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graham
Active Member
Hee... Actually I do lots of these drives -- I guess I must be trying to stay a teenager! 
My wife and I just did a 5 day 4000+ mile drive from Missouri to California via Montana last summer. But of course, my daily commute is about one hundred miles round trip, and my wife is going to school 200 miles away from our house - so we both drive a lot.
I expect to be among the first drivers to wear out the battery.
That being said, I rented a car to do that 4000 mile trip instead of putting the miles on my Mercedes. I don't expect my EV to be able to do that. I am hoping it to be my daily commuter, so 150+ miles is adequate.
My wife and I just did a 5 day 4000+ mile drive from Missouri to California via Montana last summer. But of course, my daily commute is about one hundred miles round trip, and my wife is going to school 200 miles away from our house - so we both drive a lot. I expect to be among the first drivers to wear out the battery.
That being said, I rented a car to do that 4000 mile trip instead of putting the miles on my Mercedes. I don't expect my EV to be able to do that. I am hoping it to be my daily commuter, so 150+ miles is adequate.
That is why I think most two car families with have a pure EV and a PHEV. If the family needs to make one of those annual long trips, they have the flexibility of the liquid fuel range extended engine.
The Plug-In Prius from Hymotion is the first good example of that PHEV possibility.
It can go 30-40 miles on the lithium Hymotion battery, but it is also still a Prius that can go across the country.
My longest was Chicago, IL to Providence, RI without a real break (other than meals)... 980 miles.
I thought I had two days to make it but then I got a phone call saying I had to be there the next day... Ugh.
Did SF to LA on a motorcycle a bunch of times. Half the distance but just about as tiring due to the wind and vibration.
mt2
Member
Ha! To keep me honest, we drove from Rockford, Illinois to Daytona Beach, Florida - 1,234 miles in about 18 hours. Oh look, that's about 600 miles in 9 hours, which jibes with my earlier calculation (if you account for speeding).
Attempting to bring this back on topic; if you can sell the public on the idea of a full day's driving on a night time charge, then I stand by my statement that 760 miles is the (or exceeds) top end of what's required in an EV. The few people who need more can drive a hybrid.
To make that work, you need a battery or supercap (EEStor?) that can take in all the power you throw at it and a charging infrastructure based on 240V @ 70A. You do not need a "fast-charge" infrastructure.
I can understand where fast charging is getting a lot of attention since we don't have such a magical battery today. But it seems to me that the money should be behind battery improvements which would render fast charging obsolete.
Attempting to bring this back on topic; if you can sell the public on the idea of a full day's driving on a night time charge, then I stand by my statement that 760 miles is the (or exceeds) top end of what's required in an EV. The few people who need more can drive a hybrid.
To make that work, you need a battery or supercap (EEStor?) that can take in all the power you throw at it and a charging infrastructure based on 240V @ 70A. You do not need a "fast-charge" infrastructure.
I can understand where fast charging is getting a lot of attention since we don't have such a magical battery today. But it seems to me that the money should be behind battery improvements which would render fast charging obsolete.
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
The current development doesn't indicate we'll be reaching a 500 mile battery of reasonable weight/size&price in the near future. Yes we throw the 8% improvement figure, which indicates 10 years to reach that point, but I'm not too sure it'll apply to all two/three metrics (saying two/three because weight/size for the most part goes together but not all the time) at the same time or whether that figure actually holds that strong.
I also think plug-in manufacturers, for the most part, would rather keep the range the same (to the level where most consumers deem is acceptable) and lower cost/weight rather than the other way around because that is the way they'll make the most profit. That seems to be what they are doing in the near future to try to get plug-in prices down to affordable levels.
Martin had thrown out the 500 mile battery number and it seems to have stuck. .. Works for me.
Long distance jaunts? LA - Detroit bound till a wheel fell off somewhere on a desert road outside Albuquerque. 1,200 miles and 18 hours then an even longer night hitchhiking (pre cell phones) towtrucks, and finding a hotel.
LA to SF hundreds of times including at least 1 for a meeting and then back in a day.
Manufactures will probably offer mileage-package options. (What MPO did you get?)
Long distance jaunts? LA - Detroit bound till a wheel fell off somewhere on a desert road outside Albuquerque. 1,200 miles and 18 hours then an even longer night hitchhiking (pre cell phones) towtrucks, and finding a hotel.
LA to SF hundreds of times including at least 1 for a meeting and then back in a day.
Manufactures will probably offer mileage-package options. (What MPO did you get?)
I think that all this charging stuff will go by the wayside very fast once cars start to hit the streets in any reasonable numbers. Gas Stations will install charging stations and you will be able to plug in an go a few extra miles if you need it. In an hour you can can currently get an extra 100 miles or so. That is effectively a a daily range of 500 miles if you really had to do it and a comfortable range of 350-400 miles with one stop for an hour and one other brief stop for a break.
Charge her up: petrol stations to go electric | News
I think they may need a few different adapters :smile:
Company website: http://sites.google.com/site/evoasisorg/
I think they may need a few different adapters :smile:
Company website: http://sites.google.com/site/evoasisorg/
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Well, it certainly looks like a good place to pick up ghost women...
Can anyone vouch for these guys' credibility? They claim to have some sites in California. Having looked through their website it smells a lot like vapourware to me. Lots of ripped-off photos with little else. The spec sheet for the "high power" charging station shown in the London Evening Standard article shows 220V/15A - 20 minutes, yeah right.
Can anyone vouch for these guys' credibility? They claim to have some sites in California. Having looked through their website it smells a lot like vapourware to me. Lots of ripped-off photos with little else. The spec sheet for the "high power" charging station shown in the London Evening Standard article shows 220V/15A - 20 minutes, yeah right.
One thing not yet mentioned here with the speed of charge - there are many businesses that would love to install slower (and cheaper!) chargers to entice people to their stores - and have them stay a while.
When I visit our local costco, I charge up on about 50c of electricity, and spend a minimum of $150. Of course the chargers cost a lot to put in... and that cost per charge comes down with each visit. It is a compelling way to attract EV drivers. If I have the choice of businesses, and one offers charging, there is no question that I'll head there - if for no other reason than to show my support!
When I visit our local costco, I charge up on about 50c of electricity, and spend a minimum of $150. Of course the chargers cost a lot to put in... and that cost per charge comes down with each visit. It is a compelling way to attract EV drivers. If I have the choice of businesses, and one offers charging, there is no question that I'll head there - if for no other reason than to show my support!
I am fairly sure that Costco got some sort of property tax incentive to install those chargers in the first place. That deal may have run out, so be thankful that they still keep many of them active. Various volunteer groups have helped maintain them.
There has been some state and federal money for these on and off - available to any business who wanted to use it. I am thankful that we still have about 2,000 functioning chargers in CA - and I am proud to say that I am part of those "various volunteer groups" that not only maintains the chargers, but gets them placed initially. And I've spoken to the Costco officials directly several times in regard to installing new chargers, keeping existing ones, etc. I admit that it has been a hit-and-miss situation through the years. And just recently we had our first Costco facility actually *remove* their pair of chargers without warning.
The good news is that we have also succeeded in getting four more chargers placed near the newest Costco in my area.** oops, posted before I was done... We maintain the only accurate, up-to-date list of public chargers here:
http://evchargernews.com/
And you can see everything graphically here:
http://www.evchargermaps.com/
Many people are surprised to learn how many free public chargers we have right now. Mostly because of the current press from new companies that are now installing their own versions and making it sound like this is something new. The only new part is that these will be "for profit" and currently can't be used on any existing EVs!
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