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Source: Drivers quickly learn to skirt limits set by partial automation systems

What to do about America’s killer cars
cites a study of crashes involving two vehicles and a death in which the weight of the two vehicles varied. As we get more EVs we get more weight in a vehicle and while the article doesn't go in depth on the statistics, it does cite weight as killing the person in the lighter car significantly more often than the person in the heavier car. A 1,000 pound weight difference raised the fatality rate 47%. So while you may be safer in that big heavy vehicle, the other person isn't. The weight of the average car has increased from 3,400 to 4,100 pounds 1990 and 2005 and probably more since then with the popularity of SUVs.

Sometimes Munro focuses on minor details and misses the mountain:

Two out of three ain't bad:

• Wye motor performance
• Delta motor performance
• Missed - step up/down Wye, power transformer
  • Driving one Wye leg doubles the voltage on the other two.
  • Driving two Wye legs halves the voltage on the other.
  • Power is limited by what the motor can handle.
  • Most 800-to-400 VAC converters limit the charging power . . . inefficient and expensive.

Regardless, here is the video:


Motor performance is nice, effectively a two-stage 'tranformation' but the built-in voltage doubling is the real gem. I have long thought about a home, fast DC charger, but the cost of a 40 A , 240 VAC transformer put me off. But if I can get a salvaged KIA 9 or IONIQ 5 motor, problem solved for a fraction of the cost.

Today, my NEMA 14-15 circuit, limited to 40 A at 240 VAC, can provide 9.6 kW. But both of my...

Especially cool considering the varying terrain, elevation, and weather.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/toyota-prius-breaks-the-guinness-world-record-for-highest-average-mpg-on-a-cross-country-drive

My first Mobileye experience was dynamic cruise control in a 2014 BMW i3-REx. Other than sensitivity to overhead signs on overpasses and low sun angles, it was brilliant. My 2017 BMW i3-REx has traditional cruise control. At one time, Mobileye had been considered competition to AutoPilot. But things are changing:
Intel (INTC) Is Considering Options for Its Stake in Mobileye - Bloomberg

Greetings to all!

Noob on this forum. I am the third owner of a 2014 Prius V here in Southern NM with about 185K on the odometer. This vehicle is originally from Michigan. It is still running the original traction battery. Although I suspect the heat of the summer months are the primary cause for the rapid battery drain due to AC usage, I also harbor a feeling that the age of the battery is part of my concern.

I recently downloaded the Dr Prius app and I have finally gotten this to work. So my question goes to interpreting the data that is saved to csv files.

I recorded the data from a drive this morning. I am trying understand the various aspects on this software. I am not running the two paid for app extensions (yet). From what I have read the traction battery is only intended to charge to 80% and that the multi-function display, at the lowest one bar indicator, is at 40%.

I have noticed that within the State of Charge (SOG%) column the lowest is 55.692398% while the...

"San Diego-based Beam Global (Nasdaq: BEEM) has launched EV chargers powered by solar, wind, and battery storage that replace streetlights."

Apparently they are designed so that you can unbolt an ordinary streetlight, plug one of these into the existing base and wiring, and voila' you have an easy install with no digging up the road and no permits to pull. It is supposed to work for a while even if there is a blackout. I'm not sure how the wind energy fits in. Unfortunately it has a "proprietary integrated battery"

Looking at how small the solar panel is up on top of the pole, I'm going to guess that the "solar" part is more symbolic than practical. I think it would take a couple of days for that panel to charge up a modern car.

Been thinking about the circuit that runs the lights. Lights are a pretty light load and all existing setups would have wiring sized to the existing load. Add this thing in and - ?...

Well semi-solid ones.
"The company has announced that the battery is actually a semi-conductor battery, although it still uses an electrolyte that combines a fluid with a solid component."
The liquid portion is 5% by mass. They claim more than twice the capacity of LFP.

https://uk.motor1.com/news/715871/im-l6-ev-solid-state-battery-sale/
https://uk.motor1.com/news/732606/mg-model-solid-state-battery-coming-2025/

Toyota's Next-Generation BEV Battery Development and Production Plan Certified by METI | Corporate | Global Newsroom | Toyota Motor...

Source: Daily Automotive News

Yahoo! news link

-a few quotes frorm article-

Professor Bantval Jayant Baliga was handed the 2024 Millennium Technology Prize for inventing the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT).

...

Baliga is credited with having the most negative carbon footprint in the world. His IGBT is estimated to have reduced global emissions of the greenhouse gas by more than 82 gigatons since the 1990s — roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide generated by all human activity for three years.

Nice work, professor!

I'm skeptical of YouTube videos by those who make a living reviewing EVs. Too often, their reports don't match what the EPA numbers show or early adopters discover. But this one sounds interesting:

• claimed 315 mi EV range - my 2019 Tesla measured 240 mi
• 150 kW charge rate - my Tesla was initially 120 kW but now +170 kW
• right sized SUV style

Should I replace my 2019 Tesla, it will be good to have choices IF the EPA numbers are like these and "SuperCruise" is at least as good as AutoPilot/FSD.

A good rule of thumb, always buy the 2d or 3d model year to give the manufacturer time to correct the infantile problems. When shopping, start with the EPA numbers in Fueleconomy.gov. Not perfect but head a shoulders above there rest.

Bob Wilson

This site popped up in my feed today. Looks like they did their homework...

Global EV Sales Report H1 2024 by EV Universe

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2024/08/20240830-slac.html
From the SLAC-Stanford Battery center, the very first charge for a Lithium Ion battery cell actually should be at a rather high currents which increased their average lifetime by 50%. Now I'm curious.

Darn, now that made me read the original article:
Researchers discover a surprising way to jump-start battery performance
Typically battery manufacturers use a low energy charge to try and control the SEI layer build up. It's also a slow and costly way to do this. So they went brute force and attempted to use up a large initial supply of lithium during the batteries first charge by creating the SEI (Solid Electrolyte Interphase) with very high currents.

I wasn't too keen on their analogy of comparing it to scooping out water...

Source: https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a61972616/rivian-evs-destroyed-fire-factory/

Source:


A higher speed electric motor makes a lot of sense:

• Lower current - electrical losses are (I882)*R so a faster turning motor will have a higher, back EMF needed a higher voltage. Higher voltages reduce resistance losses leaving more power to the motor.
• Higher feed voltage reduces current loss in the battery and power lines.

The upper voltage limit is set by the switching power electronics. But this constantly improves as we make better switching devices.

Bob Wilson

EVs, Hybrids Set to Exceed 50% of China Car Sales for First Time - Bloomberg

this news is revealing in that our media has tried to pour tons of clickbait drama into plug-in sales news that occasionally shows sales dip (implying the end us near for plugins) down on their upward spiral.
.

A Tesla Semi was apparently returning to the Tesla giga factory in Nevada for a fresh load of cargo when the vehicle ran off the road. These electric only Semi-trucks are frequently used to ferry batteries to the Fremont factory. In this case there was no trailer on attached to the tractor.

Cal Trans spent most of the day cooling the battery pack below ignition temperatures before trying to tow it away. Elon iMusk is fond of pointing out that normal ICE sedans have fires too. I don't recall too many of them needing a day to cool down enough to transport the carcass away from the scene.

More information here: A Tesla Semi crashed and caught fire on a California highway - The Verge

Here is his experience:


I have no problem with his story. My experience:

• Full Self Driving (and AutoPilot) needs mentoring - the instruction and disclaimer are easy for new drivers to skim over. We have a term for that phenomena, RTFM (Read The Fine Manual) but the corollary is "and understand it."
• Edge case flaws - sometimes called "chasing the nines" as in 99% done, 99.9% done, 99.99% done, etc, etc. In this case:
  • Wearing glasses - the instructions point out wearing sun glasses and other glasses can revert from hands free to steering nag mode. Stien wears glasses which a mentor would point out.
  • My testing found UV protecting safety glasses also act like sun glasses and disables, hands free driving mode.
  • If you don't read the manual, an alert text shows up on the screen and he reports 'deliberately looking away' which makes it likely the alert message was not seen.
• His accident scenario matches my...

Small NC town. Lots of hybrids and Teslas around on the roads. Occasional other EVs. I'm in for routine service on a 5 year old Rav4h. Next door is a GM/Chevy dealership, other side a Nissan dealership.

Model S pulls up in the front and hooks up to the charger.
Me: If you don't mind, why are you charging here rather than at the Supercharger 4 miles up the road.
He: Because I work here and will be here for 11 hours. We have a charger in front and one in back.

Half hour later wandering the lots in front on a day everyone else stayed home because of a storm and flooding. Came upon 2 sales types camped out in front of the front door of the dealership to snare any customer.
Me: Tough sales day.
They: Yea, not a prospect in sight all day.
Me: Ever sell any EVs?
They: No not really. I think we have one on the back lot that just came in. Can't recommend them, they seem to get traded back in 2 months...sometimes the same car repeatedly.