Electric vehicles catch-all thread

[RevolverRob]

There are lots of reasons to criticize Musk, but his commitment to zero carbon isn't one of them. He invested massively in Solar as far back as 2006 with the intention of using solar to power all Tesla superchargers on the road and powerwalls at home. He released the first useable electric semi in 2022 and created the Boring Company to modernize subway systems and bypass railroad regulated monopolies.

He is almost unilaterally expediting infrastructure that took the fossil fuel industry 100 years and trillions of dollars in subsidies to develop.

Ah yes, the Boring Company...1 successful system completed, 1 test tunnel dug, 18 projects canceled...A rousing success.

The semi is interesting, but real world testing will tell us more soon. They have only been out for ~6 months now.

[0ddl0t]

I suspect the Boring Company's lack of development has more to do with Musk spreading himself too thin than anything else.


Pepsi has been using Tesla semis for a little over a year and have put about a million miles (combined) on them so far. Most of that is short haul, but they do have 1 slip-seated truck that's done a few ~10,000 mile weeks - nearly double what most diesel over the road team trucks typically do. So Mega Watt charging seems to be fast enough, but there are only a handful of chargers at the moment...

The nice thing is Semi driver & battery maintenance HVAC demands aren't much higher than in a model 3, but the total battery bank capacity is so much higher in the Semi that cold weather range degradation isn't nearly as significant. Using 20kwh of your Model 3's 60 kwh battery to keep the driver and battery packs warm hurts your range a lot. Using 30kwh of a 900kwh Semi battery is hardly noticeable...

[Navin Johnson]

The rental car fleets are going to begin dumping electric cars (30-50% and not just Hertz) due to higher than anticipated maintenance, and lack of interest by consumers. Rates on electric cars for rental are in the $10-$20 a day range.

Dip shit municipalities that bought electric buses are sitting on broken unrepairable buses due to the companies that made them going bankrupt while our transportation secretary of the United States sold her stock in these electric bus companies at its peak for 1.6 million

In the electric car capital of the northwest many apartment buildings are not allowing tenants to have electric cars parked in the buildings (insurance regulations) due to fire hazards. But don’t worry, local governments will mandate the fire hazards.

In this area used electric cars are a good value (if less than half msrp) due to the glut and un sellability of most models.

Oh yea, out tax dollars have subsidized all of this.

[RoyGBiv]

The rental car fleets are going to begin dumping electric cars (30-50% and not just Hertz) due to higher than anticipated maintenance, and lack of interest by consumers. Rates on electric cars for rental are in the $10-$20 a day range.

Had to take my car in to the dealer for a warranty repair recently. Was expecting it to take more than 2 days, so, I specifically requested a gas loaner. Manager said they only had one in their fleet, but that she would call me when it was available....

I suppose an electric loaner can be a fun way to introduce customers to the experience, but, how many ICE owners want a loaner car they don't have the knowledge or desire to learn how to refuel? Or an account set up for using a charger somewhere? Same for rental cars.... If I pick up a rental in Houston (Bush, North Side) and have to drive an hour 1 way to Pearland (barely South of town), then spend 3-4 days working around town, I'm going to have to figure out where to plug the thing in and probably set up an account to pay for the charge... Or, I can swap it for a gas car and not have to worry. How this isn't a first-order concern for rental car companies is bewildering.

[mmc45414]

Kind of off topic, but due to remodeling my back garage into a quilting room for my wife, this is the first year I've stored my Street Glide in my unheated pole barn.

What a guy, the model of Chivalry!

The Street Glide - with two year old lithium battery - wouldn't even turn over. Not having a lithium battery charger I did hook it up to it's maintainer which has a lithium setting. About two weeks later I came down to the shop and it was still yellow - not charged - the bike turned over a couple times but didn't start.

Several days ago, the temp got above 50 degrees, I went down and the maintainer was green and the bike started right up.

I'm pretty sure this is going to be my last lithium battery for the Street Glide.

And I could see some trips where night time temperatures get cold, and anything marginal could be an issue. Probably would need to bring the battery into a hotel room and charge it.
Frequently while I eat my lunch (WFH) I pop on YouTube, many of the videos are about the right duration for eating. We also have a boat, and I really enjoy this guy's videos (I enjoy his presentation and he covers a LOT of topics ETA: There is not any overt religious content, I think his channel title, Born Again Boating, refers to restoring some of the clunkers he works on) and in the midst of this thread one day this video popped up, and I enjoyed the explanation. I was not aware of how temperature sensitive the charging process is.

the bike turned over a couple times but didn't start.

I am ASSuming the bike is new enough to be injected, and I expect it might turn over, but didn't have injector pressure adequate to even try and start. A friend had a snowmobile with a early version of injection that was pull start, but still had a battery, and it needed to be charged to start, something we all learned the hard way, after trading off on the pull rope one day until we eventually admitted defeat.

[JohnO]

Why would anyone want a spontaneously combustible vehicle?

GM advising some Bolt EV owners to park 50 feet away from other cars in case of fire
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/gm-a...ther-cars.html

“In an effort to reduce potential damage to structures and nearby vehicles in the rare event of a potential fire, we recommend parking on the top floor or on an open-air deck and park 50 feet or more away from another vehicle,” Flores said in an email.

I've read that EV fires have melted concrete and penetrated through parking structure decks.

[MichaelD]

That Chevy Bolt news was 2 1/2 years ago. LG batteries apparently suck.

[BehindBlueI's]

I suspect the Boring Company's lack of development has more to do with Musk spreading himself too thin than anything else.


Pepsi has been using Tesla semis for a little over a year and have put about a million miles (combined) on them so far. Most of that is short haul, but they do have 1 slip-seated truck that's done a few ~10,000 mile weeks - nearly double what most diesel over the road team trucks typically do. So Mega Watt charging seems to be fast enough, but there are only a handful of chargers at the moment...

The nice thing is Semi driver & battery maintenance HVAC demands aren't much higher than in a model 3, but the total battery bank capacity is so much higher in the Semi that cold weather range degradation isn't nearly as significant. Using 20kwh of your Model 3's 60 kwh battery to keep the driver and battery packs warm hurts your range a lot. Using 30kwh of a 900kwh Semi battery is hardly noticeable...

I suspect both will prove to be economically unattractive for wide spread use. EV fleets are not saving anyone money over ICE in smaller vehicles and I doubt semis are going to be the breakthrough.

[Joe in PNG]

It's been suggested editorially that PNG move towards electric vehicles. Which is utterly amusing from a local standpoint:
-The electrical grid here is more often off than on, with multiple daily blackouts
-The roads are beyond horrible
-Flooding is not an unknown thing
-The general infrastructure is poor
-Anything not nailed down, fenced in, and guarded 24/7 will probably be stolen- and if they can pry it off, it wasn't nailed down enough
-Li batteries are fragile beast that can do bad things when not treated properly- and they won't be in a place that abuses vehicles like PNG

[runcible]

It is honestly difficult to know what Tesla's priorities are, since they constantly change what they say and market. And how they interact with everyone.

Tesla does have a master plan - https://www.tesla.com/blog/master-plan-part-3 - They don't specifically state net-zero instead opting for "sustainable". Theoretically, those are not the same - but realistically people treat net-zero as equal sustainable. Sustainable is realistically near-zero.

They are certainly pushing an implicit aspect of net/near zero. But of course it is only achievable it we use Tesla's technology.

I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable throwing such a lambast out with such a suppositive premise; but others may be guided differently. Inshallah.