Electric, Hybrid and Alternative fuelled vehicles - News and Discussion

[Guest]

51 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

I admit I never watched the entire video, but I suspect it is restricted to 38 mph same as the Ami being a quadricycle class?

 

38mph is 10 more than the Ami will go...

The Microlino will do 50mph and go for 143 miles with the biggest battery option. (8.8 miles/kWh)

The Smart EQ is a similar length and is a proper car with crash protection but it only has half the range.

Edited October 7, 2022 by 30801

[boxbrownie]

15 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

38mph is 10 more than the Ami will go...

The Microlino will do 50mpg and go for 143 miles with the biggest battery option. (8.8 miles/kWh)

The Smart EQ is a similar length and is a proper car with crash protection but it only has half the range.

Oops, yes I forgot the Ami is even less.

[APOLLO]

58 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

Yeah, they'll be the houses with the lights still on running off the car...

 

Unless there is a hurricane !!

 

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/electric-vehicles-are-exploding-from-water-damage-after-hurricane-ian

 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/battling-fires-water-damaged-evs-ties-resources-hurricane-ian-recovery-florida-fire-dept-says

 

Brit15

Edited October 7, 2022 by APOLLO

[Hroth]

3 hours ago, Nick C said:

Like most of those tiny city cars - a car that's totally unsuitable for any journey for which you actually need a car, but instead designed for all those journeys that are much better done by bike or public transport...

 

Then again, not all people like the idea of being exposed to whatever the weather cares to throw at you, which is the common experience of both bike or a bus, or the problems of changing (and possibly having to shower) after an energetic bike ride to work. Or the annoyance of carrying shopping home on a bus.  I'll leave trains out as they rarely go near shopping experiences nowadays and they are quite good for commuting, especially if there is a service to where you work...

 

A small, cheap, relatively low range electric vehicle is ideal for every day use.  Yes, its no replacement for longer journeys, but thats not what its for.

 

[black and decker boy]

1 hour ago, boxbrownie said:

Oh poop!  I was hoping these would flop……might cause a stir on the A14 eh Admiles? 😁

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/tesla/106478/tesla-semi-truck-production-begins-first-deliveries-1st-december

Based on the technological success of their cars and both development time and range / specs being offered, you can see this being a huge game changer 

 

Tesla now have 4 factories worldwide with which to churn these out (initial production is Austin, Tx IIRC)

 

 

[Hobby]

11 hours ago, Hroth said:

A small, cheap, relatively low range electric vehicle is ideal for every day use.  Yes, its no replacement for longer journeys, but thats not what its for.

 

But what Nick was saying is that those journeys that it's designed for (inner city work) are better done by Public Transport, cycles and walking (not mentioned!) rather then replace one road clogging car with one person in it with another one (albeit smaller).

 

All they do is reduce emissions, they don't reduce congestion.

 

If cars were removed altogether from the inner cities (say a 5 mile radius) and replaced with a decent PT system and cycle ways they wouldn't be needed.

 

Sometimes I feel that people in charge aren't looking at the whole picture, it's all well and good having low emission zones but that is only tackling half the problem, the other half is still there, even the free for all e-scooters is throwing up other issues. The ideal is surely to get people from the outskirts to the centre in "bulk" (bus, train or tram/trolleybus) and then let them walk.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Hobby

[idd15]

13 hours ago, APOLLO said:

 

Unless there is a hurricane !!

 

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/electric-vehicles-are-exploding-from-water-damage-after-hurricane-ian

 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/battling-fires-water-damaged-evs-ties-resources-hurricane-ian-recovery-florida-fire-dept-says

 

Brit15

Not necessarily.  Good engineering wins out!

 

Unscathed Florida town

 

Somewhat unsurprisingly Fox News never mentioned this. Would not sit well in their ultra conservative agenda methinks.

idd

 

[APOLLO]

Cycleways - sick to death of them. Wigan (like everywhere else) is riddled with them, some with their own mini traffic lights at major road junctions, a fortune has been spent - but no one uses them, all virtually empty whilst the traffic thunders on. Who would ride a bike on a cold, windy rainy miserable day, especially in winter and the dark at 5pm ?

 

We need other solutions in towns, electric trolleybuses for instance (battery in town centre / wired out of town). The UK's public transport (outside London) is just not fit for purpose in general (there are some good tram systems though).

 

As to Teslas, nice if you can afford one. (as are most / all EV's) Most who drive can't, think nurses, shop staff, etc etc etc.

 

I'm not anti EV, but they are not the be all and end all answer. 

 

Brit15

 

 

 

 

[Nick C]

1 hour ago, Hobby said:

 

But what Nick was saying is that those journeys that it's designed for (inner city work) are better done by Public Transport, cycles and walking (not mentioned!) rather then replace one road clogging car with one person in it with another one (albeit smaller).

 

All they do is reduce emissions, they don't reduce congestion.

 

If cars were removed altogether from the inner cities (say a 5 mile radius) and replaced with a decent PT system and cycle ways they wouldn't be needed.

 

Sometimes I feel that people in charge aren't looking at the whole picture, it's all well and good having low emission zones but that is only tackling half the problem, the other half is still there, even the free for all e-scooters is throwing up other issues. The ideal is surely to get people from the outskirts to the centre in "bulk" (bus, train or tram/trolleybus) and then let them walk.

Exactly! And they don't even reduce emissions that much either, as they still have four tyres getting worn down.

22 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

We need other solutions in towns, electric trolleybuses for instance (battery in town centre / wired out of town). 

Other way round, surely? Wires in town where there's lots of them, and battery out on the periphery? 

[boxbrownie]

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/sustainability/357592/electric-car-particulate-pollution-myths-busted-rac-report

[APOLLO]

4 hours ago, Nick C said:

Exactly! And they don't even reduce emissions that much either, as they still have four tyres getting worn down.

Other way round, surely? Wires in town where there's lots of them, and battery out on the periphery? 

 

No wires in towns, too complex.

 

Wire main roads / routes out of town (to charge batteries also).

 

Wires may not be needed at final destination (i.e. housing estates).

 

Brit15

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

No wires in towns, too complex.

 

There have been a few cordless trolleybuses where they pop up a pantograph at each stop and slurp up some power into a giant ultracapacitor. I don't know if they're becoming obsolete compared to straight BEV buses.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/sustainability/357592/electric-car-particulate-pollution-myths-busted-rac-report

 

This is such an obvious no-brainer to anyone that's ever been near an EV.

The original report that kicked this off allegedly was from Newcastle University but was in fact written by an undergraduate and sponsored by a company that made hydraulics and bits of diesel engines. The university put out a notice saying it wasn't an offical work by them.

 

Anyway here's a wheel on the petrol Smart. It takes no time to get in that state and none of my EV wheels ever did that. The Leaf did show some wear to a single pad at around 60k miles but that was due to a sticky piston.

[boxbrownie]

And the tyres on our EV seem to last every bit as long as any tyres did on our ICE cars, and considering they start off with less tread from new (6mm Eco tyres as opposed to 7.5/8mm of normal tyres) they don’t seem to shed any more rubber than normal, or maybe even less.

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

18 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

And the tyres on our EV seem to last every bit as long as any tyres did on our ICE cars, and considering they start off with less tread from new (6mm Eco tyres as opposed to 7.5/8mm of normal tyres) they don’t seem to shed any more rubber than normal, or maybe even less.

The modern tyre is 55% plastic and they crack and seperate at an alarming rate,its been talked about bringing a three year lifespan on them as far as testing is concered.

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, ERIC ALLTORQUE said:

The modern tyre is 55% plastic and they crack and seperate at an alarming rate,its been talked about bringing a three year lifespan on them as far as testing is concered.

I have no idea if that’s true, but ours last about 15K miles a set which is about every two years, reiterating they start off with 25% less tread depth when new. But for sure modern tyres have had issues with sidewall/shoulder cracking, it’s all over the forums both EV and normal ICE forums.

[APOLLO]

1 hour ago, ERIC ALLTORQUE said:

The modern tyre is 55% plastic and they crack and seperate at an alarming rate,its been talked about bringing a three year lifespan on them as far as testing is concered.

 

Interesting, not very green then are they ?

 

Brit15

[idd15]

Whilst we are on a bit of a roll with smaller EV's, Mrs idd and no1 son had a ball test driving one of these at Fully Charged this year. The smiles on their faces were a mile wide afterwards. 😀 Very aircraft like to sit in and the active tilt (banking) gives it a really good solid feel on the road.

 

Couple of versions 28mph like the AMI, or 50mph like the Microlino. You can even have a cargo version...

 

Carver Electric

 

idd

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

5 minutes ago, idd15 said:

Whilst we are on a bit of a roll with smaller EV's, Mrs idd and no1 son had a ball test driving one of these at Fully Charged this year. The smiles on their faces were a mile wide afterwards. 😀 Very aircraft like to sit in and the active tilt (banking) gives it a really good solid feel on the road.

 

Couple of versions 28mph like the AMI, or 50mph like the Microlino. You can even have a cargo version...

 

Carver Electric

 

idd

A modern bubble car by the look of it,they were made popular as the could be driven on a bike licence,i take it there is a rear seat.......or it just weather proof Billy no mates transport.

[idd15]

1 hour ago, APOLLO said:

 

Interesting, not very green then are they ?

 

Brit15

True. Recycling and disposing of used tyres has always been a problem/challenge. The best solution I've seen is to use them to create Earthships.

 

I think there was an attempt to use them to create artificial reefs but the various chemicals that are used in their production leached out and killed off the very sea life they were supposed to support. ☹️

 

idd

 

[idd15]

5 minutes ago, ERIC ALLTORQUE said:

A modern bubble car by the look of it,they were made popular as the could be driven on a bike licence,i take it there is a rear seat.......or it just weather proof Billy no mates transport.

Yes, seats two in "reasonable" comfort. However Mrs idd was a little concerned about entry and exiting in a dignified way when in business dress... Seriously good fun to drive though.

 

idd

 

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

12 minutes ago, idd15 said:

True. Recycling and disposing of used tyres has always been a problem/challenge. The best solution I've seen is to use them to create Earthships.

 

I think there was an attempt to use them to create artificial reefs but the various chemicals that are used in their production leached out and killed off the very sea life they were supposed to support. ☹️

 

idd

 

There was somewhere in europe using them to create drainage then backfilled with earth but i think thats done,the high silica winter tyres were causing problems killing fish stocks as the particulates got into rivers once the weather warmed,that was Sandanavian issue.

 

[BR traction instructor]

36 minutes ago, idd15 said:

True. Recycling and disposing of used tyres has always been a problem/challenge. The best solution I've seen is to use them to create Earthships.

 

I think there was an attempt to use them to create artificial reefs but the various chemicals that are used in their production leached out and killed off the very sea life they were supposed to support. ☹️

 

idd

 

 

The former Blue Circle cement works in Waterhouses, Staffordshire Moorlands shreds them for use as fuel in their specially adapted furnace…emissions filtered.

 

Seem to recall their use as crumb in rubberised playground surfaces too.

 

BeRTIe

Edited October 8, 2022 by BR traction instructor

[Guest]

Saw this about Goodyear developing tyres from sustainable materials that last 300k miles.

 

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-11291379/Goodyears-sustainable-tyre-future-300-000-MILES.html

[Hobby]

18 hours ago, 30801 said:

There have been a few cordless trolleybuses where they pop up a pantograph at each stop and slurp up some power into a giant ultracapacitor. I don't know if they're becoming obsolete compared to straight BEV buses.

 

Nordhausen uses battery trams, the section from the town centre to Ilfeld on the Harz NG network uses a combination of them and diesel and steam, must be unique from that point of view, at least as a 365 day a year public timetabled service! The trams charge up when circulating Nordhausen centre with the pantograph up and use battery up to Ilfeld, they aren't 'alf noisy in battery only mode, though! Answers the question on where to put the OHLE, in the town!