why don’t you drive an EV?

i'll probably replace my car with an e-bike for day to day stuff and keep my 30yo jeep for stuff where cars can't go

i hate that they make these very good unique cars and then their trademark is the dumbest possible headlights

Monster post thanks Ed! Had no concept of the car hire firms being a sponge to mop the spills of poor design/planning/marketing.
Holy shit I am tired of the big, dumb personal fatbergs people drive these days. Always some absolute leviathan housing one tiny person, peering over the wheel trying to park at the corner grocery. I've always driven Alfas because I'm stupid - and even the newer models of theirs are obese blobs - but I would jump at a compact EV that actually fucking handles.

That Rivian should have a Mini badge on it and they'd walk out the door.

i need a new ev lease this november, i guess another 3-year would cover me until that rivian exists

the lad hit two big shots down the stretch and got a sick block at the buzzer to assassinate the pacers

wrong thread

ant edwards is an ev, its ok

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fiat_panda_policia_olbia.jpg

R3 is giving this

The major reason why I want one is because I'm sick and tired of dealing with oil and spark plugs and thermostats and all of the other things that gas engines have. I don't know where I'd plug it in, though--I don't think the overloaded park grid my RV is in can handle the electrical requirements (it can barely handle a microwave), and the closest commerical charger I know of (other than the five or so that are hidden behind the Outback in Crystal River) are 40 miles away.

yep that's the issue. here's a really good link that I just realized could add to the general conversation here:

(oh wait it's a post on linkedin, let me C&P)

I see major changes coming in the mobile off-grid power market.

Traditional RV hook-ups with good power will be harder to find.
-Land use trends and regulations are changing, making RV park development less popular.
-Aging electrical infrastructure coupled with higher demand is making the power supply in many parks unreliable.
-More RVers means more competition for hook-up spots.
-Increased demand for limited spots will result in increased prices.

There will be more restrictions on running gas generators.
-Look at California’s laws on generator usage.

Mobile off-grid power systems will have to work with or be designed around electric vehicles.
-If someone’s tow vehicle has hundreds of kWh stored, they are going to want to share it with their trailer.
-Topping off your RV at a supercharger might be as common as emptying your black tank.

RVers are going to demand more robust power system capabilities.

long story short, investing in some sort of expandable lithium-based off-grid solar system (no matter how small you start) is looking like a good idea. that's the key thing about lithium vs lead-acid, with lithium you can add new ones to old ones as long as they are the same brand and (mostly) model/size (there are some where you can mix sizes). you can't do that with traditional lead-acid batteries b/c of a chemistry thing called the Peukert Effect.

The major reason why I want one is because I'm sick and tired of dealing with oil and spark plugs and thermostats and all of the other things that gas engines have. I don't know where I'd plug it in, though--I don't think the overloaded park grid my RV is in can handle the electrical requirements (it can barely handle a microwave), and the closest commerical charger I know of (other than the five or so that are hidden behind the Outback in Crystal River) are 40 miles away.

One thing I do need to mention is that this is a full-time residential park--I've lived here for nine years, some people have been here for 20.

wonder how EVs would shake out if we were to be hit by The Big One solar flare coronal mass ejaculation whatever from the nyer article

a lot of ppl would go nyer nyer nyer

https://www.media.volvocars.com/global/en-gb/media/pressreleases/325193/volvo-cars-partners-with-and-invests-in-breathe-for-next-generation-fast-charging

a rare vote of confidence in the UK tech sector

There's a youtube guy I sometimes check in on who focuses entirely on the Hyundai Ioniq. I caught up with one of his most recent videos, and while he still likes his car after 2 years his videos really emphasize all sorts of bullshit big and small that I can't believe remain issues. For example, lack of a rear wiper (which is finally being remedied, but still, wtf?) or the fact that the car's map to charging stations is only updated every six months or so (by his estimate missing the addition of 22k+ new charger locations over those same six months), or the fact that the brake light goes on whenever you take your foot off the accelerator, which is by design, but which must be maddening to those around you. This stuff might be unique to this car, but, like, why are any of these seemingly easy to fix issues still even, well, issues? The downside of making cars but particularly EVs more like driving computers is that features seems to be pushed out before it's ready for prime time, with constantly promised fixes and patches always on the way, just like computers. But my computer doesn't cost $30k+.

the brake light going on sounds like that's by design - i assume he has regen braking turned on?

I think so, but I think it's related to an overcorrection to the old software, where people were basically able to coast to a complete stop without the brake lights ever coming on. The youtube guy thinks the light should be related to actual deceleration rather than the regen amount, but he understands why it is the way it is. Does regen foot-off-the-pedal braking light up the brake lights in all cars that use it?

US flailing around:

China's EV industry is causing US automakers to sweat. Why? Because it is cranking out high-quality, reasonably sized, affordable EVs. US automakers' bad decisions *once again* require the US gov't to shelter them from competition.https://t.co/vLdbj5YL7g

— David Roberts (@drvolts) March 18, 2024

Vs Australia thinking outside the box:

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) says that EV drivers in Australia could earn $12,000 a year by allowing the grid to draw from their batteries. Five years of that & you've basically paid off the car! https://t.co/2m08Wfac3r

— David Roberts (@drvolts) March 17, 2024

the fact that the brake light goes on whenever you take your foot off the accelerator, which is by design, but which must be maddening to those around you.

This is absolutely related to the regen. First off in a petrol car you can absolutely have brake lights go on without the brakes enshrining because there’s always a bit of free play in the brake pedal before the pads hit the rotors. Similarly you want the lights to go on before the regen brakes engage because it’s the safest way - much better than the lights going on after you start braking, you always want to do right side fail in cars.

Much more maddening in the Ioniq is that they clearly have to run out a big supply of flappy paddle steering wheels (for racing style manual gear changes - another stupid feature no drivers actually use). The flappy paddles are used to set the regen, and the regen needs to be reset every time you get in the car; there’s no memory of the last setting. I can’t think of a circumstance in an EV where you wouldn’t want maximum regen, because that’s energy going back into the battery extending your range.

I realize 1 pedal driving in an EV drive is not what most people are used to, but it takes about 5 minutes to get used to it (OK, maybe not the BMW i3 which drove like a dogem and took a lot of getting used to).

Now to the ARENA thing. Anyway that tweet is a bad reading on an even worse press release.

ARENA - Australian renewables energy agency - was founded to fund research into renewables and grid integration of renewables. It used to be staffed by some really knowledgeable and competent people but the last two liberal prime ministers eviscerated it by suggesting it should start funding gas exploration and other nonsense. It’s now staffed by children who are not ‘there for a long time, only for a good time’ basically just for the CV points on whatever political greasy pole they are climbing (there’s a very funny episode of utopia on this). There’s no institutional memory there - to the extent that I’ve been in meetings where they’ve prosposed ideas to fund and I’ve had to ask ‘how is this different from the thing you funded three years ago? Let me show you the report on your website’.

Anyway this person who made or could make $12k from V2G - I believe they were part of a trial funded by ARENA whose knowledge sharing wrapped up a few months ago. The press office is ignoring the conclusions of the report - which certainly don’t say that every driver can make 12k a year. The authors (I know one of them, Laura Jones at ANU) have all sat through at least the first half hour of Econ 101 and learnt about supply and demand.

Yes one person has extrapolated a few good wins putting their car on Amber (the infuriating Australian Griddy, remember them) and having the car play in the wholesale electricity market.

The problem here is that the commodity being traded is flexibility and lots of people are pulling supply into the market, GWh of new batteries going in all providing the same thing that car is - so maybe a few people get 2 or 3 years of good earning from v2g but then the market gets stabilized by the big batteries and the supernormal returns evaporate.

But to get that return you need to buy $5k worth of V2G charger in the garage for maybe another $3k in install costs. (The chargers in the trial were more like 10k but prices are coming down and should probably normalize around the 3k or so battery inverters cost). But remember also that V2G tech in the car adds cost there as well.

Then of course is the main problem with this. If you want to Hoover up all these money making opportunities your car has to be plugged in, at home.

Having run some of this style of ARENA pilot with home batteries; I can say that the median participant is a cashed-up retired engineer who probably makes it to the hardware store or the golf club a couple of times a week. Basically someone who has an expensive car but doesn’t drive a lot.

For most people, even though their car sits idle 97% of the time, it is not always at home - it’s a work or the shops or wherever. So you are likely to miss a substantial number of these money making opportunities by just getting on with your life.

Tesla are actually vehermently anti v2g - it adds costs as above and they think cars should be utilized more and I agree on that point. Now where we disagree is what they ought to be doing, Tesla say mowing down pedestrians being robot taxis, but let’s get real, put your car or Turo or similar and let someone else use it.

the brake light goes on whenever you take your foot off the accelerator

^^ preferable to a few models that screwed this up in the other direction, so that depending on how you've set the regenerative braking you might decelerate very rapidly without any brake light going on at all

xp is it also a concern that doing this constantly is going to affect the life of a battery ed?

OTM. That BMW i3 I mentioned had super aggressive regen and I always worried about someone running into the back of me.

Actually BMW just announced a new (I think axial flux) EV motor. The cool thing about it is how efficient it is but of course BMW are marketing it on it ability o coast. Yet another example of focussing on something they think people want but have no idea about and actually is less good for customers in the long run. Costing actually implies engine braking, you don’t generally wack the car in neutral and let the car roll down the highway.

I had a Mercedes plug in hybrid tester for a couple of days that coasted like this - basically no friction other than air resistance and bearings. It was super weird and felt ludicrously dangerous. An engine or motor would bring a car to a stop if you take your foot off by this felt like it would just roll till it hit something.

There’s a dead person switch angle in this as well.

it is an interesting problem that one pedal driving is breaking when off the accelerator but its breaking slower than people usually do when using the break pedal, its signaling something slightly different, guess people will just have to get used to it, or maybe they should make another light

i've long been of the opinion that cars need more lights. at the very least hazards need their own color - in many situations it takes too long to figure out if somebody's got their hazards on or just left their turn signal on

reasonable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1lZ9n2bxWA

^^ That dude -- IMO one of the most weirdly, ludicrously charming and informative people on YouTube -- has a whole video about the regen / brake light issue on his car! Love that dude. He has genuinely transformed the way I use my microwave and dishwasher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0YW7x9U5TQ

yeah hes one of the absolute best youtubers

did not realize he had weighed in on break light discourse, will review and report back

i like him on bsky. he is angry in the most charming way.

i bought my fancy xmas lights based on a tip from him and they are delightful.

It's kind of weird to dunk on the US for govt support of industry in the face of competition from a country that has significantly greater government support of industry xp

wow i am obsessed with this channel. checking all my smoke detectors now to make sure they’re photoelectrix

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ev-maker-lucid-group-rallies-on-heavy-volume-after-1b-private-placement-22de7d44

would be funny if lucid ends up being successful as they are >60% owned by the saudis. i hate it when the saudis bonesaw a dissident journalist but i love it when they provide me with a luxury EV

life is full of beautiful contradictions

I saw a used 2013 VW E-Golf that could be $1000 after used EV rebate/incentives. I wonder if the longevity of EVs and oversupply might eventually lead to people getting paid to own one.

in soviet america, car pays you

Not sure I'd trust the battery in that thing....

If you don’t need to go far every day and can charge at home an e-golf for 1000 bucks will be fine. Test it and if it’s got more than enough range for an average day. They weren’t great just a compliance car, but it’s also unlikely to have done big miles or have been flogged so the normal car stuff won’t have a lot of wear on it.

For 1000 bucks if you get a year out of it great, you’d loose way more in depreciation on anything more expensive. Think of it as a rental of indeterminate length. When it craps out, costs too much to fix, or won’t pass the roadworthy, flog it to someone for 500 or scrap it. This is the way of $1000 cars, ICE or EV.

The bonus with this is it isn’t actually a 1000 dollar car, it’s a more expensive car you’re getting an incentive on.

If you get an e-Golf, try to buy one of the later ones which had enhanced battery packs with longer range, I recall 2017 was the first year for these. Average range went from about 85 miles to 125 miles per recharge (based on US EPA test methods). I drive the gasoline/petrol version of this car, and other than long range the e-Golf has all the goodness found in other Golfs, like loads of room for people and stuff despite the small outside dimensions; quiet, and comfortable to drive. I like how "normal" it is compared to some EVs.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01303-z

Study on EV ownership in Norway, which reveals that ...

Intriguingly, more than half of the households owning battery electric vehicles had three or more of these vehicles in 2022, indicating an unbalanced ownership distribution concentrating on the wealthiest.

Wait, wut? That can't be right, can it? The wealthiest owning EVs, that I can buy (if you pardon the wordplay), but three or more? Maybe something was lost in translation.

half of wealthy ev owning households had three of them, not unusual for a rich couple to have an extra car or maybe they have children who drive the third one, it does seem a little high but maybe thats down to the vagaries of ev ownership, theyve got an extra lying around in case one is out of batteries

That’s wild, I can’t think of any family I know who owns three cars. Are there more multigenerational households in Norway?

there prob are i think that sort of thing is more common in europe, maybe theres some other class of car norwegians are more likely to have like a city car or a truck of excursions to the arctic, maybe they bought early evs that no one wants now so they just kept them idk

fwiw

Most U.S. households (91.7%) had at least one vehicle in 2022 (the latest data available), and 22.1% of households had three or more vehicles.

without clicking but hardly covers eg ski plow or bikes or whatever

its passenger battery electric vehicles