Electric vehicles .

[StarCruiser]

I dont know a single person/ friend/ relative who has an Electric car.. It would be nice to get some real feed back about how bad they really are from someone who's got one. Does anyone know anyone who Has.???? (Im assuming they are Bad)

My cousin has a Prius and loves it and a friend has a Merc C class plug in hybrid which has a 10 mile range and regenerative braking a bit like the KERS system in an F1 car.
As his journey to work is only a couple of miles it works for him but it’s clearly built to take advantage of subsidies.

 

[StarCruiser]

Here’s South Park’s take on it

Mainly about Prius owners and their perceived smugness at the time. And here.

Still makes me chuckle.

 

[Paddler Ed]

I think that there will be a demand for EV's, but it's probably not the market that is in existence now or immediately obvious.

Through bits of work, I do some bits and pieces with AgTech and one area in there is autonomous vehicles and solar farming. What I see happening is that there will be small scale solar farms on properties and then running swarm robots to operate the farm, with them returning for charge as they need it - hence why 4x4s will move to being functional farming vehicles that are autonomous and EV.

 

[moggy1968]

I remember what Sheffield was like in the 1970s, black buildings, black dust on everything, smogs etc. By lunchtime your shirt collar would be black.
Today is just no comparison.
I think the key is rather than demonising one fuel over another have a range of technologies so people can choose what is most suitable for them. So in a city they might choose an electric car for running costs and convenience. Someone that does lots of mileage would choose a diesel, for running costs and convenience!

 

[flint]

Off topic, but cleaner fuel would help both in diesel and petrol engines. Probably too pricey and perhaps not available to a mass market, but something like EcoPar (discussed, mainly by the makers, here:https://arbtalk.co.uk/forums/topic/16842-ecopar-the-clean-alternative-to-diesel/ ) used in cities would help. https://ecopar.se/en/

 

[Towpack]

Sheffield used to be one of the worst polluted cities in the country, due in no small part I suspect to its steel production heritage. It wasnt regarded as the steel capital of the world for nothing.
That Ecopar stuff may well be a lot cleaner but its still not carbon free which seems to be the only target the experts will accept. Also could it be made in large enough quantities and at an acceptable price to replace fossil diesel completely?

 

[flint]

Parts of London weren't much better. Where I grew up, we backed onto the main line out of Paddington with a big marshalling yard near, still mainly steam. My dad built a drying machine (a bit basic involving a perforated drum rotating on pram wheels with a fan heater blowing in the front, kept outside due to possible/probable fire hazard) for the washing, because often it would come in with smuts on it if hung out.

 

[Shayne]

The planet be damned but i do wonder about the effect on health , our body , even our lungs is designed to self cleanse so if your caught in a dust storm or dense black smoke sooner or later you will cough it back up . Perhaps these perfect world finer particles might account for rapid growth in numbers of Asthma sufferers which a very quick google suggests seem to be doubling year on year ?

And how come air quality or health numbers haven't improved dramatically since they banned smoking ?

 

[Jacob100]

I emailed TfL the other day to congratulate them on their latest planet-saving endeavour and also to point out that my 21-year-old Land Cruiser runs on recycled vegetable oil and therefore emits 90% fewer pollutants than conventional diesel. They politely declined my request to be taken off the ULEZ bad books.

Thankfully I spend most of my time in Sheffield, one of the greenest places in the country.

 

[moggy1968]

The planet be damned but i do wonder about the effect on health , our body , even our lungs is designed to self cleanse so if your caught in a dust storm or dense black smoke sooner or later you will cough it back up . Perhaps these perfect world finer particles might account for rapid growth in numbers of Asthma sufferers which a very quick google suggests seem to be doubling year on year ?

And how come air quality or health numbers haven't improved dramatically since they banned smoking ?

Asthma isn’t caused by air pollution. It’s bollocks, neither is copd.
Almost every copd case I see is caused by smoking or occupational factors.
Asthma is fundamentally an allergic condition and like all allergic conditions incidence is on the rise.

 

[moggy1968]

Sheffield used to be one of the worst polluted cities in the country, due in no small part I suspect to its steel production heritage. It wasnt regarded as the steel capital of the world for nothing.
That Ecopar stuff may well be a lot cleaner but its still not carbon free which seems to be the only target the experts will accept. Also could it be made in large enough quantities and at an acceptable price to replace fossil diesel completely?

I remember the river Don was rust brown coloured

 

[flint]

Sadly, Greta Thunberg is not alone in having her childhood stolen.

https://www.raconteur.net/business-innovation/cobalt-mining-human-rights

 

[Higgy]

Sold a Trailer today to a very interesting chap, Who has just set up his own business converting Landrover 90s to Electric, he seems to source Electric motors from your run of the mill electric cars , Leafs/ prius that kind of stuff that have been written off, He has a degree in Automotive Engineering and seems to know his stuff, Hes just converted a Land Rover Light weight. As a bit of a prototype, Works well he says. He seems convinced its the way forward and the demand is increasing..He says the power you can get out of an electric pack from even something small like a Leaf is incredible... and you would not need much more to get the full potential from a larger 4x4, Landcruiser/ Range Rover for example. And with proper tweeking of the motors electronics, its possible to do away with Transfer boxes Lo/Hi range etc And just use the controlled torque of the motor to compensate... (His words not mine) but very interesting... He was only a young Lad but full of enthusiasm..Good luck to him i say........He better transfer that F@%ing money tonight for the Trailer...

 

[moggy1968]

Sold a Trailer today to a very interesting chap, Who has just set up his own business converting Landrover 90s to Electric, he seems to source Electric motors from your run of the mill electric cars , Leafs/ prius that kind of stuff that have been written off, He has a degree in Automotive Engineering and seems to know his stuff, Hes just converted a Land Rover Light weight. As a bit of a prototype, Works well he says. He seems convinced its the way forward and the demand is increasing..He says the power you can get out of an electric pack from even something small like a Leaf is incredible... and you would not need much more to get the full potential from a larger 4x4, Landcruiser/ Range Rover for example. And with proper tweeking of the motors electronics, its possible to do away with Transfer boxes Lo/Hi range etc And just use the controlled torque of the motor to compensate... (His words not mine) but very interesting... He was only a young Lad but full of enthusiasm..Good luck to him i say........He better transfer that F@%ing money tonight for the Trailer...

I can certainly imagine that seamless torque from 0 could be useful off road, but range is the killer.

 

[PeterLC]

EVs are generally fun to drive (to some), I work in a research centre and many of us drive EVs.
We shouldn't mix up CO2 and pollutants. The former is a global long term problem inherently (for now) related to our appetite for energy. The latter is just a matter of (combustion) technology. Dieselgate hurt us a lot.
Back to the original post, Germany is an easy victim : 37% of its primary energy comes from coal, which produces CO2 abundantly. In Belgium or France this 0%, they have 70..80% of nuclear CO2 free electricity.
The main advantage of EVs is that they don't rely on one primary energy source and that their electricity doesn't need to be produced as it is used, ideal in combination with renewables. The round trip efficiency of a contemporary battery can be as high as 90%, much much higher then that of hydrogen or methane from carbon capture.
Technically speaking, EVs could well outlast diesels. I've seen batteries that can perform well over 3000 cycles (expensive). With a 400 km initial range on a full charge, 1 000 000 km should be feasable.

 

[Higgy]

I can certainly imagine that seamless torque from 0 could be useful off road, but range is the killer.

The Chap said its not so much the actual Electric motor that needs much more developing. Its the Electronics that control the output/torque/delivery of power at the precise moment etc etc.. I think that is his main Focus point, Once you have mastered the electronics side you can have more control over Battery life/Usage. More Control of the range of the Vehicle. As we all know An electric motor In its Basic form is just one moving Part. Nothing Sophisticated about that, But put in Sophisticated Clever Electronics, and the Electric vehicle becomes Almost Believable /usable /Acceptable. I think i will be more convinced when I can get in my Electric Land Cruiser, And get from Sandwich to Inverness on one charge....Oh! He paid for the Trailer!