Featured Threads Archive

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.

https://www.tesla.com/VehicleSafetyReport



I wish they included Full Self Driving miles.

Bob Wilson

Hi
I have toyota prius plus or it's called alpha 2013, suddenly road slippery sign comes on dashboard followed by abs sign ,engine management light, battery lights and a lot of warning signs comes on dashboard I am uploading four photos as well, secondly car is not goings into D from N ,if I try to put D on transmission stick it's stays on N and P sign shows up on the dashboard .it's just hailed now. I did try to reset battery by removing battery leads for 10 min and put back on didn't work ,reset hybrid battery, story remains the same. I would be appreciate, if someone can help or was I similar situation

...

Author’s chatty style starts to grate, but interesting recall story, late-model Toyata/Lexus engine replacement campaign:

Toyota Tundra, Lexus LX recalled for engine replacements | Driving

Here's why I buy the car with the lowest optioned list available.



Due to the large open lower grille area of almost all modern cars, I always install a protective lower grille screen.

This would be especially important of PHEV and BEV's with complicated and expensive heat pump systems.

Additionally, even if you get a used electrical or electronic module, they must be electronically paired to your particular vehicle, which only Tesla can do.

They have the arbitrary option to refuse, if you did not purchase the part from them and have their technician install it at your cost.

Work starts on new battery-electric B.C. Ferries vessels - Victoria Times Colonist

Only in America: J. D. Vance introduces bill to promote gas-powered vehicles. Let's see what else will be next under this new administration if/when they win the election.

WASHINGTON, D. C.—Senator JD Vance (R-OH) has introduced the Drive American Act, which would eliminate over $100 billion in existing electric vehicle (EV) subsidies and replace them with the America First Vehicle Credit to promote gas-powered vehicles made in the United States. As Senator Vance has repeatedly pointed out, the Biden administration’s existing EV subsidies penalize UAW workers who build popular, gas-powered vehicles and the American consumers who wish to buy them.

The America First Vehicle Credit builds on the historic automotive content requirements of President Trump’s U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). It would provide up to $7,500 for new gas- or...

Volkswagen in major deal to produce solid state batteries for one million EVs | Auto Express

They are supposedly planning on making 40GWh per year with expandability up to 80GWh per year of their solid state batteries (comapred to Tesla's planned 100GWh per year with their cylindrical batteries).

I bet you all Hydrogen fans will love this one



23049PCD8G ?

Toyota Invests in EV Charging Network IONNA to Enhance Charging Access for Customers - Toyota USA Newsroom

"IONNA is a rising joint venture founded by now eight of the world’s biggest automakers, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and Toyota."

• IONNA to install 30,000 charge ports in North America
• Supporting both NACS and CCS charge ports
• Begin deploying chargers later this year
• Provide visitors (don't they mean customers) with amenities and convenience

Now comes the fun part - actual execution of this rather late project. Hopefully they can concentrate on reliability and accessibility so the charging system is seamless. There are about 32,000 publicly available DC Fast Chargers in the US for 2.3 million EVs (~72 EVs/DCFC). NREL estimated they need 182,000 by 2030 so this seems like somebody...

Dealer's website with $19/month Leaf deal (as of July 4, 2024):

https://www.tynansnissanaurora.com/new-specials/

Video about the deal:

The moment we've all been waiting for is here. Thank you all for keeping the V3 under wraps.
Feel free to share your pictures and results in this dedicated thread. We're committed to continuously improving and developing better batteries for our beloved Prius!



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