Big changes are happening in transportation
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Tegbert
Feeling the Heat
There’s also another startup trying to get into the truck market and frankly I like this one better as it is geared towards the heavy duty segments. They are hoping for ranges up to 500 miles and 35,000 lb gcwr depending on configurations and are touting 15 min charge times. Too bad that will probably be limited to their charging stations.
http://www.atlismotorvehicles.com/xt-truck/
I like the rivian too but it is more of a half ton and geared towards the half ton market and I need a 1 ton for our fifth wheel. And with range similar to what I get now in mpg. I get about 500 miles to a tank unloaded and 315-350 loaded with family and the 13,000 lb fifth wheel. If any manufacturers can get me that even in cold weather or close to it I will jump ship to an electric truck. Also if the price is comparable to the current prices.
I’ve been eyeing an electric car for commuting but I can’t justify spending 30k plus on a new one for 65-70 mile commute and the leaf used probably would not be able to make it in the winter time and my employer does not have charging stations at my location. Although I haven’t done a lot a research yet on the matter.
Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25
http://www.atlismotorvehicles.com/xt-truck/
I like the rivian too but it is more of a half ton and geared towards the half ton market and I need a 1 ton for our fifth wheel. And with range similar to what I get now in mpg. I get about 500 miles to a tank unloaded and 315-350 loaded with family and the 13,000 lb fifth wheel. If any manufacturers can get me that even in cold weather or close to it I will jump ship to an electric truck. Also if the price is comparable to the current prices.
I’ve been eyeing an electric car for commuting but I can’t justify spending 30k plus on a new one for 65-70 mile commute and the leaf used probably would not be able to make it in the winter time and my employer does not have charging stations at my location. Although I haven’t done a lot a research yet on the matter.
Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25
Interesting. All I could find so far are computer generated images and no production date. Have you found a road ready date for them?
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
I actually do like the Cmax. If we had stayed in NC I might have gotten one, but I also would have kept my motorcycle as well to make up for the lack of power. The Volt is a really neat car too, and I do dig the old ones.
Love our CMax for long distance trips. The air cooled battery (requires a bit of care in the summer) and slow 3.3kW charging are notable knocks against it IMO.
In the world of PHEVs, my opinion is that battery sizes matter a bit less than charging speed. A faster charger can help make up for a smaller battery when you're doing errands around town with public charging available.
In the world of PHEVs, my opinion is that battery sizes matter a bit less than charging speed. A faster charger can help make up for a smaller battery when you're doing errands around town with public charging available.
Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
As long as this sort of thing is being discussed, it'll never go mainstream. Just get in and drive. That's what people want, and have, for the most part, with old technology.
I know I'm unwilling to give that up, and I'm the fringiest (?) person I know. A few status seekers are buying Teslas, but electric just has to get as good or better than ice.
Saw $1.95 gas today in NW Ohio. Looked down at my rental car miles to empty- 580
Well for the most part you can run the PHEV fat dumb and happy and it won't matter. My opinion is more coming from a power user's perspective.
Btw on gasoline we routinely get 45+ mpg without trying and with the car holding 2 adults/2 kids... the hybrids definitely shine with fuel econ. I've seen 600 mile range to empty on that one too. Plug-in adds some perks like zero-emissions idling in traffic, ability to park & charge with the car on and HVAC going (what I call "mobile office" mode) with no concerns about exhaust fumes, and grid-powered preconditioning of the car when plugged in (Ford's GO Times feature).
The EVs are largely plug & go with the exception of the lower range and long charge times. Outside of Nissan and maybe Kia(?), none of the EV makers seem to be stupid enough to use an air-cooled battery.
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Tegbert
Feeling the Heat
I forgot to type I hope they make it. They are crowdfunding and doing final design right now. Supposedly will have a concept vehicle available to view in April 2019. With a late 2020 delivery for early adopters.
That’s what is kinda confusing about this. Doesn’t seem they have a huge financial backing just yet but have a team in Mesa Arizona and supposedly people all around the world helping with it. But no factory as of now.
I hope they do make it cause Tesla’s truck looks to be out of my price range from everyone’s guesses. But the specs look good. Rivian just wouldn’t cut it for me towing wise. But I see the appeal for it.
Lopi Rockport
Blaze King Ashford 25
Their idea is similar to Rivian's slab chassis construction, though Rivian is further along. They are going to need a whole lot more than crowdfunding to support a national network of charging stations.
Audi just joined the crowd with a €14 billion commitment.
https://electrek.co/2018/12/04/audi-investment-electric-vehicles/
https://electrek.co/2018/12/04/audi-investment-electric-vehicles/
jatoxico
Minister of Fire
That major manufacturers like VW are announcing they are producing their last generation of ICE vehicles still surprises me and I honestly am waiting to hear the caveats. There are still so many limitations.
Also saying they may use former Ford auto plants to produce cars stateside so they are not getting out of the sedan business.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...o-build-cars-deepening-alliance-idUSKBN1O32JG
Also saying they may use former Ford auto plants to produce cars stateside so they are not getting out of the sedan business.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...o-build-cars-deepening-alliance-idUSKBN1O32JG
Didn't Ford just drop just about all its sedans for the U.S. market?
My wife has a 2012 Ford Escape Limited Hybrid that she won at work 7 years ago. A hybrid never entered our minds before then. She likes it a lot. 33 mpg over 75,000 miles.
I sort of miss my non-emissions-compliant VW JSW TDI. 41 mpg over 41,500 miles when I traded it in.
Two neighbors are Dutch and worked for the same chemical company. One drove a 500-h.p. BMW M6 convertible the 2 miles to their office. The other drove a Chevy Volt. Pretty funny difference
My wife has a 2012 Ford Escape Limited Hybrid that she won at work 7 years ago. A hybrid never entered our minds before then. She likes it a lot. 33 mpg over 75,000 miles.
I sort of miss my non-emissions-compliant VW JSW TDI. 41 mpg over 41,500 miles when I traded it in.
Two neighbors are Dutch and worked for the same chemical company. One drove a 500-h.p. BMW M6 convertible the 2 miles to their office. The other drove a Chevy Volt. Pretty funny difference
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A friend was the manager of a Tesla dealership here in MA. Met him in Providence, RI to go to a museum exhibit, and they drove us to lunch in the Model X. Instant acceleration on the highway.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Again, people said the same thing about horses. You don't have to connect a pipe and be stationary to refuel your horse or get rid of waste.
I do a 670-mile drive to the Outer Banks several times a year. Current all-electric technology isn't convenient for that. My old diesel was great for that trip. Could do the trip without a refill, if I wanted to push it. Never did, though, as I would get some diesel when I saw a pump.
I drive about 130 miles a week in an old 1996 Jeep Cherokee. It is fun to drive and meets all my needs. Eventually it will rust away and I will need another car. But I have a 2007 Corolla with 175,000 miles on it, parked in the back yard. That car can easily go another 100,000 miles. So I figure it will be at least 5 years before I need to buy a new car (knock on wood). Maybe then I can justify the cost of a new vehicle, hopefully electric.
Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
I understand your "connect to a pipe" analogy, but I'm pretty sure the waste part misses the mark.
Problem remains, currently, to go electric, you must give up a very substantial amount of convenience and coin.
I'd love an electric car, and really hope it's the future. In fact, I really hate buying and burning gas. But, as with computers, to go mainstream, we need to be at the point where were not talking about these things.
Only people like us like thinking and talking about this stuff. Just get in and drive, at a price as cheap as current technology. That needs to be the goal to get the Everyman to be interested.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
I'm making the point that it is coming. Alll of the doubts about electric cars were the same as combustion engined vehicles. Gas stations didn't pop up when cars were invented. It just needs more time.
Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
Can't come soon enough for me.
The same thing is in the way as has been for decades.
Oil has made a small group of people fabulously rich and powerful. So rich, that they can control the governments, engage in campaigns that convince the population that we are wrong (environmentalists), and buy out the technologies that would make their assets obsolete.
You are seeing this in action, in real time, today.
My question for you is, how do you think this time is going to be different than all the other times that big oil has beat back the coming onslaught of well meaning dreamers like you and me?
Enough ranting.
The Amish like to say: Tractors make bills and pollution. Horses make fertilizer and more horses.
Folks will laugh but, we have a Climate Change Problem on our hands. That's what's different this time around.
Folks can ignore it so far until.... their homes and communities are destroyed. Not everyone, just a few here and there, and those folks will become increasingly vocal. We're in the cauldron of climate change right here, right now. That's what is different.
Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
With more kids like this
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2...s-care-15-year-old-greta-thunberg-tells-cop24
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Sinking Cities on PBS was very well done. Have watched three so far: London, New York, and Miami.
(broken link removed to https://www.pbs.org/wnet/peril-and-promise/films/sinking-cities/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlbmv_KaJ3wIVBFYMCh04owBuEAAYASAAEgKMgvD_BwE)
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Your Amish may say that. Ours feel the opposite. Multiple skid steers and gas powered farm implements are the norm.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Another difference is the internet and a generation of kids inheriting this mess that are now old enough to do something about it.
