will be sent to law enforcement for further action.
 
would do well here: dob and dobber :-(
 
Hahaha, I hope our own cars don’t start snitching on us every time we fail to use the indicator.
 
Play nicely girls please.
 
Value Collector said:
Hahaha, I hope our own cars don’t start snitching on us every time we fail to use the indicator.
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Biden has mandated built-in breathe-testers ( i assume only for alcohol abuse )

so quite possible

what could have been a good idea ( EVs ) has become a nanny-state monitoring tool

watch the movie 'Demolition Man ' for a clue where we could be going
 
divs4ever said:
what could have been a good idea ( EVs ) has become a nanny-state monitoring tool
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"Nanny state" features can be part of any vehicle, having an electric drive chain rather than a petrol one doesn't make any difference.

Even if the electric drive chain was never invented, it is highly likely that the trend for cars to become smarter (hence able too have more digital bells and whistles) would still exist.
 
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