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Electric cars produce less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

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Re: Electric cars produce less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

#231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I test drove an EV and the regenerative braking was difficult to get used to. You have to constantly ride the gas pedal. I would buy an EV if it weren't for this feature.

I don't think this comment should be down-voted since it is indeed a real point of difference and it is worth discussing. The key takeaway is that there are differences to driving an EV to driving an ICE vehicle. Equally those differences are in fact easy to adjust to given a bit of practice. Of course cars have always had different control options. Automatic and Manual gearboxes spring to mind. When I first learned…

Except it's not a real point of difference. Just because some cars are programmed to act that way doesn't mean we should treat it like a universal constant of EVs. EVs can be programmed to only engage regenerative braking when the brake pedal is pressed, no riding the gas pedal needed.

Re: Electric cars produce less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

engine braking does not have any effect on the clutch, other than while downshifting, which if you're blipping/rev-matching has practically no effect

Exactly, if your clutch suffers abuse when you are shifting gears (unless you're trying to aggressively accelerate of course) you need to rethink what you're doing. Not saying it's smart but when predictably decelerating on the highway I sometimes shift gears by rev matching and changing without even touching the clutch, for the fun of it.

Same on a motorcycle. My current bike has a quickshifter (for both up and down shifting) but even without one you can shift up and down without ever touching the clutch just by pushing on the shift pedal while blipping the throttle off-and-on (for an upshift) or on-and-off (for a downshift). That’s all the quickshifter is really doing anyway, it’s just quicker at it than you are.

I’d wager bordering on 100% of my clutch use is when coming to a complete stop.

Re: Electric cars produce less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

#234
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just normal driving, it wasn’t quite so bad on our previous car which was a Nissan Leaf (with 30kWh battery) but our current Kia Niro just has a lot bigger batter (64kWh) and it is a lot heavier I suppose, the tyres just don’t seem to last as long. I’m pretty sure I’m using summer tyres all year round (I live in the UK) this was recommended by the dealer

I'm sorry but I've got two EVs and I'm not seeing anything like what you're reporting. On my first set of tires for a model S I got 60k miles which is longer than I usually like to run tires but they were still in good shape. My driving pattern is about 80% grandpa-mode and 20% speeding to loud music. I assure you. If your EV tires are only lasting 10K miles you have one of the following cases: - You are driving VERY…

Mine lasted 11k km before I was seeing interleave.

Alignment is fine, had it checked when I had a new set of continentals fitted.

My problem is purely that I drive like an asshole, on very windy, empty roads. Every day is track day.

Decent tyres, too, continentals - soft compound, hard roads. Means it corners like a dream right up until the tyres are bald.

Re: Electric cars produce less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I test drove an EV and the regenerative braking was difficult to get used to. You have to constantly ride the gas pedal. I would buy an EV if it weren't for this feature.

We have owned 4 EVs and each allow you to configure the regen braking strength. You'll need another reason to not buy one.

Tesla is a quite common EV brand. They do not allow configuring regen braking, except for the behaviour at stand-still.

(They also don't do blending between friction brakes and regen, so the cars behaviour when letting of the accelerator is highly inconsistent depending on temperature and charge level).

One of the reasons I long for the lease on my Model Y to end so I can replace it with a less stupid vehicle.

Re: Electric cars produce less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surprisingly you can get nearly same effect in automatics. I put around 60k miles on my first automatic (after120k+ on my first two cars, manual transmissions) and when i got my brakes checked at 63k they noted my brakes were still "brand new". I do gamify reading traffic to try and brake as little as possible (to help pass time etc), but was still surprised how far this takes you given i do plenty of stop and go tra…

It's not "nearly". It's exactly the same effect. Compression braking. Even if you're not on the throttle the engine is still rotating as it's connected to the wheels. If the engine is rotating it is compressing air. If it's compressing air but not igniting fuel (throttle closed) then it will suck energy out of the wheels to compress the air. You can do it in an automatic, you just have to force it to select a lower g…

Related to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compression_release_engine_bra...

Re: Electric cars produce less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

#237

I went to get new tires on my truck last month. 3 of the 5 bays at the tire shop had teslas getting new shoes. I asked the shop owner and he said EVs eat tires. Like 9-12 months max lifespan, great for business. I couldn't believe it but I've always heard there's exponential wear on tires relative to weight.

> Like 9-12 months max lifespan

It’s easy to spot when people are just making stuff up. Why would he tell you lifespan in months rather than distance?

Re: Electric cars produce less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

#238
post #33
post #16

We should obviously ban combustion engine cars, at least starting with cities. I can’t think of a single clearer win for air quality.

I would love to have gone electric (bought a car in September) but I rent and don't have any way to charge at my residence. How do we solve the renters-that-cant-charge-their-cars problem?

Why renters? I own but I still wouldn't have any place to charge if i owned an EV...

Re: Electric cars produce less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

#239
post #88
post #41

I suppose the same should apply to hybrid cars, which outnumber pure EVs significantly [1]. The effect comes from converting the kinetic energy back to the battery charge via generation instead of wasting it via friction, which is the whole point of hybrids. [1]: https://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/how-many-electric...

To some extent, but not really. Effectiveness of regenerative braking depends on having an extremely large battery that can sink enough current to stop the car. An EV can do that, hybrids at best help the brakes out some. You just can't charge the battery fast enough doing anything but a very slow rolling stop. My model Y can effect a very reasonable stop in traffic without touching the brake pedal except to hold the…

> You just can't charge the battery fast enough doing anything but a very slow rolling stop.

And it's not a problem when you get used to regenerative-only braking distances, which are surprisingly long at highway speeds.

It only becomes a problem when idiots thinking "the shorter the distance between first and last car, the smaller the traffic" start cutting you off when you leave enough distance for regenerative braking.

Re: Electric cars produce less brake dust pollution than combustion-engine cars

#240
post #16

We should obviously ban combustion engine cars, at least starting with cities. I can’t think of a single clearer win for air quality.

If all of us renters were forced to convert to electric there’d never be an open charger in any city again for the next five years, because no landlord will voluntarily afford that cost, and no municipal region can pass a ballot measure to afford that cost. California’s impending ban of combustion car sales hinges wholly on a magical DC-charging network that doesn’t exist in U.S. cities yet (i.e. at parking meters),…

Where you park, are there lights? Then there's electricity. It's something that's fixable, we just have to have the will to do it. It's worth it.
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