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Random thought on EV's after seeing all these states banning ICE vehicles in a few years.
Has the concept of an onboard ICE generator and EV been explored? Not an ICE engine that powers the vehicle, but is sole purpose to generate electricity for the battery.
This generator can be 1, 2, 3 cylinder gas, diesel, kerosene, natural gas, or propane, multi fuel? It only runs in the most efficient RPM and load. It can run when you aren't driving it, or not at all. You can also charge the vehicle the standard way from the wall power.
Is this not practical? Is it just easier to run a plug in hybrid? Are they even pushing hybrids anymore?
Again**, that's literally describing the (now deceased) Chevy Volt. The ICE charges the batteries which run the motors. It's only able to contribute direct torque to the drive train under certain specific conditions (i.e. with battery reserve capacity fully depleted and running over 70 mph).
Reference: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/c...t-a-generator/
That link was from clear back in 2010. The second generation models made even further improvements IIRC.
**Joe brought up similar question in the pic thread just recently
Location: Detroit (the part with no rules or laws)
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Ah, GM(or someone / something) killed it. I suppose that's why it didn't pop up when doing some research on such vehicles 10 minutes ago.
But it's still attached to the wheels:
But GM left some information out. Markus writes that both the electric motors and gas engine connect to a planetary gearset, which in turn drives the wheels. Most of the time, the electric motors turn the gearset.
Ah, GM(or someone / something) killed it. I suppose that's why it didn't pop up when doing some research on such vehicles 10 minutes ago.
I truly don't understand the forced EV movement.
Yeah, that quote by them was poorly stated. The car is clearly an all electric car, running off of electric motors via power from the battery. The only time the ICE is able to contribute torque to the gear set is when the battery reserve has been depleted and current consumption rate exceeds the recharge rate from the ICE, which basically only occurs at sustained speeds over 70 mph.
It is inexplicable. Almost as if they are trying to cripple the country. We just had a week of high temps here in CA and it was all they could do to minimize rolling blackouts because they could not keep up with demand (mostly due to AC usage). They specifically encouraged people to avoid charging their EVs until after 10PM to conserve power for the increased AC usage. How on earth would they ever be able handle the load if the vast majority of people were driving EVs ? Charging an EV takes a whole lot more juice than running your AC. To make matters even worse, the new building codes prohibit installing gas appliances in new homes; everything has to be electric. It's straight up insanity.
Location: Detroit (the part with no rules or laws)
Posts: 5,680
Total Cats: 804
A simple solution would be the addition of Nuclear power plants. Maybe not on a fault line in California, but somewhere stable. I know people on this forum *coughJOEPcough* have discussed this multiple times.
And speaking of rare earth materials, how much lithium, nickel, and cobalt does the earth have? Has anyone done that study? With how we've become such a throw away society, nobody is keeping their EVs for more than 10 years. How is this sustainable?
To be fair, i wouldn't mind owning an EV for a DD. Something for my 60-100 mile a day commute and travel. Or even a plug in hybrid would be good. My energy costs are about $.18 kw/hr so it would easily cut what i spend on gas in half. I think it's cheaper at night too.
But on the other hand. No one had to convince anyone to get into cars when they first came out. People made the choice without mandates. For whatever reason electric cars are being pushed harder than ever. All they need to do is actually make the alternative better than what we have now and people will buy it.
^^ That's actually pretty good for them to still have nearly 90% capacity after 180ish thousand miles of use. The Nissan Leaf absolutely pales in comparison.
One thing to remember is that Tesla artificially under-rates the battery. When new, it doesn't allow you to use the entire capacity. As it ages, it releases this reserve capacity to make it seem as though it's not degrading over time.
The tesla I rented was supposed to be the 410mi model. It wouldn't let me give it more than 355mi and it still took about an hour, and still cost way too much money and ran out way faster than indicated by probably double.
The tesla I rented was supposed to be the 410mi model. It wouldn't let me give it more than 355mi and it still took about an hour, and still cost way too much money and ran out way faster than indicated by probably double.
hard pass.
Not that I'm plugging Teslas in any way (I'm NOT), but the mileage you get from a full battery charge is highly variable depending on how you use it (similar to a tank of gas used for granny versus a leadfoot). That chart was showing overall battery performance vs overall mileage on the car, which is a separate issue from the single charge range. What Joe mentioned about Tesla's underrating is interesting. I'd be curious to know just how deep their reserve capacity well is.
The tesla I rented was supposed to be the 410mi model. It wouldn't let me give it more than 355mi and it still took about an hour, and still cost way too much money and ran out way faster than indicated by probably double.
hard pass.
You never charge a battery to 100% at a fast charger. most people charge for 15-20 minutes tops and off they go.
You never charge a battery to 100% at a fast charger. most people charge for 15-20 minutes tops and off they go.
Today, I charged the gasoline tank in a Ford E350 from about 50% to 100% in roughly 4 minutes. Then, I charged the propane tank from about 20% to 100% in about two minutes.
Well, technically the lady at U-haul did that.
Say what you will about the E350, but you have to admit, it's taken more loads than @hustler's mom and just keeps on running.
PG&E ushers in landmark Tesla battery energy storage system at Moss Landing
PUBLISHED: June 7, 2022 at 5:03 a.m.Monterey County is, once again, leading by example in the future of clean energy storage as industry leaders this week ushered in the use of Pacific Gas and Electric’s newest addition to its Moss Landing electric substation — a 182.5-megawatt Tesla Megapack battery energy storage system.
The system dubbed Elkhorn Battery, which became fully operational in April, was designed and is maintained by both PG&E and Tesla, and is owned and operated by PG&E. It has the capacity to store and dispatch as much as 730 megawatt-hours of energy to the California power grid at a maximum rate of 182.5 megawatts for up to four hours during periods of high demand. That’s enough to power 225,000 homes in Monterey County.
But to those behind the landmark expansion, the impact far outstretches the Central Coast.
News 4 Investigates: Solar power companies overpromising & under-delivering
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - Throughout the hot summer months, many people started thinking about going solar to save money.
News 4 Investigates brings you a consumer warning as local consumers said they got burned by solar power companies overpromising and under-delivering.
Fredericktown resident Curtis Jarvis said, “‘Own your own power,’ that’s what they said. I own very little power.”
He told News 4 that a company now called Pink Energy promised the panels would generate more power than his home could ever use. But, he told us it’s “the biggest waste of money I have ever spent in my entire life.”
Jarvis signed an agreement to pay more than $46,000 in monthly installments for the next 25 years for the panels. He said his contract with Pink Energy stated it would significantly reduce his energy usage by 61%.
“They don’t produce enough to cover everything,” he said.
Instead, he said they put out about 10% of power.
“I was duped, swindled, bamboozled”, Jarvis said.
“I trusted the whole company, it was on TV all the time,” said Lisa Goeke, of Bloomsdale.
There are similar frustrations from Goeke, who also hired Pink Energy when they were known as PowerHome Solar.
“It’s been 55 times that I have called them,” she said.
Goeke claims they haven’t provided what was promised, particularly, on her battery backup power.
“They are really good at making you feel like it’s all your fault, you did something wrong, your electric company, your electric isn’t right,” she said.
They’re far from alone. Customers around the country have complained about Pink Energy, there’s even a dedicated Facebook page. The company and its CEO blame a parts vendor for the issues. That vendor is disputing that.
One born every minute. I did it, but I also did my homework on consumption, generation, pay-back period etc. Either this guy didn't, or there is a problem in his installation.
That is an insane cost for panels, my 10kw array would cost about $12-15k ($AUD) today. Couple of minor problems quickly sorted by the installer, otherwise trouble-free for 12-odd years.
OK, now read the article, looks like that might be an off-grid setup, could include batteries and a generator. Maybe the installer isn't up to the job either? There are enough shonks here for sure ...
I think that rather than ever going on a cruise again, I may in the future simply rent an RV and drive the whole length of the country once a year.
This post from 13 years ago aged well.
I've only done one coast-to-coast RV journey, but numerous week-long trips centered around a specific destination, generally in some barren wilderness. More camping, less driving. That's where it's at.
I keep thinking about the rig I'm going to buy or build when retirement time finally rolls around, which is a lot closer to today than today is to when I wrote the above. I went through a 5th wheel phase, and a Class C with slider phase, and a van phase. But on the last two trips, I've encountered one family each driving an overlander. No slides, 4wd, tons of on-board water capacity. I really think that's where it's gonna land. Something like a Transit chassis-cab, with an all-aluminum body constructed on top of it...
Just for you, Joe, here is my setup midway through a 12k km trip just to see if it's true that there is desert in Utah. 80k CAD for a new truck and 25k CAD for a used 4 season camper. Go for your plan!
Just for you, Joe, here is my setup midway through a 12k km trip just to see if it's true that there is desert in Utah. 80k CAD for a new truck and 25k CAD for a used 4 season camper.
I strongly approve of your decisions.
I've only done Utah once, in the area around Moab, but it's my favorite to date. Will be going again next spring. Some of the most interesting desert around.
I avoided the Arches natinoal park, as it tends to be busy and crowded. Spent a full week in the areas around it, including 3 full days at Dead Horse. Lots of decent boondocking grounds in the area as well.
If you haven't already heard, many (most?) Maverick fuel stations in that region offer free waste dump and fresh water fill.
09-11-2022, 05:35 PM
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