Electric cars

zeupater

Martyn1981 wrote: »

... I'm also not sure that the Prius engine charges the battery in a comparative way to a range extender - instead I believe it adds some charge to the batt if in high gear and driving steadily in the torque sweet spot ..... plus of course brake re-gen.

Hi

The Prius drivetrain delivers power directly from the ICE & the electric motor, and has the ability to use mechanical energy to drive the electric motor as a generator to recharge the battery, either under braking or when motive conditions allow ... you can force the car into EV mode if you want, but the car handles the management of which motors to use in what combination perfectly well if left to do it's own thing ...

Vehicles such as the Ampera simply use an engine which isn't connected to the vehicles transmission to generate electricity to charge batteries and power the electric motors ... from memory when we tested one out, the engine only cuts in when battery charge is below 20%(?)

HTH
Z

Martyn1981

AdrianC wrote: »

And why Toyota's spec sheet quoting Ah battery figures (without voltage) is seemingly designed to trip the unwary.

That's irrelevant.

Anyone who has read up on EV's, or read the comments posted on this thread by EV'ers, would not have posted 25kWh & 39 miles without, as I said, alarm bells going off in their mind. Only those with false and preconceived negativity would have let that slide unnoticed.

Perhaps if you took just a little bit of time to learn, and dare I say, enjoy the topic, rather than trying (poorly) to criticise it at each and every turn, you wouldn't be wrong each and every time.

Perhaps, had you watched the EST's vids designed as an introduction to EV's, rather than simply attacking them, sight unseen, we wouldn't be going round in ever decreasing circles all the time.

BTW, please don't attack Toyota for your mistake (initially, and secondary - when you directed me to the pages), you read Ah as kWh, nobody made you do it. I'm not an electrician, I'm not an EV'er, and I have no battery knowledge nor experience, but I had no trouble spotting Ah next to the 6.5 & 25.

Martyn1981

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Vehicles such as the Ampera simply use an engine which isn't connected to the vehicles transmission to generate electricity to charge batteries and power the electric motors ... from memory when we tested one out, the engine only cuts in when battery charge is below 20%(?)

HTH
Z

Hiya, if you are interested Jonny Smith (for fully charged) has just reviewed (more of a test drive) the new London taxi which has the small Volvo engine range extender on board.

London Black Cab TX | Fully Charged

zeupater

AdrianC wrote: »

And why Toyota's spec sheet quoting Ah battery figures (without voltage) is seemingly designed to trip the unwary.

(BTW, you don't seem to have realised you just agreed with me. Sorry 'bout that.)

Hi

However, in not realising the fundamental mistake made you must classify yourself as being 'unwary', therefore no, I don't follow how we'd be in agreement at all .... others didn't make the same mistake, possibly because they actually had a clue as to what they were posting about at the time ....

Electricity will provide a vast proportion of the automotive energy requirements in the not too distant future, it's just something that we all need to get our head around as opposed to burying them in the sand & maintaining a pretence to self & others that it's not happening! ...

HTH
Z

Martyn1981

Honda teams up with Good Energy to trial domestic V2G technology

Carmaker Honda is working with green energy supplier Good Energy and Salford University to investigate how vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology could stabilise the national grid and cut costs for households.

The researchers, working in partnership with smart energy firm Upside Energy, will examine energy flows around a normal home that uses an electric car, to investigate how car batteries could be used by the grid to store and export energy in response to national demand.

The project - announced last week and dubbed 'HAVEN' - will be based at Salford University's Energy House. The test home is the only one of its kind in the UK, and can simulate energy generation and use at different times of day and in different climates.

It will assess how well V2G technology can work with homes already using solar panels and batteries to generate and store their own energy, with the aim of developing the business case for V2G technology. As well as helping to manage peaks and troughs in national demand, V2G technology could also help householders earn extra cash by adapting their energy use patterns, the researchers argue.

maxmycardagain

Go on Youtube and search for "electric car conversions"

there are DIYer's making some quite good conversions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqy-ZJSR0Yw&t=590s

Martyn1981

Interesting numbers from Norway, predicting a 6% increase in leccy demand for 100% EV's.

Norway Ready For 100% EVs By 2025 — But Please Don’t Charge On Thursday Nights

“The power grid will probably cope, because even though the number of electric cars increase, electricity consumption is increasing at a slower rate. Even when all cars run on electricity, it will only increase electricity consumption in Norway by about 6%, and if charging is done intelligently, the load at peak will only rise a few percent. It’s actually worst on Thursdays, so please don’t charge your EVs on Thursday nights.”

Coastalwatch

Not sure if I'm posting this on the correct board but have struggled to find anything more appropriate. I've an ageing deisel powered Ford Focus(ten years 75k miles) which has been brilliant but am thinking to replace. Electric(second hand) seems a possible choice especially as we have two vehicles, so can use the other for any long distances. We are retired with a mix of local journeys for school run etc and longer distances for holidays etc. I'm also keen on the idea of being self sufficient in generating electricity and considering combining the two. Our bungalow has roof of some 50 sq metres with a 22 degree pitch and being 20 degrees east of south facing. I'm thinking of filling the entire roof with panels in order to generate the max I can. On a good day in summer it could return 35kwh so I don't see a problem in supplying houehold needs(7k/day) and keeping the EV topped up. Am seeking quotations for systems of 4k only and the max that can be acheived also. Presumably I'd still get the FIT and export returns on the larger system so it would appear to me to be a sound financial investment. Am I looking through rose tinted glasses?

NigeWick

Martyn1981 wrote: »

If Toyota are only getting 39 miles from a 25kWh batt, then they need to have a chat with Nissan, who get far far more.

Or Hyundai. Somebody on a different forum reckons to get 4.3 miles per kWh from his Ioniq at 70mph on motorways.

NigeWick

AdrianC wrote: »

I'll finally be ready to drink from the fountain of eternal vapourware.

You, you mean you don't believe Mazda will have a range of BEVs by 2100?!