Before it gets really cold, I will day charge my old Ford truck. Then when the cold really comes (we have been having -10~-20 for a few days now) the truck does better. Even though I bought the battery last winter, I consider this part of battery maintenance, just like keeping the battery posts clean. No, not just wiping them off, but disconnecting them and really clean them. Just part of the program.
Tell me you have a backup battery that holds the charge while you're cleaning - so you dont have to reprogram the radio!
Don't care much about the radio. I rarely listen and there is only one station programmed.
In fact, should be a warm 10 degrees above Thur. Maybe a good time to clean posts.
In fact, should be a warm 10 degrees above Thur. Maybe a good time to clean posts.
The analysis for fuel saving and battery replacement cost over 100,000 miles / 5 years may not be encouraging...gasoline is $1.25 or so a liter here, CNG is 85 cents a kilo (or 2.2 liters), diesel is about US$1.15.
Electricity is about 12 cents per kWh.
The relative costs of fuel and maintenance are gradually favoring electrics because of tax breaks here, not head to head.
Most owners sell their electric scooters when they hear battery will cost 65,000 Rupees on a scooter costing 120,000 Rupees!.
Electricity is about 12 cents per kWh.
The relative costs of fuel and maintenance are gradually favoring electrics because of tax breaks here, not head to head.
Most owners sell their electric scooters when they hear battery will cost 65,000 Rupees on a scooter costing 120,000 Rupees!.
Lotsa Tesla drivers are now sporting one of those nice and quiet Honda 2kW generators in the trunk (or "boot"). Won't charge you "full" but will charge you enough to get home.
Except for short jumps, the EV is a bad idea in the southernmost or northernmost US. Can you imagine a hurricane evac of Houston or Miami in which all the EV's go dead. You can't revive 'em, you can just tow them which is happening in Chicago. My sister has had to evac Texas coast several times in the past 3 decades due to these storms. Miami and Palm Beach, home of a lot of "first-adopters" will be a disaster on I-95 when they get the big blow.
Except for short jumps, the EV is a bad idea in the southernmost or northernmost US. Can you imagine a hurricane evac of Houston or Miami in which all the EV's go dead. You can't revive 'em, you can just tow them which is happening in Chicago. My sister has had to evac Texas coast several times in the past 3 decades due to these storms. Miami and Palm Beach, home of a lot of "first-adopters" will be a disaster on I-95 when they get the big blow.
It's not a matter of believing a certain narrative or not. It's just a plain, simple fact that batteries used to power automobiles suffer a signifcant decrease in current output capacity at low temperatures. That's not disputable. It is well understood and fully expected.
So the question becomes are batteries a dependable and desirable source of power for an automobile when the temperature gets below freezing as it currently is in much of the US. Clearly are there major problems being encountered unexpectedly by many Tesla owners who are experiencing these sub freezing tempertures for the first time since purchasing their car.
Here is a clip from some very frustrated Tesla owners in Chicago where it is taking 1.5 hours to do a charge that usually takes only 10 to 15 minutes. And one owner who can't get her car to recharge at all.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/new...1&cvid=9f8020da51ef4099a32135563efe74ab&ei=13
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Mmmm after many years in auto engineering, ANY car these days if the power source is depleted are screwed. They're ALL full of computers, so much so to the point of contributing significantly to the increasing pork-ification of vehicles. Though if you are in Omyakyon, Siberia, at least an internal combustion vehicle can be run 24/7 to keep it running...as long as the gas lines don't freeze! The REAL backup plan isn't internal combustion, it's reindeer! 🤣
Yup. Basic chemistry. Reactions progress less/more slowly as temperatures decrease, because the molecules move more slowly. Temperature IS the rate of motion.
That was not my understanding-my takeaway was that it was too cold and the juice from the chargers wasn't enough to warm up the batteries enough to work. On re-reading, that point is ambiguous.
I do think "the EV industry" has NOT educated consumers that the batteries cannibalize their own charge to keep the batteries warm (or cool). I had to explain to my Chevy Volt-owning kid that "no you can't just leave it on the street with a low charge, it will badly discharge and you'll hurt the battery.
.... because they could not be driven out / started, in the first place. Remember, the batteries died in the cold, and so did the charging stations.
The fast charging station needs to see a gradual and fairly fast charging current increase... this won't happen with the cold battery. It (the charging station) thinks the battery is damaged/faulty - hence it won't change it at high currents, or not at all.
Which explains precisely what is happening now and being reported on in cities like Chicago where temperatures are well below freezing. In some cases people can't get their batteries recharged at all even though there is nothing wrong with them. It's just too cold.
So the reports that there are faults with the charging stations are not necessaily valid. It very well could simply be that it is just too cold for the system to perform reliably.
So the reports that there are faults with the charging stations are not necessaily valid. It very well could simply be that it is just too cold for the system to perform reliably.
Am I glad I live in a place with good public transportation, and temperatures that are always well above -40 degrees. I can just walk to the train station in less than 20 minutes, take an all-electric train that doesn't need huge batteries because it gets its electricity from overhead wires, walk from the station to work in 35 minutes and that's it.
I believe teslas (maybe others ?) have a small lead acid tucked in there as well as a 'keep alive' battery.
If this one fails, your stuck.
Most of the news lately is the byd cars burning to the ground for no apparent reason.
And others launching themselves into the air.
MY issue with battery cars, is not that their electric.
It's the massive amounts of hideous chemicals used to refine the metals that are used to make them.
If people want to bang on about how eco friendly these cars are, yeah no.
Then there's the issue of what resources are being swallowed to generate the electricity they require to charge.
It's all added up to where we are now.
Try buying anything with copper in it. That can now be 400% more expensive.
Some have even said that many places infrastructure won't be able to withstand the electrical drain when the office workers get home and plug in their cars at night.
I agree something should be done for newer fuels.
But I do Not see battery cars as any sort of solution at all.
If this one fails, your stuck.
Most of the news lately is the byd cars burning to the ground for no apparent reason.
And others launching themselves into the air.
MY issue with battery cars, is not that their electric.
It's the massive amounts of hideous chemicals used to refine the metals that are used to make them.
If people want to bang on about how eco friendly these cars are, yeah no.
Then there's the issue of what resources are being swallowed to generate the electricity they require to charge.
It's all added up to where we are now.
Try buying anything with copper in it. That can now be 400% more expensive.
Some have even said that many places infrastructure won't be able to withstand the electrical drain when the office workers get home and plug in their cars at night.
I agree something should be done for newer fuels.
But I do Not see battery cars as any sort of solution at all.
I live in Norway, and the cold winters has been a problem for cars always; we have webasto fuel powered engine heaters, electric engine heaters, cabin heaters - all designed for diesel and petrol cars. Last few days we've had a lot of snow; airports closed, trains, busses, subways stopped. But strangely no complaints in news about electric cars not running. Why? Because the owners have learned to handle the cold. And Norway has a large number of EVs, last year they represented 90% of new car sales. https://cleantechnica.com/2023/12/05/evs-take-90-6-share-in-norway/ https://elbil.no/english/norwegian-ev-policy/
I visited the city (Oslo) day before yesterday, and ALMOST not tasting diesel or petrol fumes in the air downtown is progress. It used to be bad.
That said, in my mind, batteries are still a bad idéa with current efficiency/size and the production logic behind it, as UserAbuser points out. The hydrogen powered fuel cell makes much more sense to me. Build solar powerplants in coastal equatorial areas, powering desalination and hydrogen plants. Australia would be one perfect place - lots of sun, space and seawater. Using excess fresh water, it could even help reduce and prevent desertification, you could grow crops in the desert, and even extract minerals from seawater at the same time...
I visited the city (Oslo) day before yesterday, and ALMOST not tasting diesel or petrol fumes in the air downtown is progress. It used to be bad.
That said, in my mind, batteries are still a bad idéa with current efficiency/size and the production logic behind it, as UserAbuser points out. The hydrogen powered fuel cell makes much more sense to me. Build solar powerplants in coastal equatorial areas, powering desalination and hydrogen plants. Australia would be one perfect place - lots of sun, space and seawater. Using excess fresh water, it could even help reduce and prevent desertification, you could grow crops in the desert, and even extract minerals from seawater at the same time...
What is remarkable is the progress made by hybrids..and now practical applications of hydrogen fueled vehicle technology is a looming reality.
TIme and place for everything. As long as people come to understand that as well as compromises involved. There is no one solution fits all and unfortunately just like laws there will be times when it fails the logic test.
Each person's judgement is perfect when one considers lack of knowledge or understanding as a factor in that seemingly imperfect decision.
Each person's judgement is perfect when one considers lack of knowledge or understanding as a factor in that seemingly imperfect decision.
Electric cars pose some challenges. Operating an electric car requires some common sense, just like operating a gas car. Some people have nothing but trouble with any car because they fail to take basic precautions. This goes for gas as well as electric.
I think a detached garage is mandatory with an electric vehicle. I say detached because when the battery catches fire (a quite common occurrence) it cannot even be fully extinguished. The fire is quite hot and frankly it poses a grave danger to your house. Also, you can heat the garage and charge the battery.
An alternative for apartment dwellers is parking your car in a commercial garage that provides charging services. These are quite common in my neck of the woods and there is constant demand for the charging services. No free lunch.
Short answer is electric vehicles are not for everyone. I know two people that own a total of four electric vehicles (two Teslas and two Chevy Volts)and they haven't had a problem in this weather. They both have detached heated garages with charging stations (one guy has two chargers in his garage) so they're ready for anything. Of course all of this is really expensive but it is what people want and a great selling point for your house.
I think a detached garage is mandatory with an electric vehicle. I say detached because when the battery catches fire (a quite common occurrence) it cannot even be fully extinguished. The fire is quite hot and frankly it poses a grave danger to your house. Also, you can heat the garage and charge the battery.
An alternative for apartment dwellers is parking your car in a commercial garage that provides charging services. These are quite common in my neck of the woods and there is constant demand for the charging services. No free lunch.
Short answer is electric vehicles are not for everyone. I know two people that own a total of four electric vehicles (two Teslas and two Chevy Volts)and they haven't had a problem in this weather. They both have detached heated garages with charging stations (one guy has two chargers in his garage) so they're ready for anything. Of course all of this is really expensive but it is what people want and a great selling point for your house.
As far as the charging stations, I believe that they won't deliver a charge to a battery that's too cold or too hot. You know your cell phone works the same way; the charge delivered is tailored to the state of the battery at the time. In other words, if the battery is cold it will charge slower, and if the battery is too cold to charge it won't charge at all. Your cell phone won't charge if it gets too hot or too cold; wouldn't a Tesla (with a much larger, extremely dangerous battery at stake) work the same way? I'm not up to date on the details of electric car charging, but it seems to me it would have to be that way.
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