Ford's answer to EV supply chain hell: Cheaper batteries

Post by bittercynic » Sun, Jul 24, 2022, 3:08 PM UTC

nl wrote: post #84

acd wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can make a self driving truck/electric vehicle lane where the speed limit is 80km/h. Paint a green line in the middle of the ev-lane and it should make self driving more easy to implement. Reason for slower speed wind resistance is far less at 80km/h. Energy use is quadratic concerning speed. So make a movie streaming ev-lane. Also one could fit cars with rail gear and run them on rail tracks on the highway which…

Self driving on open roads where 80km/h is possible is basically a solved problem. And if people cared about efficiency enough to drive at 80 they'd do it now. Low efficiency stsrt/stop driving is the problem to solve.

Post by bryanlarsen » Sun, Jul 24, 2022, 3:13 PM UTC

MerelyMortal wrote: post #105

martin_bech wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the infrastructure needed would be bonkers, and creating fuelibg stations is not really a solved problem. You also loose a big amount of energy converting from electric to hydrogen and back. The cars themselves almost always have low storage because the tanks are very big. Hydrogen car performance is also a lot lower then pure EV.

The infrastructure needed to create a power grid for people to charge electric vehicles at home would be double-bonkers. Upgrading fueling stations seems much easier than mining all of the copper needed to add all of the extra lines for EV charging, and then upgrading the whole national grid. Supposedly one company has claimed 95% efficiency on creating hydrogen from electrolysis: https://newatlas.com/energy/hysata-e…

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jul 24, 2022, 3:19 PM UTC

justapassenger wrote: post #147

bell-cot wrote: post #67

> Automotive giant Ford is shoring up its battery supply chain — partly by importing lower-cost, iron-based batteries popular in China — as it sprints to increase electric vehicle production. Old geezer's perspective: Back in its heyday, Ford Motor was one of the most vertically integrated (large manufacturing) companies in the world. They owned and operated their own fleet of ore carriers (cargo ships), to haul iron…

Offshore outsourcing of everything is as bad of an idea as vertical integration of every single aspect of your business.

Post by bryanlarsen » Sun, Jul 24, 2022, 3:27 PM UTC

gregwebs wrote: post #87

This move solves this year’s problems but doesn’t address the lithium shortage that is already showing up in the price of lithium going up 5x. Analysts predict that by around 2025 lithium will limit the battery market that is trying to grow 40x to meet electrification demands. Note that opening a new lithium mine takes 7 years. Maybe Ford will be able to start selling sodium based batteries then. https://youtu.be/5v-…

Post by gabbyvilloria » Sun, Jul 24, 2022, 3:30 PM UTC

rvdginste wrote: post #64

tokamak-teapot wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d love a car with a tiny battery for 99% of the time when I’m just driving locally and the ability to have an extra, large battery that can be slotted in when I want to make a longer trip. With only the short range battery most of the time, my car’s weight is low and efficiency high. Maybe I could keep that battery in my house and use it to store solar electricity most of the time. It seems like it should be possib…

I don't know if any company is exploring what you are mentioning, but battery swapping for electrical scooters (Gogoro) is in common use in Taiwan. Instead of you charge your scooter, you drive to a battery swap station and exchange your empty battery for a full one. see [1]. But some companies are also investigating battery swap stations for cars. So, you might not be able to swap a short-range battery with a long-r…