Electric car thread

[facthunter]

SOL is also the sun. Car motors back in the 50's did pretty short miles before needing an engine rebuild and you were always doing "something" to the car.  Nev

[onetrack]

The fossil fuel Farm Boy is going to get a shock soon. "Twiggy" Forrest has just purchased 360 huge battery-powered dump trucks, 55 battery-powered giant excavators and 60 new battery electric bulldozers from Liebherr, with the intention of being fossil-fuel free on his iron ore mines by 2030.

 

That's really putting your money where your mouth is. Farm Boy is going to end up whingeing (they're good at that) about how he can't compete with his fossil-fuel tractors, when farmers with battery-powered tractors are running rings around him with lower operating costs.

 

https://reneweconomy.com.au/fortescue-strikes-4-billion-deal-for-electric-trucks-and-dozers-to-eliminate-fossil-fuels-at-giant-mines/

[Jerry_Atrick]

 

[spacesailor]

Not true.

I drive my " tiptronic " automatic Pajero like a manual ! .

Why ?, short occasional runs leaves the battery a little less charged 

each time , changing to lower-gear gives a little more charge .

so smarty uses the gears to slow-down , to navigate roundabouts . & 

Roll to the stop-light , without using those nice new brake ' shoes ' & 

Disk-pads I replaced this year .

spacesailor

[facthunter]

 Alternators should charge at low revs. That's why they are superior to DC Generators with commutators.  Nev

[spacesailor]

They do. But at higher revs you get heaps more amps .

I haven't had a long drive for along time .

It means. More oil changes  ,  because the oil ' on the dipstick ' is getting more each month .

Not less,  ( water adding to the sump reach shopping trip ) .

spacesailor

 

[facthunter]

At higher revs the output is still regulated and will not be altered by higher revs unless it's a permanent magnet thing which would be very unusual on such vehicles. 1500 engine revs would get you as much as higher revs will. The rotor is an ELECTRO   Magnet and varies when the current to it  does. Nev

[spacesailor]

 BUt at 3,000 revs it won't get the high 'amps' . Or the 12 minutes trip doesn't charge much either. 

I'm not rural,  but relegated to that mandatory  50 k maximum speed .

PLUS those five red traffic-light's .

Oh , I do miss that ' open road " to anywhere. 

spacesailor

 

PS. :  Karumba is calling 

Edited June 7 by spacesailor
PS added

[facthunter]

Your Alternator should charge at idle speed. Are you running with your Lights on and does your dash include a Voltmeter?. Most of my vehicles never see 3,000 RPM.  How quickly does the engine start?   Nev

[spacesailor]

I must check those ' revs ' , as they were only a guesstimate .

But the car will stay " all alone " ,  locked up , in the garage , the battery looses a little bit daily by it's ' alarm system ' and all the electrical gadgets.  

It's one reason to go ' electric ' .no warming up , & getting a sump half-full of water .

I didn't think that I had ' overfilled ' the sump after the last oilchange !, 

But the oil level is above the full mark now .

spacesailor

[octave]

 

 

32 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

getting a sump half-full of water .

 

 

 

I would suggest that water in the sump indicates a serious problem, such as a blown head gasket or cracked engine block.

 

[facthunter]

A gallon of petrol Makes more than a gallon of water. I've seen evidence of water in  Aircooled Aero engine Oil. (Cloudy). Nev

[facthunter]

Write the chemical equation and do the atomic weights if you don't believe me. Nev

[octave]

34 minutes ago, facthunter said:

Write the chemical equation and do the atomic weights if you don't believe me. Nev

 

I don't doubt that, you can see moisture from exhaust pipes on cold mornings, and even feel it if you put your hand near the exhaust. Water in the oil, however, is not normal and is usually a sign of serious problems.  

[spacesailor]

All IC motors  create h2o ! .

When cold the piston will not have expanded to seal the bore .

That's the big problem of short trips . Then that steam vapour condenses onto the still cold metal

And also onto the cold oil . Then that condensate sinks to the bottom & stays out of the heat  .

Awaiting the return trip to add a little  more. 

my oil is nice & clear , so  no worries .

spacesailor

 

PS. :  A smaller motor , than my 4lt V6 ,

Would help to warm-up as less cold metal ' mass. ' to heat .

Edited June 8 by spacesailor
PS added

[Marty_d]

Sounds like you need an EV Spacey. 

No sump, rings, pistons, cylinders, oil or petrol to worry about.

[spacesailor]

Or, an " air-cooled " two-stroke. 

I once parked behinda VW beatle  ( air-cooled )at a ' ski resort ' and was roundly told-off, " your block will freeze & crack at this hight,  with it's very low temperatures " .

So I had to drive a mile back down the mountain to the ( common man's ) carport .

No problems with ' water in the sump ' or ' Freeze cracked block ' .

spacesailor

 

[old man emu]

A little diversions.

 

I was at Bunnings the other day and saw a Ryobi ride-on battery powered lawn mower. It was a big one that would suit commercial use. The price tag was big, too ... $9990.

[kgwilson]

I just watched a short clip on battery powered trucks getting the battery swapped. This is in Auckland NZ. The swap took less than 4 & a half minutes, quicker than putting diesel in the tank & the battery is recharged in 2 hours. The battery weighs 2.8 tonnes.

 

[nomadpete]

On 09/06/2025 at 9:43 PM, old man emu said:

A little diversions.

 

I was at Bunnings the other day and saw a Ryobi ride-on battery powered lawn mower. It was a big one that would suit commercial use. The price tag was big, too ... $9990.

OME, you will find that petrol powered ride-on mowers of similar size are not much cheaper than that Electric one.

Having spoken with a couple of E-mower owners, they think it's the best thing since sliced bread.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Was it this one? https://www.bunnings.com.au/ryobi-80v-hp-42-zt-ride-on-mower-bonus-battery-cover-kit_p0711793

 

Has one review which is average at best, but nothing to do with the electric motor. I would be a bit sceptical of Ryobi. When I was younger, they were a good mid-brand whe their stuff was made in Japan. But they seem to have moved some production to China and my experience of their Chinese made stuff - may as well get it from Temu. A cheaper one is here: https://www.bunnings.com.au/ryobi-48v-42-zt-ride-on-mower-bonus-line-trimmer-cover-kit_p0711795, with a lower rated battery, so would gues more time between charging. 

 

These are 42" cutting discs, which is 6" bigger than the cutting disc on my mower:

 

This is a petrol one that is the closest to mone, although I notice none in bunnings seem to have grass catrchers: https://www.bunnings.com.au/victa-vsx-15-5-38-petrol-ride-on-mower_p0609383. 

 

At $4,519, against $9,999 that $5,500-ish saving buys both a lot of petrol and mainteance. And looking at the Victa - they look like they are re-badged modern Mountfields. 

 

I haven't used an electric ride on mower, so can't compare. But I noticed most petrol onces have smaller cutting diameters than the electic ones. Not sure why. 

 

My one gets a hell of a work out for various reasons - uneven ground - sometimes during the warmer months I don't get a cut for a couple of seeks and the place is like a mini moorland with grass a couple of feet high. We have some steep inclines, and the like as well...  And, yeah,.. I have bogged it a couple of times. I absolutely love the little thing though compared to the last one I had, which was thrown in as a part fo the purchase of the last property. But, blow me away, they are noisy, and I don't much like having to have fuel in containers around. Something irks me about it. And of course, when the fuel containers run out, we have to drive to the servo to get refils. But the tank is 5l and it lasts a very long tiome.. Probably 5 hours, which gives me a lot of grass cutting for my money. 

 

Also, they are bloody noisy, and vibrations are a bit like the Warriors I used to fly..  And they do have to be maintained.. An annual service that includes sharpening the blades and changing the belts as well as the usual stuff is not cheap - £350 - but that does include a pick up and drop off fee. These are the things that I think an electric ride-on would be great. Also, if you are worried about batteries in the ride on, I have had to replace the motorcycle battery in it 3 times in 5 years, and there is an 

 

Don't ge me wring.. I love my little mower. Had it for 5 years from new and a starter solenoid (£15) was the onl thing to go wrong with it. But, just today, the alternator warning light came on whenever I engaged the cutter. 

 

[Marty_d]

Maintained?

Our ride on was inherited from my father in-law when he popped his clogs about 10 years ago.

I use it about 3 times a year during summer. Fill the tank every 2 years. Still starts first time.  Never even looked at the blades, except to remove a length of aluminum bar that someone had left in the paddock and that the mower turned into a pretzel.

[nomadpete]

But Marty, you don't have much lawn to speak of. You need a rocky mountain mower to trim your rocky mountain.

 

The LAWN mower I'm thinking of is this...

https://www.ryobi.com.au/products/lawn-tractors/48v-38-75ah-brushless-ride-lawn-mower

 

RRP $3999

[nomadpete]

Agreed, the old reliable brands have all gone down in quality. 

The new petrol 'lawn tractors' (as the yanks call em), are pretty flimsy. If you use them much, they don't last long at all. 

And if you look closely at commercial grade mowers, you will find they are worth the price in the long run. Generally they cost at least twice the price of the hardware store specials.

Edited Thursday at 12:14 AM by nomadpete

[kgwilson]

If i was in the market for a ride on it would be battery powered without a doubt. I have owned several ride on's over the years & it is the noise, fuel and vibration that are the biggest issues with engine maintenance next. All these are gone with a battery electric mower.