Electric Cars Continue to Make Inroads

The leftists loons never seem to grasp that the "corn mash" ;-) mix has less energy per gallon than the real deal.

I found similar numbers many years ago driving a '77 280Z across Texas where I could maintain constant speed for hours at a time. The 85mph "wall" is similar to what I observed... I think wind resistance is the culprit. ...Jim Thompson

I wasn't aware of that, but I'll take your word for it.

How many 17 foot kayaks can you haul in your Civic hatchback? How many refrigerators? How many cubic yards of mulch? I like my truck :)

If you get 43 mpg from a regular gas powered car, why would anyone need a hybrid? Something doesn't jibe. Which Acura model?

If you dislike the display on the Gen 2, you should see what the Gen 1 display was like. Resistive touch screen, ugh.

IMO the interior on my Gen 2 is much improved compare to the Gen 1. My Gen 1 had some type of soft grey microfiber covering which stained easily and was totally impossible to keep clean.

Fuel economy isn't everything. Fun matters too.

Zoooooommmmmmm.

On Friday, December 30, 2016 at 3:28:39 PM UTC-8, bitrex wrote: ...

I owned a Chevy Spark EV (shares a lot components with the Volt but not the battery which was made by A123).

The battery declined in capacity by about 18% over 21,000 miles (3 years).

kevin

On Friday, December 30, 2016 at 3:34:22 PM UTC-8, bitrex wrote: ...

Of course a single figure can't be correct for all usages as it varies so m uch with speed, driver and environment.

One of the big problems with EVs is that the propulsion is so efficient tha t the auxiliary consumption can be a large component of the energy consumpt ion. The heater in the Spark EV can consume 7kW, the A/C about 2kW. My ave rage for propulsion on my commute is only about 4kW (my commute is about 12 miles each way taking about 30 minutes). The auxiliary power consumption c an easily equal 50% of the power for propulsion.

My gasoline car (Mazda 3) varies in fuel consumption from 20mpg for my comm ute in traffic to 40mpg for highway driving.

On my Spark EV the consumption on my commute varied from ~7mi/kWh in warm w eather (no heating or A/C) to ~3.5mi/kWh (heating and lights) in the winte r on dark rainy nights.

kevin

Having heated seats and a heated steering wheel with the "Comfort" package really helps a lot!

On Friday, December 30, 2016 at 6:16:50 PM UTC-8, Lasse Langwadt Christensen wrote: ...

The J1772 standard for EV charging (Supported by all modern EVs) varies between regions.

In the US it supports single phase AC up to 240v 40A (9.6kW)

In Europe the same connector is pinned differently to use three phase power at up to 440V with a max of 43kW.

China has their own variant.

The AC to DC conversion is performed in the vehicle.

There is also a CCS variant that provides for DC input (up to 500V currently) at up to 50kW.

Even where the same car is sold in the the different region the charging system needs to match the regional variant.

kevin

Ah, in the EU the figures are measured according to standards that allow the manufacturers to test the cars with all non-essential weight removed (so they can remove all but one seats, the spare tire, etc), and with mirrors removed and door gaps covered with tape.

That would quickly get very expensive here... we use natural gas for heating, electricity is only used for lighting and appliances.

I use about 3500 kWh/year and I think that is above average. (I leave lots of equipment, e.g. computer, hamradio, TV settopbox switched on all the time)

For the first year I owned my Chevy Spark EV (uses the Volt charging circuitry) I measured the input energy and the battery output energy as reported from the car instruments.

For Level 2 charging (240V input) I obtained an efficiency of 83%. If I used Level 1 charging (120V input) it was 78%.

This includes the battery losses - the charger itself is probably close to 90% efficient.

My overall efficiency was 5.7mi/kWh (dc) 4.7mi/kWh (ac).

kevin

Exploding hydrocarbons are the bomb. ;) ICEs are the steampunk of the future.

I bought a nice new stick-shift 2012 Mustang convertible a few months ago. A nice change from the Hyundai.

Planning a road trip to the Dayton hamfest in May, with a side trip to Wright-Pat.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

I think you need to verify those numbers. 4 kW is a *very* low number for propelling an auto. 1 kW is 1.34 HP. So you are claiming you can run your car on just 5.4 HP?

As to the heater rating, my house has a 10 kW heating element for when the heat pump isn't working. Your car needs 7 kw to keep it warm? That seems excessive or the duty cycle should be *very* low. What is important is not the kw rating, but the kwhr used. Same with the AC.

That is pretty extreme. I've never seen a car vary more than about 25% between highway and city. They say it should get 28 in the city.

Depends a lot on the gearing. The Mustang has a tall 6th gear, so that you cruise with a large throttle opening at lowish revs. Gas engines are startl ingly more efficient when run like that--on the highway, my car gets twice its city mileage routinely.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Depends a lot on the gearing. The Mustang has a tall 6th gear, so that you cruise with a large throttle opening at lowish revs. Gas engines are startl ingly more efficient when run like that--on the highway, my car gets twice its city mileage routinely.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

Talk about bogus testing!

Do you have any proof for that claim that it is just the EU? I've found reference that the EPA allows the same shenanigans..

"So you abuse the already poorly designed EPA tests (US, EU, same thing) and you get whatever numbers you want."

John