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Beyond that, it's helped me to understand how much energy it takes to run my furnace blower 24/7 and allowed me to fine tune the right blower speed to balance circulation and cost. Most everything else is mostly just for fun, but it's definitely interesting. Depending on what you're trying to troubleshoot, a Kill A Watt meter costs like $30 and can help you understand the energy usage of anything that plugs into a standard 120 outlet. That's where I'd start if you don't already have one. I use mine all the time to get a feel for how much juice random appliances are pulling. |
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Either way, I think I am going to order your solution and see if it helps. Thanks again. |
Tesla's Internal Shake-Up
Tesla is planning to lay off over 14,000 employees—more than 10% of its global workforce—in its first large-scale layoffs in over a year, according to an internal memo this week. The company's electric vehicle sales have begun to stagnate amid a decline in demand and increased competition from Chinese carmakers. Tesla's shares fell over 5% on the news. CEO Elon Musk said the layoffs are part of cost-cutting measures as the company prepares for its next phase of growth. Also yesterday, two top executives at Tesla announced their departure: engineering executive Drew Baglino and policy and outreach executive Rohan Patel. The shake-up comes after Tesla earlier this month posted its first year-over-year decline in quarterly sales since 2020. The report came after China’s BYD briefly overtook Tesla as the world's top seller of battery electric vehicles last year. In January, Musk said Tesla would soon release a cheaper, $25K model rumored to compete with BYD. That plan has now reportedly been tabled, with Musk prioritizing the debut of a robotaxi fleet in August |
I'm starting to be a little worried about how much progress Chinese EV companies are making. We'll probably end up regulating them out of having much of an impact in the U.S., but they could take a real bite out of U.S. manufacturers' global car sales. Based on sales trends outside the U.S., other countries don't seem to have as many aversions to EVs as U.S. consumers do (some of which makes sense given how much more spread apart people are here).
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Their idea/procedure of the quick change batteries is a pretty big deal in my opinion. I posted an article on it a while back, where it is similar to our system exchanging propane bottles. It is done quickly, similar to filling up with gas for ICE cars. |
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Back to the battery exchange thing. I remember when I would not do that with propane tanks because my cylinders were pretty new (they have a date code) and didn't want an old piece of crap in exchange. For the last few years I could care less and only care about it being full. The exchange is fully automated. I can see that same attitude carrying over to EV batteries. You pull into a quick change place and snap, $20 and they swap in a fully charged battery in a few minutes. This would make longer trips possible again without long charging delays. |
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Can't overcome the physics of charging with the current way of doing things. |
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If you are doing a regular daily commute the current system seems adequate, but anything too much beyond that seems like a gamble. Read a story the other day about a guy that rented a Hyundai EV if I remember correctly. He had a heck of a time on a fairly short trip and the charger plug would not fit his vehicle once he found a place to charge it. I would think they would make that universal, like the gas nozzles. |
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:hmmm: Elon Musk is going to play nice? The Federal Government is going to dictate a standard? |
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In 2025, Ford & GM cars will be able to use the Tesla charging stations without an adapter. If you're looking to buy an EV, hold off until 2025 if you can. Charging Life will get easier. |
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In a few years the infrastructure will probably be refined much more than it is today. I don't see an EV in my future as buying a Hybrid was a giant leap for me but it has been very rewarding with 52 mpg. I would like to drive one someday though. |
I’m looking into a used EV for my new commute that is driving my daughter to school and home then picking up after school and back home. About a 110 miles altogether each day. Private school hence the driving distance. Majority is along the K-10 corridor. What might be an advisable, reliable choice that is gonna handle 60K on the odometer over the next three years? I’d prefer to make use of the used EV tax credit so under $25K. So far there are a few Mach E RWD Selects and a couple of the base model Ioniq 5 I’ve driven as well. I’ll likely third party warranty through Xclerate Auto that does them mostly on Teslas but other makers as well. I’m having a Level 2 charger Putin the garage and we have a 3rd vehicle for longer road trips if need be. Thanks in advance for all the CP EV wisdom…
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I went with a 2022 Tesla Model 3 and it's fantastic. I got a crazy deal ($19k after tax credit) because Hertz bought a huge number of them 2 years ago and recently decided to dump them, so the market got flooded. There's probably still some out there. |
We rented a Mach-E on a recent trip to Austin. It was insanely fun to drive. First time I actually started thinking about buying electric.
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I really like how much faster my 2024 Tesla supercharges compared to my 2016 Model S Tesla. I get up to 1000 mph now when I plug in and the battery is low. It quickly goes down to around 800 but I used to max at 580 I feel like in my old one. Also when the battery is 60-80% full it also charges faster. Makes road trips that much better now.
Would never ever get a EV if it wasn't for the Tesla supercharging network. |
American made cars will get cheaper, but you will need to pay a subscription for every little thing in it.
Want AC? **** you pay me money. Want to use cruise control? **** you pay me money. Want to listen to the stereo? **** you pay me money. It’s coming. |
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Batteries however, unlike tanks, degrade over time. The old scratched up propane tank you were going to get in return was going to hold just as much propane as the newer ones you traded in. And tanks tend to not really die like batteries do. Now you're trading in a brand new battery & could get one that may have been in use a while & down to 80% capacity of a new one. Furthermore what happens when that battery completely dies & needs to be replaced, is it the responsibility of the car owner or the owner of the "battery changing station" to replace it? If it's on the shop, these shops are in essence providing EV owners with free battery replacements for life. If not you could trade in a brand new battery for one that dies on you & now you have to replace a battery in a brand new car. In the rare instance a tank would die, you just pull it out of your grill & reexchange it. The company won't notice it's not working until they go to refill it & then they will fix it. I'm thinking when you have to tow your EV back to get the dead battery replaced they're going to realize somethings wrong with it. |
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To start with, on the propane tanks, they used to have a date on them that when it had passed, they could not be refilled anymore. I had that happen once, but it was before these automated exchange centers existed. You would take your tank to the refill station and they would check the date on your tank. I could care less if it was scratched up, it was the date that was the issue and also there were a couple different types of connectors initially. Depending on the type of connector your grill had, you had to have a compatible one on your tank. Similar issue to the different charging connector issues on the EV batteries that exist now. Without question, the cost of the EV batteries and where yours is at in it's life cycle will have to be factored in. I am very cognizant of battery life cycles and how they degrade. It will be interesting to see how it is all worked out. At one time the propane tank issues seemed insurmountable. |
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I recently bought a lithium battery for the Jetski and it is much different. |
Every single cybertruck getting recalled.
Sent from my SM-S916U1 using Tapatalk |
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NEW: Tesla recalls all 3,878 Cybertrucks shipped to date because of a faulty accelerator pedal. <a href="https://t.co/tihjl2HAfO">https://t.co/tihjl2HAfO</a></p>— Sean O'Kane (@sokane1) <a href="https://twitter.com/sokane1/status/1781269669757776045?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> It'll be fascinating to look back on Cybertruck in 10 years. On the surface, it looks like it's likely going to be a financial flop, but you could make an argument that it's done a pretty good job of keeping Tesla top of mind even while other EV manufacturers are (kinda) catching up. |
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Either the battery swap company would have to own them. Or some third party would. The car owner would pay a rental or lease on the batteries. So if they got bad batteries, it wouldn't matter as far as swapping. Now it would suck as far as not getting the range you were promised. Maybe the lease could include a guarantee that the swapped in batteries will be so good, or so good on average over the course of the year. |
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Will be interesting to see how they go about the battery issue and swapping. |
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But I'm not very convinced battery swapping is ever going to be a thing. Super fast charging that gets you ~80% or something in a reasonable time strikes me as more likely. |
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Tesla recalls
US regulators launch new probe of Tesla after 2 million cars recalled.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reviewing a December recall on Tesla's autopilot feature, focusing on whether the electric vehicle company adequately remedied the issue. The probe comes after at least 20 crashes have occurred involving cars that received Tesla's autopilot software update. |
Electric vehicles are technically more popular than ever, but it's no secret that the market isn’t growing as fast as originally hoped. Major manufacturers like Ford and Toyota have delayed plans for all-EV lineups, and many startups have either folded or are on the brink of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Even mighty Tesla saw its automotive revenue decline 13% in the first quarter. Both the technology and infrastructure remain sub-optimal with many EVs having a shorter range than their gas-powered counterparts and the US being way short on charging stations. On top of all that, EVs cost more.
Now, take all that struggle with consumers and put it into the trucking and shipping industry, where diesel engines reign supreme, and you have an even bigger problem: EV trucks cost about three times as much as combustion-engine semis, and despite state and federal subsidies, the WSJ noted several logistical reasons propping up diesel rigs: EV rigs cost double to operate, can travel less than half as far, and require hours of recharging, which isn’t too practical for an industry that operates on thin margins. An analysis from trucking firm Ryder found that converting a fleet of 25 commercial vehicles, including about 10 big rigs, to EVs in California would raise the fleet's operating cost by 56%, or $3.4 million a year, the WSJ reported. Light-duty trucks raise operating costs and the expenses tied to labor, charging, and repairs go higher as the vehicles get heavier. In the last year, Ryder has sold just 60 EVs through a program to help companies set up battery-powered fleets, but only five were heavy-duty trucks and they were only used in yards, not roads. 10-4, Good Buddy: Though the big rig EV space seems a little bleak, Amazon did just add 50 of them in California, claiming it to be the biggest EV fleet in the country. The Volvo-made trucks are expected to be used in first- and mid-mile transportation, and some will carry goods from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on a 35-minute drive to a fulfillment center in Santa Fe Springs. Written by Griffin Kelly |
Japanese Automakers Turn to Gas, Biofuel Engines as EV Adoption Stalls
Japanese Automakers Turn to Gas, Biofuel Engines as EV Adoption Stalls
Just as surging gas prices during the 1970s provided Japanese carmakers with an opportunity, Japan Inc. is ready to capitalize on the greatest fear on American roads today: running out of charge. Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru are forging a new path in the fledgling era of all-electric vehicles. On Tuesday, the three automakers revealed prototypes of smaller combustion engines that will work in tandem with battery-powered engines and can run on standard gasoline as well as hydrogen and a variety of other fuels. You Can Go Your Own Way Many manufacturers had plans for all-electric lineups in the next decade or so, but most have scaled down those ambitions as EVs struggle with low adoption rates. Toyota’s Prius helped popularize hybrid cars, sales of which have become a real boon for the Japanese automaker. And now, instead of trying to take a page out of Tesla or BYD’s book, the company is looking to evolve its hybrid design toward a carbon-neutral future: Toyota announced Monday it was partnering with petroleum companies Idemitsu Kosan, Eneos, and Mitsubishi to develop carbon-neutral fuels and make them available in Japan by 2030. Biofuels can be considered carbon-neutral as they release fewer emissions than gasoline, and the CO2 they set off could be absorbed by the plants (corn, soybeans, sugarcane) that produce the fuel. During a presentation Tuesday, Subaru CEO Atsushi Osaki said the companies are committed to “preserving the Earth’s precious environment for future generations.” However, the auto industry must make “steady, realistic progress toward carbon neutrality” and that it’s “ultimately up to customers to decide what car is best for them.” Bufford Barr, COO of New Day Hydrogen, sees passenger cars as part of building the clean hydrogen market, but he knows it will take a while. “The problem with passenger vehicles is just getting enough of them on the market and that they’re using enough hydrogen to justify the stations,” he told The Daily Upside. “If you have three fueling stations in the entire state of Colorado, is that enough for you as a private vehicle owner to feel comfortable with? The answer is probably no. But for commercial fleets that have the same routes day-in-and-day-out, those three stations can give plenty of coverage.” Electric Boogaloo: This isn’t to say Toyota has checked out of the EV game. Sure, the company hasn’t been an EV juggernaut, having only one model and opposing tailpipe emission requirements proposed by the Biden administration last year, but it sees some writing on the wall. Toyota’s Chief Technology Officer Hiroki Nakajima told the Financial Times that the company’s investment into the new engines would be a “magnitude smaller” than the money going toward electric vehicles and battery development. EV sales, while slow, are still going up. By 2030, one out of every four new passenger cars sold will be an EV, according to S&P Global, so it wouldn’t be the wisest move to ditch the solely battery-powered vehicles altogether. Written by Griffin Kelly |
Wow, they invented hybrids?
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Biofuels, eh?
Imagine if you can just pop a turd in your gas tank and drive 300 miles. Figure it out, science. |
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Until they figure it out we'll just have to keep letting the cows do it for us. They're even making this cool white stuff and steaks as a byproduct while filling the shit tank powered fuel lines. California is running all the dairy farms off though, so you might have to move if you want shit powered anything before the Taco Bell system gets everyone up and running. |
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I’ll take all the shit I can get. |
EV maker Fiskar files for bankruptcy
Fisker filed for bankruptcy protection late on Monday, as the U.S. electric-vehicle maker looks to salvage its operations by selling assets and restructuring its debt after burning through cash in an attempt to ramp up production of its Ocean SUVs.
The hyper-competitive EV market has seen several companies, including Proterra, Lordstown and Electric Last Mile Solutions, file for bankruptcy in the past two years as they grappled with weakening demand, fundraising hurdles and operational challenges from global supply chain issues. The company, founded by automotive designer Henrik Fisker, flagged doubts about its ability to remain in business in February and later failed to secure an investment from a big automaker, forcing it to rein in operations. The collapse of its talks with the automaker − which Reuters had reported to be Nissan − meant that it was denied $350 million in funding from an unnamed investor that was contingent on the automaker's investment and forced Fisker to explore options. "Like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently," Fisker said. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...ent=newsletter |
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https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...5-187be65a1d45 |
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Just seems like missed step and easy marketing..50 plus mpg and a 18 gallon tank on a car get you 900 miles. All of the rental car companies cancelled their ev orders because no one wants to drive them on vacation or traveling. They offered our company a bunch of them for super cheap because their inventory is so large. It is like most of the citizens were trying to tell them what they wanted and they scoffed them for the governments ev checks. Seems the downward trend started after Chicago's winter last year and all the dead cars. |
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Personally, we lucked into buying a hybrid at the right time (3 years ago) and it has been such a money saver. I have zero emotional attachment to it, purely transportation but it gets 52 mpg. |
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It's nice that vehicle manufacturers finally realized that hybrids and EVs don't have to look like stupid eggs. |
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another article on Fisker.
EV Maker Fisker Folds in a Troubled EV Market Fisker, whose flagship electric vehicle holds the distinction of being the worst car YouTube gearhead Marques Brownlee has ever reviewed, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The real surprise is that the California-based EV manufacturer and a handful of other EV startups have managed to stick around as long as they have in a rapidly changing EV landscape. Everybody Wants to be Tesla Even Tesla, the EV startup that remains the envy of most car makers, is far from Ludicrous Mode. In the first quarter, total automotive revenues were down 13% year-over-year, and its stock is one of the worst performers on the S&P 500, plummeting 25% year-to-date. As for the Big Three — Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis — they’re still figuring out their EV game plan, and hybrids are all the rage anyhow. US EV sales went up last year, but still only amounted to less than 10% of all car purchases, according to Kelley Blue Book. Small wonder EV startups are dropping like electric flies. Besides Fisker, the past few years have brought the demise of Lordstown Motors, Arrival, and Electric Last Mile. EV big-rig maker Nikola is still in the game, although its CEO was sentenced to four years in prison last December for exaggerating the company tech’s capabilities to investors. The other EV startup survivors are doing better. Slightly: Since its November 2021 IPO, Rivian has seen its share price drop around 90%, and from 2021 to the end of 2023, it incurred roughly $17 billion in losses. If all goes to plan and the company gets its more affordable R2 model to production by early 2026, Rivian might just be able to scale its business around the SUV’s potential success. Keyword: might. Lucid has fared a little better: Its stock has fallen just 85% since its July 2021 SPAC, and being majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s $700 billion Public Investment Fund suggests some wiggle room. Though maybe not much; in May, Lucid cut 6% of its workforce — or 400 employees — ahead of its Gravity SUV launch later this year, after cutting 1,300 workers last year. How the East was Won: Meanwhile, halfway around the world, Chinese manufacturers are churning out more than half of all the EVs produced anywhere. Brands like BYD and Geely are able to price their cars extremely low thanks to cheap labor costs, hefty government subsidies, and easy access to battery materials. You won’t find it in the US because of poor geopolitical relations and a 100% import tariff, but don’t be surprised to see flocks of BYD’s $10,000 Seagull elsewhere in the world. |
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Last week we had a Mustang Mach E as a rental car. My wife loved it.
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Knowing what I know about electrical motors I imagine the acceleration is instant. |
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All electric is still pretty good for two family cars with garage. But plug in hybrids certainly have a place in near medium future. |
Yeah, the Chinese are serious about EVs and driverless cars. They are taking their lumps, but I wouldn't write them off.
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(Daily Caller News Foundation) — Nearly half of American electric vehicle (EV) owners want to buy an internal combustion engine model the next time they buy a car, according to a new study from McKinsey and Company, a leading consulting firm.
Approximately 46% of Americans who own an EV want to go back to a standard vehicle for their next purchase, citing issues like inadequate charging infrastructure and affordability, according to McKinsey’s study, which was obtained and reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The study’s findings further suggest that the Biden administration’s EV push is struggling to land with American consumers, after 46% of respondents indicated that they are unlikely or very unlikely to purchase an EV in a June poll conducted by The Associated Press and the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute. Moreover, 58% of Americans are very likely to keep their current cars for longer, and 44% are likely to postpone a possible switch to EVs, McKinsey’s study found. Consumers’ concerns about EV charging infrastructure are notable given the slow rollout of the Biden administration’s $7.5 billion public EV charger program, which has so far led to the construction of only a handful of chargers in nearly three years. The Biden administration has a stated goal of having EVs make up 50% of all new car sales by 2030, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized stringent regulations in March that will force manufacturers to ensure that up to 56% of their light-duty vehicles are EVs by 2032. The EPA has also finalized strict emissions standards for medium- and light-duty vehicles, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has also locked in fuel economy standards that will further push manufacturers to produce more EVs. The administration is also spending billions of dollars to subsidize the production and purchase of EVs, but manufacturers are still losing considerable amounts of cash on their EV product lines. EVs remained below a 10% share of all auto sales in the U.S. in 2023, according to Cox Automotive. The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment. |
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Handfull of charging stations in three years for billions, really? I am guessing some serious pushback by manufaturers and consumers to the EPA. |
Any government programs with little oversight is an opportunity to line pockets with money.
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I actually have to replace the tires on my wife's Leaf faster than I'd like because it's easy to burn a little rubber off the line. |
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Approximately 46% of Americans who own an EV want to go back to a standard vehicle for their next purchase
One poll without context, I'm not sure how much faith I would put it in. Do 46% want to replace their EV with an ICE? Or are they multi car families and their next purchase will be an ICE replacement for an ICE? Most EVs are being bought by families that also have an ICE or at least a hybrid and I can understand why. For multi car families with a garage, a commuter, around town EV can be great. That is a lot households but certainly leaves a lot of people out. Building up new infrastructure is hard. |
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I could also see it being a ton of people who bought Teslas and are now cranky about Elon. I do think that poll is a little dubious, though. My hunch is the question was on a scale of "very likely," "somewhat likely," and "not likely," and they reported very+somewhat, but I've had trouble finding their actual methodology. |
I was told to no longer accept EV from the manufacturer I work for, regardless of allocation or consequences~
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And I remember just months ago a few people on here saying that EV’s were the best thing. They would never admit there was an issue with them.
Of course, these were from people who actually bought them, they would never admit if there was a mistake you know that. |
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They’re smart like that. |
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A few years ago there were a few electric motor dragsters showing up but I haven't seen anything about them lately. |
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