Author Topic: Electric cars  (Read 695040 times)

Jocko

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2670 on: March 20, 2023, 06:51:29 PM »
Not just in cans. They used to sell petrol by the jar. Mind you. The car needed a full service and oil change for every jar of petrol used.

Lord Voltermore

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1928
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2021 Jazz EX
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2671 on: March 21, 2023, 10:19:51 AM »
I can remember  buying paraffin at the hardware shop or from mobile Esso Blue and Aladdin pink  vans

Some petrol stations had a special 'two stroke' petrol pump that dispensed it ready mixed.  But most just had a portable  container of two stroke oil, where you squirted a dose of oil in your tank before filling with petrol.

In Asia I have seen roadside vendors displaying bottles of petrol for motorcyclists  . (and street sellers selling a single cigarette - normal tobacco ones  ;) )
  Trust a dog to guard your house  , but not your sandwich

Jocko

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2672 on: March 21, 2023, 11:58:06 AM »
When I was a teenager the local shops would sell "a thrupenny single".

Jocko

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2673 on: March 21, 2023, 12:05:59 PM »
I would love an electric car but today I was doing a bit of battery charging and I thought, "do I need more of this". I have to charge and recharge, on a regular basis:
Mobile phone
Laptop
Toothbrush
Kindle
Fitbit
Torch
Water flosser
Camera
Flashgun
Tyre pump
Dashcam power supply
Numerous rechargeable batteries used in remotes and the like.

Do I really want to have to charge my car up as well?

Mind you, I connect my ICE car to the SMART charger every time I return from a journey (which involves unlocking and re-locking the garage each time) so an EV might be easier.

Jocko

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9356
  • Country: scotland
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: Died from rust.
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2674 on: May 23, 2023, 06:57:30 PM »

John Ratsey

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2663
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2022 HR-V Elegance
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2675 on: May 24, 2023, 05:58:46 PM »
This could be the breakthrough EVs are waiting for.

https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/electric-car-battery-range-record-b2343579.html
One side-effect of the higher battery capacity is that it is likely to take twice as long to recharge. Will it also be proportionately more expensive?
2022 HR-V Elegance, previously 2020 Jazz Crosstar

Lord Voltermore

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1928
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2021 Jazz EX
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2676 on: May 24, 2023, 08:08:47 PM »
Just completed a long transcontinental trip. Twice I got held up by Trucks 'elephant racing'  . (ie blocking both lanes for about 5 miles because one  attempts  to overtake the others and cannot manage it)

The relevance?  On both occasions,  hidden among the herd of 'elephants' struggling up the hill  (so slowly one  truck got impatient)  was a Tesla  . It appeared to be  tailgating the the trucks to gain from their slipstream to hypermile its range. Car traffic was light so in both cases it was driver choice to remain in the herd. 

If thats what it may take to get home or to the next charging point count me out. A view of the back of a truck and anxiously watching your remaining range ticking down. :o

Even with a 1000km  range the route we took and the hotels we used would not have been possible.  The infrastructure and charging time needs of the car  would dictate   our plans.    And no doubt 1000km range is under ideal conditions, with warm weather, modest speed, flat terrain, and as much as possible switched off.   

  And as John says I expect the battery maker and car maker will want their development investment back before rivals catch up. 
  Trust a dog to guard your house  , but not your sandwich

richardfrost

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1408
  • Country: england
  • My Honda: Black 2005 1.4 SE RIP
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2677 on: May 26, 2023, 11:19:43 AM »
I think you two haven't clicked and read the whole article. Price will be competitive and charge time appropriate. For me, the main issue is the capacity in the network to provide that amount of charge in the shortest time possible, for multiple vehicles at highway charge stations.

Lord Voltermore

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1928
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2021 Jazz EX
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2678 on: May 27, 2023, 07:57:25 AM »
Probably not all 179 pages   :-[  I am not anti EV's   . I'd love for them to be viable. One day EV 's and my needs will match. 

I saw Tesla chargers at the Eurotunnel  Terminal. I could have got out of bed half an hour earlier to allow time for a quick recharge before crossing to France.    I didnt see another charging point  in my 1500 + mile journey. To be fair I wasnt looking for them, or planning my journey around them ,or driving further out of my way to reach them.

Maybe they are available on motorways service areas  , but I preferred to save 0.50 euro per litre buying petrol in small local filling stations. (with no 30 minute plus charging time )   Saved enough cash to pay for Dinner. :-* Yes maybe I have a higher carbon footprint but I economise elsewhere - walking to the shops etc.

 
« Last Edit: May 27, 2023, 08:08:17 AM by Lord Voltermore »
  Trust a dog to guard your house  , but not your sandwich

Bazzzer

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 91
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2018 Jazz EX Navi
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2679 on: July 26, 2023, 08:32:10 PM »
Oh dear! Electric car catches fire on ship.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66310280

Kremmen

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4574
  • Country: england
  • Civinfo interloper
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: MY22 Jazz EX
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2680 on: July 27, 2023, 05:43:55 AM »
I haven't searched but none of the reports have identified the car manufacturer
Let's be careful out there !

richardfrost

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1408
  • Country: england
  • My Honda: Black 2005 1.4 SE RIP
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2681 on: July 27, 2023, 10:35:03 AM »
Oh dear! Electric car catches fire on ship.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66310280

That’s just a theory.

madasafish

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1953
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 1.4 ES CVT -2012
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2682 on: July 27, 2023, 11:22:37 AM »
I haven't searched but none of the reports have identified the car manufacturer
3,000 VW cars on board allegedly

Kremmen

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4574
  • Country: england
  • Civinfo interloper
  • Fuel economy:
  • My Honda: MY22 Jazz EX
Re: Electric cars
« Reply #2683 on: July 29, 2023, 07:51:46 AM »
Quote
About a decade ago, Tesla rigged the dashboard readouts in its electric cars to provide “rosy” projections of how far owners can drive before needing to recharge, a source told Reuters. The automaker last year became so inundated with driving-range complaints that it created a special team to cancel owners’ service appointments.


In March, Alexandre Ponsin set out on a family road trip from Colorado to California in his newly purchased Tesla, a used 2021 Model 3. He expected to get something close to the electric sport sedan’s advertised driving range: 353 miles on a fully charged battery.

He soon realized he was sometimes getting less than half that much range, particularly in cold weather – such severe underperformance that he was convinced the car had a serious defect.

“We’re looking at the range, and you literally see the number decrease in front of your eyes,” he said of his dashboard range meter.

Ponsin contacted Tesla and booked a service appointment in California. He later received two text messages, telling him that “remote diagnostics” had determined his battery was fine, and then: “We would like to cancel your visit.”

What Ponsin didn’t know was that Tesla employees had been instructed to thwart any customers complaining about poor driving range from bringing their vehicles in for service. Last summer, the company quietly created a “Diversion Team” in Las Vegas to cancel as many range-related appointments as possible.

The Austin, Texas-based electric carmaker deployed the team because its service centers were inundated with appointments from owners who had expected better performance based on the company’s advertised estimates and the projections displayed by the in-dash range meters of the cars themselves, according to several people familiar with the matter.


A Tesla logo shown outside a Beijing showroom. The automaker’s estimates of its electric vehicles’ driving range have been among the most aggressive in the industry. It has faced thousands of complaints from customers disappointed by the vehicles’ real-world performance. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Inside the Nevada team’s office, some employees celebrated canceling service appointments by putting their phones on mute and striking a metal xylophone, triggering applause from coworkers who sometimes stood on desks. The team often closed hundreds of cases a week and staffers were tracked on their average number of diverted appointments per day.

Managers told the employees that they were saving Tesla about $1,000 for every canceled appointment, the people said. Another goal was to ease the pressure on service centers, some of which had long waits for appointments.

In most cases, the complaining customers’ cars likely did not need repair, according to the people familiar with the matter. Rather, Tesla created the groundswell of complaints another way – by hyping the range of its futuristic electric vehicles, or EVs, raising consumer expectations beyond what the cars can deliver. Teslas often fail to achieve their advertised range estimates and the projections provided by the cars’ own equipment, according to Reuters interviews with three automotive experts who have tested or studied the company’s vehicles.

Neither Tesla nor Chief Executive Elon Musk responded to detailed questions from Reuters for this story.
Let's be careful out there !

ColinB

  • Approved Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1162
  • Country: gb
  • My Honda: 2015 Jazz 1.3 SE manual in Milano Red
The times, they are a changing
« Reply #2684 on: August 24, 2023, 01:33:09 PM »
Just seen a driving school using an EV for tuition. I suppose it had to come, but it was a surprise nevertheless. Raises the question of what sort of licence a driver gets if they pass their test in an EV? Is there an EV-only licence, or is it a normal automatic-only licence?

Tags:
 

Back to top