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EV adoption in US is happening faster than predicted

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Re: EV adoption in US is happening faster than predicted

#311

Post by AstralStorm »

Arainach wrote: post #252
endisneigh wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A golf cart has to travel on the same roads as a car, except it's slower and less safe. No advantage really.

Anything travelling 30mph has to travel on the roads. Class 3 ebike owners who ride on shared use trails are a menace and a serious threat - to pedestrians, to other cyclists, and to any goodwill cycling has in the community.

Heck, I get sometimes overtaken by people riding illegal (in EU) ebikes on a bike path. Mine is heavy duty enough that it can maybe do 30 kph with leg power. Theirs do 45 kph and it's getting dangerous.

Mostly delivery people use those. The lanes are narrow, so if there's oncoming they would likely crash...

Re: EV adoption in US is happening faster than predicted

#312

Post by xboxnolifes »

ThunderSizzle wrote: post #81
tapoxi wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm really not sure how my Volkswagen will not let me drive because of something I said on Twitter. Electric utilities are also regulated monopolies, they can't just cut my power without running afoul of a ton of laws. Even in such a ridiculous scenario, you can make your own electricity. You can't make your own gasoline.

I can get gas from multiple gas stations with cash without proving my identity. I can't do that with electricity right now.

Sure you can. You go to the gas station and buy with cash, then use a generator.

Re: EV adoption in US is happening faster than predicted

#313

Post by Gijs4g »

endisneigh wrote: post #74

I love EVs. That being said I wish someone would make an enclosed bicycle/motorcycle that costs less than $2000. Something like that which can go 30mph and had space for 2 days of groceries would be enough for me to eliminate my car all together. I'm cobbling something similar now with a Class 3 cargo ebike, but rain sucks =/ The idealist in me says that electric ebikes could eliminate most of Americas problems in on…

Try a VanMoof, it costs slightly more but is worth it.

Re: EV adoption in US is happening faster than predicted

#314

Post by elihu »

osigurdson wrote: post #134
sandworm101 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More inconvenient facts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Fort_McMurray_wildfire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E_OLgC4nV0 88,000 people in perhaps 50,000 vehicles all taking the ONE road out of town. Some kind companies setup fuel trucks by the roadside to top up tanks. Gas delivery can be scaled up and even made portable in an emergency. Had those 50,000 vehicles all been EVs, tens of thousands of people would…

An EV makes a great second car in Canada but the long distances and cold weather are problematic for current EV technology. Hopefully that improves relatively soon.

I think the solution for batteries in cold weather is to insulate the pack and heat the battery "coolant". Almost all modern EVs use liquid cooling of some kind. (Nissan Leaves are the exception; I don't know if they've added that in newer versions, but it's why Leaf battery packs were notorious for wearing out quickly.)

I don't know if battery heaters are a common feature on current EVs. I'd think it would be particularly useful for LFP cells, which can be damaged if you try to charge them when they're below freezing. They can be discharged safely (if not efficiently) at much lower temperatures, which means you could "bootstrap" the car in cold weather by using the battery to heat itself until it gets warm enough to charge (without which you can't use regenerative braking).

It wouldn't be that far-fetched to imagine a battery cell with a built-in heating element (e.g. an internal 1 ohm resistor across the battery terminals) that, when activated, keeps the cell at at least room temperature and shuts off when the battery gets up to temperature. Normally you'd only activate the heater when charging or driving.

Re: EV adoption in US is happening faster than predicted

#316

Post by simongray »

anon291 wrote: post #238
sandworm101 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just completed a ~1600km drive back from visiting family. Half way through the outbound trip, in the middle of the mountains, I had to make a 300km detour due to a massive accident (two semi trucks head-on closed a mountain highway for more than a day). The detour was through a valley with no cellphone coverage for 150+km. At a rest stop I met a tesla driver in a panic. Without internet he was unable to figure out…

Europeans don't understand how sparse and unpopulated the United States is . Even if they visit they visit the densely populated areas not realizing that most Americans regularly drive across areas where you may not see anyone for miles around. It's not that uncommon an occurrence. Most Americans will do something like this a few times a year. Many do it daily... Canadians too

> most Americans regularly drive across areas where you may not see anyone for miles around

83% of Americans live in urban areas. Why would they "regularly drive across areas where [they] may not see anyone for miles around"...?

Are you sure you're not just extrapolating from your own experience?

Re: EV adoption in US is happening faster than predicted

#317

Post by Eleison23 »

The last time I owned a car was 1997. The last time I actually drove one was 2011 (I put about 1200 miles on a rental car in a week.)

I still retain a driver's license. I owned a bicycle for a few years but I ditched it, because it was extraordinarily inconvenient for all the use I got, at least after I quit a call-center job in an isolated office park.

I've ridden public transit for about 45 years, thanks Grandma!

This year I'm going multi-modal. I'm using taxi cabs for errands like groceries and laundry. I'm using specialized rideshare for medical appointments. I use public transit for ordinary errands and appointments where I don't need to lug a lot of cargo around. I use scooter-shares for quickly zipping somewhere with zero cargo (it's fun! 17MPH in a traffic lane! Look ma, no helmets!) And I rented a car (ICE, no other options) a few months ago which enabled me to do stuff like haul scrap metal and other recycling to the facility, which does not permit citizens without a vehicle (and just try convincing a taxi driver to cooperate with that ritual...)

I live in a very, very multi-modal-friendly city and they're aggressively adding options and restructuring the highways and byways to be friendly to people just like me. There's a new community of micro-homes going in two blocks down. It's going to be quite the multi-modal transportation Utopia for the foreseeable future!

Re: EV adoption in US is happening faster than predicted

#318

Post by elihu »

epistasis wrote: post #151
sandworm101 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The next time I see a farmer I'll pass along that it is "fine" that he continue growing the food people eat. He will appreciate having permission so to do.

I don't think you understand what I was saying "fine" too. But people need to pay for the damage they inflict on the world. Nobody is so "special" or snowflake that they get exempted. Farmers are adults, they can be treated like any other adult in our society.

For that to work we'd need both a carbon tax (or something equivalent) and a heavy tariff on goods that are imported from countries without such a tax. As long as both of those things can be enacted at once, I'm in favor.

Re: EV adoption in US is happening faster than predicted

#320

Post by asdff »

DangitBobby wrote: post #237
aeharding wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rain isn't really a problem with the appropriate clothing. (Speaking as someone that rides year round for transportation in Wisconsin.) The only problem I've had is downpours can soak your shoes but I just have an extra pair of shoes at work and at home.

What are you wearing to keep your head from turning into a block of ice? We always end staying off the bike for the coldest months of the year.

You could switch to a ski helmet, those have removeable insulation pads. Otherwise a tight fitting thermal cap should do if you are huffing and puffing.
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