Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

Martyn1981

EricMears said:

silverwhistle said:

I'd say it was more an alarmist piece! You can certainly tow EVs, 

Indeed,  I've seen posts in other threads from people who have managed to put some life into an empty battery by towing in max regen mode.  Not something I'd actually advocate but it certainly disproves that you can't tow at all.

They might be referring to a vid from Engineering Explained (great site) which towed a Tesla for a lap around a track, then the Tesla was able to drive more than a lap (at high speed) on the charge, since it was 'stealing' energy by re-gen.

They also look to see what's the most efficient, driving the ICE pick up, or driving the ICE and towing the Tesla, plus the Tesla mileage given that the Tesla is about 10x more efficient than the Raptor truck. 1 gall(US) will move the Raptor 10.7 miles, but 1 gall towing the Tesla, gives it 18 miles of range, and the sum of distances is 21.5 miles.

Also one towed lap, gives the Tesla 5.6 laps of leisurely driving.

The vid is great fun, so worth a watch.

Can You Charge A Tesla By Towing It? (With Ford Raptor)

EricMears

Martyn1981 said:

Also one towed lap, gives the Tesla 5.6 laps of leisurely driving.

That would be  VERY leisurely driving !   I refer you to The Second Law of Thermodynamics

Martyn1981

EricMears said:

Martyn1981 said:

Also one towed lap, gives the Tesla 5.6 laps of leisurely driving.

That would be  VERY leisurely driving !   I refer you to The Second Law of Thermodynamics

If you'd watched the vid, you would have seen that it specifically addresses the second law of thermodynamics. Also the leisurely lap was a reference to the first fast lap they did (fast), the 5.6 laps was based on 310Wh/mile for the Tesla.

almillar

buglawton said:

In this mornings Telegraph was an alarming piece about BEVs stopping rather more suddenly that ICE cars if they break down and can only be removed by low loader rather than being towed the first mile to a safer waiting place. The particular concern is smart motorways.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/02/22/electric-cars-hazard-motorways-government-admits

Any truth in this? Aren't BEVs able to 'release' their wheels to freewheel for towing?

You're very good at finding the negative stuff. The article is a load of rubbish, and any danger is posed by smart motorways, not by EVs. You ever see a petrol or diesel car that's run out of fuel, or broken down? Where do they go? Same place as an EV would, the hard shoulder.

EVs DO NOT stop suddenly. They give you more warning than ICE cars do. Lights. Flashing lights. Beeps and boops. FLASHING TURTLES!!! Then, they basically coast to a halt, like an ICE in neutral.

Any EV I know of advises that it should be put on a flatbed, with no wheels on the ground. Many have nothing going on at the rear wheels, so I don't see why that is, but at the end of the day, when a car stops on the motorway, someone has to turn up, so it might as well be a flatbed.

JKenH

EV-ening all! Gloucestershire police are on a charge with 75 new Nissan electric vehicles

http://nissaninsider.co.uk/ev-ening-all-gloucestershire-police-are-on-a-charge-with-75-new-nissan-electric-vehicles/

JKenH

70% of car buyers now considering purchasing an EV

https://airqualitynews.com/2020/02/19/70-of-car-buyers-now-considering-purchasing-an-ev/

buglawton

silverwhistle said:

buglawton said:

Any truth in this? Aren't BEVs able to 'release' their wheels to freewheel for towing?

I'd say it was more an alarmist piece! You can certainly tow EVs, and maybe need an action, from what I was reading, that may be a little less instinctive than stamping your foot on the clutch as you'd do with an ICE engine seizure.. But either way, not a major issue, and it was raised by someone who is a supporter of smart motorways, so I'm being a little suspicious about motives!

Which supporter of smart motorways? There were 3 people making pronouncements in that DT article.

Martyn1981

Tesla could become a major driver of BEV growth in China, as they have in the US and Europe.*
[*Just a thought, but the Renault Zoe seems to be doing exceptionally well lately. I wonder if they have achieved full profitability yet as that would be incredibly significant given it's a smaller and cheaper BEV?]

Tesla’s Shanghai Model 3 Jumps Instantly To China’s #1 Electric Vehicle By Production Volume

The Tesla Shanghai Model 3 jumped straight to the #1 spot in China’s battery electric vehicle production charts in January, according to figures released by MIIT. The 2,625 units put the Model 3 some 12.5% ahead of any rivals. That is quite an achievement considering January was only the first month of full operation at the Shanghai Gigafactory.

Since it’s only at the start of its volume production ramp, and the Tesla Shanghai Model 3 has gone straight into the lead already, it will undoubtedly take the top spot this year. And remember that China is by far the largest EV market in the world, over twice the size of Europe and almost 3× that of the US.

silverwhistle

Which supporter of smart motorways? There were 3 people making pronouncements in that DT article.

The Lady who raised the issue in the House..

silverwhistle

Terrible by-line Ken!;-)

The last time I saw an article about police EVs some idiot politician was going on about running out of charge and not being fast enough to chase criminals thus betraying incredible ignorance about police use of vehicles, EVs themselves and police hot pursuit policies in urban areas.. I'm still waiting for more articles about electric police bicycles, haven't seen police on a bike for ages apart from a football match last season.