Large electric motors, batteries and vehicles

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That works for the current number of EV's.
When everyone has to own one -- like in Washington where they will be required in near future -- there won't be enough.
Already the few I see are FULL every time I look - it will only get worse.

Both the number of stations and the number of EVs are increasing at the same rate. It's the only way that makes any sense. Those doing the work can also see what's "full".

Are we bringing back parking meter like structures with a plug at every spot on the side of every street?
That's what is needed.....

I heard a CEO jokingly offering just that. So it's up to city managers and building owner to choose what's best for their clients and citizens.

... EV as being forced upon them.

When I get a coupon for a free Big Mac, I am not "forced" to buy it. If you want to start a another thread specifically on coupons and "wielders of the force", I'm ok with that! :)

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Ford's Lightning factory from a drone's POV:

https://motorsport.tv/embed/oyGe4CXB-drone-flythrough-of-the-2022-ford-f-150-lightning-assembly-line
 
Chevy Spark EV Replacement Batteries Discontinued
  • Owners who experience a battery pack failure and are still covered by warranty will be offered a buyback from GM.
  • While owners of vehicles still under warranty will be covered, those who are not covered will have no way of repairing their vehicle if the lithium-ion battery fails
I'm surprised anybody even buys GM products anymore. :dontknow:

I find this all disheartening. A 2014 vehicle, no longer supported by replacement parts in 2022? That's an 8 year old car.
 
Chevy Spark EV Replacement Batteries Discontinued
  • Owners who experience a battery pack failure and are still covered by warranty will be offered a buyback from GM.
  • While owners of vehicles still under warranty will be covered, those who are not covered will have no way of repairing their vehicle if the lithium-ion battery fails
I'm surprised anybody even buys GM products anymore. :dontknow:

I find this all disheartening. A 2014 vehicle, no longer supported by replacement parts in 2022? That's an 8 year old car.
It appears that the site "GM Authority" is not an authority in regard to GM :goodjob::angiefavorite:

GM To Offer Replacement Chevy Spark EV Batteries After All (gmauthority.com)
 
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna21683
Not outlawing ICE vehicles, stopping sales of new ICE vehicles model year 2030 and newer. You can still own an ICE and still buy a used one.


The current effort is part of a $16.9 billion transportation package called “Move Ahead Washington.” The bill covers lots of transportation issues and includes a section which reads thusly:

Sec. 415. (1) A target is established for the state that all publicly owned and privately owned passenger and light duty vehicles of model year 2030 or later that are sold, purchased, or registered in Washington state be electric vehicles.
(2) On or before December 31, 2023, the interagency electric vehicle coordinating council created in section 428 of this act shall complete a scoping plan for achieving the 2030 target.


So it's for passenger cars and light duty vehicles. If you need a heavy duty pickup you can still get one.
 
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One of the problems with fuel cells is storing the hydrogen aboard the vehicle. H2 capable pressure tanks are a far cry from the mild-steel pressure tanks such as those used for propane BBQs and such.

Even a fairly heavy steel tank, such as those used for scuba diving will allow H2 to "seep" through the crystal structure of the metal.
As I understand it H2 pressure tanks require expensive linings of glass or ceramic, possibly some types of super-dense plastics might work.

Then there's the fact that such tanks need to be tested and qualified on a regular basis and you just know they would "Fail" such testes thus requiring a costly replacement on a regular basis.

On the other hand the batteries used in EVs weigh between 400lbs to as much as 1,000lbs making an EV 100's of pounds heavier than a comparable ICE vehicle even though the motor/transmission on the EV weighs less than the ICE motor/transmission.
Imagine if the fuel tank on your Ford or Chevy or Toyota weighed 600lbs empty!
 
... I’m kind of surprised it has lasted this long.

Me too. I don't come to TRF for that kind of thing so I'm not even looking at what's going on in there. I'm just a guy who long ago happened to work with lithium before it was ever cool. So I have to make it clear I'm only a puppet to cool tech.

On the other hand the batteries used in EVs weigh between 400lbs to as much as 1,000lbs making an EV 100's of pounds heavier than a comparable ICE vehicle even though the motor/transmission on the EV weighs less than the ICE motor/transmission.
Imagine if the fuel tank on your Ford or Chevy or Toyota weighed 600lbs empty!

Batteries are heavy, but as long as they can carry their own weight, and they apparently do it quite nicely now, their weight doesn't seem to matter. Only for long range aircraft it seems. (Although I did put out the idea of a 2-stage aircraft somewhere in here. Not sure how widespread that concept is yet, who else thought of it, or if anyone is seriously working on such thing. Beside Richard Branson, sort of.)

Something for bike fans:
 
Greater weight does come into play when considering handling, braking and the amount of kinetic energy during an impact.
Also tires, which already don't last as long as those from the '70s/'80s, will last even less when the vehicles weighs more.

Somehow, someway by somebody, there needs to be a technological breakthrough that allows for lighter weight batteries that have the same, or better ,amp hour capacity density as the current, see whet I did there, LiPo's have.

Then again, if wishes were horses.
 
Somehow, someway by somebody, there needs to be a technological breakthrough that allows for lighter weight batteries that have the same, or better ,amp hour capacity density as the current, see whet I did there, LiPo's have.
Solid state batteries promise higher energy density. I imagine they'll get here eventually, although I'm not going try to guess when. QuantumScape seems to be making progress.
 
Greater weight does come into play when considering handling, braking and the amount of kinetic energy during an impact.
Also tires, which already don't last as long as those from the '70s/'80s, will last even less when the vehicles weighs more.

Somehow, someway by somebody, there needs to be a technological breakthrough that allows for lighter weight batteries that have the same, or better ,amp hour capacity density as the current, see whet I did there, LiPo's have.
...

If all the weight is near the center and close to the ground, that means highly responsive turns where you stay level. That also helps handling quite a bit. Because of this, Teslas are always topping safety ratings.

I'm not expecting lighter batteries, ever. Collisions are reduced with the different levels of "autopilot" (advanced cruise control, with cameras all around the car that act quicker than a human driver).

EVs use tires with a higher weight rating. So it's the same life span as usual.

Solid state batteries promise higher energy density. I imagine they'll get here eventually, although I'm not going try to guess when. QuantumScape seems to be making progress.

Toyota has prototype cars. The holdup is the number of charging cycles they can take before degrading. Still too low, but promising.

Mr. Fusion anyone?

I follow fusion like I follow the James Webb Space Telescope. There's always some progress, but they don't have as many pretty pictures as astronomers do.

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Found a few numbers I was wondering about:

"Electrify America Registers 1.45 million Customer Electric Vehicle Charging Sessions in 2021 Compared to 268,000 Sessions in 2020."

"Electrify America has 800 EV charging stations and about 3,500 individual chargers open or with construction completed."

"Electrify America expects to have more than 1,800 total charging stations with over 10,000 chargers in the United States and Canada by 2026."

https://media.electrifyamerica.com/en-us/releases/181
 
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One of the problems with fuel cells is storing the hydrogen aboard the vehicle. H2 capable pressure tanks are a far cry from the mild-steel pressure tanks such as those used for propane BBQs and such.

Even a fairly heavy steel tank, such as those used for scuba diving will allow H2 to "seep" through the crystal structure of the metal.
As I understand it H2 pressure tanks require expensive linings of glass or ceramic, possibly some types of super-dense plastics might work.

Then there's the fact that such tanks need to be tested and qualified on a regular basis and you just know they would "Fail" such testes thus requiring a costly replacement on a regular basis.

On the other hand the batteries used in EVs weigh between 400lbs to as much as 1,000lbs making an EV 100's of pounds heavier than a comparable ICE vehicle even though the motor/transmission on the EV weighs less than the ICE motor/transmission.
Imagine if the fuel tank on your Ford or Chevy or Toyota weighed 600lbs empty!
Because of EV energy efficiency overall, the battery weight isn't an issue and probably contributes to vehicle safety and handling as others have noted.
 
Greater weight does come into play when considering handling, braking and the amount of kinetic energy during an impact.
Also tires, which already don't last as long as those from the '70s/'80s, will last even less when the vehicles weighs more.

Somehow, someway by somebody, there needs to be a technological breakthrough that allows for lighter weight batteries that have the same, or better ,amp hour capacity density as the current, see whet I did there, LiPo's have.

Then again, if wishes were horses.
In theory you can really burn up tires on an EV if you enjoy launching it or throwing it around corners on a regular basis. In my case, I had about 47,000 miles on the original tires when I sold my M3.
 
Can verify. My Leaf corners really nicely.

It's the same effect as a spinning with arms extended vs not extended. No EV I've ridden (Leaf, Focus, Ioniq, Model 3) ever "felt heavy". Quite the opposite, they feel light from a stop and they turn like a dream. Most of the breaking is magnetic so there again, weight isn't an issue. Well certainly no more than with a truck or bigger car.

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Formula E is on their 3rd generation of specs:

  • Fastest Formula E car yet with a top speed over 322 kph / 200 mph
  • Most efficient formula racing car ever with more than 40% of the energy used within a race produced by regenerative braking
  • Around 95% power efficiency from an electric motor delivering up to 350kW of power (470BHP), compared to approximately 40% for an internal combustion engine
  • First-ever formula car with both front and rear powertrains. A new front powertrain adds 250kW to the 350kW at the rear, more than doubling the regenerative capability of the current Gen2 to a total of 600kW
  • Ultra-high speed charging capability of 600kW for additional energy during a race, almost double the power of the most advanced commercial chargers in the world
  • The first formula car that will not feature rear hydraulic brakes with the addition of the front powertrain and its regenerative capability

https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/news/2022/april/gen3-facts
 
It's the same effect as a spinning with arms extended vs not extended. No EV I've ridden (Leaf, Focus, Ioniq, Model 3) ever "felt heavy". Quite the opposite, they feel light from a stop and they turn like a dream. Most of the breaking is magnetic so there again, weight isn't an issue. Well certainly no more than with a truck or bigger car.
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but I occasionally tailgate muscle cars off of the line if they're being jackasses at a red light. Once they hit 40, I start to fall back in the Leaf. The very first feature on the standard test drive for the Leaf at the dealership I went to was a moderately steep hill. The salesman just told me to floor it up the hill. I was pretty much sold at that point.

I think an underappreciated part of electric vehicles is the single-speed transmission. When you step on the gas, there's no lag for downshifting or spooling up turbos, just instant acceleration.
 
I think current F1 engines now hit nearly 50% efficiency.

I'm just quoting from the FIA. Quotation "marks" look bad on a bullet point list.

I think an underappreciated part of electric vehicles is the single-speed transmission. When you step on the gas, there's no lag for downshifting or spooling up turbos, just instant acceleration.

Yep. Once I got pampered with silence and no shifting, I was hooked. Trying out a Leaf from Turo for a weekend helped a lot.

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"Ford’s Mustang Mach-E receives a boost in braked towing capacity to 1,000 kg for extended range models in both rear wheel drive and all-wheel drive"

https://media.ford.com/content/ford...ng-capacity-boost-as-fords-all-electric-.html
 
I think an underappreciated part of electric vehicles is the single-speed transmission. When you step on the gas, there's no lag for downshifting or spooling up turbos, just instant acceleration.
In 1919 General Electric built a series of electric locomotives for the Milwaukee Road known among rail fans as the "Bi-Polars".
Not only did these locomotives not have a transmission, but they also didn't even any gearing between the motor armature and the axle and that's because the axle was the armature.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Road_class_EP-2#:~:text=The Milwaukee Road 's class EP-2 comprised five,they epitomized the modernization of the Milwaukee Road.
 
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