EV Discussion thread

JKenH

MG's new £30,000 electric hatchback with a SWAPPABLE battery: MG4 initially offers a range of up to 280 miles that can be upgraded later

This is the sort of development that one might have expected from Tesla. 

The one-size-fits-all battery pack is not only ultra-thin and extremely light, but can be upgraded with over the air updates, or swapped entirely if a customer wants more power or range. 

The new architecture means the drive unit can also be upgraded from 400V to 800V for faster charging 'in the future'.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/electriccars/article-10964655/New-MG4-electric-hatchback-SWAPPABLE-battery-30k.html

JKenH

Batteries biggest challenge to VW – report

The EU deal to phase out combustion engine cars in just over 12 years is challenging, but an more daunting obstacle will be making enough batteries to power the electric cars needed as a result, a senior Volkswagen executive has said.

https://www.just-auto.com/news/batteries-biggest-challenge-to-vw-report/

JKenH

EU: The “combustion engine ban” leaves a huge back door

After the EU Parliament left a back door for European (especially Italian) sports car manufacturers in the new regulation of the CO2 emission standards, the EU Council of Ministers, under pressure from some member states, has now also ensured that so-called e-fuels can continue to be used after 2035 in newly sold cars.

https://www.trendingtopics.eu/eu-the-combustion-engine-ban-leaves-a-huge-back-door/

QrizB

JKenH said:

EU: The “combustion engine ban” leaves a huge back door

After the EU Parliament left a back door for European (especially Italian) sports car manufacturers in the new regulation of the CO2 emission standards, the EU Council of Ministers, under pressure from some member states, has now also ensured that so-called e-fuels can continue to be used after 2035 in newly sold cars.

https://www.trendingtopics.eu/eu-the-combustion-engine-ban-leaves-a-huge-back-door/

Personally I don't have a problem with this, because simple economics means they will be a very niche product - OK for Ferraris, but impractical for Fiats. The article covers this briefly towards the end.

JKenH

I wonder if the EU decision will encourage more investment in e-fuels combined with carbon capture and hydrogen as part of an integrated approach to clean up some of the less easy to replace industrial processes which emit CO2 as a bi-product. The cost of e-fuels might be seen as prohibitive at the moment but that, at some time, has been said about most renewable technology alternatives to the status quo.

JKenH

Driving home from Dorset on the M3 approaching J10 I saw a TM3 in the near side lane going relatively slowly (probably 50 or so mph). I thought that’s unusual and as we pulled alongside to overtake I could see the driver was leaning over the passenger seat not looking at all at the road. When dead level my wife said it looks as though he is using his laptop. I asked if she could see his laptop but she said no as his body was obscuring her view but judging from the position of his body (twisted round square to the direction of travel and leaning over), head (looking down) and arms it looked pretty much like that is what he was doing, presumably taking full advantage of Autopilot to get some work done. No wonder Teslas are popular with business users. 

Martyn1981

QrizB said:

JKenH said:

EU: The “combustion engine ban” leaves a huge back door

After the EU Parliament left a back door for European (especially Italian) sports car manufacturers in the new regulation of the CO2 emission standards, the EU Council of Ministers, under pressure from some member states, has now also ensured that so-called e-fuels can continue to be used after 2035 in newly sold cars.

https://www.trendingtopics.eu/eu-the-combustion-engine-ban-leaves-a-huge-back-door/

Personally I don't have a problem with this, because simple economics means they will be a very niche product - OK for Ferraris, but impractical for Fiats. The article covers this briefly towards the end.

You may be interested in rumours that the US is going to revise their e-fuels subsidies. Nothing concrete yet, but suggestions that BEV manufacturers may be pleased. Currently the subsidy is based on the kWh energy of the fuel, I think it works out at about 14c/kWh, so absolutely massive. Only bio-fuels qualify, but solar to BEV's, or solar to battery to BEV would by all other definitions qualify as a clean transport fuel. At 14c/kWh companies could probably build a PV farm, charger location and battery, and be profitable even if they gave the leccy away for free. So I assume the new proposals won't put green leccy directly up against e-fuels as the ethanol industry would probably collapse.

As you say, niche product, possibly for classic cars, but better used for 'tricky' transport like long haul flights.

JKenH

Stopped at Leicester Forest East services on M1. I thought the 2 EV chargers looked quiet. One had a paper sign stuck on it saying currently not available. The second looked ok and a VW iD3 owner who arrived while I was at the toilet was just unplugging - it wasn’t working!

Grumpy_chap

Looks like Lexus will launch an "RZ" model as all-electric.  Seems to be similar size to the RX and the Lexus version of the Toyota BZ4X.

michaels

JKenH said:

Driving home from Dorset on the M3 approaching J10 I saw a TM3 in the near side lane going relatively slowly (probably 50 or so mph). I thought that’s unusual and as we pulled alongside to overtake I could see the driver was leaning over the passenger seat not looking at all at the road. When dead level my wife said it looks as though he is using his laptop. I asked if she could see his laptop but she said no as his body was obscuring her view but judging from the position of his body (twisted round square to the direction of travel and leaning over), head (looking down) and arms it looked pretty much like that is what he was doing, presumably taking full advantage of Autopilot to get some work done. No wonder Teslas are popular with business users. 

No wonder Telsa's have more accidents crashing into stationary vehicles whilst on 'cruise control'?!

It has often been suggested that a good but not perfect self driving system is the most dangerous, the fewer interventions required, the less likely the driver is to be paying attention at the moment when one is, so counter-intuitively the better a self driving system is, the more dangerous it is!