Category Archives: Battery Electric Vehicles

Why a Tesla Should be your next car?

I was asked why I think a Tesla would be the EV to buy?

As many of you who have read my blog know I have a Ford Focus EV. I bought the Ford because it was the best overall EV for the price.

Yet it has it’s drawbacks. There isn’t a single Ford with a battery in it that was designed to have a battery in it. If you want either the Focus Electric or one of their PHEV’s, the battery takes up cargo space. In the Focus it takes up a lot of cargo space.

 

Ford Focus EV Cargo

 

 

The car also has a much wider turning radius than the ICE model Focus. You can’t make a u-turn on a normal two lane city street. You have to make a 3 point turn. Other than that it’s pretty much identical to the gas powered Focus with the SEL Trim Package. It has a real world range of about 75 miles.

Then you have the Mercedes B-Class EV. It’s a really nice looking car. Lots of room behind the back seats and the back seats fold down flat to create even more cargo space if needed. There is no battery in the way.

Mercedes B-Class EV Cargo Bay with Seats Flat.

 

This is a really a nice luxury EV that is not far off that $35k mark after the tax breaks. It has a pretty good real world range of about 85 miles. They actually designed the B-Class with using a battery for an energy source to begin with. Like the Tesla, the batteries lay flat under the cabin.

But then they go and screw things up by taking what is a really nice radar cruise control system and change the function of it. A radar cruise control should  keep your distance from the car in front of you and com to a complete stop if the car in front of you does. Instead if you start closing on the car in front to fast it applies the regenerative brakes so you don’t waste opportunity to recharge the battery by slowing down to quickly. That sounds like a great idea, right? Where they go wrong is now it won’t stop the car anymore if you are going to hit the car in front of you. I don’t know about you but I would much rather have a safer car than get that extra 2 or 3 miles from the regenerative brake system during a full charge.

There are also a few more compromises because while they did design this car with the batteries out of the way, they also designed it so they could use any of their powertrains. In Europe it is sold with both gas and diesel engines and they might also develop a fuel cell version.

The V.W. eGolf suffers from the same issues. While it accommodates the batteries without intrusion it doesn’t really have all the computer software and indicators that you want to see in a pure electric car.

This is where the Kia Soul EV actually has done a lot better job. But, yes their is a but. They take out the power seats. The top trim level has manual seats and very few of the new safety features available on most car today.

What all the companies out there have in common is that they compromise they EV’s to allow for different powertrains be they hybrid, Gas or Diesel. They are not betting the farm so to speak or going all in on Electric. Tesla is.

There is one automaker that has bet a lot on the EV, Nissan. Yet they have also made compromises. Unlike Tesla they decided that they would try to design an affordable EV from day one. It was really anything but affordable in the beginning and didn’t really get much traction until they offered the car at a sub $200 a month lease rate. Something that is starting to hurt them now as many people reach the end of their leases.

Nissan also suffers from the car being pretty ugly, fairly modest if not downright utilitarian as well as having bumps in the cargo bay.

Just like when the Prius started out you really had to want to be an early adopter.  I do find it interesting that now that the Prius has been on the market now for 15 years and within the last 3-5 years all of a sudden all the other car makers are coming out with some version of a hybrid car. And a handful after the slight and I say slight success of the Chevy Volt are now experimenting with Plugin In Hybrid cars. Most of the EV’s out there today are still nothing but compliance cars. Cars that allow them to keep making Internal Combustion Engine (I.C.E.) cars.

On the other hand you have Tesla. They first proved the concept with the Tesla Roadster. They proved a car could go 200 miles on a single charge and be fun to drive.

Their next car was the Tesla S. A car that was designed from a clean sheet of paper. No hedging their bets by having an ICE version. While it’s not a car for the mass market it is arguably one of the most successful cars in it’s price range. It’s also a car that is in the top safety, speed and has the most satisfied buyers of any car out there.

After the S we now have the X, the next car in the evolution. Also a very expensive car. Yet it does more than any other car in it’s class. I’m not sure there is any other car in it’s class.

But here are the reasons I really think Tesla is going to be the first to the really affordable car that everybody will want to buy.

They are now hard at work building the Tesla 3. A car that may have a 200 mile range. Seat 4-5. Actually carry some cargo much like the Mercedes B-Class or VW eGolf.

It will hands down have the least compromises with the greatest utility and look good doing it.

They will also have access to the Tesla Supercharger network. This is no small amenity. Even if GM or BMW builds a 200 mile car those batteries aren’t going to charge overnight in the average persons garage. Today an average pure EV battery is in the 24kWh range. With a 220 charger that takes about 5-8 hours. With a 110 it takes 15-20 hours.

Now double or triple the size of the battery and you need to double or triple the time it takes to charge. The only company that has the infrastructure in place to take advantage of a battery that size is Tesla. The only company that will allow you to take that car cross country is Tesla.

And while the eGolf or the B-Class Mercedes have enough range and luxury for most people and will also sell in that 35k price range they probably won’t be as desirable.

Many of you may have noticed I haven’t mentioned the BMW i3 yet. BMW did design the i3 from the ground up with the EV powertrain from day one. Yet they still have hedged their bet by offering a gas engine to extend the range. It’s either a work of art or really ugly. It’s really small and is really a two door car. And like every other BMW there is a big jump in price from the base model to the one that has all they toys you really want. For about the same price I would rather own the Mercedes B Class.

I don’t want a car that screams look at me. If I did I’d buy a Mustang or Corvette.

I don’t want a hybrid. They no longer get you in the HOV lane and are more utilitarian to drive than fun. Yeah, they get 40-50 MPG but the Mazda 6 gets 40 MPG on the highway and doesn’t suffer from being boring. Actually if you drive a lot on the highway hybrids might do worse than a Mazda 6. I know my Prius V does worse on highway trips. And around the city that extra 12 mpg isn’t really worth $10k more for the car.

I don’t want a plug in hybrid because the whole reason for an electric car is to eliminate waste and pollution. I don’t want a muffler, pistons and a fuel tank. I like never having to go to a gas station unless I have to stop and pee or need a 64 ounce drink.

And I really don’t want a Chevy Bolt. Smart Car or iMev. These cars are jokes. They aren’t even cute. To me they scream Bill Nye the science guy or Ed Begley Jr. They might be nice guys and I applaud their efforts to reduce pollution but, these are not two guys who inspire confidence or success.

There are a couple other things that make me think Tesla might just have what it takes to compete long term.

The evolution of Tesla is very much like the evolution of the Cell Phone. The supercharger network is very much like the evolution of the cell phone network by design. And the Tesla philosophy is very much like that of Apple and the iPhone.

I think every other car maker is going to be like all the other manufacturers who make Android Phones. Except they won’t have a cohesive infrastructure to support them. If they are going to rely on others to set up their charging networks they will fail. The average EV user, rarely if ever, charges anywhere but home or work and mostly at home.

That’s because the average driver rarely ever drives more than 50 miles a day. Only once in a while do they ever take that road trip everybody talks about that you need a 200-300 mile range.

And most smart people either fly or rent a car when going really long distances. If you breakdown in a rental you call the company and get a new car.

Rental companies make their money on people who rent cars locally. The people they know are only going to drive less than 50 miles in a day. You know, like the person who should really be driving an electric car. The person like you or me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does D.C. Quick Charging Matter.

For me and many others the answer is no. For some absolutely. But very few. If you need DC Quick Charging you should think twice about buying electric.

There are several different rates of charge out there for EV cars and Plug-in Hybrids.

This is the rate at which when plugged in the battery will replenish it’s charge or refuel so to speak.

If you own a gas burning car you probably never thought about this. You pull up to a pump and in 5-10 minutes you are on your way with a full tank of gas. If you have a 10 gallon gas tank like my Prius it might take longer to swipe your credit card and get approval before the pump turns on.

If you drive an SUV with a 30 gallon tank It may take 3-5 minutes. The maximum rate at which fuel may be dispensed in the USA is 10 gallons per minute. Costco claims that they change their fuel filters when the flow rate falls below 8 gallons per minute.

So now let’s transfer some of this knowledge to EV’s. A pure BEV (battery electric vehicle) has a 24 kWh (kilowatt hour) battery or that’s how big it’s “fuel” tank is. The fuel being electricity.

Most BEV’s today with the exception of the Tesla and Toyota RAV4 EV have batteries that size or smaller.

The capacity of the chargers in BEV’s and Plug In Hybrid EV’s  start at 3.3 kilowatts, which is the norm for 2011 and 2012 Nissan Leafs, later base-model Leafs, and all 2011 thru 2015 Chevy Volts.

Later model year Leafs above the base model increased that rate to 6.6 kilowatts, and the 2016 Chevy Volt is up to 3.6 kilowatts, which, GM says, is enough to recharge its 18.4 kWh battery overnight using a standard 120V home outlet.

Now it’s still a bit more complicated. The speed at which your car can accept the electricity is not the same at which the outlet and charger can deliver it. Many of you already know this if you have tried to charge an iPad with an iPhone charger. If you use an iPhone charger on an iPad it could take more than twice as long to charge it. The charger actually converts the AC current from the wall socket to DC current that the battery needs. The iPad charger does it at a greater rate. And so the same thing with the onboard charger that comes with most EV’s.

Then there are the charging cords and “The Brick” that come with the EV. The Ford, Leaf and Chevrolet come with 110v chargers that plug in to your standard 15 AMP wall socket. Using this charger can can take almost 18 hours to recharge a car that has about a 10% charge left.

If you are like many Nissan owners you probably sent your charger in to a company to have it upgraded to handle a 220v connection on a 30 AMP outlet like your dryer runs on. I did.

But it still doesn’t charge as fast as if you are plugged into a 40AMP dedicated outlet with a EVSE Charger made to handle the higher electrical load. What can take the 110 charger 18 hours can be done by the 30AMP charger is 9 hours and the 40AMP charger is 5 or less hours. As long as you have a 6.6kW converter on your car.

The 110 charger works for me 80% of the time. I actually didn’t use anything but that charger for the first 5 months I owned my car.

Now I use my 220v charger more often because I am using more miles per day. When I drive 70 or so miles a day it goes on the 220v. It also goes on that to get the lowest price electricity in the shortest amount of time.

I also have a house with my own garage. If you have to fill up at work or at public chargers you probably want the highest capacity charge connection available. There are DC chargers out there where if your car is capable you can charge your battery up to 80% in less than 30 minutes. The problem is these chargers are few and far between and many aren’t well maintained. I don’t think a person with a 24kWh battery is going to need one.

If you have a Tesla or large battery like most car makers are saying they will have in the future then you at least need the highest capacity charger and EVSE you can get your hands on.

Like airlines you need to choose a car that has the right range and battery capacity to do the route that you are going to use it on. Batteries are not just costly but heavy. Carrying around extra costs in range and dollars.

Most people will not charge on the road. They will charge at home, work or both. If you drive over 80 miles a day and can’t afford a Tesla the DC Quick Charge probably won’t be your answer. A car like a Volt will be.

A BEV with a 80 mile average range like most out there today are really urban commuter vehicles. They are not road trip cars and never will be Quick Charge or not. At highway speeds they get about 1 hour at full charge, not 80% charge. At 80% you’d be stopping every 40-45 minutes if there were chargers that close together. Then another 30 minutes filling up. Who has that kind of patience. On the other hand like a Tesla with about a 200 mile range at 80% and a 30 minute break every 3-4 hours on a road trip that makes sense.

If you live or work where you can’t charge at all don’t buy a BEV. If you can charge at home, work or both get the highest capacity converter on the car you want. Then if you need or occasionally need a relatively quick 5-9 hour charge  get a 220v EVSE charging cord for when you need it.

If you want to drive BEV as often as possible but can only charge at 110v get a Plugin Hybrid like a Volt.

In the next year or two when the carmakers introduce 200 mile 40plus kWh batteries your going to not only want but need the largest capacity electrical connections you can get to take advantage of the large battery capacity they will have. What good is a 100 gallon tank if the pump only delivers 1 gallon per hour.

And speaking of only pumping one gallon per hour. That’s actually pretty good for electricity.

My Ford has a 96 eMPG. If it takes about 5 hours to fill my battery at the fastest charge rate that means at it’s fastest charge rate I’m only pumping 1 gallons worth of electricity in 5 hours. The gas version of my car would need about 3 gallons of gas to go the same distance.

That’s why I fill up every day instead of every 3 or 4 days. But since I’m using electricity and filling up at home my electricity is equal to $1 a gallon gas.

If you own a Tesla most of this advice goes out the door. You have a big battery with the onboard capacity to charge quickly. The only limitation is your home electrical system.

Tesla X Falcon Wing Doors, Gimmick or Great Idea?

Maybe a bit of both?

Yes, you can put your baby in a car seat without having to bend over.

Yes, you can get out of the car in a really tight parking space. Or can you?

Last time I drove a car I sat in the front seat. Unless your freakishly tall I’ll bet you did as well.

And the front doors on a Tesla X open the same way car doors have opened for years.

I see a little bit of BS with their example of getting wedged between two cars and implying that it doesn’t matter.

It might be easier than crawling through the lift gate on the tail but still not the answer they are implying it is.

Since I haven’t seen a X in person maybe I’m missing something but from all the videos I have seen I don’t think so.

 

What if everyone started using electric cars?

In the U.S.A., what would happen if everybody started driving electric cars?

About 9 million fewer barrels of oil would be used each day.
If you  have a car that gets 28MPG and drive it 10k miles per year, you would use just over 300 gallons of gas and produce 5.6k  pounds of CO2.
My Ford Focus Electric gets about 4 miles to a kWh. The worst coal produces 2.17 pounds of CO2 per kWh. So 10k miles per year produces 5.4k pounds of CO2.
So whats the big deal? Looks like a wash, right? No. It takes about 6kWh to distill one gallon of gas. So burning the coal to produce one gallon of gas produces about 13 pounds of CO2. Multiply that by 300 gallons of gas and you get another 3.9k of CO2 a year just making the 300 gallons of gas.
So by eliminating the gas engine and the process of refining oil into gas, you eliminate a duplication of effort and excess CO2 production.
You also eliminate the extra toxic pollution from burning gas, and the production of gas produces all kinds of toxic substances on top of the toxins burning coal produces.
Produce the electricity with natural gas and you get less CO2, but, there are  still many bad side effects in the production of natural gas. Fracking uses lots of clean water and turns it into toxic water.
Produce the electricity with solar or wind and get rid of all the by-products of combustion of fossil fuels. Then the only pollution is from making the solar panels or generators.
Lets also take a look at how gasoline gets to market.
Oil is extracted from the earth and transported long distances by ship or pipeline. By ship requires burning more fuel to move the oil over long distances.
Once the oil is refined, it gets put on a tanker or pipeline again, to get to it’s next destination. More fuel is burned for transportation. And all along the way there are many opportunities for leaks and spills. That doesn’t even include the potential leaks, spills and disasters at the point of extraction. The Gulf of Mexico, Exxon Valdez, waste from tar sands piling up on the south side of Chicago. The list goes on and on.
Most Americans have electricity in their home. Most Americans drive less than 50 miles per day. All they would need to do is plug in their cars at home each night like they plug in their Smartphones. You don’t need to add a huge new infrastructure like you would for hydrogen.
If every car in the USA were electric we would use 374 million less gallons of gas per day. That’s 811 million less pounds of CO2. Wait, we figured that the CO2 burned in gas was close to the same amount used to produce the electricity needed by burning coal. OK, that’s a wash.
But, if it takes 6kWh to produce 1 gallon of gas and 2.17 pounds of CO2 is produced per kWh then the amount of CO2 produced is actually 6 times 2.17 or 13 pounds of CO2 produced or 13 times 374 million gallons of gas. Thats 4,862,000,000 more pounds per year of CO2 than our hypothetical all EV Nation needs. That’s a massive difference.
What else could go along with that. No oil changes. No air filters. No spark plugs. Fewer brake pads. That’s just a few benefits. No pollution controls needed on an electric car. No emissions inspections. I’m sure you could find a few more.
So lets sum it up.
Air polution, less.
Water pollution, less.
Noise pollution, less.
Oil Spills, less.
Carbon Monoxide deaths, less.
Burn Victims, less.
Lower Hospital Costs.
Fewer wars? Probably not?
Where’s the down side? Fewer gas stations? High School kids can’t put sugar in the gas tank of their  ex-girlfriend?
Next year almost every carmaker has at least one if not more hybrids that can actually run on electric 90% of the time.
If you can afford a car that is partly or fully electric you should buy one.
It’s time to actually conserve the resources we have.
It’s time to stop polluting our air and water.
This is not a political issue anymore. It is a financial issue. It’s cheaper to burn coal to make electricity to drive a car than to make fuel to drive a car.
It’s cheaper to  drive an electric car than pay for hospital costs for people with diseases related to air pollution or water pollution.
If you want make solar panels and wind power the political issue, go for it. It is still 3 times the cost of coal if you don’t price in the pollution and medical costs caused by coal. We are maybe 3-5 years away from cost parity with coal.
We are probably 3-5 years away from your next car being electric as well.
Maybe it’s time for electric companies to embrace people putting solar on their roofs instead of fighting it. But that’s a subject for another post.

Mazda MX-5 ND or Tesla X?

With the release of the new Tesla X why a I writing about the lowly gas powered Mazda MX-5 also known as the Miata?

Well, today I attended a Ride and Drive that Mazda invited me to. I’m not sure how I got on the list but since I own a 1999 Miata and a Mazda 6 as well as having  owned a 2011 Miata the odds are pretty good I’m on a mailing list somewhere.

The event was not well attended. In the 2 days and 12 hours they had about 160 people according to a couple of the employees I asked. BMW gets almost 10 times that number at their Ride and Drive events.

That could be because BMW lets people drive all their cars. The MX-5 has a small but very loyal following.

But the reason I am writing this isn’t because I think the Miata is a great car. It is. What it isn’t is an Electric Car.

Since I have owned my Ford Focus Electric car I am pretty much spoiled. EV’s are a just more fun. If what you want is instant performance and a fun driving experience you really need to go out and test drive one of the many Electric Vehicles out there.

Not a Hybrid like the Prius or Honda Accord where the electric motor is an afterthought but a car where the electric motor is the primary source of power. One where the gas motor, if it has one charges the batteries and you get all that instant torque.

There are quite a few today and many being added in the near future.

While most of us mortals can’t afford a Tesla and it’s Insane Mode along with its insane price there are many EV’s now days for less than 30k and even lest than 25k after tax breaks.

Walk in to your Chevy Dealer and try the Volt. Don’t like Chevrolet. Ford has the C-Max and Fusion Energy as well as the all electric Focus.

BMW. The i8 and i3.

While Volkswagen might not be trustworthy with their diesel technology they do have the eGolf. Maybe they will release their hybrid Golf in the States soon now that they can’t sell their diesels.

In the next few years even with cheap gas people will learn that electric cars are fun. They have lower costs to maintain and 90% of the time you will never burn gas in the Extended Range models.

If you are in the market for a new car give one a try. If you are in the market for a used car many are now hitting the used market and at ver reasonable prices.

Don’t try one because they are the environmentally responsible option. Try one because they are fun. Lots of fun. So much fun I have a Mazda for sale. Maybe two.

My next car will be a Telsa 3, That is unless there is another car make that can make an electric car I really like. Something like a Mazda 6 even a eGolf with a 200 mile range with a 35k or less price tag. At that price I wouldn’t even need a tax break. Just those HOV Plates.

 

Should you buy or lease a hydrogen car? No, in my opinion.

My opinion on why hydrogen cars are not going to be anything more than a compliance car or a diversion of money that could be better spent building out the electric infrastructure.

I have a Ford Focus Electric. And while Ford might disagree it looks to me like it’s just a compliance car. A car that is sold in only a few States and in limited numbers. Yes, they do have some dealers in non compliance States like Arizona but try to find one on a lot somewhere in AZ. I looked for months and when one did come in it was either pre sold or sold in less than 5 hours.

So if you read any of my previous posts about it, I went to California to get it. Then I had it shipped to AZ. It couldn’t make the drive because there were no chargers for 200 miles of the route and the car only has an 80 mile range.

So then why did I still buy it? Because I do have electricity at home. So do all my neighbors. I also have a place to charge at work, for free and many of the places I shop have a charger as well.

Although for the 6 months and 4000 plus miles I have had it I have never had to charge anywhere but at home. I do charge at work but not because I have to but because it is free to charge. I have also plunged it into a pay charger a couple times but only because I wanted to be sure I could and new how to do it. It’s not rocket science but you do have to set up accounts to do it.

Now let’s say that I really like the Toyota Miraj. I hear it’s a really great car and gets 300 plus miles on a fill up of hydrogen. I buy it. Fill it up and drive it home to AZ. From one of the 8 California dealers that sell it. Do they deliver it with a full tank? I should be able to get it home. Now what. Do I call AAA and tell them I’m out of hydrogen? Do they tow me back to Los Angeles where they have one of the 8 possibly working Nitrogen Stations that might be able to fill the car in 10 minutes or less. After all, Toyota is giving you free nitrogen for the first few years.

Are they going to build a Nitrogen Station at every Toyota Dealer? At least Nissan has a quick charge station at most of their dealers. Many of them even work most of the time.But even if they don’t you can charge your Leaf in your garage. For a few hundred dollars you can add a 220v outlet and charge your car from zero to full in less than 6 hours. I don’t even have a 220v outlet in my garage and I have never had a problem.

We rarely drive more than 30 miles a day. Only twice have I ever seen the warning that tells me I’m getting to far from home and I better turn back or charge at my destination. It was after a day of running a lot of errands before going to work and I was less than 3 miles from the charger at work and 20 miles from home.

Now the State of California is pretty committed to Hydrogen. They have earmarked $200 Million for building 100 stations in the next several years. In case you’re bad at math that’s $2 Million per station. Holy Crap Batman. $2 Million. That’s $2,000,000.00 And none of those stations have a soda machine or even a bathroom. I’m not even sure if they will have more than one pump. But if they only take 5 minutes to fill the tank I doubt they need more than one pump. At least if it’s working properly and the company supplying the hydrogen has kept the the station properly supplied.

Why would supply be an issue. Well? From the looks of it the hydrogen pump is sort of like a soda fountain dispenser. A supplier has to bring bottles of compressed hydrogen from the factory where they make it and hook them up to the complicated machine that compresses it and then cools it before it’s pumped into your car. At least CNG can be filled at home or a station that has piped in supply. Not Hydrogen. First they have to make it. Usually by using CNG. Why not just eliminate the middle step and just burn CNG in your car?

Now why would I think this is a waste of money. We do need to get off fossil fuels. Not just because of global warming but because we need clean air to breath as well.

Because the economics of battery electric cars make more sense.

Right now there are about 143,000 battery electric cars in the State of California. Every single one of these cars can drive anywhere in the Country and find a place to plug in. Ever since the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1930’s pretty much all of the USA has electricity.

While it takes $2 Million to build one Hydrogen Fuel Station it only takes $50 Thousand to build one Electric DC Fast Charger. And that price is even less per extra line. So you can build 20 DC Fast Chargers for the cost of one Hydrogen Fuel Station.

But it gets better. Most people who drive Electric cars don’t need to fast charge. They rarely even need to slow charge. Most people could plug in anywhere they stop or shop and pick up just a mile or few if they need them. The cost for this. Just a plug on a lamp post or the wall near a parking spot. Most people could charge their car like they charge their phone or laptop at the airport. Just park near a plug and the equipment that comes with your car is all you need.

Right now my car has been parked at the airport for the last 3 days. It charged on the fast charger in two hours but it didn’t have to. I’m not going to be back for 4 days.

Where we do need fast chargers, are near highways and rest stops. Just like Tesla is doing. This would allow people like me to drive from L.A. to Phoenix if I really wanted to. Not that I’m planning on taking my Ford Focus Electric on a long trip but I might want to move from Arizona one day and I don’t want to ship the car. For most long trips I get on an airplane and rent a car if I need one. Sometimes I use Uber.

That’s pretty much why I see hydrogen cars as a waste of time and money. Why build a whole new infrastructure that still requires building stations that cost millions and keep you tied to having to buy your fuel like you buy gas now? Maybe that’s the answer. You are still tied to the same old model of buying fuel from a distribution system that puts your money into the pockets of the same companies we do now. No solar panels on your own roof providing your own clean energy. Just hide the dirtiest part of the process so you think that your doing something for the planet. Yes, there is still a lot of electricity made from coal but it is still cleaner than gasoline or all the fossil fuels used today to make hydrogen and transport it to the stations.

My money is on Battery Electric and Hybrid Electric like the Chevy Volt or Ford Cmax Energy Systems. While Toyota had a pretty good idea with the Prius and the Gas Extender Vehicle it’s now the time of the Battery Extender Vehicle. To be followed by the Long Range Battery Electric Vehicle.

I could be wrong but I don’t think the Japanese have made this big a mistake in backing the wrong idea since Pearl Harbor. I wonder why the Germans aren’t all in on hydrogen? Maybe something in their past?

What a difference 3 years can make.

One of the great things about the web is it’s really easy to find media reports from years gone by. That is unless it was you doing something in the past you want to forget about or worse want to deny so you can get elected to public office.

In this case I’m talking about a couple of episodes of AutolineNetwork (Click here to watch it) on youtube. This one from 2012 is trying to explain why the Chevy Volt is such a big disappointment. One guy is from the Wall Street Journal, another from a Conservative Think Tank and another who was an engineer on the EV-1 project now turned auto journalist.

Two of the guys are totally dissing the Volt. The other two have driven it and say how much they love it. Their only real issue they have with it is the price.

The WSJ guy and the Think Tank Guy have nothing good to say because all they see are political reasons to not like it. They don’t believe that the government has any business giving rebates and subsidies to help it along. They don’t believe it would exist without CAFE rules or CARB regulations. And while I might agree with the latter the former is reasons are just plain selective amnesia.

How many things do we have today because the Government took an interest in something. The internet didn’t just pop up in the mind of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. The Interstate Highway System wasn’t the brain child of Ford or GM. The Cellular Network and even the TV Broadcasting Networks were only built because the Government gave certain Companies assurances of exclusive license to build those networks.

We have seat belts and more crashworthy cars because of Government intervention or that hated word regulation. Something that all of the guest somehow like. Maybe it’s not popular anymore to say your against saving lives. Yet they still rail against CAFE standards and CARB rules. It’s not popular to tell people they should drive cars that get good gas milage. Why?

There is another episode with Csaba Csere, the former Editor-in-Chief of Car & Driver magazine and Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics. In this episode they once again talk about how great the Volt is and the Tesla. When you boil it down their only objection is price. Yet by listening to them you would think GM and Tesla had adopted a Marxist Ideology doomed to fail only to fall to the one true economy. The really high horsepower ICE engine that gets 20MPG instead of 12MPG.

Now fast forward to just a couple of months ago. On this episode they have on one of the main engineers of the Gen 2 Chevy Volt. They don’t have a single bad thing to say about the car. You would think GM hit a home run. It has yet to sell but now the car guys are coming around. I have no doubts if they invite back the WSJ guy his only dislike will be the $7500 tax credit.

I have said it once before. The EV is going to follow the path of the cellphone. And oddly enough the company that invented the EV-1 only to scrap it back when we as a Country also scrapped solar panels (bad move) will be the company that actually made the car that starts mass adoption of Electric powered vehicles. Not Nissan or Tesla. Especially not Ford.

While Nissan has sold the most EV’s of any car maker it is still a niche player. You really have to accept some major limitations to drive a Leaf. Think Apple Watch Sport.

Tesla proved that if you spend enough money and make something nice enough you can find enough buyers to spark interest. Think Apple Watch Edition.

The Gen 2 Volt on the other hand can get 50 miles on a charge. That covers 90% of most suburban Americans. The car gan go 400 miles on a tank of regular gas. That cover the other 10%. The only obstacle is the car is a Chevy. One body style. One company with a past of making bad decisions. The Volt is not one of them.

Ford may get caught sleeping on this one. While they have several Hybrids and a couple of plugins they don’t really seem to be taking the market that seriously.

Even if you don’t buy an EV or a Range Extended Hybrid like the Volt there is something you can do to reduce our dependence on oil.

It’s something else that has been around since the 1970’s but the auto press and automakers  has taken this long to finally accept the reality and benefits. Synthetic Motor Oil. Go back over the years and you will find hundreds or articles on why synthetic oil was a waste or even detrimental to your cars health. Today with automakers having to get better gas milage and people owning cars longer and expecting more reliability from their cars those same automakers are putting synthetics in their higher priced cars at the factory.

They have finally been dragged into accepting reality. When you use synthetic motor oil your car gets better fuel economy, runs cooler, last longer and is actually cheaper since you can run it for up to a year in most cars.

Amsoil Signature Series Motor oil can be run for 25,000 miles or one year in many cars. To learn more about extended drain intervals and Amsoil click here.

Ford Focus Electric car after first 2500 miles

I bought the 2015 Focus in March. After rebates, less than 20k out the door.

I have not needed a quick charger and there are very few anyway. At least in AZ near me. Of the two closest one is always broken. So if you are considering a Leaf over a Focus because the Leaf has the QC then you should ask yourself if it’s really important or just a want.

Only one person has asked me what it’s like driving an electric car. They saw it plugged in on my driveway. The Focus is so not noticeable as an EV. I am going to have it advertise my Amsoil synthetic oil business with a full graphics kit. I doubt anybody will notice the irony. A car that needs no oil advertising oil. But since the only way to use less oil with a normal car is use synthetic oil then why not. Amsoil can reduce you oil changes to once a year or every 25,000 miles.

I am glad I did not buy the Leaf. Not that the Leaf isn’t a nice car. It’s just far more expensive for what you get compared to the Focus.

Many of you who haven’t read all my posts may not know I decided to buy a Mazda 6 instead of a Nissan Leaf before I bought the Ford EV.. Which I love by the way. 30 MPG average and well worth the 25k OTD. Although I bought the Mazda first and the Ford second that 7k I saved not buying the Leaf paid for more than 1/3 of the Ford.

When I got my Mazda home i then started to notice most of my trips were 12 miles or less and very few were more than 65 miles per day. In the 2600 miles and 3 months I have driven the Focus there have only been 2 occasions where I chose the Mazda by necessity (round trip over 90 miles. And even on those 2 days I probably could have used the FFE had I wanted to stop and charge for a bit. Probably less than an hour. And I do like driving the Mazda. It a really nice car. The other day someone got in an asked if it was a Tesla. Really.

Today is actually the first day I needed to charge to get home. Half hour of Level 2 was all it took and I had 9 miles left when I got home. I got caught by surprise. I got called into work. It’s 22 miles from my house to work. I had 40 miles of range as I had used the car to do some things earlier in the day. About 45 miles worth.

There are chargers at work. I would charge overnight and have a full battery the next day when I got back. When I got to work they had already found another pilot to fly my flight so it didn’t delay waiting for me.

I saw two things that I had never seen in the time I have owned it. On the way to work when I had a range of 24 miles showing it told me I had reached a point where I should go back home (I don’t remember the exact words). And on the way home when I got to 10 miles left the battery symbol turned amber and I got a low charge message. That was about 4 miles from home.

When I got home I had 9 miles left. The power of regenerating brakes and taking a stretch of road where the speed limit was 45 and not 55-65 for about 6 miles.

I guess I didn’t have to spend the half hour charging to get home from the airport and they had Blink Chargers there. I guess I spent a dollar for insurance.

If there were an abundance of quick chargers around where you could drive anywhere like Tesla Superchargers and had the range to get from one to the next I might find quick charge necessary. They would also have to be competitively priced. $9 for a charge is excessive. You can drive a ICE car like my Mazda for 90 miles on gas for that.

I guess the Nissan would let you charge at their QC for free with their NCTC program but with only one of the two local dealers with a working charger and that one behind gates for 12 hours a day it is not really convenient. The Blink QC at the mall is the only other QC anywhere near me. I have never seen anyone using it. They should put a Level 2 There.

So far 2 thumbs up or 5 stars for the Ford Focus Electric.

Speak not of what you know not.

Originally posted by a naysayer when debating the merits of a new Corvette to a new Tesla S.

“It’s great until you run out of charge on your way to grandma’s house carrying five people and lots of stuff.

Teslas are great second cars to run about town. But then again I reckon the Corvette would be a second car too.”

A reply from a verified Tesla owner.

 

Speak not of what you know not.

I have a plain vanilla Model S 85 kWh hour battery version, that I got in December 2014. It’s my only car; the daily driver. It has 95% of the cargo space of my wife’s Highlander SUV. It does 0-60 in about 5.0 seconds, the Tesla that is.

This is THE BEST car I’ve ever owned, and that includes a BMW 535, and a Saab 900T, both of which were very fun to drive.

I drive the Tesla (license plate [redacted]) regularly between Tucson and Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (110 miles one way), Tucson and our place in Flagstaff (240 miles one way, Flagstaff and Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (153 miles one way). Range and charging is never an issue, with the ability to charge easily at home, and then use Tesla Superchargers at either Casa Grande or Cordes Junction.

For example, the drive from Tucson to Flagstaff is 240 miles, but the real issue is the net 6000 elevation gain from the Phoenix area to Flagstaff. A Model S cannot make it non-stop in that direction even driving as economically possible. But I leave Tucson with 265 miles of rated range, and then drive the 160 miles at 80 MPH (that’s faster than max range speed) to the Supercharger at Cordes Junction. I get to Cordes with about 50 rated miles left. I do a 20 minute pee-break and sandwich stop. In that 20 minutes the Supercharger adds 120 miles of rated range to bring the rated range up to 175. The distance to Flagstaff is 85, and that much range lets me go up the big hill coming out of the Verde Valley at 80, and get to the Flagstaff place with 35 or so miles left.

Coming back from Flag to Tucson, I can make it non-stop at 65 MPH, but I usually drive 80, and then stop for a 10-15 pee break at the Casa Grande Supercharger. 10-15 minutes of fast charge adds enough range to let me drive the remaining 65 miles at 80 and get home with plenty of margin.

I’ve been to San Diego and Los Angeles, and with the Supercharger network (that’s -no cost- fast charging) the drive is a no-brainer.

Now, if you’re the kind of person who has to drive 4 hours at a stretch, 10 minute pee break then another 4 hours of driving, the Model S is not for you. But I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t mind a 20 minute stop every 200-220 miles or so.

This is a totally practical car for most people with average driving needs.

Volt Drivers! and some Tesla drivers.

While more Volt sales will be good for the environment it’s not really that good for the EV only population.

My workplace just opened a bank of 6 charge spots. They made the mistake of putting the cord where it can only reach 1 spot at a time. Not 2 or 4.

All of a sudden Volt drivers have found out and changed parking lots because of the free chargers. From closer to work to free charging. Talk about cheap! They are willing to take a train just for a few free miles.

In the other lot the chargers weren’t free, they were Blink.

If I don’t leave for work fully charged, and I often don’t since I usually go to work later in the day, I need to get at least some charge to get home. Volt drivers don’t. And if they had put a faster charger on the car you wouldn’t need all day to do it.

Volt drivers like to tout how many EV miles they get but they forget to tell people that they plugin like cigarette smokers take smoke breaks. Often. Although not as often as Plug-in Prius Drivers. All ten of them.

With the proliferation of Plug-in Hybrids EV’s are finding it harder to get a charge when they really need one.

It is also common to see Tesla’s and Volts using EV Only Spots like handicapped parking spaces. Some even have the nads to not even plugin. Some just put the cord in far enough to just make it look like they are charging.

How many companies do you think are going to keep putting up chargers when they expect some revenue from those chargers. I know your Teslas and Volts tells you when your done charging and if not the Charging Company does. They don’t put them there for the environmentally challenged driver.

Now that EV’s are getting into the mainstream or at least Hybrid EV’s you really need to teach your peeps some etiquette. Charging spots are to charge. Pure BEV’s while we are few really need to charge at these spaces. If you want to see more of these spaces as more cars hit the road the companies who provide the chargers need to see the revenue.

With more of these cars on  the road it will be you who won’t be able to charge. And while that may or may not matter to you since you have a backup engine I’ll bet it will. You will no longer be able to tout what great gas milage you get. Especially you Gen 1 owners. It will be because the charge companies don’t get enough revenue to support a charger. Will they have to resort to putting vending machines next to their chargers?

EV spots should be EV spots, not hybrid spots. While you usually don’t have enough capacity to get all your days charge at home and I do, when I need to charge on the road I’m not doing it because I want to, I’m doing it because I need to. Admittedly not all that often do I need to charge on the road but you need to move when your ten minutes are up.

When the EV becomes ubiquitous will the drives be as annoying as everybody on their smartphones in public?