EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

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Uber Geek
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#1948104 29-Jan-2018 12:38

wellygary:

MikeAqua:

Today for the first time I saw a Pure-EV taxi. Was a Nissan Leaf and part of the Green co-op in Wellington.

Will be a game changer if large numbers of taxis start switching to EV.

Taxi's went Hybrid in a huge way, because it made economic sense,

I'm not convinced there is the margin in the industry to justify going EV just yet, ( green's leaf is a one off)

Someone has to be first ... they may have got a 'deal' for that reason. I think hybrid taxis were good advertising for hybrid vehicles.

The lower maintenance would appeal, to a taxi owner. Down time for maintenance is $ out the door in two ways - servicing costs and lost revenue. In Welly you could probably do a lot of running around the CBD and airport on one charge as distances are short - about 15km CBD to Airport return.

Mike

KrazyKid

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#1948121 29-Jan-2018 13:11

MikeAqua:

Today for the first time I saw a Pure-EV taxi. Was a Nissan Leaf and part of the Green co-op in Wellington.

Will be a game changer if large numbers of taxis start switching to EV.

Recall reading about a person using a Leaf as a Uber on Facebook. Ended up switching to another car as the time he had to spend recharging ( 3-4 hours middle of his day) didn't work for him . I suppose it will depend on where you are driving and for how long a day. Hills chomp up the battery on my Leaf in Dunedin - fine as a commute. Would be crap as a taxi down here.

MarkH67

522 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1948132 29-Jan-2018 13:35

KrazyKid:

Recall reading about a person using a Leaf as a Uber on Facebook. Ended up switching to another car as the time he had to spend recharging ( 3-4 hours middle of his day) didn't work for him . I suppose it will depend on where you are driving and for how long a day. Hills chomp up the battery on my Leaf in Dunedin - fine as a commute. Would be crap as a taxi down here.

What about in the near future with 60kWh batteries giving ~360km range?

I have trouble believing that you couldn't run an EV as a taxi in any city in NZ if you had a range exceeding 300km. In Auckland with the slow speeds in heavy traffic, a 60kWh Leaf could potentially exceed 400km range.

Sure, 24kWh might be limiting. But over the next few years, the EVs will be all going to 60kWh and beyond, over 90% of the inconveniences and limitations of an EV will fade away. For a family trip, you would be able to drive from the Waikato to Wellington with only one stop, but you might opt for two stops if you have kids getting restless on such a long trip. From Hamilton to Auckland and back to Hamilton could be done without even bothering to stop at a fast charger. The distance between fast chargers won't be a problem, more fast chargers will have been built and the car's range will mean you only need to stop at some of them.

wellygary

8821 posts

Uber Geek
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#1948137 29-Jan-2018 13:51

MarkH67:

KrazyKid:

Recall reading about a person using a Leaf as a Uber on Facebook. Ended up switching to another car as the time he had to spend recharging ( 3-4 hours middle of his day) didn't work for him . I suppose it will depend on where you are driving and for how long a day. Hills chomp up the battery on my Leaf in Dunedin - fine as a commute. Would be crap as a taxi down here.

What about in the near future with 60kWh batteries giving ~360km range?

Probably, but as always the big question would be vehicle acquisition cost,

But given we are now seeing 2011 leafs selling for 10-15K here, I would guess it could be less than 5 years before a 60KWh vehicle fell to a similar price, and taxi companies will be all over them

(assuming that auto driving vehicles have not decimated the human driver based industry by then)

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek
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#1948184 29-Jan-2018 15:14

There is already a EV taxi company in Auckland that uses a fleet of Tesla Model X vehicles.

https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/auckland-man-bets-his-house-fleet-tesla-taxis-ck-p-210995

Company website.

https://www.ohpec.com

frednz

1467 posts

Uber Geek
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Inactive user

#1948238 29-Jan-2018 17:41

Linuxluver:

I've found it to be very rare. I drive around a lot....and use fast chargers a lot. I very rarely have to wait....and have not been "ICEd" that I can recall.

Thanks, a good answer. However, I think in this hot weather it would be an advantage to be "iced". At least in an ICE vehicle you've got plenty of range to play with so you can run your air conditioning all day without any worries!

It's amazing the jargon that has sprung up around good old petrol vehicles. When I drive one I'm likely to be called an "icehole" living in the ice age. Now isn't that fairly derogatory and designed to make "ICE" owners feel very guilty?

We all will be driving EVs in a few years, but in the meantime, the EV infrastructure has to build up slowly and carefully. OK, now back to my ICE block and ICE car!

Samsung

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afe66

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Lifetime subscriber

#1948283 29-Jan-2018 19:29

Ice = internal combustion engine

frednz

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#1948314 29-Jan-2018 21:08

https://idealog.co.nz/tech/2018/01/should-i-buy-electric-car-blow-blow-guide

The above recent article by Infometrics Economist Mieke Walvaert may be of interest.

The opening sentence says that:

"In 2018, it may come as a surprise that buying an electric vehicle might be cheaper than getting a petrol car."

Well, that certainly would come as a major surprise to me, particularly if you are comparing the costs of a NZ-New petrol vehicle with a NZ-New EV!

The savings in running costs of a NZ-New EV that costs around $60,000 (they don't come much cheaper than that) are unlikely to offset the huge amount extra paid to get a NZ-New EV when compared with buying, say, a NZ-New ICE, such as the $27,000 Honda Jazz.

And the likely depreciation on sale of a NZ-New EV is likely to be huge when compared with the depreciation on sale of a NZ-New ICE, such as the Honda Jazz.

However, Walvaert does publish some interesting information, including various new and second-hand vehicle costs that have been prepared by Sigurd Magnusson.

Overall, it's worth reading an up to date article about EVs.

wellygary

8821 posts

Uber Geek
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#1948323 29-Jan-2018 22:04

frednz:

Overall, it's worth reading an up to date article about EVs.

There is a fairly large amount of positive Spin in that piece,

Wireless charging in 2-3 years and local battery refurbs for 2-5K,

I look forward to these, but I am not holding my breath

paulchinnz

Circumspice
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#1948377 29-Jan-2018 23:56

That 2-5k is from flipthefleet, which has done a lot of good work but not exactly covered itself in glory re battery costs. It might be true in several years, but currently pie in sky for owners like me in Chch who have a lemon battery and want to get a replacement now that's got >95% SOH.

afe66

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#1948390 30-Jan-2018 08:19

What do you mean by flipthefleet not covering itself in glory about battery costs?

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paulchinnz

Circumspice
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#1948624 30-Jan-2018 14:26

@afe66: as per the flipthefleet link in Walvaert's article, which states "At the moment, refurbishing your battery will cost between $2,000 and $5,000" (this was in Nov 2017). Perhaps I've misinterpreted, but I take this to mean get the battery to >95% SOH (by whatever means). Prospective Leaf buyers may think SOH doesn't matter much if they factor in $5000 to get a virtually new battery. Perhaps the situation has changed dramatically in the last couple of months, in which case I'd be one of the first to line up (to refurbish my 2013 24 kWh 75% SOH battery).

MikeAqua

8033 posts

Uber Geek
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#1948635 30-Jan-2018 14:49

wellygary:

frednz:

Overall, it's worth reading an up to date article about EVs.

There is a fairly large amount of positive Spin in that piece,

Wireless charging in 2-3 years and local battery refurbs for 2-5K,

I look forward to these, but I am not holding my breath

The comparison between cranking battery in an ICEV and traction battery in an EV was an interesting one.

An wireless charging is typically low current flow, which is offset by larger charging area when it matters (e.g. in trains).

Mike

KrazyKid

1247 posts

Uber Geek
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#1948666 30-Jan-2018 15:34

@paulchinnz - not sure if you saw this this - maybe it will give you hope - only months away if all goes well. Being second hand batteries at this stage who know what the state will be, but there is a contact number listed in the article for any questions you have.

http://evtalk.co.nz/ev-battery-import-breakthrough/

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1749

#1948826 30-Jan-2018 19:24

Why the fuss about wireless charging? After 100+ years of ICE cars, you still have to manually refuel them.

Then there is the energy efficiency and safety concerns with wireless charging. Having 25KW or so traveling across an air gap. Imagine if the cat tries to run through it. It would get almost instantly fried to a crisp. What about if something metal ends up in the gap?

As for efficiency concerns, it would add at least 10% to the total power used by an EV. Now imagine that power is generated by fossil fuels. Which in most countries it will be. The extra inefficiency might be enough to make driving an ICE car better for the environment.

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