Who else is ready for an electric car?

[Sunshinee777]

Im waiting for water fueled car.

 

[Bob Crowley]

The fueling stations are or will be based on "green hydrogen".

The South Koreans and the Japanese are promoting a hydrogen economy, regardless of difficulties.

Numbers are small at the moment, but the Korean sales increased by 235% last year.

Likewise Germany is moving towards having more hydrogen cars on its roads.

There's a link here on hydrogen cars. They're actually powered by an electric motor, but they'll take about 5 minutes to refuel, whereas electric cars take longer, sometimes a lot longer depending on the charger type and the vehicle battery capacity.

How do hydrogen-powered cars work?

 

[Bob Crowley]

While I'm on the topic of hydrogen vehicles, this was on the online ABC news in Australia today.

How rainwater is fueling this fleet of green hydrogen coaches

It surprised me as Emerald is not a big town, but the bus line owners obviously get enough work to be thinking about hydrogen powered buses, with their own "green" refueling station. No doubt the fact they have the school runs is a factor, since they can depend on regular customers and payment, with a fairly fixed route to follow.

It has a population of about 14,500 people.

Emerald, Queensland - Wikipedia

 

[MyOwnSockPuppet]

Car? Bah, a colleague's mother- and father-in-law have retired onto a 58 foot narrowboat with a serial drive - an electric motor run from a really substantial battery bank that is in turn charged by a massive solar panel array on the roof when there's enough sunlight or a shore hookup or a diesel generator when there isn't. Ideally they didn't want the generator, but there are way more boats on the system than there are shoreline power hookups and only heir to the throne of the kingdom of idiots would rely completely on sunshine in the UK.

They've been gliding, silently, around the canals and rivers in the UK at 4 mph and they only had to do their first hundred-hour generator service after nine months.

 

[Percivale]

It'll be a few years, but I look forward to getting an electric truck. All the moving parts and fluids make gas engines such a pain to maintain, and electric vehicles don't need those. I'm hoping for graphene aluminum battery technology to work out since it's cheaper, easier to recycle, and charges faster

 

[durangodawood]

-​

So what will be the wait time to recharge a car at a charging station.

I have a 27 year old truck, i plan to drive till i die or am raptured.

Good plan.

I definitely dont want to buy a new gasoline motor vehicle, with things changing so fast. But also not ready to go electric just yet. I'll stick with my 20yr old truck as long as possible.

That said, burning hydrocarbons and discharging the waste into our air is clearly not a sustainable practice.

 

[grasping the after wind]

Personally I'm ready. Not only am I fed up with OPEC, and <$4.00 gas prices, but I already have charging stations everywhere around my house, including in my garage.

So, what are the cons about owning an electric vehicle? Particularly for people who live in large cities like I do?

I may be ready for the electric car but I am fairly certain the electric car is not ready for me. Until the process of charging takes a reasonable amount of time or a charge lasts long enough to drive long distances and the cost to buy an electric vehicle is brought downs precipitously I can't see myself in one. I note that people that have previously purchased electric vehicles are more likely to return to the combustion engines than return to electric. I also note that currently the total difference in carbon emissions caused from production and use are quite small between a combustion engine powered and an electric powered vehicle. The technology needs to advance a lot before there is sufficient reason to switch. Additionally energy is subject to the law of supply and demand. The more electricity we use in relation to the supply we have the more it will cost just as happens with gasoline. Electric cars will not be cheaper to operate and might well cost more to run in the short term as the grid currently is in no position to accommodate a large increase in electric vehicle charging. Imagine you are driving from Boston to Orlando and you reach The Washington DC area during a brownout or even a total black out lasting several hours or even days. As the current grid stands, if we were to move to electric vehicles in mass numbers those brown outs and black outs would become likely. You would be stranded for a period of time even if there were several charging stations very close by. Right now, it is not feasible for the bulk of the population to switch.

 

[grasping the after wind]

Good plan.

I definitely dont want to buy a new gasoline motor vehicle, with things changing so fast. But also not ready to go electric just yet. I'll stick with my 20yr old truck as long as possible.

That said, burning hydrocarbons and discharging the waste into our air is clearly not a sustainable practice.

Electric cars currently account for almost as much of that burning of hydrocarbons as combustion engine cars do. So switching to an electric car under the current situation is not any more sustainable.

 

[durangodawood]

Electric cars currently account for almost as much of that burning of hydrocarbons as combustion engine cars do. So switching to an electric car under the current situation is not any more sustainable.

With electric there are options to move away from fossil fuels. With individual internal combustion engines theres not even the possibility of transition.

 

[BNR32FAN]

Personally I'm ready. Not only am I fed up with OPEC, and <$4.00 gas prices, but I already have charging stations everywhere around my house, including in my garage.

So, what are the cons about owning an electric vehicle? Particularly for people who live in large cities like I do?

Taking long trips can be a problem and can force people to have to resort to taking a longer route in order to reach charging stations. Then there’s the hassle of having to wait to charge. Sure some chargers can do the job in as fast as 45 minutes but that’s the fastest chargers not the majority of them and then there’s the possibility that they’re already in use. Some chargers can take up to 3 hours or more and if there’s a line of cars waiting, might wanna get a hotel room for the night because your gonna be there a while.

 

[BNR32FAN]

I am ready as long as charging is not an issue. As I get into my senior years I am also ready for self driving cars. They can be a great thing for seniors who can no longer drive. Just work out the safety.

Problem is there’s no guarantee that any vehicle approaching a red light is actually going to stop so self driving cars can’t anticipate that because their sight is not as efficient as our’s.

 

[BNR32FAN]

Hi @Landon Caeli

I also am ready, once they resolve the problem of recharging time and availability. I have, however, done what I believe is the next best thing. I own a hybrid, which allows me the best of both worlds, although yes, I do use fossil fuels for the four cylinder engine part.

I do a lot of long distance traveling. Vacations in Florida and a son's family in Texas. I couldn't have an electric car as my primary vehicle and make any of those trips, which happen a half dozen times a year. For me, at the present time with present technology, hybrid systems offer the best alternative. Hyundai has come out with some new hybrid systems that I hear are pretty good.

As for a drawback. My sister owned a Hyundai Kona all electric and she says that one has to buy special tires, and I did look it up. Seems the additional torque of all electric systems, and the greater weight of all the batteries, put a greater strain on the tires and if you try to use regular tires you'll burn them out pretty quickly. She claims to have only gotten about 5,000 miles on both of her last sets of tires. That's pretty expensive rubber!

God bless,
Ted

I agree that plug in hybrids seem to be the best choice especially for long commutes. The Hyundai Ion or BNW i3 seem pretty impressive with their range.

 

[BNR32FAN]

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So what will be the wait time to recharge a car at a charging station.

I have a 27 year old truck, i plan to drive till i die or am raptured.

The fastest chargers can fully charge most vehicles in 45 minutes but not all chargers are the fastest and can take 3 or more hours. So if there’s a line you could be stuck waiting for several hours

 

[BNR32FAN]

Hi @d taylor

From what I know, the very, very fastest time that you can fully recharge, or at least 80% recharge, an all electric vehicle is now about 6-8 hours. However, what it seems that most people do in the situation is do a partial recharge that gets one an additional 100 miles or so, in 30 minutes.

A typical electric car (60kWh battery) takes just under 8 hours to charge from empty-to-full with a 7kW charging point. Most drivers top up charge rather than waiting for their battery to recharge from empty-to-full. For many electric cars, you can add up to 100 miles of range in ~35 minutes with a 50kW rapid charger. (from podpoint.com)

Note that 'quick' charge is with a 50kw rapid charger. That's not just plugging your car into some standard electrical service outlet and if you're making a trip, that means you're going to have to stop every hour and a half (about what it takes to drive 100 miles) to spend another half hour to drive the next 100 miles. And you have to map out your trip so that you know where all the rapid chargers are located on your route. I can't imagine that anyone would find that particularly convenient.

God bless,
Ted

Nah I’ve seen some that can fully charge most vehicles in about 45 minutes. But they’re not the majority of chargers that are out there. I’m curious of the cost of electricity at the chargers and on home charging. I’m wondering how much more your electric bill will increase.

 

[BNR32FAN]

All the car companies are soon putting out electric Pickups. Charging is the only hassle. Some are very dependable. The distance per charge is a con.
Audi E-Tron GT
BMW i4
BMW iX
Cadillac Lyriq
Chevrolet Bolt EUV
Ford F-150 Lightning
Genesis GV60
GMC Hummer EV
Kia EV6
Lucid Air
Mercedes-Benz EQB
Mercedes-Benz EQE

Im loving the new Hummer EV. It boasts of 1000hp with 11,500 ft lbs of torque. That’s some crazy power. They can do 0-60 in 3 seconds. That’s as fast as the new 2021 corvettes!!

 

[BNR32FAN]

I've had a Bolt EV for four years now, and it's the best car I've ever owned, even with a recall battery replacement coming in the near future. There is simply zero maintenance. I air up the tires every few weeks, and rotate them every few months, and that's it. I plug it in at home. The acceleration is great.

On the rare occasion where I travel a larger distance, I can use one of several charging network apps to find a charger. It's rare that I really need to plan around that, though. How often do you really drive more than 200 miles in a day?

What’s your average weekly mileage and how much was your electric bill increase?

 

[BNR32FAN]

Having gotten rid of my car three years ago, I had obtained an electric bicycle. It was nice being able to recharge it in my condo, and the convenience of having motorized transport that could circumvent traffic due to being able to ride on the sidewalks/footpaths was a huge plus.

However, I had to get rid of it, because while riding such motorized vehicles on the sidewalks and footpaths is legal where I am at the state level, it turned out that our HOA forbids it, at least within their jurisdiction.

I didn't want to ride this thing in the street, because I felt it would be only a matter of time before some preoccupied driver knocked me into next week. So I ended up selling it to someone whose grandchildren could use it, since they lived out in the HOA-free countryside.

Yeah I recently bought an e-bike and they’re really fun to ride. It’s definitely a lot nicer when your pulling two kids around in a bike trailer behind you than putting all the strain on yourself. Those uphill climbs can be brutal!

 

[RDKirk]

Problem is there’s no guarantee that any vehicle approaching a red light is actually going to stop so self driving cars can’t anticipate that because their sight is not as efficient as our’s.

Sure it is. Moreover, the car's "sight" and computer would be able to more closely calculate whether that car has actually begun slowing down sufficiently to come to a stop.

But there are problems these days. I suspect the technology won't become solid until most (if not all) cars on the road are self-driving and can communicate with one another in real-time:

"I see we're both approaching the intersection. Are you stopping?"
"Yes, I'm stopping."
"Cool."

 

[BNR32FAN]

Sure it is. Moreover, the car's "sight" and computer would be able to more closely calculate whether that car has actually begun slowing down sufficiently to come to a stop.

But there are problems these days. I suspect the technology won't become solid until most (if not all) cars on the road are self-driving and can communicate with one another in real-time:

"I see we're both approaching the intersection. Are you stopping?"
"Yes, I'm stopping."
"Cool."

i don’t think their peripheral sight can actually detect cars that far away. We’re talking 500 feet or more both left and right of the vehicle and it has to be able to distinguish between overlapping multiple moving and stationary objects at that distance. There’s no way I would trust their technology at this time without communication between vehicles like you suggested. That’s the only sure way at this time to get accurate readings to the computer.

 

[NxNW]

What’s your average weekly mileage and how much was your electric bill increase?

Before the pandemic 300 mi/wk and the bill was maybe $20/mo higher? Negligible really, since it's set to charge during off peak pricing.