Large electric motors, batteries and vehicles

Funkworks

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Greg Furtman

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The Mach-E is a maybe. I test drove one and was ok in the front seat. The Ford Lightning is mostr comfortable. Neither is under 40K. The point I was making is that the Sub 40s are pretty tight in the front seat and forget the back seat.

Mach-E - 43K starting
Ford Lightning - 60K starting

The Ford Lightning it comfortable in the front and back seats. I did not test the back seat because I was along at the time. I did sit in it and it was a little tight. I am 75 inches tall but I am also older. Above 50 makes it tough to climb out of low cars.
@cwbullet, when the Chevy Equinox EV comes out in your area check it out. I'd appreciate your opinion. It stars out at $30k.

 

cwbullet

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cwbullet

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Ford just made a deal to use Tesla's charging network. So within the next few years, I understand all Ford EVs will be chargeable on the most reliable network out there, and the most convenient to use, and having the best locations.


That is good news. I am actually looking hard at the lightning. I like being able to haul my rockets in the back.
 

Funkworks

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That is good news. I am actually looking hard at the lightning. I like being able to haul my rockets in the back.
The frunk could be used for the more detailed and fragile scale rockets. And/or food.

My rocket collection wouldn't fill the back but at least I could plug in my laptop. The Lightning is still one of very few EVs that can be used as a "generator" (V2L = vehicle-to-load) to run tools and such. I've seen them at car shows and they have outlets in the frunk and back. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is also V2L capable and probably more my size/type.

To see if there are roadside chargers between where you live and where you launch, you can check the websites or apps anytime. Level 2 (Tesla's "Destination chargers") are for charging overnight, and Level 3 (Tesla's "Superchergers") are for charging in 30 min or so.

 

Funkworks

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Since there isn't a solar panel thread anymore
This one is still there:


Solar is stronger than ever worldwide.
 

Greg Furtman

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This one is still there:


Solar is stronger than ever worldwide.
@Funkworks What was the one that got shut down?
 

Funkworks

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BEC

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I’ll have to keep my eyes out for that one.

I’ve seen ONE Lucid Air locally and a few Rivian R1Ts (as well as the Rivian-built Amazon vans) as well as the occasional id.4, EV6, and Niro EV in addition to the usual Nissan Leaf (both generations) and Teslas of all four types.
 

boatgeek

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I’ll have to keep my eyes out for that one.

I’ve seen ONE Lucid Air locally and a few Rivian R1Ts (as well as the Rivian-built Amazon vans) as well as the occasional id.4, EV6, and Niro EV in addition to the usual Nissan Leaf (both generations) and Teslas of all four types.
There’s a Polestar or two rattling around our neighborhood as well as a few Rivians of different models. Lots of the various Kia and Hyundai EVs as well.
 

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Oh.... It think I have seen a couple of Polestars now that you mention it. I have seen an Ioniq or two as well. There are also a few Mach-Es including one owned by the daughter of a family friend). I don't know if I've seen any F150 Lightnings....maybe one. And of course once in awhile I see another Soul EV. There used to be another white over blue one in our area but I haven't seen that one in a long time.
 

Funkworks

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I’ve seen most of them in car shows, but my favorite street sightings have been:

Porsche Taycan
Ioniq 6
Wrangler 4xe
Ford eTransit
Ford F150 Lightning
Toyota BZ4x
In a car lot: BMW i8
 

Funkworks

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Not sure where to put this but it is quite interesting.
They start mentioning solutions including batteries around 9 min in. Whew. I was getting stressed at how they weren’t at first.
 

Funkworks

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I sure hope Canoo is a success. This is an EV I would like to have.


I missed this story from a few months ago, but I'd say it hinges on DoD testing and it looks good so far.

 
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Not sure where to put this but it is quite interesting.


Yes, some interesting points are brought up in that video.
Do you guys have smart meters installed in your homes?
The utility recently replaced my electric meter with a smart meter.
Gives a detailed description of energy usage down to 15 minute intervals.
Just need to create an account and log in to the utility portal to see the details of your energy usage.
Allows you to tailor your energy usage and time shift them to take advantage of off peak rates.
Also allows solar roof top owners to see their energy consumption vs energy production graphically.
Re: dispatchable vs non dispatchable energy production.
Just read an article where they are proposing that the 70 to 80 yr old electric generators in a power plant here be replaced with smaller more efficient generators running on sustainable fuels. This would be bio diesel or hydrogen. These generators would be quick start, not like the old ones that take hours to come up to full production. So these would be "firm backup" to solar and wind generation.
Another article about a decommisioned coal plant says they are thinking about using the acreage to construct a battery farm.
Cool stuff.
 

Funkworks

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Yes, some interesting points are brought up in that video.
Do you guys have smart meters installed in your homes?
The utility recently replaced my electric meter with a smart meter.
Gives a detailed description of energy usage down to 15 minute intervals.
Just need to create an account and log in to the utility portal to see the details of your energy usage.
Allows you to tailor your energy usage and time shift them to take advantage of off peak rates.
Also allows solar roof top owners to see their energy consumption vs energy production graphically.
Re: dispatchable vs non dispatchable energy production.
Just read an article where they are proposing that the 70 to 80 yr old electric generators in a power plant here be replaced with smaller more efficient generators running on sustainable fuels. This would be bio diesel or hydrogen. These generators would be quick start, not like the old ones that take hours to come up to full production. So these would be "firm backup" to solar and wind generation.
Another article about a decommisioned coal plant says they are thinking about using the acreage to construct a battery farm.
Cool stuff.
The only meter I have is a handlheld one I can move from one appliance to another. Got it to measure energy and cost per overnight car charging.

This is a good article about how the IRA has boosted the clean energy sector. From batteries to solar to wind to EVs.

Me, I stay away from posting IRA articles because it risks attracting all-knowing politicians who know much more than half-witted scientists and/or engineers like I sometimes try to be. A thread on the IRA could be interesing but I'm not the one to start an IRA thread. Sticking to non-political techs is what I do because not a single science class I ever had ever mentionned politics, so tech isn't political and that's where I stand.

Hey look! A bird! I mean ... um ... I tried an electric scooter once. Fun but I can't justify buying one.


 
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The only meter I have is a handlheld one I can move from one appliance to another. Got it to measure energy and cost per overnight car charging.
Doesn't your home have an electric meter? The power utility needs to know how much electricity you're using every month before they can send you a bill, right?
Took a look at my energy usage with the new smart meter. Interesting how energy usage (i.e. A/C) directly corresponds with the ambient temperature.
2023-06-05 (2).png
 

Greg Furtman

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Doesn't your home have an electric meter? The power utility needs to know how much electricity you're using every month before they can send you a bill, right?
Took a look at my energy usage with the new smart meter. Interesting how energy usage (i.e. A/C) directly corresponds with the ambient temperature.
View attachment 584591
My power company installed one several years ago but I've never gone online to see my usage. I'll have to check is out and see what data it gives me. :)
 

boatgeek

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Yes, some interesting points are brought up in that video.
Do you guys have smart meters installed in your homes?
The utility recently replaced my electric meter with a smart meter.
Gives a detailed description of energy usage down to 15 minute intervals.
Just need to create an account and log in to the utility portal to see the details of your energy usage.
Allows you to tailor your energy usage and time shift them to take advantage of off peak rates.
Also allows solar roof top owners to see their energy consumption vs energy production graphically.
Re: dispatchable vs non dispatchable energy production.
Just read an article where they are proposing that the 70 to 80 yr old electric generators in a power plant here be replaced with smaller more efficient generators running on sustainable fuels. This would be bio diesel or hydrogen. These generators would be quick start, not like the old ones that take hours to come up to full production. So these would be "firm backup" to solar and wind generation.
Another article about a decommisioned coal plant says they are thinking about using the acreage to construct a battery farm.
Cool stuff.
We only have a standard meter, read once a month. The utility upgraded the meters to be read centrally instead of an actual meter reader walking around, so it's possible that they're smart meters in disguise. 🥸 My understanding is that the smart meters are primarily used where you have different electricity pricing at different times of day. I would guess that that happens when you have the grid is close enough to capacity that the utility wants to shift demand to nighttime hours.
 

Funkworks

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Doesn't your home have an electric meter? The power utility needs to know how much electricity you're using every month before they can send you a bill, right?
Took a look at my energy usage with the new smart meter. Interesting how energy usage (i.e. A/C) directly corresponds with the ambient temperature.
Probably, I just look at the bill 😆. All the data's in there, and I think I have an app and a website. I think I know a lot about electro-stuff, but I let electricians do their thing. No use for me out there.

⚡🔋♻️⚡🔋♻️⚡🔋♻️

Electric Go-Kart:

 

BEC

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We only have a standard meter, read once a month. The utility upgraded the meters to be read centrally instead of an actual meter reader walking around, so it's possible that they're smart meters in disguise. 🥸 My understanding is that the smart meters are primarily used where you have different electricity pricing at different times of day. I would guess that that happens when you have the grid is close enough to capacity that the utility wants to shift demand to nighttime hours.
And I'll add that our local big electric utility, Puget Sound Energy, some years ago did have varying prices for electricity at different times of the day but I have no idea how they ascertained hour-by-hour, customer-by-customer usage....and after not too terribly long, they went back to just pricing by total amount used. Even so, I still set my Kia Soul EV to charge in the middle of the night (well, charge starts at 12:30 AM if needed) but that's a function in the car.
 

boatgeek

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And I'll add that our local big electric utility, Puget Sound Energy, some years ago did have varying prices for electricity at different times of the day but I have no idea how they ascertained hour-by-hour, customer-by-customer usage....and after not too terribly long, they went back to just pricing by total amount used. Even so, I still set my Kia Soul EV to charge in the middle of the night (well, charge starts at 12:30 AM if needed) but that's a function in the car.
The inverters in the individual solar panels in our array report power output per panel in 15-minute increments. With reasonably smart meters, you should be able to have the same functionality at whatever time steps you wanted for the meters on the network. You'd probably want to have some functionality to have meters send in their data at some time step so you don't have a million or five data points transmitted exactly at the top of the hour.

In retrospect the smart meters reporting back to the utility may have been installed to save the cost of meter readers checking every meter every month*. The ability to record usage at different times of day may just be a side benefit. I'm guessing that PSE found that the added costs of time-of-day metering weren't worth whatever savings they gained.

* In Seattle, every other month. Since electricity, water, sewer, and garbage are all city utilities, we get bills for the electricity and the other utilities in alternating months. It saves the city half of the billing costs.
 
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