Posted on 09/15/2014 6:41:07 AM PDT by shove_it
(Reuters) - Nissan (7201.T) boss Carlos Ghosn is preparing to cut battery manufacturing, people familiar with the matter said, in a new reversal on electric cars that has reopened deep divisions with alliance partner Renault (RENA.PA).
The plan, which faces stiff resistance within the Japanese carmaker, would see U.S. and British production phased out and a reduced output of next-generation batteries concentrated at its domestic plant, two alliance sources told Reuters...
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
The weight of the battery at the rear of the car uses up tires VERY quickly.
Tell me about it. He was on the right track. He was thinking of buying a house. He does work and saves his money. But then he decided he had to have this dumb car. He could have bought 3 nice used cars for that money. I tried. He’s not my kid.
dohhhhh... But what about Teslas battery giga factory?
Maybe he wanted a chick magnet for liberal babes
Know what you’re getting and what you’ll use it for. EVs are great for some - I’m lovin’ my Leaf. It’s not for what it’s not for.
Perhaps, but we were not 100% certain that he liked girls, if you know what I mean. He had a girlfriend. We never saw her. But the boys are different these days. He talked a lot! He was at the very least very shall we say, metro!
Looks like the ObamaMobile is crashing and burning even before Obama is out of office. Gee, I wonder who could have possibly predicted that!
“Elon Musk, Elon Musk, please pick up the white courtesy phone.”
Yeah, fortunately Elon is building a 5 billion dollar battery plant just in time to pick up the slack in overcapacity in case these other plants shut down.
to bad-so sad. Snicker.
Reality is, that footprint is small, very small, and not likely to change anytime soon.
They also come with a whole lot of limitations beyond just range, that combustion cars are not limited by. So, end of the day they are nice hobby/toys for a certain niche in the marketplace. Ever believing a car that cannot be refueled in minutes and get you at least 250-300 miles before it needs another filling at least was going to mainstream, especially in the US was naive.”
Yea, that is why I think the Chevy Volt is a far superior car to the Nissan Leaf. You still get a 40 mile electric range (which covers the daily commutes of 78% of Americans) but you also get a gasoline engine if you need to go further.
“And lets not even get into the limitations the technology puts on the vehicle: Avoid exposing a vehicle to ambient temperatures above 120 °F (49 °C) for over 24 hours. Can't be someplace too hot. Avoid storing a vehicle in temperatures below −13 °F (−25 °C) for over 7 days. Cant be someplace too cold”
Yes, the Leaf left a bad taste in a few people's mouths in hot climates like Arizona. Its battery pack is passively air cooled. The Volt doesn't have this problem since it has an active, liquid cooled battery that keeps the temperature in the required range even when not in use.
“Avoid exceeding 70% to 80% state of charge when using frequent (more than once per week) fast or quick charging. If you ever find yourself in need of a QUICK charge, you shouldn't fully charge the vehicle this way if you do it frequently or risk damaging the battery.”
With Volt you never need to quick charge since if you need to go far, you just use the gas tank and gas engine that is built in. It switches over automatically when the battery gets low, you might not even realize it has happened.
“Allow the battery charge to go below 80% before charging. You know you are going to need 100% charge to make your trip, but you are currently at 85% charge, you are supposed to drive it around or something to burn off 5% before you recharge it.”
This isn't actually true. You may have it confused with the EV1 of the 1990s which used NiMH batteries. These suffered from the problems you described, known as the “memory effect”. Li-ion batteries, which are used in the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, and Tesla Model S, have no memory effect.
“Avoid leaving the vehicle for over 14 days where the Li-ion battery available charge gauge reaches a zero or near zero (state of charge). Never ever let it reach zero and sit there for a while.”
Another reason to get the Volt. The battery is electronically limited to not let it charge above 80% and to switch to gasoline mode once it is discharged to below 30%. This is not to prevent memory effect, but just to make the battery last longer. Theoretically they could have removed these limitations to allow the car to get a range much larger than 40 miles, but doing it this way protects the battery and allows it to last longer than it does in other vehicles. (You could actually do the same thing manually with your smartphone or laptop in order extend its battery life.)
There were some scary sounding headlines a while back about the Volt catching on fire, but they turned out to be baloney.
I know the $7,500 tax rebate isn't popular. However, maybe it is worth it considering the $50 billion we spend every year policing the oil shipping lanes in the middle east. I think anything we can do to disentangle us from the geopolitics of oil would be well worth it. I'd rather power my car on American coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy and if we put the sheiks, mullahs, and Russian oligarchs in the poorhouse while doing it, even better.
Sounds like emo.
http://www.emosong.ytmnd.com/
NSFW. Some adult content that some may find offensive.
We’re Doomed!
Not with a bang but a simper.
LOL, well I’ve almost made it to 51, so I’ve had some good times!
Neither is the power infrastructure....I guess it's close to 100 around Los Angeles today, and there are power outages all over L.A. County due to the "stress" on the various systems.
Speaking of infrastructure. I periodically come across road and bridge closures that lead to lengthy detours. If I had a lengthy daily commute I would want to make sure I could make it on an alternative route.
Not true. Nearly all of an owner's charging is done at night, when there is much lower demand on the power grid. In fact, a lot of electric companies offer discounts for nighttime and weekend electricity for this very reason.
True...if your power’s out, you’re not getting charged.
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