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Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

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231–237 of 237 posts

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#231
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think we've seen the end game yet. I have an electric cargo bike. During a kids party yesterday I ran 5 different errands with it while someone with a car managed to get stuck in traffic, not find a parking spot, and miss the whole thing. The only reason why cars are the size and shape they are is because ICE engines couldn't be made smaller. Electric engines on the other hand are small enough that I can have…

I own three electric motorcycles and respectfully disagree. You can't make tube and canvas that let a passenger survive getting t-boned by a Yukon Denali or an F-250. One high-profile accident with a mother and her child getting peeled off the road with a coal shovel are all it'll take to kill such a form factor forever. The problem isn't the form factor you're describing, it's that you can't put those on the road wi…

The elements of the form factor implied here are already on the road. Series hybrid bikes exist today. Fully faired bikes exist today. A fully feared tricycle recumbent could get you to work, clean and dry, on a dimes worth of energy. Cities like Barcelona and Taipei that already move on gas scooters, would smell immensely better if e-bikes took over.

American pick up trucks with their butch looking front ends that kill a lot of children are a stupid idea under any circumstances. But evidently we have to live with that death and destruction until they rust out. Kids are already dying because of the stupidity and we have not got what it takes to stop it. It means other places will benefit from better mobility sooner.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do parking lots even work in South America then?

At supermarkets and malls they usually have guards. Lots where people park overnight are gated.

There you go then.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#233
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The limit to adoption is non existent or slow public charging infrastructure.

Both limit adoption. Public charging infrastructure would solve the problem of nit being able to charge at home.

Not having public charging means you can't travel more than << 50% range away from home.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#234
post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own three electric motorcycles and respectfully disagree. You can't make tube and canvas that let a passenger survive getting t-boned by a Yukon Denali or an F-250. One high-profile accident with a mother and her child getting peeled off the road with a coal shovel are all it'll take to kill such a form factor forever. The problem isn't the form factor you're describing, it's that you can't put those on the road wi…

The elements of the form factor implied here are already on the road. Series hybrid bikes exist today. Fully faired bikes exist today. A fully feared tricycle recumbent could get you to work, clean and dry, on a dimes worth of energy. Cities like Barcelona and Taipei that already move on gas scooters, would smell immensely better if e-bikes took over. American pick up trucks with their butch looking front ends that k…

A fully feared tricycle recumbent will get you killed in a city with poor bike-ability. I have friends that have been in the hospital for weeks because of bike accidents in SF and NYC, which are arguably the exact kinds of places where you'd want bikes to replace cars. But instead, we have "Vision Zero" projects that still have staggeringly far to go.

I don't disagree with you: it would be great if we could replace more cars with bikes, but the reality is that there's almost nothing serious we can do in the US to undo the omnipresence of massive vehicles in most cities.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, so many people think hauling weight kills your gas mileage, but it doesn't really have that big of an effect unless you are hauling a massive load through stop and go traffic while in a hurry. The vast majority of people do most of their hauling of things down the highway, not through the middle of cities, and 90% of the losses from hauling load is just wind resistance against the poorly aerodynamic trailer whic…

Not to be nitpicky, but that's only really true if you're driving down a perfectly flat, straight highway at a constant speed. Any hills or traffic slowdowns and your car or truck is doing more work the more it weighs.

True, but regenerative braking eliminates most of that as well.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#236
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TBH, those tests are mostly marketing failures. EV trucks aren't really good at hauling trailers over large distances, as the aerodynamics produce a massive impact on range. Multiple tests have shown this by showing 50% or more range reduction from pulling lightweight, non-aerodynamic loads. The marketing failure is that the companies have allowed consumers to incorrectly extrapolate from this to thinking that heavy…

> EV trucks aren't really good at hauling trailers over large distances, as the aerodynamics produce a massive impact on range. Maybe I'm being stupid, but how could that possibly just be a problem for EVs? The aerodynamic physics don't care what's powering the car so the impact on range should be roughly the same. Or is the problem that even if EV range impact is similar to fossil fuel range impact, the extra time r…

Yes, that's exactly it. A lot of people have shown that gas trucks suffer range loss as well, but they start off with higher range and get refilled in The EVs lose enough range that they often need to be charged deep into the pack to make it to the next station, which leads to >40 minute charging sessions every 100-120 miles.

Re: Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla

#237
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Long EV trips are possible amd convenient if there are enough chargers along the route. Sadly, this isn't the case on many routes in the US, at least. Europe is doing much better. I have no experience in other places.

Like what route? Everytime I've talked to someone who claimed they couldn't buy an EV because of a certain route, abetterrouteplanner.com showed it was covered.

A day trip from Seattle into the cascades for hiking is a scenario that pushes EV range. I'm sure that I can't properly reach some hiking destinations. Going uphill into the Cascades eats battery range in a way that I still find hard to estimate.

Another other example that I couldn't make work was multi day stay in Gardiner to visit Yellowstone National Park.

Third example where I struggled was a weekend trip to Lincoln City, OR. No usable chargers within the city or along the coast. The ones listed on maps have restrictions. The only way was to get a full charge at the last station on the way there and keep careful watch over the remaining range while there.

ICEs have access to a much denser network of gas stations, which eliminates range concerns. EVs aren't there yet and the additional trip preplanning imposed by that is real effort at times.

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