A couple of interesting articles

Apparently I posted before I meant to.... Electric will simply now work for me. I take my son to a hockey game in one town, drop him off and continue on with my daughter to her game then wait for the car to charge before we can leave and my son is stranded for how long? Remember in winter we will need LOTS of juice for heat and that will eat into the range significantly. Electric motors are cheap electronics fairly as well but the cost of an electric car is that battery and that's why conversions are not done. I think the X would be a great electric car but I don't see the reward being worth the cost. No more 4 hr drives, trips to the east coast.... I bought the X because of it's chassis not it's engine, or more specifically transmission. I like the handling, I have not driven another car like it but the engine sucks and the cost to "fix" that is astronomical, $10,000 for 100hp??????? Nope. How much for 120? but a reliable 120, like 10 years of nothing but oil changes reliable? 'Cuz a Honda swap will do that for maybe $2,000. 120 hp Honda engines fall out of garbage trucks all the time.
 
I lived my entire life on the SoCal coast until a few years ago when I moved to Las Vegas to take care of my mom. Now and then I need to go back to SoCal for business. I get a kick out of seeing the Teslas on a flatbed, after they ran out of charge before getting to Vegas. :D
 
I lived my entire life on the SoCal coast until a few years ago when I moved to Las Vegas to take care of my mom. Now and then I need to go back to SoCal for business. I get a kick out of seeing the Teslas on a flatbed, after they ran out of charge before getting to Vegas. :D

 
Saw another related EV article today:


It seems in other countries where fuel prices are MUCH higher than here there is a lot more interest in EV's. I wonder if they also have a better power grid to build it on? One thing I can predict with certainty is the rates for electricity here will skyrocket when more people start going to EV's. It is just the American way to screw everyone else for the sake of monetary profits.
 
Saw another related EV article today:


It seems in other countries where fuel prices are MUCH higher than here there is a lot more interest in EV's. I wonder if they also have a better power grid to build it on? One thing I can predict with certainty is the rates for electricity here will skyrocket when more people start going to EV's. It is just the American way to screw everyone else for the sake of monetary profits.
Eventually this will occur. Presently power generation is sized for peak demand. A lot of capacity sits idle much of the time. But eventually overnight charging will be a peak time.
 
I just don't see it. Mining rare earth materials is going to get harder and more costly to the environment. I'm really not convinced electric vehicles are any greener birth to boneyard than gas cars. Look at how far the gasoline engine has come in 20 years, they can run on the exhaust fumes of the old cars now. Pollution from gas cars is a small fraction of what it was (accepting that cars in general are not environmentally good). I think the biggest gains can come from the mining and processing end rather than after they leave the factory. Regardless there is not enough material to make batteries for all the cars necessary to make a dent in the world automobile population in my understanding.
 
More "vintage" EV chatter:
"People realise this EV thing is serious, it's not going away," says Mr Pauly, who runs a business converting EVs.
As he points out, replacing a petrol engine with an electric motor is just another form of hot-rodding; incorporating a newly released auto-technology into a classic car, as a custom modification.
There is truth to this, it is just another branch of hot rodding. With the right base car and vision, some incredible vehicles have been created. Plenty of others have been thoroughly bastardized by bad taste, bad execution, or both.

What I find intriguing is that the development of EVs will differ from internal combustion engines. The development won't be focused on the means of propulsion, because that has been developed substantially in stationary applications. The fuel storage for mobile applications is what engineers are developing. You can look no further than your phone for how much that has changed in a very short time in the battery world.
 
With the right base car and vision, some incredible vehicles have been created. Plenty of others have been thoroughly bastardized by bad taste, bad execution, or both.
Just like with all forms of hot rodding. ;)


The fuel storage for mobile applications is what engineers are developing.
So true. And that is what I believe to be the short coming for EV's. Unless a much better type of storage format is developed they just aren't practical as normal forms of regular transportation.

The interesting thing is there seems to be no real interest in developing such a battery, at least not for this application. The insiders that I've spoken with say they are already beyond EVs and are instead developing synthetic fuels (biofuel) for the future of transportation. So the EV is just a "phase" or trend that won't live long.
 
Elsewhere I discussed how this year's SEMA Show had a lot of EV related products and vehicles on display. Certainly more than I expected. Apparently it is a market that many companies want to jump on the bandwagon in the hopes of making a profit on it before it dies out.

Back to non-EV articles.....

Here is a nice video from Goodwood magazine showing their selection of the best "restomods" currently available. Some excellent examples, including a few Italian cars:


Most retain the classic styling very true to their origins. Some have incredible technology upgrades throughout (especially the Singer 911's). I like how they tend to keep drivetrains from the same "family" or marque, but much newer and higher performance. That's one problem with restomodding a X1/9; while the X certainly needs a better drivetrain, there really aren't any good options for a modern high performance Fiat drivetrain that can be fit into the car.


And on the other end of the spectrum, another Goodwood article on a car company that has made the worst concepts I think I've ever seen. Not only are they really ugly, but very poorly engineered and the dumbest ideas:

 
Two more articles; one relates to the discussions we've had about electrifying vintage cars, the other about the rising interest in vintage cars in general.

EV conversion of vintage cars:
Toward the later portion of the article is some interesting talk about keeping a vintage car original vs modernizing them.



Increased interest in vintage cars:
In this one McKeel Hagerty has a great quote about the future of the gasoline powered car....
  • "It's important to remember that Henry Ford and all his peers did not make the horse go extinct," Hagerty said. "We believe that cars will be around for a long time, hopefully on great roads, and people will still be able to drive them with their own two hands."
 
Battery energy density comparison
The "official" figure is that a gallon gallon equivalent of electricity is 33.7 kilowatt hours.

My 2013 Chevy Volt daily driver has a propulsion battery rated at 17.1 kWh, which usually provides me about 40 miles of range. Running on gasoline, I get about 40 mpg. So the car converts a gallon of gas into propulsion half as efficiently as it can with electricity (at point of use).

The trade off is that my battery weighs in around 400lb (full or empty) and it takes about 3.5 hours to fully recharge. As compared to 30-60 seconds to add the same amount of range via the gas tank.

The KIA EV6 can recharge from 10% battery capacity to 80% in 18 minutes on a fast CCS charger. That's basically going from 25 miles of range to 220 miles of range. Not optimal for a multi-day road trip, but for most daily driving use cases would be plenty.
 
My 2013 Chevy Volt daily driver has a propulsion battery rated at 17.1 kWh, which usually provides me about 40 miles of range. Running on gasoline, I get about 40 mpg. So the car converts a gallon of gas into propulsion half as efficiently as it can with electricity (at point of use).

The trade off is that my battery weighs in around 400lb (full or empty) and it takes about 3.5 hours to fully recharge. As compared to 30-60 seconds to add the same amount of range via the gas tank.
Reasonably sure that gas tank holds more than 1 gallon, too.
3.5 hour charge to drive less than 1 hour.
Forty miles might get me across the metro area here, but not all the way back, and won't get me the 90 miles to the ocean.
And 6+ hrs for that trip doesn't work, either. Going thru the national forest on the way there, there are no charging stations.
So no, electrics are not ready for prime time.
 
Reasonably sure that gas tank holds more than 1 gallon, too.
3.5 hour charge to drive less than 1 hour.
Forty miles might get me across the metro area here, but not all the way back, and won't get me the 90 miles to the ocean.
And 6+ hrs for that trip doesn't work, either. Going thru the national forest on the way there, there are no charging stations.
So no, electrics are not ready for prime time.
If your criteria for "ready for prime time" is long road trips then I would agree. Between storage capacity, recharge speed, and charging infrastructure there are a lot of point trips that would be difficult to do in a full EV.

100 years ago, those trips would have been equally challenging in an ICE vehicle for the same lack of maturity of tech and refueling infrastructure.

The Volt comparison was purely to illustrate the relative efficiency of ICE and EV. The first generation Volt launched 10 years ago and was state of the art for EVs at the time, but is really dated now.

You can now pick from several EVs with 275+ miles of range, and most of those can substantially recharge in less than 30 minutes at a DC fast charger.
 
The "official" figure is that a gallon gallon equivalent of electricity is 33.7 kilowatt hours.

My 2013 Chevy Volt daily driver has a propulsion battery rated at 17.1 kWh, which usually provides me about 40 miles of range. Running on gasoline, I get about 40 mpg. So the car converts a gallon of gas into propulsion half as efficiently as it can with electricity (at point of use).

The trade off is that my battery weighs in around 400lb (full or empty) and it takes about 3.5 hours to fully recharge. As compared to 30-60 seconds to add the same amount of range via the gas tank.

The KIA EV6 can recharge from 10% battery capacity to 80% in 18 minutes on a fast CCS charger. That's basically going from 25 miles of range to 220 miles of range. Not optimal for a multi-day road trip, but for most daily driving use cases would be plenty.
Since you've studied EV charging and I haven't, the I'm curious what the actual cost is to fully charge the battery? I'm talking about the utility company rate for that amount of electrical consumption at your home when you fully recharge the car.
 
You can now pick from several EVs with 275+ miles of range, and most of those can substantially recharge in less than 30 minutes at a DC fast charger
Yes, if you want to pony up for a new car; for some of us, that is not an option.
DC fast chargers are not an at-home installation, and there are none within several miles of home.
Without a garage, any charger can be a problem, in a place where it rains regularly (unlike California).
And, I haven't seen any mileage comparison done in freezing weather, where electric vehicles would be at a distinct disadvantage.
 
Since you've studied EV charging and I haven't, the I'm curious what the actual cost is to fully charge the battery? I'm talking about the utility company rate for that amount of electrical consumption at your home when you fully recharge the car.
The (higher) summer residential rate here in Kansas City is $0.13511/kWh. I have a 30A, 240V charger, but my Volt can only charge at 3.3kWh, which works out to about 16A. It could be up to $2.03 for a full charge. In the off peak season, the rate is as low as $0.08/kWh, or $1.20 for a full charge.

On a 60kWh car (Leaf, Bolt, base Tesla Model 3) a full charge would cost $4.80 - $8.10 and could take you 220-260 miles. Worst case would be about $0.037 pretty mile for "fuel". Regular is $3.05 at the station down the street, and in a 40mpg car you're looking at $0.076 per mile for gas.

Your local rate and utility incentives may change the cost dramatically.
Yes, if you want to pony up for a new car; for some of us, that is not an option.
DC fast chargers are not an at-home installation, and there are none within several miles of home.
Without a garage, any charger can be a problem, in a place where it rains regularly (unlike California).
And, I haven't seen any mileage comparison done in freezing weather, where electric vehicles would be at a distinct disadvantage.
I'm not one to buy a new car either, my Volt was a 2 year old lease return when I needed a new to me daily driver. When it's time to find a different daily driver a used car will be what I go for next time as well.

When I bought the Volt I was driving 60 miles round trip per day when I went to the nearby office, and 140 if to the far site. I have access to chargers at home and work. My short commutes were 100% electric, and 2/3 electric on the long trips.

I can see a drop from 40 EV miles down to about 32 miles on the coldest winter days, but preheating/remote starting while plugged in helps keep the range up.

As far as chargers go, you're right that DC fast chargers are non-residential. Very few people have 480V 3 phase service. My local utility worked with ChargePoint to roll out 2,000 chargers (2-6 power site) a few years back. Electrify America, EVGO, Tesla, Greenlots (aka Shell gas stations) and others are rolling out charging stations across the country. The company I work for supplies compact outdoor power distribution systems to all the companies above. If you don't have one nearby yet, you likely will in the next 1-4 years.

A 30A (7.2kWh) J1772 SAE charger is pretty normal, and could recharge many EV models from empty to full overnight. J1772 and the combined DC version have ground fault protection and are designed for safe outdoor use, even in wet weather. Controlled access solutions exist to keep random people from using your power for their car.
 
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