EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

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#2321071 20-Sep-2019 11:53

wellygary:

The "ringed" daytime running lights trend is everywhere these days, Land Rover's new Defender has them too!

It's more the ringed lights combined with the horizontal black bar connecting them:

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WyleECoyoteNZ

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#2321101 20-Sep-2019 12:35

This is a semi interesting bit of 'willy waving' between Porsche and Tesla

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a29088855/porsche-taycan-turbo-s-nurburgring-lap-time/

In summary:

A pre-series Porsche Taycan set a 7:42 Nürburgring Nordschleife lap time, claiming to be the fastest electric 4 door around the Nürburgring Nordschleife

Tesla have responded with what Elon has referred to as the Tesla Model S Plaid. Rumors suggest this is a completely stripped out Model S with only a drivers seat and dash. It has been suggested, the Model S Plaid is a three motor variant.

Unofficially, Tesla are reported as doing a 7:20 lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Porsche have then countered, saying that the 7:42 time was done in the less powerful Taycan Turbo model, so could go faster in the more powerful Taycan Turbo S

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/tesla-model-s-nrburgring-lap-record-attempt-testing-reports/

What does it all mean? At the end of the day nothing really.

But, for those wealthy enough, a more powerful version of the Tesla Model S could be one the cards.

wellygary

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#2321186 20-Sep-2019 13:41

MarkH67:

New car that is very well priced: https://youtu.be/6csoYiUzltc

Could be a good option for many NZers to consider importing from the UK.

It now looks like it will be available here officially from mid next year

"It's official: a pure-electric Mini will arrive in New Zealand mid-2020."

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/115931074/electric-mini-in-but-i3-out-for-bmw-new-zealand

Linuxluver

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#2321491 20-Sep-2019 18:22

Daimler (Mercedes) announces it won't be developing any more combustion engines and will instead focus on electric motors and drivetrains.

Gottlieb Daimler invented the combustion engine.

https://electrek.co/2019/09/19/daimler-stops-developing-internal-combustion-engines-to-focus-on-electric-cars/

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tdgeek

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#2321502 20-Sep-2019 18:40

Linuxluver: Daimler (Mercedes) announces it won't be developing any more combustion engines and will instead focus on electric motors and drivetrains.

Gottlieb Daimler invented the combustion engine.

https://electrek.co/2019/09/19/daimler-stops-developing-internal-combustion-engines-to-focus-on-electric-cars/

Wow, thats impressive. For any new "thing" to be relevant, you need traction, pun intended. EV's are a classical Bell Curve. They will dribble long as they have been, but when you see these moves, thats when the curves starts to head north, and feed upon itself. yes, I am critical of the affordability, and thus proliferation of EV's , but moves like this do matter, they are the kick start that will drive real production numbers and sound pricing. Early adopters are great, but we need real production numbers and sound pricing, as the masses matter.

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#2321506 20-Sep-2019 18:50

Linuxluver: Daimler (Mercedes) announces it won't be developing any more combustion engines and will instead focus on electric motors and drivetrains.

With some of the odd designs of recent combustion engines, like the overly complex Infiniti engine, any gains outweigh the complexity.

I can see why they stopped. Transmissions have gotten pretty silly too.

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#2322192 21-Sep-2019 20:42

Interesting article in CNN. Looks like China's big push into EV's continues to be a good idea. I'm not sure it was clever or a happy coincidence. Probably a bit of both.

It doesn't hurt that China is now the leader in solar cell manufacture and in research.

So while there's a lot to distrust about them, I congratulate them on their foresight, and taking action on EV's and solar at least.

China depends on foreign oil. The Saudi attack is a wake-up call

By Laura He, CNN Business

...As the world's largest crude oil importer, China's heavy dependence on other countries for energy has influenced much of its foreign policy. Beijing is trying to reduce that dependence, but the needs of its growing economy and a trade war with the United States have put it in an awkward position. It's buying more Saudi oil than it has done for years.

..Last year, China's crude oil production decreased 1.3% to 189 million metric tons, a third straight year of decline.

...The Chinese government has also been trying various means to achieve energy independence.

In its 13th five-year plan, China's policy blueprint for 2016 to 2020, the government established a goal of becoming at least 80% self sufficient in energy by 2020.

In 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed a New Energy Security Strategy, calling for the country to diversify sources of energy imports, foster cordial relations with major oil and gas producers, boost alternative energy development as well as encouraging technological innovation in nuclear power and electric vehicles.
...

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/20/business/china-saudi-oil-attack-trade-war/index.html

Obraik

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#2322211 21-Sep-2019 21:21

kingdragonfly: Interesting article in CNN. Looks like China's big push into EV's continues to be a good idea. I'm not sure it was clever or a happy coincidence. Probably a bit of both.

It doesn't hurt that China is now the leader in solar cell manufacture and in research.

So while there's a lot to distrust about them, I congratulate them on their foresight, and taking action on EV's and solar at least.

China depends on foreign oil. The Saudi attack is a wake-up call

By Laura He, CNN Business

...As the world's largest crude oil importer, China's heavy dependence on other countries for energy has influenced much of its foreign policy. Beijing is trying to reduce that dependence, but the needs of its growing economy and a trade war with the United States have put it in an awkward position. It's buying more Saudi oil than it has done for years.

..Last year, China's crude oil production decreased 1.3% to 189 million metric tons, a third straight year of decline.

...The Chinese government has also been trying various means to achieve energy independence.

In its 13th five-year plan, China's policy blueprint for 2016 to 2020, the government established a goal of becoming at least 80% self sufficient in energy by 2020.
In 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed a New Energy Security Strategy, calling for the country to diversify sources of energy imports, foster cordial relations with major oil and gas producers, boost alternative energy development as well as encouraging technological innovation in nuclear power and electric vehicles.
...

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/20/business/china-saudi-oil-attack-trade-war/index.html

While we're not as dependent on Saudi Arabia as China is, it's something we should be encouraging in New Zealand as well. 90% or more of our power is generated by our own means and once Huntly goes offline we should be 100% independent of any other country when it comes to generating our own power (I'm not aware of any other power plants that import fuel from overseas but I could be wrong). As more of our fleet is made up by EVs then the more self-sufficient we become with powering our land based transport. To me, that is one of the big benefits EVs has for New Zealand and it doesn't seem to be mentioned much.

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Linuxluver

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#2322305 21-Sep-2019 22:54

Obraik:

While we're not as dependent on Saudi Arabia as China is, it's something we should be encouraging in New Zealand as well. 90% or more of our power is generated by our own means and once Huntly goes offline we should be 100% independent of any other country when it comes to generating our own power (I'm not aware of any other power plants that import fuel from overseas but I could be wrong). As more of our fleet is made up by EVs then the more self-sufficient we become with powering our land based transport. To me, that is one of the big benefits EVs has for New Zealand and it doesn't seem to be mentioned much.

As well as the two coal-fired turbines at Huntly, Glenbrook steel mill imports coal for it's own power turbine. So there are 3 coal-fired turbines in NZ.

I'm installing solar and batteries at my house in the next few months.Mostly to power the house, but also to allow us to charge our two EVs using our own power, if we need to.

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bfginger

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#2322318 21-Sep-2019 23:09

In a strict economic sense solar panels are imported energy as the units can't be manufactured locally. The easy gains for cost reduction have already been made so making them really cheap could take longer than people expect.

I do like the idea of EVs with solar panels on them, negating the need for a grid tie with light usage. The practicality with current technology is debatable though.

Linuxluver

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#2322428 22-Sep-2019 05:25

bfginger: In a strict economic sense solar panels are imported energy as the units can't be manufactured locally. The easy gains for cost reduction have already been made so making them really cheap could take longer than people expect.

I do like the idea of EVs with solar panels on them, negating the need for a grid tie with light usage. The practicality with current technology is debatable though.

The Sono Sion looks good. As you say, light usage would be the use case.

https://sonomotors.com/en/sion/

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#2322946 22-Sep-2019 21:04

Linuxluver:

As well as the two coal-fired turbines at Huntly, Glenbrook steel mill imports coal for it's own power turbine. So there are 3 coal-fired turbines in NZ.

That will probably continue into the foreseeable future as coal is also used in the manufacture of the steel itself.

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Linuxluver

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#2323051 23-Sep-2019 06:32

Amazon follows up it's US$700 million investment in electric SUV / Ute maker, Rivian, with a US$4 Billion order for 100,000 fully electric delivery vans.

https://i.stuff.co.nz/motoring/115945567/amazon-orders-100000-electric-vans-from-rivian
.

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kingdragonfly

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#2323113 23-Sep-2019 07:26

Linuxluver:The Solo Sion looks good. As you say, light usage would be the use case.

https://sonomotors.com/en/sion/

I think mounting solar panels to an EV is more of a novelty than practical.

When an EV charges, it pulls some serious amps, and an EV's solar panels are little more than a trickle charge.

I imagine even something as simple as running a car through a car wash may give pause.

I think it just adds more maintenance and complexity to a beautiful machine.

Linuxluver

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#2323125 23-Sep-2019 08:05

kingdragonfly:
Linuxluver:The Solo Sion looks good. As you say, light usage would be the use case.

https://sonomotors.com/en/sion/

I think mounting solar panels to an EV is more of a novelty than practical.

When an EV charges, it pulls some serious amps, and an EV's solar panels are little more than a trickle charge.

I imagine even something as simple as running a car through a car wash may give pause.

I think it just adds more maintenance and complexity to a beautiful machine.

You're probably right. That said, IIRC, the Sion can add about 30km of range from its panels each day if you leave it parked in the sun. For a lot of people that would mean never having to plug the car in. At my new house in a small town, I barely drive 10km / day. A lot less than 30km. Eventually my battery would be full and easily able to make the occasional longer drive and still never plug in. Seniors, preppers and survivalists will be all over this.

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