Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

QrizB

Grumpy_chap said:

As an aside, to allow for a comparison of an ICE to EV in consistent units, the following web page tells us that 1 litre of diesel is around 11 kWh energy:
https://www.withouthotair.com/c3/page_31.shtml#:~:text=calorific values: diesel: 10.7 kWh,petrol: 9.7 kWh/l.
So, around 50 kWh per gallon
At 60 mpg, that is around 1.2 miles per kWh so the EV 4 m/kWh is fantastic.
Did I get that maths correct?  60 mpg divided by 50 kWh/gallon.

Yes, that looks correct to me.

EVandPV

New Toyota bZ4x revealed as brand’s first bespoke electric car

After decades of experience with hybrid cars, Toyota has finally branched out into fully electric vehicles. Called the Toyota bZ4x, the SUV is the Japanese brand’s first bespoke electric car.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/toyota/353801/new-toyota-bz4x-revealed-brands-first-bespoke-electric-car?amp

Martyn1981

Verdigris said:

Martyn1981 said:

Fantastic combination for those able to benefit from both PV and a BEV. And looking at the bigger picture, daytime charging of BEV's, be they at home, or at work, is a great way to absorb daytime PV excess on the grid.

I'm intending to install around 10kWp of PV. The plan is to have virtually free motoring in the summer, when I'll want to be out and about exploring my new home area, and getting a reasonable contribution to running the ASHP in winter, when I'll be at home more of the time.

That's similar to my sister's situation. They bought a large property/smallholding for living and a business center in late 2019. It had 2 oil boilers (no mains gas), because it had been extended pretty much into two properties. Also had a very large south facing roof. When I popped to see it I mentioned that the pole across the road looked to have 3phase, as there were about 5 cables all heading into a farm complex.

She's now got 10.3kWp solar, 3phase leccy (cost a bit under £2k), is cabled up for a 3phase ASHP to replace the remaining oil boiler (after refurb and insulation, only one was needed), and is planning to get a 3phase Zappi when they get their first BEV, after they've run their current car into the ground.

Obviously the solar won't contribute much to heating during the depths of winter, but should be large enough to cover most heating in the shoulder months. Add in a big(ish) battery when the economics stack up, or better still a BEV with V2H, and it's a really fun package, that just 10yrs ago wouldn't have even been a thought.

Verdigris

My plan is dependent on getting a G99 connection. There isn't much other solar in the vicinity but I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing. I assume balancing of phases, rather than overall carrying capacity, is what affects the decision.

Solarchaser

@Grumpy_chap I would say we are perhaps coming from different angles.
A 500kwh battery would indeed not be fillable overnight on a 7kw supply,  you are absolutely correct here.
My point was more that you wouldn't require to.
According to a quick Google search the average commute is 60 mins, if we for arguments sake say this is all at 60mph and so 60 miles of distance the ev does 4m/kwh then round trip of 120miles will be around 4 hours of charging at 7kw... which means octopus go 4 hour window should be perfect. 
If your commute is more like 150 miles then the 5 hours of go faster would have you sorted.

So if you did have a Panasonic theoretical 500kwh you would probably be topping up from 90 odds to 100% every night. 

I think the thing that's throwing you is the idea of waiting until its completely empty before you plug in, whereas the reality is that you would be topping up each night.
And so really most commuters would be fine with your 130mile round trip to your brothers as their daily commute.
They don't need a 500kwh battery, just like no-one really needs an 800mile "gas" tank, it's purely convenience to not visit the petrol station which is out of your way... however with the ev that you park on your drive, you are not diverting, you are just going home and spending 20 seconds picking up your plug and plugging it into your car before you enter your house. 

In regards to solar charging, the wife's leaf has been I'd say 70% charged on free solar for the last 3 years, however I do also have home batteries, so they take the slack when the sun goes behind clouds etc, so I guess you could argue its "easy for me to say" as I don't need to wait till export is over 1kw, I just look at the time of day and state of charge of the home batteries, for instance if its 10am and the batteries are already at 80%, I know that I can charge all day and be happy (occasionally I do get bit on the bum there, but 95% of the time its fine) whereas if I was to do it purely in solar export over 1kw, I'd have less in the car

michaels

A 500kwh battery could probably do 2000 miles.

2000 miles at 60 mph average takes 33 hours

Thus there is no time for an overnight charge every day whatever the charge rate

QED 

EVandPV

Solarchaser said:

I think the thing that's throwing you is the idea of waiting until its completely empty before you plug in, whereas the reality is that you would be topping up each night.

Exactly.
Just as most folk top up there mobile phone or tablet every night.
You quickly get into the habit of topping up an ev well before you hit empty.

Grumpy_chap

EVandPV said:

New Toyota bZ4x revealed as brand’s first bespoke electric car

After decades of experience with hybrid cars, Toyota has finally branched out into fully electric vehicles. Called the Toyota bZ4x, the SUV is the Japanese brand’s first bespoke electric car.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/toyota/353801/new-toyota-bz4x-revealed-brands-first-bespoke-electric-car?amp

That article mentions "an optional 11kW AC charger in the future will help overnight home recharges for those with a compatible wallbox."

How will a domestic supply support 11 kW?  I am not expecting the UK domestic infrastructure to be switched whole-sale to three phase in my lifetime.

Solarchaser said:

@Grumpy_chap I would say we are perhaps coming from different angles.
A 500kwh battery would indeed not be fillable overnight on a 7kw supply,  you are absolutely correct here.
My point was more that you wouldn't require to.

So if you did have a Panasonic theoretical 500kwh you would probably be topping up from 90 odds to 100% every night. 

And so really most commuters would be fine with your 130mile round trip to your brothers as their daily commute.

Yeah, I think we are in agreement (?) 

Why bother with the 500 kWh battery when 100 kWh battery is all anyone needs (in an EV car) and must be lighter and more compact?

The investment by manufacturers is being driven at longer range through larger capacity batteries.  Far better to put that investment into growing the range of the 100 kWh battery to achieve 5 m/kWh from 4 m/kWh.

Glad on the assessment of commute.

I do look forward to the day we can all have a 100 kWh battery and do 400 miles (and actually afford the car).

shinytop

EVandPV said:

Solarchaser said:

I think the thing that's throwing you is the idea of waiting until its completely empty before you plug in, whereas the reality is that you would be topping up each night.

Exactly.
Just as most folk top up there mobile phone or tablet every night.
You quickly get into the habit of topping up and ev well before you hit empty.

But my phone runs out during the day if I use it a lot.  Then I've got to find an empty socket to plug it in and wait and have a cup of tea while it charges up.  I could buy a new iPhone, but they are expensive and the only way I can afford one is to take out an expensive credit agreement.  They are also quite big and bulky and have lots of features I don't really want.   

Solarchaser

I think we all look forward to that day.

As I've probably said before the wife's leaf is ideal for her, running here and there, it's a great wee shopping trolley, but I couldn't use its 80 mile range as a work vehicle.
Looking at her history she averages a smidge under 4kw/mile, but she will not use the B mode to aid regen, and essentially just drives it her way, if I was driving it I'd be using more regen to slow down (possibly because its me who will have to change the brake pads eventually) and would probably be more like 4.1 or 4.2m/kwh.

The Tesla is hauling alot more weight, I probably carry 200+kilos for my job and it has 3times the amount of battery.

The last few weeks I'm averaging around 4m/kwh but I note to achieve its rated range it would need to run 5m/kwh... not with me driving

I do wonder if you strapped on a Tesla motor onto say a 24kwh leaf if it would return somewhere close to that 5 or maybe even 5.5m/kwh as the extra weight obviously makes it harder to achieve than a car with a smaller battery and so less weight