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grover posted:if Volt prices can come down into the single digits
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Nov 27, 2012 14:26
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kimbo305 posted:I'm not sure what you mean by this. 4 digits?
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Nov 27, 2012 17:07
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roomforthetuna posted:Single digits and a K, probably.
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Nov 27, 2012 17:50
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The Tesla Model S 40kw is going to be $62,500 Canadian. If I hock my truck and my bike I wouldn't owe too much... It's seriously tempting, especially considering the Trans Canada highway is getting free charging stations: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/new-cars/auto-news/free-ev-chargers-installed-along-the-trans-canada-highway/article5520638/
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Nov 28, 2012 00:59
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grover posted:Yeah, this was what I meant. Which I guess is 4 digits, technically. My point was that saving $700/year on gas is a much bigger impact on when you're looking at a $2k difference between used cars than a $20k difference (or whatever) new. Don't hold your breath, in my area (Miami) the only Priuses that cheap have six digits of mileage or are eight or more years old.
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Nov 28, 2012 01:42
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grover posted:This article critiques the numbers: It appears to be comparing $30k and $40k vehicles to ones sometimes half of their price then saying it will take a very, very long time for fuel savings alone to make up the difference. I don't see how this is interesting or useful information. edit: The images to the sides of the article aren't just ads  edit2: Y'know what'd be nice? Something that compares average driving habits in electric, hybrid, and ICE vehicles with comparable trim levels. I know that's subjective in many ways, but I think it will be more useful than comparing MPG ratings of vehicles from completely different price ranges without regard for anything else. You might as well suggest buying a bicycle. Denzine fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Nov 28, 2012 |
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Nov 28, 2012 05:03
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I just heard about the Spark, what's everyone's thoughts on that as a commuter?
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Nov 28, 2012 06:37
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Acethomas posted:I just heard about the Spark, what's everyone's thoughts on that as a commuter? It's a pretty decent little car. Personally I don't like the styling, and you may find that 85hp is too little, but there's nothing really wrong with the car as such.
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Nov 28, 2012 10:56
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Denzine posted:It appears to be comparing $30k and $40k vehicles to ones sometimes half of their price then saying it will take a very, very long time for fuel savings alone to make up the difference. grover fucked around with this message at 11:34 on Nov 28, 2012 |
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Nov 28, 2012 11:30
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grover posted:They selected those cars because they're otherwise comparable in size and class, though one is conventional and the other electric. This is a fair comparison, because THAT is the sort of information people went to see; they want to see how much that fancy new power plant actually costs. Which is precisely why nobody does this comparison with the Tesla Model S, because it is comparable in every way to other ~$70-110k sedans
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Nov 28, 2012 23:57
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Kenshin posted:Which is precisely why nobody does this comparison with the Tesla Model S, because it is comparable in every way to other ~$70-110k sedans I disagree. The Tesla's interior is way down on the button quota that lets you know you're driving a luxury car.
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Dec 11, 2012 22:42
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Coredump posted:I disagree. The Tesla's interior is way down on the button quota that lets you know you're driving a luxury car. That's the best part.
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Dec 12, 2012 11:22
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Denzine posted:It appears to be comparing $30k and $40k vehicles to ones sometimes half of their price then saying it will take a very, very long time for fuel savings alone to make up the difference. I'd like to see a cost of ownership study which factors in all the maintenance items and common points of failure (engine oil, spark plugs, PCV valves, O2 sensors, that sort of thing) that don't exist in electric vehicles. Though that may have to wait until electric cars have been on the market long enough to gather meaningful data on long-term reliability (particularly concerning the batteries).
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Dec 13, 2012 00:27
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Cockmaster posted:I'd like to see a cost of ownership study which factors in all the maintenance items and common points of failure (engine oil, spark plugs, PCV valves, O2 sensors, that sort of thing) that don't exist in electric vehicles.
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Dec 13, 2012 01:28
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The Prius has been out for a decade.
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Dec 13, 2012 02:33
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Godholio posted:The Prius has been out for a decade.
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Dec 13, 2012 06:03
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roomforthetuna posted:A hybrid doesn't need its batteries to have a really good capacity. Or has an all-electric Prius been out for a decade? No, but it does need them to work - the Prius CVT requires the electric motor to lock up in order for the gas engine to be able to put power down.
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Dec 13, 2012 08:02
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IOwnCalculus posted:No, but it does need them to work - the Prius CVT requires the electric motor to lock up in order for the gas engine to be able to put power down. And it's also much much less expensive to replace a relatively small hybrid battery bank when the time comes. So we can't really even begin to derive the practical running cost of a proper EV from the electric-part running cost of a hybrid.
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Dec 13, 2012 16:12
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My Leaf had a popup on the dash that it was cold outside yesterday. I'll have to take a picture next time, it had a snowflake and everything.
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Dec 13, 2012 16:33
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duz posted:My Leaf had a popup on the dash that it was cold outside yesterday. I'll have to take a picture next time, it had a snowflake and everything.
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Dec 13, 2012 16:48
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Seat Safety Switch posted:I saw this on some luxury car a few years ago (I want to say BMW). Thanks car, I figured it out when I had to scrape ice off you for four minutes. It's a warning to let you know it's cold enough outside for there to be ice on the road, BMW does it every time the temp drops below 37f.
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Dec 13, 2012 16:49
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sanchez posted:It's a warning to let you know it's cold enough outside for there to be ice on the road, BMW does it every time the temp drops below 37f. That's when it went off in mine. I know this because there's also a digital thermometer on the dash. Ice is a good reason for the warning, I was thinking it was battery related since it doesn't like the cold.
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Dec 13, 2012 16:55
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roomforthetuna posted:Yeah, my point is the replacement-required lifetime of a battery whose requirement is "still work a bit" is much much longer than the replacement-required lifetime of a battery whose requirement is "still have enough capacity to drive 70+ miles on it." I was just thinking it would be interesting to see something on hybrids as well.
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Dec 13, 2012 17:37
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Seat Safety Switch posted:I saw this on some luxury car a few years ago (I want to say BMW). Thanks car, I figured it out when I had to scrape ice off you for four minutes. My sister's Chevy crossover does this. Since we live in Alaska, I'd thought that would be implied.
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Dec 13, 2012 21:11
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My parents' Pontiac Montana does it; they live in Calgary where snow in any month of the year can and has happened (wassup, Seat Safety Switch). I was especially amused to see the warning as we drove across a frozen lake in B.C. a couple of years ago. Gee, possibility of ice, really? Could that have anything to do with the people fishing beside the road? Cold really does terrible things to batteries, I'm impressed there are as many hybrid and electric-car owners in Canada as there are. Do any of the currently-available or planned-for-soon EVs have something like a block heater (but for the battery) as an option? Two cords to plug in?
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Dec 14, 2012 12:51
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sanchez posted:It's a warning to let you know it's cold enough outside for there to be ice on the road, BMW does it every time the temp drops below 37f. And every time it goes off I poo poo my pants because it beeps at me; my first thought is something horrible is going wrong, then I look down and see it's merely the car saying VORSICHT! ES IST KALT!
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Dec 15, 2012 00:21
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ExecuDork posted:Cold really does terrible things to batteries, I'm impressed there are as many hybrid and electric-car owners in Canada as there are. Do any of the currently-available or planned-for-soon EVs have something like a block heater (but for the battery) as an option? Two cords to plug in? Doesn't seem to have extended to my dad's HS250h that just basically goes "you're on your own, here's gas motor, bitch" as soon as it drops below -10. Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 00:45 on Dec 15, 2012 |
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Dec 15, 2012 00:37
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duz posted:My Leaf had a popup on the dash that it was cold outside yesterday. I'll have to take a picture next time, it had a snowflake and everything. My Volvo does this too. I think it's just trying to be festive. 
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Dec 15, 2012 05:56
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Huh, I didn't realize that was a super rare thing, my 2003 Altima and current A4 both happily do that as well. Just a few lines of code to throw that up when temp < threshold, I guess. v0v
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Dec 15, 2012 08:03
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My big truck does it. Snowflake and ICE alert.
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Dec 15, 2012 08:29
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I'll say upfront that I know I'm not in the target demographic for EVs. In fact they would be Utterly useless. I can walk across town in < 10 minutes, and other towns with anything mine doesn't have are more or less out of range. But it doesn't stop me from thinking they are a good idea where public transport (HA!) which is generally a lot more efficient can't fill the gap. I think the hybrids, or more the ones that are electric drive with a generator are interesting tech and have the capability to much better utilize fuel. Something like that would probably see a lot of use around here because the total lack of hills would make for long distance low consumption cruising. Also if, and this is a big one, if they made them without 90% of the "LOOK AT ME I'M AN EV" ancilliary electronic bullshit, and made them more like a normal car than something out of a sci-fi movie inside they may be a lot less intimidating / oozing unwanted pretence than their fossil fuel burning cousins. Also how awesome would a 4x4 hybrid be? It could crawl all day on a tank and have torque available when you want it. Plus if it were using wheel motors that could open up all sorts of interesting traction management options. I hope what I said is right for this thread, as it's more speculation than anything else.
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Dec 15, 2012 23:58
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Finally, the aftermarket is stepping up to correct a major emissions-related design flaw with the Tesla Roadster. http://www.ebay.com/motors/carsandtrucks/Tesla/Roadster/2010/Catalytic-Converters
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Dec 19, 2012 15:18
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KozmoNaut posted:Finally, the aftermarket is stepping up to correct a major emissions-related design flaw with the Tesla Roadster. Nothing on ebay is even remotly ever close to fraud. I am going to buy a set.
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Dec 19, 2012 15:28
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I have an electric car question, I was playing with a RC car today where you would steer using two separate joysticks that controlled the "throttle" on individual wheels. My understanding of (some) modern EVs is that they have separate electric motors for each wheel, would it ever be feasible to have a full size car steer using nothing but throttle input? edit: I'd imagine you could make the car handle pretty well too using the individual motors like some sort of computer controlled differential too. tbb9 fucked around with this message at 07:16 on Jan 10, 2013 |
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Jan 10, 2013 07:13
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tbb9 posted:My understanding of (some) modern EVs is that they have separate electric motors for each wheel, would it ever be feasible to have a full size car steer using nothing but throttle input? You mean with no turning of the wheels in front? That'd worsen tire wear quite a bit. Do you mean having individual pedals for left and right wheels for the driver to operate? I think it's possible, but not a great idea. You'd have to have significant DBW smoothing of inputs to keep the car from slithering all over the road as inputs were slightly mismatched.
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Jan 10, 2013 09:17
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Pulled the pin on the Model S today. Turned in my configuration request in person at the Santana Row store in San Jose. Estimated time to completion, about a month. Deposit now non-refundable.
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Jan 12, 2013 19:30
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kimbo305 posted:You mean with no turning of the wheels in front? That'd worsen tire wear quite a bit. If the computer did the adjustment of torque to the various wheels for you though it could make a pretty awesome all-wheel-drive system. It'd be sort of like having an LSD front, back and center but it'd be infinitely variable and maybe even reprogrammable? That would be kickass.
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Jan 12, 2013 19:35
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Madurai posted:Pulled the pin on the Model S today. Turned in my configuration request in person at the Santana Row store in San Jose. Estimated time to completion, about a month. Deposit now non-refundable. I strongly recommend the factory pickup, the tours are really cool.
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Jan 12, 2013 20:13
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tbb9 posted:I have an electric car question, I was playing with a RC car today where you would steer using two separate joysticks that controlled the "throttle" on individual wheels. Heh, my nephew got one of those cars too. But the car would handle like a tank, because that's what it would become like.
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Jan 12, 2013 21:51
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wilfredmerriweathr posted:If the computer did the adjustment of torque to the various wheels for you though it could make a pretty awesome all-wheel-drive system. It'd be sort of like having an LSD front, back and center but it'd be infinitely variable and maybe even reprogrammable? That would be kickass. This is what I keep thinking about, it sounds amazing. Didn't Mitsubishi say the next generation Evo was going to be an EV
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Jan 12, 2013 23:50
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