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SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 25,674

Re: Fixing Americas car industry

We knew that states would get around to this one day Owners of electric vehicles, hybrids may have to pay an annual fee to use Louisiana roads

For those not bikers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Da … ght_engine

https://milwaukee8.com/

https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/s … p/16200521

https://www.cycleworld.com/harley-david … in-engine/

engine assembly in process

end view of alternator

https://www.bikebandit.com/blog/back-to … cam-engine

Mars_B4_Moon

Member

Registered: 2006-03-23

Posts: 2,578

Re: Fixing Americas car industry

World's Fastest Electric Car Charger Installed in Norway - Full charge in 15 minutes

https://cleantechnica.com/2022/05/04/wo … in-norway/

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 25,674

Re: Fixing Americas car industry

Sure fast but not cheap. The US may have a chance to get off the import of the very materials that make it possible.

Southeast Nebraska mine could be nation's second-largest rare earth deposit, according to geological study

The company references a 2022 feasibility study, with further research ongoing. It was already planning on pulling niobium, scandium and titanium out of the ground south of Tecumseh.

California's electrical grid has an EV problem

the additional load from electric vehicle (EV) charging could add more strain to the electric grid.

“Today’s grid may not be able to support it. It all boils down to: Are you charging during the time solar power is on?”

California’s grid could face a potential shortfall of roughly 1,700 megawatts, which would affect the power supply of between 1 million and 4 million people this summer. That number would likely be exacerbated by an additional shortfall of 5,000 megawatts in the case of extreme heat and further fire damage to existing power lines.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 25,674

Re: Fixing Americas car industry

Why Electric Car Battery Recycling Matters as Much as the Cars Themselves

especially for those that have had lots of bad units....that failed sooner than the expected 10 to 15 years for most.

Let's pin down some weights for major component in this 1018 Cold-Drawn Seamless (CDS) tubular chassis vehicle:

600lbs - 357 feet of 1.75"OD / 0.095" Wall 1018 / 1020 mild steel tubing; $332.01 at Stock Car Steel's website (we'll probably use more than one diameter of tubing for weight optimization, but this is the largest and most expensive stuff we'll use)
200lbs - Ford F-250 window glass ( 2 front windshields and 4 front passenger windows; we're going to use suicide doors for the rear to latch both doors to the pillar between the front and rear row of seats )
225lbs - 5 full size steel wheels and tires
104lbs - 4 lightweight Mazda Miata brake assemblies
72lbs - 6 NRG padded GFRP full-headrest bucket racing seats built to accept 4 or 5 point harnesses $1,860
30lbs - 6 Braum Racing 4-Point Harness (latch still operates like a normal passenger car seat belt) $600
200lbs - 121hp Harley-Davidson Milwaukee-8 131cid V-twin engine and transmission
60lbs - Ford Mustang Lightweight Manual Steering Column and Rack
9lbs - EPA / CARB compliant 12 gallon polymer fuel tank
72lbs - 12 gallons of gasoline
16lbs - All-steel door hardware (interior / exterior handles, locks, and latching mechanisms)
40lbs - Unidirectional Carbon or Kevlar fabric (NOT composite) over foam panels for body panels / skins)
100lbs - Misc (headlights / tailights / blinkers / wiring / floor mats)

That puts us at 1,628lbs for a 6-seat wide body (as wide as a Ford F250) vehicle, meaning this vehicle will comfortably seat 6 passengers, 3-abreast.  With a 700 pound load (mom and dad plus 4 kiddos), we're still at 104hp/ton.  That's as good as or better than a 4,000 pound car with a V6 or battery electronic drive train and a 200hp engine.  The NRG seats have a passenger weight limit of 240lbs or 265lbs, I forget which it is.  You have electric window defrost and 2/40 AC, but no heat until I can devise a way to provide that without increasing weight too much.  No radio, no electronic gimmicks, no "power everything", just a simple functional vehicle that burns a lot less gas idling in traffic, with reasonably peppy performance up to 75mph.  We'll have to devise some mechanical hardware to manually adjust seat height and throttle / brake pedals to accommodate differently-sized drivers.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 25,674

Re: Fixing Americas car industry

GM Patents Dual Charging Port Tech With Huge Possibilities for EV Trucks; Split that big battery pack into two virtual bits, and now you can charge ‘em separately with individual charge cables.

In GM's patent, one port allows 800V charging, while the other allows 400V charging. With some circuitry and switches and software, that allows the user and the vehicle to suddenly have several options for charging. Plug in one cord from one 350 kW charger and you're charging the whole pack, operating in series, at 800V. The secondary port is bidirectional, so you could also hook up another vehicle—say, an EV excavator with a smaller pack at a job site where chargers are limited—and you start to see how this could become very useful.

If a 350 kW fast-charger isn't available and you need lots of battery replenishment quickly, the tech could allow you to plug in two cords-like say from two 150 kW fast-charging towers-and run the pack in parallel mode, charging both at 400V.

Well the higher voltage means lower conductor size and amperage required to deliver power to the wheels...

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 25,674

Re: Fixing Americas car industry

Musk says Tesla's new car factories factories in Texas and Berlin 'losing billions of dollars'

For the Texas plant its production of its new "4680" batteries and as tools to make its conventional 2170 batteries are "stuck in port in China."

Tesla Model S catches fire three weeks after getting sent to junkyard

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 25,674

Re: Fixing Americas car industry

The Reason The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid Was A Failure it's hybrid version of the Chevy Tahoe was not cheap as the price started near $50,000.

ouch

The model's 6-liter V8 hybrid engine had better gas mileage than the normal Tahoe (which got 16 mpg at that time), but it lagged behind that of its hybrid competitors. Most hybrids from that era got around 50 miles to the gallon, but Chevy's then-new SUV only got 21 mpg (via Chevrolet).

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 25,674

Re: Fixing Americas car industry

No need for gasoline video of new-solar-powered-car-called-lightyear-can-go-months-without-plugging-in

next video is of a bike hybrid car

kbd512

Administrator

Registered: 2015-01-02

Posts: 5,693

Re: Fixing Americas car industry

SpaceNut,

1. The link you posted doesn't work for me.  I get redirected back to MSN news home.

2. I already posted about this vehicle and why it's a great idea, yet still falls squarely within the realm of utter nonsense for most people.

The car cost $265,000 USD, so you know, if you're looking to replace your Aston Martin or Ferrari with something "less costly to run", then this car is for you.

SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 25,674

Re: Fixing Americas car industry

I remember now the ridiculous price tag for a car...
https://www.treehugger.com/lightyear-0- … dy-5498883

5 square meters of double-curved solar arrays that can charge the electric vehicle while it's driving or parked outdoors. The solar panels can add up to 43 miles (70 kilometers) of range a day in addition to its estimated 388 miles (625 kilometers)
The electric motors generate a combined 174 horsepower and 1,269 pound-feet of torque, which can accelerate the Lightyear 0 from 0-62 mph in 10 seconds and a top speed of 100 mph.

With an energy use of 10.5 kWh per 62 miles (100 kilometers), Lightyear says it is the most efficient electric vehicle and its drag coefficient of less than 0.19 makes it the most aerodynamic family car yet. Although the Lightyear 0 is more than 16.4 feet long, it only weighs 3,472 pounds.

kbd512

Administrator

Registered: 2015-01-02

Posts: 5,693

Re: Fixing Americas car industry

SpaceNut,

I kinda wonder if you had a large vehicle like a van with a series hybrid engine, could you power everything else and also recharge the small battery using the solar array to reduce the load on the engine or perhaps turn it off entirely during the daytime.  This vehicle would have a very small battery pack, though, to keep weight sane.

The power-to-weight ratio is 100.23hp per American ton.  If the vehicle wasn't lugging around a monster-sized 60kWh battery, then it could probably weigh half as much, so only 90hp.  I'll wager that a Tesla vs a Nissan "e-POWER" producing only 90hp will lose the total energy consumption argument every single time.  That'd put fuel consumption at 1.95L for 60 miles of range, or 17.16kWh.  That's 177.7Wh/km.  The Tesla is 250Wh/km.  Performance would be no better or worse than Lightyear Zero.

You're obviously using more energy than Lightyear Zero, but the car won't cost $265,000, either.

Let's say our car cost $60,000, just to make it equal in cost to a Tesla Model 3.  Hey, why not?

That buys 43,000 gallons or 162,773L of fuel at $5/gallon.

162,773L / 1.95L = 83,473.333

83,473.333 * 60 miles of range per 1.95L = 5,008,400 miles

It's about 238,900 miles to the moon, so we can afford to drive to the moon and back to Earth about 10.48 times for equivalent money spent.

According to Guinness World Records, a 1966 Volvo 1800S owned by a Mr. Irving Gordon, of East Patchogue, New York, holds the world record for mileage driven, at 3,400,000 miles and counting.  I don't think I'll ever make it that far, but we can see how much more money is being spent on the EV.

I don't know what kind of magic fairy dust Lightyear Zero has been sprinkled with, but if it's my money I think I'd use all that leftover cash to pay for gas and call it a day.  They spent big money to make their vehicle very light and aerodynamic, but then they immediately put a battery in it that weighs as much as a small car.  I don't get it.  I like the good aspects of the Lightyear Zero, but weight kills performance.  There's no way that these people don't know this, but every one of these things weighs as much as a pickup truck.  If the vehicle is intended to be driven 22 miles each way to work, then why not give it a 21kWh / 124 mile range so that the battery weighs no more than a combustion engine serial hybrid?

We could make these EVs quite practical by accepting range limitations or using serial hybrids.  If 90% of real world driving is within 50 miles or less and you can recharge it in 15 minutes, then why does anyone care about range they're not using?

I don't care about the fact that a semi-truck can go farther than my car, because I won't sit on my butt for 10 hours per day.

If we're totally reliant upon electricity, mostly generated from fossil fuels, then it's sort of a use-lose proposition to anyway.