Electric car thread

[facthunter]

I've actually done competitive Rally driving in an OLDER VW owned by my Boss at the time. I think it broke about 4 crankshafts and eventually broke the chassis where the Motor is bolted on. It was NEVER rolled though which is quite remarkable as the Mass at the rear makes then GO from wild oversteer to rolling on the inside of the curve in a flash.. There was a saying at Newcastle Teacher's College at the time. "BUY a VW and ROLL your OWN".. They DO float in water. Nev

[Marty_d]

2 hours ago, facthunter said:

I've actually done competitive Rally driving in an OLDER VW owned by my Boss at the time. I think it broke about 4 crankshafts and eventually broke the chassis where the Motor is bolted on. It was NEVER rolled though which is quite remarkable as the Mass at the rear makes then GO from wild oversteer to rolling on the inside of the curve in a flash.. There was a saying at Newcastle Teacher's College at the time. "BUY a VW and ROLL your OWN".. They DO float in water. Nev

Well that makes up for it then.

[onetrack]

It must have been some wild ride inside that "Sea-Bug", in that heavy sea!! (watch the 2nd YouTube clip). I'll wager they went through a few sick bags!!

 

https://www.jalopnik.com/i-finally-found-what-the-ocean-going-vw-beetle-that-ins-1846145700/

 

Edited January 6 by onetrack

[red750]

We talk about the Chinese car industry, but this story from BBC News may surprise you.

 

In a giant factory surrounded by mountains covered in snow, a lift lowers the steel bodies of cars onto the start of an assembly line.

 

They've just been welded together by robots - there are 690 working in this factory.

Next an army of human workers in red trousers and white t-shirts will transform these steel shells into finished cars.

 

One of these vehicles drives off the end of the assembly line every minute, flashing its headlights.

This is the European factory of Korean car company Kia, just outside the city of Zilina in the north of Slovakia.

 

It represents, Kia says, an investment of €2.5bn ($2.9bn; £2.2bn).

 

Volkswagen also produces cars in Slovakia. So does Stellantis (formerly Peugeot-Citroen, Fiat and Chrysler), and Jaguar Land Rover. Volvo is opening an electric car factory here in 2027.

 

Slovakia, which is home to 5.4 million people, makes almost a million cars a year. This is a small number compared to the world's largest producers, such as the biggest, China, which manufacturers a whopping 31 million cars per annum.

 

Kia's factory in Slovakia.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Why can't Australia make cars? 

 

OK, Slovakia probablky has a lower wage.. But you really don't need an army of people to make cars anymore.

Edited January 22 by Jerry_Atrick

[old man emu]

If you think about those production figures, and then extend your thinking to all other types of manufactured products, you might link the destruction of the environment to what those figures indicate - over production. Forget about the environmental effects of obtaining raw materials to make all that stuff. How can the world's population use all that is produced. Just think about the amount of household packaging you have to get rid of each week. Walk through a shopping centre and look at all the clothing shops. Most of what you see is never sold. In fact, look at any shop in a shopping centre. Even supermarkets toss out great amounts of unsold products, and I don't mean only out-of-date foodstuffs.

[onetrack]

Slovakia has been a major manufacturing centre for many years, from the early 2000's. The Slovak Govt introduced tax incentives for businesses to relocate there.

The country has a simplified flat rate tax system. The Slovak people are good workers. The country has a major steel industry, that was inherited from the Communist era.

The Danube forms the Western third of their border with Hungary, and is a substantial transportation route - and it also brings lots of tourists to the country, which is very scenic.

The Slovak rail system is modernised, and links with the rest of Europe. The country is well placed in amongst many other European nations with whom it trades, and it is part of the EU.

All in all, it is a very favourable place to manufacture. 

 

Meantimes, Australia is placed in the most isolated and Southerly part of the globe, well away from any potential trade neighbours. Our tax system is complex and fragmented. Our rail system is poor.

Our highway system is fairly good, but trucking is expensive as compared to rail, even with the use of road trains.

Our workforce declines to work in factories, so trying to find lowly factory workers is difficult. Every Australian aspires to be a major property investor, and to find highly-paid managerial-style jobs.

We are last on a long list of requirements to be a major manufacturing economy. We dig up lots of valuable minerals, and sell them to the rest of the world, that is our forte.

We also bring in a serious level of money via the education system, which, while not as strong as it was pre-pandemic, still carries out a major level of quality education to the nations in Asia and the Subcontinent.

[onetrack]

The article about Chinese robots, in the link below is interesting, and the comments, which are mostly from Americans, are just as interesting. 

 

https://electrek.co/2026/01/21/humanoid-robots-build-a-new-excavator-every-6-minutes-right-now/

[facthunter]

Misleading, because that is NOT the type of Robot that Builds things on an assembly Line. The Orange U Tan should visit China and see for Himself what is Happening there..  Nev

[red750]

Here's one to chuckle over.

 

https://supercarblondie.com/utah-man-buys-worlds-cheapest-new-car-from-china/

[old man emu]

Thast's what you get for buying on-line.

[kgwilson]

Most new EVs from China are produced using numerous robots. The Xpeng factory in Guangzhou has 700 robots and produces a car every 76 seconds. They have now introduced humanoid robots to carry out tasks normally done by people like fitting wiring harnesses and fiddly detailed work. The robot is called IRON & they have developed a chip called Turing (after Alan Turing of Enigma code breaking fame) capable of handling 30 billion parameters. The dark (no lighting required) 100% robot car factory is touted to become a reality by 2030 just 4 years from now.

 

Even Tesla say that the model 3 bodies are now 95% robot produced.

[octave]

Adoption of electric vehicles tied to real-world reductions in air pollution, study finds

 

"Using satellite data, Keck School of Medicine of USC researchers reported the first statistically significant decrease in nitrogen dioxide linked to zero-emissions vehicles."

 

[facthunter]

ADBLUE reduces Nitrous Oxides.  CO2 is the Bigger Problem. Nev

[octave]

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

ADBLUE reduces Nitrous Oxides. 

AdBlue is only used in diesel vehicles.   The main source of NO2 is petrol vehicles. Replacing petrol vehicles that produce NO2 with EVs that don't is beneficial to public health.  Yes, CO2 is a bigger problem, but  NO2 is also a significant health problem, especially in cities. The article does discuss this.

 

"While the shift to electric vehicles is largely aimed at curbing climate change in the future, it is also expected to improve air quality and benefit public health in the near term." 

 

My point was that reducing CO2 is not the only benefit of EVs

 

 

"Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) primarily harms the respiratory system, causing airway inflammation, coughing, wheezing, and increased asthma attacks, especially in children, the elderly, and those with existing heart/lung conditions. Both short-term and long-term exposure can worsen asthma, increase susceptibility to infections like bronchitis, and potentially contribute to developing asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other cardiovascular/neurological issues.

 

NO2 also forms secondary pollutants like ozone and fine particulate matter, which add to overall air pollution risks."
 

 

 

 

 

[facthunter]

Don't worry, I'm an electric vehicle supporter. the NOX problem is only in cities. In sparsely settled places it's not a problem. Lightning also causes it.. One of the reasons RAIN makes things grow better than water from the Mains or Creeks and rivers. Nev

[onetrack]

Quote

The main source of NO2 is petrol vehicles

No it's not. Diesels are the main source of NO2, that's why AdBlue was introduced.

[octave]

2 hours ago, onetrack said:

No it's not. Diesels are the main source of NO2, that's why AdBlue was introduced.

Yes, diesel plus AdBlue still produces more NO2 than comparable petrol engines.  The point of what I posted was that the introduction of EVs has made a measurable difference in NO2 pollution. I thought this was interesting....isnt it? 

 

 

[old man emu]

COVID also produced measurable decreases in atomospheric pollutants. 

[onetrack]

It is good that NO2 have decreased, and EV's are certainly playing their part. However, constantly tightening emissions regulations for IC engines must also be adding to the effect.

Electric trains and electric buses and a huge upsurge in solar panel and wind turbine power generation can also be added to the picture, all of which are eliminating NO2 emissions.

There has been a substantial decrease in the demand for fossil fuels, which is making the oil producers scramble for market share.

This will place downwards pressure on oil prices and slow down the uptake of EV's.

[nomadpete]

20 minutes ago, old man emu said:

COVID also produced measurable decreases in atomospheric pollutants. 

The air quality improvement wasn't due to a virus. We got a similar result the week after the twin towers attack in US.  Anyway, just you wait 'till the next pandemic!

 

Or maybe we should ban all those nasty airplanes! (American aircraft)

 

Or at least ban air travel by attendees to climate crisis conferences? They can all arrive by EV.

 

 

Edited 13 hours ago by nomadpete

[octave]

8 minutes ago, onetrack said:

However, constantly tightening emissions regulations for IC engines must also be adding to the effect.

The clever thing about this study is that it was able to analyse NO2 levels on a suburban basis. 

 

 "The researchers also confirmed that neighborhoods that added more gas-powered cars saw the expected rise in pollution. Finally, they replicated their results using updated data from ground-level monitors from 2012 to 2023.

“We tested our analysis in many different ways, and the results consistently support our main finding,”

 

Whilst improved emission standards feed into the overall results they do not account for local differences. 

"

[facthunter]

High temperature Combustion Promotes NOX. in Diesels.  EGR Valves lower the temps but putting exhaust back through an engine reduces Efficiency  and more CO2 and also causes Engine Problems (Crud filled Inlet Ports, and extra wear, Dirtier oil.). etc therefore  even less efficiency. Non turbo'd diesels can Make More  BLACK smoke ( Over fuelling) when you get to Higher Altitudes.  They are pretty much Obsolete these days. Nev

Edited 3 hours ago by facthunter
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