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Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

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Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#101

Post by gambiting »

rciorba wrote: post #51
agumonkey wrote: post #45

Shouldn't it be mandatory for ICE car manufacturers to make hybrids only ? It would push the market up, simplify through less options and help ecology and health in the process.

It should be mandatory to hit MPG and emission targets, not to force a certain technology.

But that way you are effectively banning supercars, which is pointless since they effectively contribute nill to global emissions(and usually already pay massive taxes due to emissions). You need to regulate cars which sell hundreds of thousands of models each year, if VW sells millions of golfs globally, it's extremely important that every golf they sell gets good economy and emissions, because it's going to be so common on the road.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#102

Post by mywittyname »

comboy wrote: post #11
L15p3r wrote: post #3

Seems like Musk is starting to succeed in his plan in forcing the car makers to go electric

Exactly my thoughts. Plus, I wonder where are they going to get batteries from ;) Current hybrids pure electric range is laughable.

The range is probably not China's concern so much as emissions. Even mild hybrids reduce co2 emissions considerably (around a third). That's not accounting for the ability to power accessories without running the engine in gridlocked traffic.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#103

Post by selectodude »

lmm wrote: post #48
coldcode wrote: post #34

Plug in ignores one very large population: people who live in apartments. Unless the apartment builders start to consider charging stations sufficient to the population, plug-ins are pointless. A hybrid works since I don't need a plug.

Apartment builders won't start putting in charging stations until they see residents wanting to plug in. For cars intended to last for years it makes sense to put the plug in now - installing charging stations in existing parking lots is more practical than adding plugs to existing cars.

My apartment building doesn’t provide off-street parking. I’d love an electric car but it’s far from an option.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#104

Post by yardie »

londons_explore wrote: post #57
yardie wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you felt how much heat your average 10W Qi charger puts out. While that energy loss is acceptable for a smartphone or tablet with a 10Wh battery your average BEV stores kWh of charge. 2 slabs of metal can move way more electrons than an electromagnet.

A charging connector on the bottom of the car with some kind of self-aligning plastic shield could serve the same purpose. Park in a parking space, and the spring loaded charging connector built into the road surface springs up and connects the car and charging begins.

Then you get into the whole how do you design a better mousetrap problem. Floors get dirty. Roads get dirty. Car bottoms get dirty. Electrical contacts like to be clean. When they are not they get hot, carbonize, and then enter a chain reaction until it fails or catches fire.

Whatever solution you can conceive is going to be too expensive simply because you have to protect a high voltage/high amperage connection from the elements.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#105

Post by bitJericho »

netcan wrote: post #12
laxentasken wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how Porsche and the alike will adapt to that situation. Sure it will take some years before someone will start pushing it...

Douglas Adams on the internet affecting media in the 2000s: ”It's like trying to explain to the Amazon River, the Mississippi, the Congo and the Nile how the coming of the Atlantic Ocean will affect them. The first thing to understand is that river rules will no longer apply.” Wide-scale fully automated cars will change everything. First, I think fewer people will personally own cars, perhaps a small fraction. Vehicl…

I'm going to buy a car with a bed, and wake up 1000 miles away for weekend vacations :)

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#106

Post by dayjah »

jdietrich wrote: post #49
worldsayshi wrote: post #6

Can we please standardize charging stations to not require a person to manually establish a connection? It seems that it would pose such an awkward and unnecessary hurdle. Especially in the coming age of self driving cars. Every time you arrive or leave you have to remember to (dis-)connect the charger. Why not just have some kind of inductive energy transfer or I dunno... something. Edit1: Heh, this could work I gue…

>Can we please standardize charging stations to not require a person to manually establish a connection? It seems that it would pose such an awkward and unnecessary hurdle. It's a total non-issue in practice. Inductive charging has barely made an impact for mobile phones, because plugging in a cable just isn't a big chore. It very quickly becomes an automatic habit that requires no conscious effort.

Part of the appeal of automobile revolution is how it'll empower folks with motor control issues to become a bigger part of society versus being home bound; so I think this request has merit.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#107

Post by aninhumer »

justicezyx wrote: post #92
aninhumer wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While it's obviously impractical for cars, my experience using a wireless charger with my phone is that despite being a seemingly minor change, it makes quite a bit of difference for me in practice. Plugging in a micro USB cable is often quite fiddly, and sometimes the cable can fall behind the table and require crawling around on the floor. Not to mention the cables and ports can be quite fragile and end up breaking…

Nitpicking can reveal a lot of issues. The argument has to be generalized to a significant fraction of the total user base to be a convincing argument. In the spirit of nitpicking, all you have said does not bother me at all.

What am I supposed to be convincing you of by generalising my argument?

I was responding to a comment that said it was a "total non-issue", and I pointed out various reasons it was an issue for me.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#108

Post by davexunit »

alkonaut wrote: post #26
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plugin hybrids do seem to offer the best of both worlds right now.

My problem with them is that they don't offer the greatest benefit of electric: the simple drive train. No thousands of moving part kept moving by a handful of fluids and rubber pulleys all needing meticulous care. With the hybrid you get the best of both worlds in convenience and range but the worst in maintenance. Battery aging? Check. Expensive combustion engine service schedules? Check.

This is why I bought a Chevy Bolt instead of a Volt.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#109

Post by bitJericho »

gambiting wrote: post #20
gutnor wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3 years ago was also before the diesel gate. Here in Europe, we moved from Diesel is king to the specialist press running article on why you can still consider buying a Diesel car in 2017 in some condition. That triggered countries like Germany to announce plan to ban gas car sales in a decade. Regardless what Volvo CEO thought 3 years ago, the market has shifted in a clear direction and it is his job to adapt. In a…

>>that some countries will forbid non-automated car to access some public road in the near future. I am sorry, but I don't believe that will happen in anything that could be described as near future. I don't see any actual bans to be introduced any sooner than 30-50 years from now, and even then only if: 1) the technology gets really good, not just "kind of good but only when the conditions are optimal" 2) the techno…

I think it will happen as soon as it's good enough. The incredible death rate of non-automated cars will make things happen faster than normal, imo.

Re: Volvo signals 'end of the solely combustion engine-powered car'

#110

Post by MagnumOpus »

agumonkey wrote: post #56
rciorba wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should be mandatory to hit MPG and emission targets, not to force a certain technology.

First, companies lied about emissions. Second, hybrid would probably tone down emissions in cities tremendously, even consumption. I have no actual data, but the amount of time spent at low speed or waiting is staggering. A tiny DC motor + regenerative breaking is great.

We are talking about CO2 emissions, not particle pollution. Since CO2 emissions are 1:1 related to fuel consumption, the fair, straightforward and easy way to discourage excess emissions is to raise taxes on fuel.

(Depending on political preference you might choose to cut other taxes with the revenues, or refund them equally per capita or reduce the deficit.)

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