Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

JSHarris

JKenH said:

Edit: Is it the massive power demand on take off that causes the battery degradation rather than steady state cruising at altitude?

Not really, it's because aircraft typically cruise at about 60% to 70% of full power.  This pushes the average power demand to over 70% of full power, which really hammers the battery pack.

Just done some sums for my car, and that runs at an average power demand of about 5% to 6% of full power, so a very much lower power level than an aeroplane.

Martyn1981

Just another BEV bus article, but caught my eye as (slight digression) I've been pondering what will be needed/necessary for long distance coaches, such as National Express in the UK, or Greyhound in the US (just as examples). Something in the 300 mile+ range might work well, depending of course on charging speeds.

I suppose if in-road induction charging ever becomes commercially viable, then the issue gets further simplified.

Ebusco begins serial production of ‘game-changing’ electric bus with a range of up to 575 km

The 12M model weighs 9,500 kg (20,944 lb), so as a result, Abusco says it consumes “extremely little energy”. It has a range of up to 575 km (357 mi) and a maximum power of 2 x 125 kW.

The 18M has an eyebrow-raising range of up to 700 km (435 mi).

Martyn1981

JSHarris said:

JKenH said:

Edit: Is it the massive power demand on take off that causes the battery degradation rather than steady state cruising at altitude?

Not really, it's because aircraft typically cruise at about 60% to 70% of full power.  This pushes the average power demand to over 70% of full power, which really hammers the battery pack.

Just done some sums for my car, and that runs at an average power demand of about 5% to 6% of full power, so a very much lower power level than an aeroplane.

Hi. Spoke to a neighbour a few days ago who has a small aircraft. He was telling me that he'd been to Le-Mans, and decided to fly. I think he said it consumes about 25lt/hr ..... but I digress.

So I asked for his thoughts on BEV aircraft, and he said that flight schools already make some use of them, but he recently got to see one up close. He was surprised just how quickly it was able to get up to power, quite impressive. I did ask if pre-flight checks might be simplified, and he thought so, in the future, but for now whilst the technology is developing, it will still be watched closely.

Regarding power, our IONIQ 28kWh speed dial, changes to a power dial in Sport mode. I noticed that even on a small incline, I was only getting to about 20-30% when pulling away from lights, before it drops to 10% or less (as you suggest) as I level out at about 30mph. Obviously you can accelerate harder, but an eye-opener v's the relatively high power needed in 1st, 2nd gear when accelerating.

Edit - Should have said, the IONIQ has an 88kW motor, so for a more powerful BEV, the %age would be even less.

Coastalwatch

Martyn1981 said:

JSHarris said:

JKenH said:

Edit: Is it the massive power demand on take off that causes the battery degradation rather than steady state cruising at altitude?

Not really, it's because aircraft typically cruise at about 60% to 70% of full power.  This pushes the average power demand to over 70% of full power, which really hammers the battery pack.

Just done some sums for my car, and that runs at an average power demand of about 5% to 6% of full power, so a very much lower power level than an aeroplane.

Hi. Spoke to a neighbour a few days ago who has a small aircraft. He was telling me that he'd been to Le-Mans, and decided to fly. I think he said it consumes about 25lt/hr ..... but I digress.

So I asked for his thoughts on BEV aircraft, and he said that flight schools already make some use of them, but he recently got to see one up close. He was surprised just how quickly it was able to get up to power, quite impressive. I did ask if pre-flight checks might be simplified, and he thought so, in the future, but for now whilst the technology is developing, it will still be watched closely.

Regarding power, our IONIQ 28kWh speed dial, changes to a power dial in Sport mode. I noticed that even on a small incline, I was only getting to about 20-30% when pulling away from lights, before it drops to 10% or less (as you suggest) as I level out at about 30mph. Obviously you can accelerate harder, but an eye-opener v's the relatively high power needed in 1st, 2nd gear when accelerating.

Edit - Should have said, the IONIQ has an 88kW motor, so for a more powerful BEV, the %age would be even less.

Got sent a link the other day to a vid showing a drone take off where battery drain was minimised thus increasing range. Not entirely sure it could be replicated with passenger aircraft although it has been in use for years from aircraft carriers and to a milder extent in launching gliders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOWDNBu9DkU

Martyn1981

Nice milestone hit by VWG.

VW Group Reaches Production Milestone: 1 Million EVs Based On MEB Platform

The Volkswagen Group has reached an important production milestone for its purpose-built modular electric drive (MEB) platform, with one million electric vehicles built using it so far at eight factories across the world.

The news came via the group’s official Twitter account, where the German company said that the milestone was reached with help from five of its brands: Audi, Cupra, Skoda, Volkswagen, and Volkswagen commercial.

Martyn1981

Been lots of rumours that China would launch a new EV incentive after the last one ended, and the economy also started to suffer a little.

But the scale of the new incentive for NEV's (new energy vehicles (encompassing PHEV's, HFCV's and BEV's)) was not  really expected. Might be pushback against the US's IR Act incentives, as China really (really) wants to become a world powerhouse for car production.


China’s Biggest EV Push Yet: A $72 Billion Package To Supercharge Demand

China is taking its plug-in car incentives to the next level. The government will inject 520 billion yuan ($72 billion) into tax breaks for new energy vehicles (NEVs) to bolster sales, which briefly showed signs of slowing down earlier this year.

The credit will extend to NEVs bought in 2024 and 2025, amounting to as much as 30,000 yuan ($4170) per vehicle, reported Reuters. The Chinese Ministry of Finance stated that cars purchased in 2026 and 2027 can qualify for half the amount, as the exemption will be capped at 15,000 yuan ($2090).

Martyn1981

Autocar suggest VW could deliver a small city BEV for a nice low price. 

Volkswagen flat out to put ID 1 on streets for under £17,000

Volkswagen is “full steam ahead” with the development of a sub-£17,000 electric ‘ID 1’ hatch that will arrive in the next five years as part of a renewed push by car firms to produce affordable electric models.

The new EV will serve as a spiritual successor to the e-Up city car and is set to offer a similar combination of compact packaging and back-to-basics technology. 

Volkswagen has developed a 38kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery for the ID 2all and that is likely to be the largest capacity considered for the new model. It would still potentially allow for a range of just under 200 miles, which would be competitive with the likes of the Mini Electric and the electric Fiat 500.

Exiled_Tyke

Martyn1981 said:

Autocar suggest VW could deliver a small city BEV for a nice low price. 

Volkswagen flat out to put ID 1 on streets for under £17,000

Volkswagen is “full steam ahead” with the development of a sub-£17,000 electric ‘ID 1’ hatch that will arrive in the next five years as part of a renewed push by car firms to produce affordable electric models.

The new EV will serve as a spiritual successor to the e-Up city car and is set to offer a similar combination of compact packaging and back-to-basics technology. 

Volkswagen has developed a 38kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery for the ID 2all and that is likely to be the largest capacity considered for the new model. It would still potentially allow for a range of just under 200 miles, which would be competitive with the likes of the Mini Electric and the electric Fiat 500.

It needs to be a much better car than the e-UP thought 'cos that wasn't great which is may be why it had to go.

Grumpy_chap

Exiled_Tyke said:

It needs to be a much better car than the e-UP

This link has pictures.  It looks like a Citroen C-Zero to me.
https://wattev2buy.com/vw-id-1-ev/#:~:text=wattev2buy review & compare the 5,/ 185 miles (WLTP).

The e-Up was simply too expensive in my opinion.

For a micro city car, £17k is still a big chunk.

Martyn1981

Good sales numbers for Tesla in Q2. Lots of charts and breakdowns here.

There are some rumours of a production slowdowns ahead, possibly for line upgrades, but also may be issues with BEV demand, since VW are backing off a bit too. Might be useful to see what BYD did, to get a wider picture on the market, especially China.

Edit - Should have mentioned Hyundai, who have discounted vehicles, and are seeing a sales increase.

Hopefully the momentum for BEV's will continue, and this year might be extremely bumpy. But as always, watch this space.

Tesla Sales Shatter Wall Street Expectations — 9 Charts

Tesla has released its second-quarter production and sales numbers. The take-home summary: they crushed Wall Street’s expectations. I’ll just focus on deliveries (aka sales) here, but here’s a screenshot from Tesla’s press release showing both production and sales: