Word to the wise, don’t buy government subsidized products. It will not live up to industry standards simply because they were spending the money of someone else to build it. You will get the minimum in both technology and workmanship.
Available charge in batteries is drastically affected by cold (or hot) temperatures.
I think at the current technology, folks are trying to apply electric vehicles in ways they are not designed.
The problem comes from people like this Smith guy( the tenn writer) who think the Gov’t ( us ) SHOULD sibsidize these failures instead of letting the marketplace work.
let private compnaies work the bugs/ clinks out and then offer these vehicles.
but WE should NOT sibsidize the making of these pos and the buying of these POS and the buildong of charging stations.
It is not worth it now.
The cars will go away first. The made up "green jobs" that accompanied them like Mr. Smith's will follow shortly thereafter.
They must have had a headwind. I’ve heard those electric cars are great.
/s
I rode in a Leaf and the owner likes it quite a bit but he spends every trip longer than 30 miles worrying if he can make it home.
Filled up my wife’s car the other day, and just out of curiosity, flipped around the computer gage - “540 miles to empty.”
Only, I have noted that that guage lies - you have 12 gallons of fuel left at “empty.”
I dont’ know why this was a shock to these people. Anyone who’s ever played around with battery operated toys(or cell phones for that matter) knows all claims about batteries are lies. And on top of the lies regarding how long the batteries last, every little thing you do differently will alter the battery life. Put more than one person it the car...battery gets sucked down faster. drive up hills...battery sucks down faster. run air conditioner or heater...battery sucks down faster. Headwind...battery sucks down faster.
Also, time to charge up a battery is a lie. It always takes longer than what they claim.
That said, I know they can make electric cars better than the LEAF...but at what price, is the question. It would be nice if 440/480 volt 3 phase service was readily available but it isn’t . That’s just the way it is right now. Maybe someday 480 volt service will be standard in every neighborhood, every garage, and every commercial building. But at the moment, 480 volts is extremely rare. you are lucky to have 240 volt service. Lots of locations don’t even have that.
Isn't that nice.
By the way, how much coal did you use?
In case anyone was wondering whether he is as stupid as we all think he is.
Imagine a nice humid summer day when you have to run the A/C constantly.
They should have used their brains and either installed a rooftop mounted generator or one in a small trailer, turn the car into a diesel/electric. Generator charges while it drives.
Aw come on, a little convenience to too much to sacrifice in order to “save the earth?”
LOL!
180 miles, six hours.
W
O
W
Shoulda brought the soap box derby car along as a back up.
Doing some quick energy calcs, they used a total of 101 KWh for the trip assuming a full 24 KWh charge at the start and 80% charges en route. Gasoline has a combustion energy of about 33.4 KWh per gallon. This results in an equivalent of 59 MPG for this trip. Anybody know how much energy it takes to turn X tons of coal into 1 KWh stored in a battery? Bet it’s a good bit more than it takes to turn oil into gasoline at the pump.
Thinking back, I had a ‘89 Jetta diesel back in the 90’s that I bought for less than 3 grand. It got 50 MPG with my foot on the floor all the time. I could drive it 750 miles without refilling.
Now if only there was a way to charge the batteries while driving. Hmmm.
The Chevy Volt does much better as you never have to turn on the heater, you just keep replacing the burned-up back seats.