Electric car thread

[Grumpy Old Nasho]

Better stick to petrol cars I think. No power to weight ratio restrictions. No charging batteries for 1/2 an hour if a charging station can be found, and hoping no one else is using it.

 

How quickly do the batteries discharge if the trip to town is uphill nearly all the way? That's my predicament, uphill for 80ks, downhill coming home. Checking my petrol mileage via my liters per 100ks gauge, much more petrol is used going to town than coming home.

 

If I had an electric car, I probably would have to charge the battery in town so I could get back home. But what if there were motorists lined up to use the charging station? How long does it take for each car to be charged? I might be there all night waiting.  

[Marty_d]

Then don't get an electric car if it doesn't suit you.

If town is only 80km away why would you have to charge there? Even if it being all uphill used twice as much charge as usual, that's only 160km and obviously you'd use half as much charge going downhill, so another 40km makes 200 for your round trip. Most EVs have a range of 450 or more so just charge at home.

[facthunter]

I'm pretty certain some ICE cars are called high Performance also and have restrictions on who can drive them. You don't see electric cars doing silly things on the roads as it reduces your range. (Well, I've NEVER seen one so far). They don't make any Broom Broom noises to show off. either. Where's this hill that 80 Kms and uphill ALL the way?? Every time you back off the battery gets some charge.  EV's don't wear Brake Pads very Much.  Nev

[octave]

32 minutes ago, Grumpy Old Nasho said:

Better stick to petrol cars I think.

No one is trying to convince you to get an EV.

 

33 minutes ago, Grumpy Old Nasho said:

How quickly do the batteries discharge if the trip to town is uphill nearly all the way? That's my predicament, uphill for 80ks, downhill coming home.

Uphill does, of course, use more energy; not only does going downhill on the return not use energy, it actually gains energy through regenerative braking (whilst saving brake pad wear). My son has to drive up and down a long, steep hill (NZ). Going downhill, you will end up with a higher state of charge than you started with. Of course on the return journey, you still have to get back up the hill (not 100% effective).

 

38 minutes ago, Grumpy Old Nasho said:

If I had an electric car, I probably would have to charge the battery in town so I could get back home.

I can't think of any EVs that would not comfortably do that trip.  You can then plug in at home, and if you have solar, it is virtually free.

[kgwilson]

I have seen my SOC go up on a long downhill run from Dorrigo to Bellingen on the Waterfall way. It added about 50km to the range at the bottom. Going up used a lot more though than I recovered which is expected. When going downhill for a long stretch it is a good idea to use the highest regeneration setting. One Pedal driving is the highest in my car as it will bring the car to a standstill without using the brakes. I use OPD usually in towns as there is so much stop start driving. EVs are very economical in city driving partly due to the stop/start & Regen but also due to when stopped no energy is being used at all except for the 12 volt electrical system that runs everything except the cars traction system.

[Grumpy Old Nasho]

2 hours ago, facthunter said:

Where's this hill that 80 Kms and uphill ALL the way??

My place is a certain height above sea level. The town I go to is even higher above sea level. That's what I mean by "uphill all the way".

[facthunter]

At no stage do you go Downhill in the 80 Kms ? Nev

[octave]

17 minutes ago, Grumpy Old Nasho said:

That's what I mean by "uphill all the way".

And surely downhill on the way back 

[pmccarthy]

Nearest towns are 20 minutes either way. When I go downhill to town my Prado gets about 7 l/100 km. When I go the other way, uphill to the other town, I get about 11 l/100km. Of course.

[old man emu]

On a trip to Sydney and back, my ICE uses more fuel coming home because I have to climb from near sea level in Sydney to about 3,500 ft at the top of the Blue Mountains. The gradient of tht climb is steeper than the climb coming from the other side on the way to Sydney. Also I don't have to "drive" the car from the top to the bottom when I an on my way to Sydney. The need for more fuel to go up a steep hill is commonsense. The same commonsense  that applies to an EV, hybrid, plug in or diesel.  

[onetrack]

I've never seen anyone lose traction, chuck a burnout or do a wheelie in an EV, so I'm at a loss to explain how the higher powered EV's are dangerous.

I have seen a Tesla zip away from the lights very rapidly, though - much faster than even I could keep up in a 2.5L Camry Atara, which has reasonably fast acceleration when you floor it.

The Camry weighs 1465kgs and has 135Kw of power (180HP in the old money), so it's not underpowered. But that Tesla went like a cut cat let out of a bag.

And my bottom line is - I went from Perth to Albany and back (over 800kms total) in early March, and got 6.1 litres/100km with two people and their luggage aboard, averaging around 105kmh, so it could be quite a while before I can warrant lashing out on an EV.

 

 

Edited Saturday at 06:37 AM by onetrack

[old man emu]

A reason might be that the Law has not caught up to the technology. I will say, though, that the rapid acceleration of EVs is something that could get any driver into a bad situation. I'd guess that teh new owner of an EV with a bit of grunt would have to practise handling that grunt.

[nomadpete]

22 hours ago, old man emu said:

Perhaps people do not know how to properly manage batteries.

I suspect most people haven't realised that a battery is simply a different shaped fuel tank. Both types are most useful when not empty.

Edited Saturday at 09:30 PM by nomadpete

[kgwilson]

My MG4 is a Corolla sized hatchback although with the similar interior space of a 2-2.5 litre ICE car. It has 150kW (204HP) of power & nowhere near the same as a model Y Tesla which has between 194 kW & 255 kW depending on the variant & that is only the RWD models. The thing is that power is developed from 0 RPM with full torque available from that point. Just normally driving off from traffic lights I am usually way past the intersection before ICE cars even get going.

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, kgwilson said:

Just normally driving off from traffic lights I am usually way past the intersection before ICE cars even get going.

Oh my Lord!

That might be satisfying, but as an investigator of motor vehicle collisions it sends shudders down my spine. Very many serious or fatal collisions are the result of an offender running a red light and T-boning a vehicle which has just been released to cross the intersection by a green light. There is usually a delay of about 3 seconds between the display of a red light to one road and the display of a green light to the crossing road. However, we all know that does not prevent collisions.

 

Might I suggest that one does not use traffic control light signals on public roads in the same way as a "Christmas tree" is used at a drag strip?

[kgwilson]

I agree with your comment and i am very observant so always check traffic movements in the other intersecting roads. I always wait till the traffic has stopped before going. The power delivered is effortless and there is no noise. I don't plant my boot, that would be stupid. My car is RWD with approx 50/50 weight distribution & weighs 1650kg. I've never spun the wheels even in the wet but the instant torque is great when overtaking.

[facthunter]

Powerful vehicles need traction control to be safe.  Nev

[Siso]

Drove a Tesla model Y?. Probably the most powerful car I've driven. 4WD is a cool thing. If I lived 50km closer to the city, it would be a no brainer to get an electric car. see a lot on the open roads between Port Augusta and Port Lincoln.

Edited Sunday at 10:56 PM by Siso

[Grumpy Old Nasho]

What about when the battery is discharged to 3/4 or 7/8, does the car slow down because of voltage drop? or does it have some sort of regulator to maintain full power until it suddenly dies, and dies quickly?

[old man emu]

10 hours ago, Grumpy Old Nasho said:

What about when the battery is discharged to 3/4 or 7/8, does the car slow down because of voltage drop? or does it have some sort of regulator to maintain full power until it suddenly dies, and dies quickly?

Holy cow! GON posted something which positively promotes the discussion. Good onya, GON!

[kgwilson]

This happens only at very low state of charge. My EV has a 64kWh battery with 62.1 kWh useable. When the charge shows 0% it goes in to limp mode & will still run but only at very low speed. I can't remember offhand but about 20-30kmh for 30-40km before it dies. I have never tested this & don't know anyone who has. A car review outfit in the UK took a number of different EVs on a specified drive from 100% till they died about 3 years ago & discovered this feature in some of them.

 

I practice I rarely get below 20% but have been down to 5% at the lowest point. There is a woman who lives in my car with a nice English accent who keeps me informed of what is going on. She greets me by name when I open the door and has lots of friendly advice. When the charge gets to 20% I get a gentle reminder to charge. When it gets lower than 10% she gets a little more agitated.

[facthunter]

Run a Diesel to empty and you don't just fill it and drive away either. Same if you get contaminated fuel. The Longer you delve into electric the BETTER it Looks,   Independence from war causing Oil and It's greedy Price and supply manipulators.. The Modern ICE Piston engines are remarkable but Now becoming an obsolete technology. Time to move on in your conceptions of it.  It will continue to be even better as engines did in their day. Nev

[Siso]

Run a diesel out of fuel and you only need to wait for someone to come by in a diesel or have some diesel. Run out of power in an electric car and you have to wait for someone to come by with a generator who has time to sit there while your car gets enough charge to get to the next charger. Reckon I know what i would rather. Most diesels aren't that bad to bleed if you know what you are doing. Messy though.

[octave]

I wonder how often an EV driver runs out of charge. I imagine it is no more common than running out of fuel, and probably less given the warnings the car provides. In 48 years of driving, I have never run out of fuel.

 

If an EV does run out of electrons, there are several methods. 

 

The RAVC will give you an emergency charge or tow you to the nearest charging facility as part of road service.   

 

A granny lead and an extension cord, plus a friendly homeowner.

 

Most clever, though, is V2V or vehicle-to-vehicle charging. As EVs become more ubiquitous, it will be easy to phone a friend or perhaps a friendly fellow motorist.

 

 

 

                                                                                                         

[Siso]

Saw a Tesla being towed on youtube and it was actually charging the battery. Not sure if it was a real thing though.