Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 450 posts

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#61

Post by burlesona »

stellar678 wrote: post #35

They neglected a huge part of the coming electric vehicle picture: lightweight, slow-speed electric vehicles. Almost 60% of US car trips are 5 miles or shorter. (2017 ref: https://nhts.ornl.gov/tables09/ae/work/Job63697.html , 2009 ref: https://nhts.ornl.gov/tables09/fatcat/2009/vt_TRPMILES.html ) Scooters, e-bikes, and electric cargo bikes (not to mention the human-powered versions!) will soak up an enormous portion…

I agree, I we may be at a point in time analogous to people in the early 2000's discussing the next revolution in PCs... and not really appreciating that the next revolution was going to be mobile.

I think transportation is a lot more interesting than just cars - electric (and non-electric) cars will probably be part of the equation forever, but I suspect we're past peak car.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#62

Post by GW150914 »

zizee wrote: post #45

I think that electric car adoption is going to have similar characteristics to digital cameras. I remember playing with an early digital camera and seeing a poor replacement for film, but with obvious benefits. Back then it was common to hear "serious" photographers pooh-poohing digital, and how it's many drawbacks would mean it would remain niche, and never replace film. It didn't take long and digial cameras improv…

In the case of digital cameras, the driving forces were varied, from governments wanting better means to spy and drop bombs, the film industry looking for a replacement tech, dedicated hobbyists seeing the benefits and getting on board. I can think of two parallels in electric vehicles, namely high performance applications which love the insane torque, low center of gravity, and diminished complexity compared to something like a twin-charged ICE. The other is long haul trucking, which would love to stop paying for diesel. In the former case its still incredibly expensive and often matched with an ICE, and the latter requires much more range and a lower price per unit.

Hopefully you’re right, and those driving forces will parallel the adoption of digital cameras. If so however, it’s going to be gradual barring some kind of miracle breakthrough battery tech.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#63

Post by p1mrx »

sfifs wrote: post #41
kasey_junk wrote: post #23

My big issue is that in the places that electric cars make the most sense (cities) it’s hardest to own them. What am I going to do, run a really long extension cord from my condo to the random parking spot I found around the block?

Well the obvious answer is parking spots will need to get electrified. Most new condos where I live already come with enough electrical provision pre-planned to electrify parking spots if needed and old ones are considering adding provisions. Household wiring will anyway not have enough current capacity to support charging, so smart plug based billing will likely be the way these things will go. Since electric cars A…

Old homes would benefit from better load management technology. I want to clip something like this (http://www.theenergydetective.com/homemtuct200.html) to my main feed, and have it send power measurements to an EV charger, which automatically adjusts to fill all remaining capacity.

This wouldn't require any Internet access, just data sent over the power line, to a charger that's able to listen.

Existing home wiring could also be repurposed to carry HVDC, and therefore more power (12A * 600V = 7.2kW)... but I'm not sure if HVDC cars are designed with low current in mind.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#64

Post by [deleted] »

srtjstjsj wrote: post #52
sandworm101 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>> I'm on my third EV (Leaf, S, M3). Never going back. In how many years? Tossing cars on the junk pile every few years is an environmental nightmare. Who is taking these cars off your hands? I buy cars to keep. I demand that any car last at least 10 years, preferable 15+ without major work. My current Honda is nine years old. My last car ('92 BMW 325is) lasted twenty years. So I am very skeptical about advice regar…

The used car market exists. EV car batteries last at least 7 years, in theory and in the 2010 cars still on the road. After 7 years, they need a battery replacement (similar to how an ICE car needs engine work, just a one-shot replacement instead of lots of minor maintenance and repairs), and the old batteries are easily refurbished into other kinds of batteries (like home backup batteries) where charge-per-unit-weig…

[deleted]

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#65

Post by GW150914 »

burlesona wrote: post #61
stellar678 wrote: post #35

They neglected a huge part of the coming electric vehicle picture: lightweight, slow-speed electric vehicles. Almost 60% of US car trips are 5 miles or shorter. (2017 ref: https://nhts.ornl.gov/tables09/ae/work/Job63697.html , 2009 ref: https://nhts.ornl.gov/tables09/fatcat/2009/vt_TRPMILES.html ) Scooters, e-bikes, and electric cargo bikes (not to mention the human-powered versions!) will soak up an enormous portion…

I agree, I we may be at a point in time analogous to people in the early 2000's discussing the next revolution in PCs... and not really appreciating that the next revolution was going to be mobile. I think transportation is a lot more interesting than just cars - electric (and non-electric) cars will probably be part of the equation forever, but I suspect we're past peak car.

People have been saying that for a very long time, and every decade or two someone bets real money and loses horribly. I think the last time was Kamen thinking the Segway would change human transportation forever. Such visionaries tend to conveniently forget people who have families with kids, the price, and the fact that if their device can’t totally replace a car then it’s just an added expense many can’t afford.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#66

Post by selectodude »

srtjstjsj wrote: post #43
kasey_junk wrote: post #23

My big issue is that in the places that electric cars make the most sense (cities) it’s hardest to own them. What am I going to do, run a really long extension cord from my condo to the random parking spot I found around the block?

If you have a car in the city, you should park in your building's parking garage, not in the street. The problem is that residential street parking is overused. In the street, you charge at a meter, the same place you put in your payment. http://www.rolecserv.com/ev-charging/product/EV-Charging-Str...

Unfortunately, my building is over 120 years old. They weren't forward thinking enough with electricity or parking spots, I guess.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#67

Post by patfla »

CalChris wrote: post #3

I'm on my third EV (Leaf, S, M3). Never going back. Since the Model 3 is so well built (after some startup hickups), I can recommend it on that alone. Tesla is very vertically integrated now (they make their own seats) and so the Model 3 is profitable for Tesla although the capital investment was quite high. Also, it's fun to drive next to a Viper and throw shade.

The Model 3 has, or may have, become profitable for Tesla since the average selling price has gone from the $34K initially advertised to (last I checked) $59K. Good deal - if you're Tesla.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#68

Post by tormeh »

stellar678 wrote: post #35

They neglected a huge part of the coming electric vehicle picture: lightweight, slow-speed electric vehicles. Almost 60% of US car trips are 5 miles or shorter. (2017 ref: https://nhts.ornl.gov/tables09/ae/work/Job63697.html , 2009 ref: https://nhts.ornl.gov/tables09/fatcat/2009/vt_TRPMILES.html ) Scooters, e-bikes, and electric cargo bikes (not to mention the human-powered versions!) will soak up an enormous portion…

I don't think so. A car is the most outwardly visible status/everything symbol you have. This is important, especially for men without a family. They're not going to want to be seen in a Renault Zoe or a scooter.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#69

Post by greglindahl »

syntaxing wrote: post #31

I wholeheartedly believe, in order for electric vehicles to survive in the US, we will need government intervention not just simply in car subsidy. We will need some sort of infrastructure subsidy to make this happen. Either give incentive to gas station or even corporate buildings. Companies that provide more charging stations for employees to charge their cars during work gets bigger tax cuts. Also, the US will nee…

All of those things are already happening in parts of the US.

Re: Electric Vehicles’ Day Will Come, and It Might Come Suddenly

#70

Post by bryanlarsen »

bhk wrote: post #53
srtjstjsj wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have a car in the city, you should park in your building's parking garage, not in the street. The problem is that residential street parking is overused. In the street, you charge at a meter, the same place you put in your payment. http://www.rolecserv.com/ev-charging/product/EV-Charging-Str...

> you should park in your building's parking garage, not in the street Let them eat cake, in other words?

They're currently eating free cake. Those parking spots cost the city a lot of money directly and indirectly (some estimates say $100 a month).
Post reply on HN