Electric Car Battery Retention

[VicParticipant @vic]

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

For about 10 years I was doing about 20-25k per year and calculated that I spent an entire day each year just refuelling and waiting in the queue to pay (before pay at pump). Would have saved time with an electric but having to unwind the cable and plug in would still take a minute every few days so still an hour or two a year. Not least of the advantages when work form home some days was allowed was the time saved scraping the windscreen. Yes electric cars can save that chore with preheat and de-ice but so can IC cars if you are spending that kind of money.

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

I had a temperature problem with a lithium battery on a much smaller scale recently. I usually charge my Samsung smart phone using an old USB charger in my bedroom and for some reason changed the charger to use one of the fast chargers instead. The phone refused to charge saying it was too cold (about 12C at the time), the phone,a Galaxy A14 has a 5000mA battery and is about 2 years old, bought because I was afraid my ancient Nokia 1100 was about to become a small brick, but it is still getting signals.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

[FulmenParticipant @fulmen]

I simply did the math and it said electric cost 1/5 to 1/10 of petrol. Combined with no VAT and usually free passing on toll roads it’s a real money saver. And it’s comfortable to drive. As long as it’s cheaper and I don’t require long road trips I’ll stick with BEV.

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

[Bo’sunParticipant @bosun58570]

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

No thanks.  I remember the Government telling us “diesel was good”.  Look how well that worked out?

Did they?  Diesels, at the time had surpassed the economy of petrol engines.  The emissions (acid rain) was not considered at the time – typical short-sightedness of most governments.

This is a global issue, not just for a parochial UK.  Do open your eyes and look a bit wider, rather than operating with tunnel vision.  China is undoubtedly on the right course – just look at their recent advancements in reducing use of fossils in their transport and electrical grid.  Remember that manufacturing was moved, by the west, to China to reduce labour costs and the transfer of pollution from our own backyards.

Your choice, but I do think that anyone who believes that continuing burning fossils for space heating or transport are either short sighted, blind or just don’t care about the climatic changes which are seriously affecting parts of the planet.

But just carry on in your own small unthoughtful manner.  2030 cannot come quickly enough, from the point of banning the sale of new ICE cars.  I’ve known, for years, of the need to change, and have had the opportunity to change, so I’ve changed.  The 100% fossil burning cars will start to reduce rapidly from 2030 as only secondhand options will be available for that sector.  Fuel prices will increase and more towns will refuse to allow entry to fossil burners (or make it increasingly prohibitive) for public health reasons.

Secondhand fossil burning cars may well become more expensive in the short term, after 2030, but the increasing popularity of the then cheaper EVs will soon persuade most to leave behind the dinosaurs.🙂

[jimmy bParticipant @jimmyb]

Enjoy your cheap EV while you can.

Tax will be raised on these “green” things. Best not to think about where the battery and motor raw materials come from.

 

Jimb

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

For what it’s worth … here is Which? on the topic:

https://apple.news/AWFk9hHxATtWNYX0xW9hi7Q

MichaelG.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

BEV is great IF you don’t reguarly make long time constrained journeys AND have a suitable means of charging at home for low cost. Unfortunatly there are a lot of people don’t fit in that space.

That includes me on both count’s. So I bought a plug-in hybrid EV. Even then costs are incresing. From theis year road tax is no longer zero rate for my car. The cost of recharging at a motorway services is now much more expensive than using petrol.
My work commute is “free” as I can charge at work and it’s within the battery range.

Robert.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

Yep EVs are great commuter cars. Take them away for a weeks holiday and the wallet starts to sweat a bit.

There is apparently a huge space under what was the bonnet, but my lads Megane has that full of motor and control boxes no frunk to speak of.

Accelerate faster than IC, what is the point of that? All I want is something with long range that will tow, but long range batteries only come with bigger motors that suck more and towing means you have to uncouple to recharge.

Back to the OP most batteries seem to hold up well, the original Leaf’s are according to Autotrader ads are mostly decent considering their age. I’m betting the lady uses prewarm + defrost and some Renault bev do not have heat pumps in them.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

EVs are only cheap to charge at the moment because they’re not being taxed as road fuel. Anyone who thinks that will continue when they are the majority of vehicles is deluded. Or an idiot. Or, more likely, a deluded idiot. Remember when diesel was cheaper than petrol?

I like the way EVs drive and now that I only do a few 250+ mile round trips every year, my usage is well suited to one. But I don’t need a big car which the more popular ones seem to be and I can’t afford to buy one. When this terraced house was built in 1913, for some reason they considered rear gardens(that have no vehicular access) to be more important than off street parking. My car is currently parked nearly 1/2mile away as it was the closest space I could find when I got home at 22:00 last night. That’s hardly unusual, which makes reliable charging a pipe dream.

EVs are being touted as a complete, simple solution to a complex problem, and as we claim to be engineers that should immediately set off alarms: it’s three lies for the price of one! Add politicians thinking that saying you’re going to do something means the problem is solved, and the outlook gets even worse.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

I run a Euro 6 compliant petrol. Now that is cleaner than engines produced twenty years ago, let alone more!

So I am an oddball.

The long journeys that i undertake will tax the range of any EV; especially in winter, and there is no facility to recharge at any of the destinations. So the journey time would be extended by nearly an hour, in each direction, en route.

There is a lot of work to be done, to solve all the problems of electric vehicles and machines. Things are improving, but utopia still eludes us.

How do you recharge the battery of an electric construction machine, across a mile of muddy ground!

Take a diesel generator to it?

Hydrogen would be a clean alternative, but very limited infrastructure. And unless produced using nuclear or hydroelectric power, what is the clean method of production?

And whilst “clean” in operation, has anyone looked at the energy used and emissions produced in manufacturing the vehicle, especially the battery containing rare metals.

BEV HGVs will suffer a major loss of payload (A bus running locally can balance the weight saving of fuel tank, engine and transmission against the weight of battery and control systems) more difficult to do for a trunker, liable to be away from home for days on end.

To reach a sensible conclusion, we all need to stand a little further back to consider the overall picture.

(There was a time when asbestos was thought to be a good material!)

Howard

[howardbParticipant @howardb]

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

The question of EHGV’s is interesting. The Services nearest to me serve a traffic off th end of a motorway and a A road that is a major truck route. There is no truck parking nearby They currently don’t have enough parking for trucks despite having given over most of the parking to trucks. There are only 9 car EV chargers and they are often occupied.
How are they going to provde power to charge 50  plus trucks at once? And they will need charging almost every day.

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

[Bo’sunParticipant @bosun58570]

Some good points from Howard Lewis.  Not to mention that a large number of people can’t charge at home, and disabled drivers that may have to wrangle their on-board charging cable in the rain.  How many petrol stations aren’t under cover?

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

With our own generating and grid system already unable to supply the needs of the country, would anybody care to tell me WHERE all the electricity is going to come from ? France, Belgium, Norway ? With the 1.5 million new homes that are to be built, many on air source heating, and simple observation of no significant building of power generation that does not rely on wind or sunlight, somethings got to give.

I live in a rural village of some 300 souls, we only have 2 phases, anybodies guess as to what happened to the 3rd one. With many new homes built the local system must be near it’s limit.

It would only need a prolonged cold spell across europe for many to find out that there is a function in their smart meter that nobody says much about.

If your on fibre communication,heavily pushed by many providers now, then your telephone will not work EVEN for 999 calls if there is a power cut. It might be time to think about a generator or at least a UPS for your phone.

Interesting times ! Noel.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Get that Dynomo made Noel, then you can use a steam engien to run it and charge your phone.

My brother up in Scotland was without power for 4 days due to the recent wind, ran one of the cars to charge his mobile.

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

I don’t know if I am the only one that thinks this way, but, all these type of discussions are dependent on believing the facts and what is the reputation of the People giving out the supposed facts. I suspect that sometimes there is an hidden agenda behind things and We are being deliberately deceived and being pushed down the wrong path. Separating the wheat from the chaff is nothing like separating the bull from bs.

[Author]

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