Electric car thread

[red750]

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1500123248541855

[facthunter]

You still NEED Hydrocarbon fuel for this and can that be assured in today's world.?   Nev

[red750]

Who knows? Things change daily.

 

What it means though, starting with a full tank and charge, you could drive Melbourne to Sydney and back to Canberra without a refill. Range anxiety quashed.

[facthunter]

We don't (have to) import electricity.  Unless it's produced by diesel generators. Diesel and Petrol cannot be assured. We are not self sufficient. No  fuel. No go at all. No matter how efficient it is. Nev

[facthunter]

There's Practically NO servicing needed on a Pure electric car. That "means something" in the Overall Picture.. In a Hybrid, the IC motor gets a fairly hard time. Fuel must be clean and not stale. The car must be electrically alive to run at all. ie start the IC motor. They are inevitably more expensive than a pure ICE vehicle OR an EV. At 8 years most batteries are still 95 % and can be used as storage for Houses etc for years after.. Geely make "straight"  EVs. A mate of mine just bought one. Available range is Increasing all the time.. The "early" Prius (Hybrid) were a pile of trouble.  The Hondas would hold up semi's on hills .  IF you are Just trying to save Money stick to a reliable Older ICE car that you enjoy driving while there's still fuel available and save the expense of any newer stuff which will go on Improving all the time, the longer you wait. Nev

[old man emu]

Just wathed an Australian video about towing with a BYD Shark and its fuel consumption. The Shark has a small battery and IC engine for charging during use. The bloke was towing a 3 tonne caravan and crossing Queensland east to west. He said that his fuel consumption was 24 litres/100km crossing the Divide, but when he got out on the flat country it went up to about 44 litres/100km. He attributed the difference to the lack of regenerative braking in teh flat country.

 

With that flat country consumption, who could afford to use one of these for towing? As far as I can see, the Shark seems to be a good vehicle, if you are looking to drive a Toorak Tractor. 

[facthunter]

You won't get any regenerative in flat Country but there are NO Hills either. That motor set up eliminates the Gearbox and clutch. When you consider the total weight involved it may not be that Bad. Also you don't know how draggy the Caravan is and How fast He went  and where the wind was coming from. The Chinese have an ICE  that is over 45% efficient. When you have a Lot of wind drag, going a bit slower makes a lot of difference to the Fuel consumption. I don't think it's Fair to call it a Toorak  Tractor.. They have  a fantastic rear suspension and aren't just Built for Looks. Nev

[pmccarthy]

My Prado diesel tows my van at 15-16 l/100km.

[facthunter]

A 3 ton van?  Nev

[old man emu]

What shocked me was the difference between what is supposed to be an environment-saving vehicle, and the dreaded ICE. At least the bloke was honest enough to state the facts as he foind them, even to the apparent detriment of the Shark's popularity.

 

I should be spruiking the glories of the Shark, since my son's business is based on tweeking them, but there are things I simply can't warm to. Admittedly, I haven't driven one, but from what I saw in the video, such as automatic lane management; "gear" selector on the right hand side of the column and indicators on the left, and finally the massive video screen used for user interface, I don't think I would like my first drives. Besides, I think that a dual-cab ute with a truncated cargo area is as useless as tits on a bull.

[red750]

I know it's a totally different animal, but my 22 year old Holden Astra, a rebadged German Opel, has the turn indicators on the left of the column, wiper/washers on the right. My daughter, for God knows what reason, has her heart set on a Ford Mach 1, the electric version of the Mustang. It has the 'gear' selector on the right of the column.

[facthunter]

How many "Such" vehicles can legally pull 3 tons. Authorities are pretty tough on enforcement of weight Limits.. " Useless as an ashtray on a 1/8th mile drag bike" supersedes the tits on a bull " bit.  You don't have to think about it for as long. . The Reversing of the turn Indicator windscreen/ washer thing scratches a lot of windscreens .Nev

[Marty_d]

12 hours ago, old man emu said:

Just wathed an Australian video about towing with a BYD Shark and its fuel consumption. The Shark has a small battery and IC engine for charging during use. The bloke was towing a 3 tonne caravan and crossing Queensland east to west. He said that his fuel consumption was 24 litres/100km crossing the Divide, but when he got out on the flat country it went up to about 44 litres/100km. He attributed the difference to the lack of regenerative braking in teh flat country.

 

With that flat country consumption, who could afford to use one of these for towing? As far as I can see, the Shark seems to be a good vehicle, if you are looking to drive a Toorak Tractor. 

44 litres/100km is woeful.

Almost a litre every 2km.

Admittedly our caravan was half that weight and being a fold down camper was not much higher than the car roof, but our Santa Fe got 11 litres/100km when towing it.

[old man emu]

I don't tow caravans, nor have a big ute, but I suspect that an acceptable fuel consumption for an ICE towing a typical caravan would be in the range of 13 to 18 litres per 100 km. That's why the figure in the 40s was such a shock. I really don't think that these massive EVs are suitable for towing much more than a tradies' trailer. I don't mean to be nasty about them, but it's always horses for courses when selecting a tool to do a job.

[kgwilson]

The problem really is that it is a hybrid, designed to appeal to those with a fear of full electric and rusted on range anxiety.

 

A hybrid is the worst of both worlds. The battery is small so the electric range is woeful. The ICE engine is also small so needs to work hard to replace the energy drain from the battery. Charging a battery from an ICE engine is very inefficient. It has all the disadvantages of every ICE engined vehicle of consuming fossil fuel including maintenance and complexity.

 

How this bloke with the Shark got 24 litres/100k crossing the great dividing range which is essentially up hill overall and 44 on the flat doesn't add up. Was he driving in to a 50-80kmh headwind on the flat with a big flat fronted 3 tonne caravan? You cannot regenerate anywhere near the energy going downhill lost going uphill to the top. Only a long sustained down hill run will increase the energy level of the battery.

[kgwilson]

As for the reversal of the indicator and lights stalks, this is the standard that has applied in Europe for decades and also China. The UK, Japan, Korea & Australia made vehicles were the opposite. My MG4 made in China conforms to the European standard not its original British heritage. 

[old man emu]

I can't explain why he burned 44 litres per 100 on the flat. He can't either. He was pretty shocked. He surmises that the difference between crossing the Divide and driving on the flat was due to lack of regnerative braking on the flat.  Yes, he was pulling a big caravan. Yes the tow vehicle was heavy. Yes it had big tyres which had a high rolling resistance. 

 

I think that people should watch his video to know what he said. As I said earlier, I think he has been very honest, giving a warts and all presentation. Early in the video he reports on the results of a trial run  in which he found he consumption to be 24 litres per 100 kms. I think that trial was done on roads east of the Divide, so a bit up and down, not out on the flat.

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

That's about $123 per 100km in diesel alone.

I think old mate should consider flying+ Airbnb.

[facthunter]

Yes the economy is not good (or even acceptable). For Info, that system has been used in a Lot of the Best Desert Racers. Nev

[facthunter]

The DC4 used to (at AUW 72500lb at take off) do One NM/ US gallon at 200 Knots. Seems good by comparison. You could do even better when managed well in the right circumstances .Nev

[old man emu]

41 minutes ago, facthunter said:

Seems good by comparison.

But back then they wer giving away the fuel when you compare price per gallon then and now (and allowing for inflation).

[facthunter]

It was 130/145 Avgas in most radial engines. You can't even get that Now.  I started flying in 1959  and fuel was never cheap as far as I was concerned. Anyone who had a Big round motor up front Must have been rich in my view. I certainly wasn't. All of my Weekly income gave me an hour and a Half in the Air. when I started in a Chipmunk.. Nev