Electric cars?

[divs4ever]

Australia is more likely to throw out the baby whilst off-loading the bathtub at the dump

we are already well aware that they cannot plan ahead effectively ( roads , NBN/phone systems , rail transport even their own government web-sites etc etc ) why should we expect that they do an adequate job this time ( in energy planning )

of course some 'conspiracy theorists ' might suggest this is all on script to make it easier to replace governments with a global central control organization to make things run smoother ( despite plenty of evidence that more administrative layers hamstring productivity )

 

[Sean K]

I agree the world needs to change to renewable energy, but I believe EV's could create a shortage of electricity in Australia. Why, they need to be charged, when will most people want to charge their EV's? When they are not using them, at night, at their home when solar not available. This will require either base load or stored energy:

Maybe we'll be able to go to the car park of HMAS Stirling or Kuttabul and hook up to a nuclear sub for a charge?

 

[Wedgy]

Maybe we'll be able to go to the car park of HMAS Stirling or Kuttabul and hook up to a nuclear sub for a charge?

Being an ex-submariner, on O-boats the worlds best diesel submarine at its time, your comment is quite appropriate. Maybe that is the governments plan, nuclear power by stealth.

 

[Sean K]

Being an ex-submariner, on O-boats the worlds best diesel submarine at its time, your comment is quite appropriate. Maybe that is the governments plan, nuclear power by stealth.

I thought about changing to Navy for a moment. I liked the idea of wearing overalls to work and having dolphins on my uniform.

 

[over9k]

No.

 

[wayneL]

Yes, but it won't be the fault of EVs. It will be because of the cluster***k of green policy making.

Electricity supply is already very bloody dodgy in the area that I live... It doesn't take much of an extra load to shut the whole system down.

One of my clients owns a pie shop and has had to invest in a very large backup generator to keep her business going through repeated and random shutdowns.... And that's going on already, nevermind EVs.

 

[Smurf1976]

Short answer is it depends how it’s done.

As a concept it’s much the same as one that most would be familiar with, that being road traffic itself.

Add more load at a time of low demand and it’s inconsequential.

Add more load to the peak and here comes a collapse.

With EV’s it’s dead easy to charge most of them off-peak but suffice to say I have concerns as to that bit not being what happens in practice. It could well go wrong with the implementation despite being easy as such.

Reason being most consumers are on flat rate tariffs - there’s zero incentive to avoid charging at the peak beyond “do the right thing”.

The solution to that, forcing Time Of Use pricing or some other means, may well bring down a government or two to get it done, the politics are painful to say the least.

It’s one of those things that’s dead easy from a purely scientific / technical / engineering perspective but becomes far more complicated when social, political etc issues need to be considered.

Much like a lot of problems really - they’re easy to solve from a technical perspective but other factors are in the way.

 

[over9k]

This was already gone over in the EV thread. Probably worth a merge @Joe Blow

 

[Joules MM1]

 

[mullokintyre]

Evolution Australia has release a video of another rather odd conversion to an EV.
In this case its an MGB which will be exported to the US so the owner can tour the US in it.
Not sure an electric MGB would be high on my list of potential USA touring vehicles, but each to his own.
Bloke must have more money than sense.


Mick

 

[qldfrog]

Evolution Australia has release a video of another rather odd conversion to an EV.
In this case its an MGB which will be exported to the US so the owner can tour the US in it.
Not sure an electric MGB would be high on my list of potential USA touring vehicles, but each to his own.
Bloke must have more money than sense.


Mick

Mick,
I once owned a 1966 MGB, spoke wheel luggage carrier, what a look..but
...made in the UK..should I say more..anyway, when kid came, this silliness was quick over
But i would say that a proper EV in an mgb, redoing brake and steering, and could be quite nice..ohhh and add a folding manual or automatic rooftop....not a tent

 

[sptrawler]

Evolution Australia has release a video of another rather odd conversion to an EV.
In this case its an MGB which will be exported to the US so the owner can tour the US in it.
Not sure an electric MGB would be high on my list of potential USA touring vehicles, but each to his own.
Bloke must have more money than sense.


Mick

When I was a young bloke, I rebuilt my older brothers MGB' motor and gearbox, even as a starry eyed youngster, I recognised they were a POS. ?

 

[mullokintyre]

When I was a young bloke, I rebuilt my older brothers MGB' motor and gearbox, even as a starry eyed youngster, I recognised they were a POS. ?

Too true. My father was a panel beater, and he hated MG's because one fell off the blocks of wood he had perched one on when he was an apprentice. We kids always thought that it affected his brain as the rear end of it landed on his head.
I remember him telling one of my friends who bought an MG Midget around for him to have a look at.
His exact words were
"Son, there are three things in this world that you need to treat with the complete suspicion.
1. Teetotallers.
2. Vegetarians.
3. Any vehicle that was built with Lucas Electrics."

I rest my case.
Mick

 

[mullokintyre]

I know this will probably upset the one who Collects Value, but a Tesla truck was built long before the Cyber truck was unveiled.
The following video shows its build stages.
And it was done by a girl.


Not sure if Elon would approve, but there it is.
Mick

 

[Smurf1976]

made in the UK..should I say more..

A UK car being converted to electric.

Hmm.....

Please someone assure me that the word "LUCAS" will not be found on any of the parts used for this conversion, and preferably not on anything else in the car either.

 

[Smurf1976]

3. Any vehicle that was built with Lucas Electrics."

Ah, I see it's already been mentioned.....

Yes, the Prince Of Darkness.

 

[Value Collector]

I know this will probably upset the one who Collects Value, but a Tesla truck was built long before the Cyber truck was unveiled.
The following video shows its build stages.
And it was done by a girl.

Not sure if Elon would approve, but there it is.
Mick

As I Tesla shareholder, I approve. Not sure why you think that would upset me , a sale is a sale.

 

[sptrawler]

Australia to produce an electric motor bike.
https://www.drive.com.au/news/austr...m.au&utm_content=article_3&utm_medium=partner
From the article:
New automotive start-up brand Savic Motorcycles is set to become Australia's first high-performance and zero-emissions electric motorcycle manufacturer.
The Victorian-based brand – founded by ex-Ford Australia optimisation engineer Dennis Savic – has announced it's raised $AU1.14 million worth of funding, green-lighting production.
More than half of the co-investment has come from the federal government’s Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre – a taxpayer-funded acceleration and investment tank for Australian businesses.
Savic Motorcycles claims it will introduce three versions of its 'C-Series' electric motorcycle by late 2022, with the entry-level variant expected to start from $12,990.
Called Savic 'C-Series Omega', the cheapest motorcycle in the range is planned to feature a 25kW electric motor, with the brand claiming performance akin to a 300cc petrol-powered equivalent.
Savic also mentions that it will introduce a 40kW 'C-Series Delta' and 60kW/200Nm 'C-Series Alpha' model at the same time, with list pricing expected to start from $16,990 and $23,990 respectively (before on-road costs).

 

[mullokintyre]

Bloombergs have been one of many orgs pushing for the introduction of EV's. However, they have brought up an issue that they claim will put a dampener on EV'. the enormous US road toll.
FromBloombergs

Electric vehicles recently received a massive boost in the U.S., with a promotional spin by President Joe Biden on the White House lawn, and a non-binding federal mandate to make half the vehicles sold in the U.S. electric by 2030.

A number of car companies have piled on with their own electrification goals, and are committing to make even some of their most carbon-intensive vehicles electric.
The development of vehicles like the 9,000-pound GMC Hummer EV and 6,500-pound Ford F-150 Lightning are seen by some as a win for fighting climate change, with the potential to convert the large population of truck-loving Americans.

The problem is, while these trucks are reducing the ecological destruction of motor vehicles, they are exacerbating another public health crisis: traffic violence. The auto industry is greening itself by building vehicles that will make our streets run red.

Globally, traffic crashes kill 1.35 million people a year — including almost 40,000 in the U.S. annually, where the traffic death rate has historically been the highest among high-income countries. They are the leading cause of death for children and young people around the world. In the U.S., Black and Indigenous people are especially likely to be killed in traffic crashes, as are older adults and bicyclists. Between 2015 and 2030, fatal and non-fatal crashes will cost the world economy an estimated $1.8 trillion.
In the U.S., enormous vehicles are largely to blame for increasing death counts.

Over the decades, as almost every other technology has gotten smaller, from laptops to cell phones, cars keep getting bigger and more dangerous. Now, SUVs and light trucks are so large that they spur comparisons to World War II tanks and complaints that they’ve outgrown garages. As they have expanded in size, they’ve also become heavier. Between 2000 and 2019, the average weight of vehicles involved in a fatal crash increased by 11%. One new GMC Hummer EV, for example, exceeds the Brooklyn Bridge’s 3-ton weight limit by 50%. Larger and heavier vehicles tend to have longer stopping distances, and hit with greater impact on collision.

These enormous personal transportation devices loom over our streets, requiring steps for drivers to climb up to their seats. Their increasingly flat fronts and tall hoods create front blind zones two to three times larger than a sedan’s; one experiment sat 18 children in front of an SUV, and all were fully hidden from the driver by the massive hood. This exacerbates the risk of “frontover collisions,” in which a vehicle moving forward slowly hits a person the driver can’t see. Most frontover collision victims are between one and two-years-old, and the vast majority of frontover fatalities since the 1990s have involved an SUV, van or light truck. A recent study in the Economics of Transportation estimates that if between 2000 and 2019 all light trucks were replaced with cars, more than 8,000 pedestrians would still be alive today.

The problem with this analysis is that the issue will be the same regardless of whether trucks are powered by electricity or Internal combustion engines. The trucks have been getting bigger before the electrification came along.
Having to tow ever larger loads (including the ever increasing obesity of the occupants) with all the ancillaries of electric braking, sway control, plus the sheer increase in trailer size is the issue rather than electrification.
When travelling in the US, I was always amazed at seeing a fifth wheeler trailer towing loads of 10 to fifteen thousand pounds.
Towing lore says you never tow something weighing more than your tow rig, so you need an F350 or F450 to tow these behemoths.
For all the increase in weight of batteries, electric motor(s) battery management system and motor control, you decrease the weight of engine, transmission, transfer case, exhaust, drive shafts, differential, the weight of fuel and fuel tanks and pumps, pressure regulators , DPF, catalytic converter etc etc.
Mick

 

[Smurf1976]

The trucks have been getting bigger before the electrification came along.

Road safety is one of the relatively few things where I'm actually in favour of government intervention in markets.

The roads have ended up an "arms race" of ever larger vehicles to the point that even someone with zero need for anything other than passenger transport feels the need to drive a monster truck just for their own safety.

I doubt my comments will be popular but it's one of the few areas where government intervention is warranted in my view. Otherwise, well we're going to end up with everyone driving an actual truck just to go to the shops.