Electric Vehicles?

[Eppie]

Thirteen billion bucks - even Canadian ones - is big chunk of change. I hope it doesn't turn out to be just magic beans.
VW CEO says EV battery plant planned for Ontario could become one of the world's largest | CBC News

St Thomas is just south of where I live. There used to be a major GM plant between London and St Thomas that employed a lot of people but it got moth-balled and torn down. They did not use that land though. St Thomas was quietly acquiring land east of the city and had accumulated 800 hectares. I think 600 is going to VW. They are acquiring another 700 hectares and I assume that is for future industrial developments. For a typical automotive plant 500 hectares is enough, so 1500 hectares total is huge. The province is allowing them to annex all of that land to simplify the development process and keep things under one municipality, which makes good business sense. The down side to all of this is that southern Ontario is prime agricultural land and we will be loosing a lot of good arable farm land in the process.
https://lfpress.com/business/local-business/st-thomas-lands-vw-electric-battery-plant

 

[Eppie]

People here in Norway that are installing solar panels are crazy busy, some areas are Energy positive in the sense that they return more power to the grid than what they consume

I think I read years ago that Germany requires all new construction to have a solar component. That could have a huge impact after a few decades. Canada lags so far behind. I've only seen one major development in the north end of our city of 400,000 which has a significant solar component.

 

[GO-NAD!]

GM to discontinue Chevrolet Bolt EV later this year | CBC News
GM dumping the Bolt in favour of electric trucks and SUVs. I question whether GM has fully embraced the philosophy behind zero-emission vehicles.

 

[Mikado463]

oh well, I recently spoke with a more than satisfied Bolt owner a couple of weeks back and she was so proud of the fact that in 4,000 miles of driving she claimed to use only $40 worth of electricity

 

[j_garcia]

GM to discontinue Chevrolet Bolt EV later this year | CBC News
GM dumping the Bolt in favour of electric trucks and SUVs. I question whether GM has fully embraced the philosophy behind zero-emission vehicles.

These two cars (Bolt and Bolt EUV) use an older battery technology. Presumably they will be releasing a newer replacement at some point. Plus, it did not sell well in the current generation, almost certainly because of that older battery and fires giving them a lot of bad press. They had a 100% recall of all Bolts to check the batteries, not exactly a selling point.

 

[j_garcia]

I spotted this right by work yesterday. They aren't selling in the US yet, but their US headquarters is a few miles from my office. My friend said "why does it have devil horns?"
Nio EC7

and the new Lucid Gravity SUV has been spotted in our area too. I expect we'll start seeing more of it on the freeway soon just like the Air when it was about to be released.

Lucid electric SUV prototype spotted ahead of launch

A Lucid electric SUV prototype, the next EV from the electric car startup after the “Air” electric sedan, has been...

electrek.co

 

[haraldo]

I spotted this right by work yesterday. They aren't selling in the US yet, but their US headquarters is a few miles from my office. My friend said "why does it have devil horns?"
Nio EC7

and the new Lucid Gravity SUV has been spotted in our area too. I expect we'll start seeing more of it on the freeway soon just like the Air when it was about to be released.

Lucid electric SUV prototype spotted ahead of launch

A Lucid electric SUV prototype, the next EV from the electric car startup after the “Air” electric sedan, has been...

electrek.co

NEVER EVER AM I GOING TO BUY A CHINESE CAR

 

[Eppie]

The issue we'll have is that I only have a 15 amp line running to a detached garage. The garage is behind the house and the electrical panel is at the front of the house. Getting a proper line to the garage will be no small task. 100 amp service so may need to change the panel as well.

Saw some wireless charging technology this week being developed in the U.S. The tech is a year old so I imagine some have read about this already. The source pad lays on the garage floor or in a parking spot and a receiving pad is installed under the vehicle. You simply drive over the pad and the display in the vehicle shows if you are lined up and charging begins automatically. The efficiency rating is supposed to be quite high. They are testing units that can be installed level in concrete for snowy climates.

You currently need a dedicated display but the goal is to have this integrated with the car's factory display and the receiving units would be a factory option. I could see this being a standard option some day.

 

[j_garcia]

Not sure inductive charging will catch on. I think it is a good possibility and much more convenient but it is much slower than direct charging, not unlike how it is with a phone.

Saw this one last week on my way to work, Faraday FF91. It is humungous, like minivan size.

 

[Swerd]

Today I had another new experience with my 4-wheeled computer. I had to reboot it. Yesterday, when I drove to Arlington National Cemetery for a memorial service, I needed to use my car's Google Maps navigation system. But it didn't work, just when I needed it the most. It's about 28 miles from where I live, but getting into & out of Ft. Meyer can be a nightmare unless you really know the unforgiving local roads well.

I entered the search info for the right gate into the Army base that surrounds the Cemetery, but the app got stuck. I did manage to drive there without too much kerfuffle, but going home was not so good. Apparently, the other computer controlled functions of the car all worked. So, I never suspected a frozen computer was my problem.

Today, I chatted online with Volvo help … they told me I had to reboot the system, and how to go about it. It was easy to do, and thankfully it worked. That ended much better than I expected, on a Saturday no less. I'd say good for Volvo, their Google operating system, and their customer service. But I spent a fair amount of time looking through the owner's manual, never finding any mention of how to reboot the system, much less how to recognize when you might need to do that. Now I know.

My next big hurdle is a road trip long enough to require recharging while on the road. At least I can now use my GPS system for it.

 

[Bernie Williams]

If we go into a recession some of the smaller EV manufacturers could be toast. They need to get to scale quickly.

 

[j_garcia]

If we go into a recession some of the smaller EV manufacturers could be toast. They need to get to scale quickly.

IF? I wouldn't call it a recession exactly, but we are in a slow burn for sure.

Lucid and Rivian are already struggling. The smaller ones are already hurting, likely will get gobbled up by either other EV manufacturers or other large companies.

Ford took a page from Tesla and dropped the price of the Mach E

Ford cuts prices of Mustang Mach-E after Tesla moves

Ford Motor Co is cutting prices on its Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle and reopening orders, the No. 2 U.S. automaker said on Tuesday, the second time has reduced prices this year after a series of price cuts by rival Tesla Inc .

www.reuters.com

....

At the same time, Tesla actually increased the price of the Model 3 and Y again.

 

[j_garcia]

Fisker delivered the first Ocean EVs this week. They appear to be the first company to have licensed NIO's hot swap battery technology.

Fisker Is Betting Big on This New Battery Technology

The Fisker Ocean SUV will be able to get instant range in minutes, but not all versions will receive this ability. Here's how Fisker plans to do this.

www.autoweek.com

 

[Mikado463]

FWIW, another EV article

Electric Vehicle Illusions

No one can really say whether widespread adoption of EVs will cut them.

www.city-journal.org

 

[Swerd]

I’m half way through my first road trip with the EV. The trip is 300 miles one-way — all on the east coast — between Maryland and the Hudson River Valley area of New York.

So far, on-the-road recharging was no problem. The car’s Google Map navigation was excellent at telling me when & where to recharge.

I had fully charged up the car at home before leaving. I stopped about half-way in southern New Jersey to charge, as it was down to 28%. When I was back on the road, the computer said I had enough charge left to arrive, but with only 6% left. So I added another stop in northern NJ. Again, no major problems.

I did learn to pay attention to the power of the charging station. Stick to the Fast DC chargers with more than 70 kW. On both of my stops, l found 150 kW chargers. Look for Electrify America. They’re clustered at shopping malls and Walmarts.

 

[Swerd]

On Monday, I’ll drive home to Maryland, another 300 miles. I hope it all goes as well as the northbound leg.

 

[Mikado463]

and that's why I'm still not ready for an EV, the only thing I need to stop for in 300 miles is to hit the head. Perhaps in another 5-10 years ..........

 

[cpp]

and that's why I'm still not ready for an EV, the only thing I need to stop for in 300 miles is to hit the head. Perhaps in another 5-10 years ..........

Pretty much why I sold ours. When I go on a trip I want to get there, not spend a lot of unnecessary time at a charging station, doing basically nothing but waiting. An EV for around town, maybe in the future.

 

[j_garcia]

Most EVs now come with ~250-350 mi range. The Tesla model 3 just released a revised long range model with ~400 mi range, though with a higher cost. Lucid has a 500mi car, but you will pay a lot for that.

 

[Jeepers]

I’m half way through my first road trip with the EV. The trip is 300 miles one-way — all on the east coast — between Maryland and the Hudson River Valley area of New York.

So far, on-the-road recharging was no problem. The car’s Google Map navigation was excellent at telling me when & where to recharge.

I had fully charged up the car at home before leaving. I stopped about half-way in southern New Jersey to charge, as it was down to 28%. When I was back on the road, the computer said I had enough charge left to arrive, but with only 6% left. So I added another stop in northern NJ. Again, no major problems.

I did learn to pay attention to the power of the charging station. Stick to the Fast DC chargers with more than 70 kW. On both of my stops, l found 150 kW chargers. Look for Electrify America. They’re clustered at shopping malls and Walmarts.

How long did the 2 recharging stops take ?