EV owners, What are your thoughts about your vehicle? (Page 1/4)
TheDigitalAlchemist APR 15, 10:25 AM
Curious to know your opinions and experiences with it - especially charging and taking it on long trips...
MidEngineManiac APR 15, 11:09 AM
I only really have experience with motorcycles/ebikes. Driven a few cars but never owned one.

Long trips, forget it. You want a hybrid. At least a trailer with a gas genny. Even with the "best' batteries (liFePo4) your going to be lucky to get 100km unassisted (motorcycle-throttle-only mode). I stick with SLA for both cost and safety/insurance reasons and best I can get is around 50km range. Unless i want a few hundred pounds of car batteries, then the weight becomes an issue affecting the range so there isnt that much gain.

Power/torque/speed. Keeps right up with the gassers with the same general rules. Keep adding more money go fast parts.

Cost-wise they are the same or more up front. Then depending on what classification you "follow" you can ditch the insurance and see your savings there. Otherwise they are more expensive all around than gas.

BTW, Yamaha has now gotten into the game. Seems about the same as all the rest.

One thing I have been S-L-O-W-L-Y playing with is a range extender trailer. an alternator or 3 driven at 10:1 speed increase off the wheels (useable rpm) will put out about 1200w each. To be legal here the motor has to be under 500w, so in theory (yeh, I know, theory--there are friction/drag ect losses) once at regular speed the motor SHOULD (yeh, should ) run off the alternators, leaving the batteries in reserve for low-speed stuff. Or at least extending the range.

Trailer because I am up against a 120kg legal weight limit on the bikes themselves, but trailer dont count towards that.

Charging-wise, with new/GOOD batteries figure on 4-6 hours. So take it to work, plug it in, and you are fine to go home. Some of the newer Li batteries will do it faster, depending on the charger and BMS board, but I plain old dont like those batteries because...well...I try to avoid this happening between my legs..

All-in-all, they are pricey short-range transportation that works well in "15-minute-cities" or small towns and thats about it. Buddy of mine just got himself a (used) 750 Shadow American Classic. 4 grand. A comparable electric is going to be at least 10 (used, 25k new) plus a couple-3 G's minimum every few years for battery replacement.

[This message has been edited by MidEngineManiac (edited 04-15-2023).]

maryjane APR 15, 01:09 PM
NO ev for me and I don't know of any charging stations except the ones over at the Fort Hood gas station.
I DO have a 56v battery power/self propelled lawnmower and tho it cuts very well, the run time on it (especially in self propelled mode) is no where near the 50 minutes it is advertised at. On the hillside on E part of my yard, in self propelled mode, I am lucky to get 35 minutes run, then 45 minutes on the charger.

EGo

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 04-15-2023).]

cvxjet APR 15, 01:58 PM
Haven't had any interest in the EVs....Range is really limited; If I was still working they would be a great commute vehicle.

I am a boater- always have been- and boats seem to be the one vehicle that really can-NOT go electric....no range at all.

Hate-hate-HATE the extreme weights of electric vehicles....the new Vette is heavy at 3700 lbs- but the "E-Ray" version is 4000! We should have had a moon-shot type of investment in battery developement...We could probably have twice the range and half the weight if we had done it right.
theogre APR 16, 12:28 PM
⚠️ You get fanboys of Tesla et al that "Love" them and try to squash real facts owning or leasing them.

Whether EV to lowest E-bike or toy w/ rechargeable battery... Battery runs "empty"/0 charge then must Wait a long time to change including "Fast Charge" just to reach 80% takes longer.
vs.
ICE runs "empty" then fill to 100% in 10-15 Minutes for most cars. (Larger trucks can have big tanks and/or 2 or more tanks that take a bit longer to fill up. Example: I had Ford E350 Van w/ Dual tanks so have see how long it takes to fill up w/ 1 station pump nozzle. so? still well under 30 minute.)
"empty" here because you Never want Total Empty or risk of cooking the Electric F-pump because needs fuel as coolant and lube. IOW like most pumps that hate running dry and does damage every time even if doesn't Die right then.

As much as people whine Fiero has a small tank... (Actually same size as many other GM models and even other brands.)
Getting gas is almost nothing time to add to a long trip. You waist more time just going to bathroom and getting food.

Even on "Fastest Charge" you waist a lot of time. When you use real restaurant and sit a hour + eating the changing often isn't done.
Now because part charge to whatever %, you have to recharge again and sooner too and waist more time.

Another Fact...
Many that Love their EV's often have "Home" charging that can leave it connected overnight....
But Vast majority of EV buyers rent where they live or otherwise can't have home chargers like most in "old city" Philly.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

MidEngineManiac APR 16, 01:38 PM

quote
Originally posted by theogre:
Another Fact...
Many that Love their EV's often have "Home" charging that can leave it connected overnight....
But Vast majority of EV buyers rent where they live or otherwise can't have home chargers like most in "old city" Philly.





Good point.

Kim is in love with these and wants one (cute little thing in a cartoonish-Fiat-500 sort of way) . Cant have it. There is no charging facilities in the parking lot, and to get to my patio door is across about 100 yards of grass. Condo management wont allow a "car" over the grass. I get away with it because legally my toys are <cough, cough > "legal" e-bikes and hence considered riding a bike. But if I went out and got one of the ones built on a Ninja frame I wouldnt have charging facilities either because then it's a "motorcycle" I cant ride on the grass. Pure legalease stupidity, but the situation exists everywhere.

[This message has been edited by MidEngineManiac (edited 04-16-2023).]

theogre APR 16, 01:40 PM

quote
Originally posted by cvxjet:
We should have had a moon-shot type of investment in battery developement...We could probably have twice the range and half the weight if we had done it right.

Nope. No matter how much money they barf Tax $ on EV "Development," the All Batteries must follow physics and chemical "laws."

US Gov and others have already dumped Hundreds of Millions to Billions of you tax $ for many battery methods and EV scams to "save the world" that do nothing to reduce pollution or help slaves mining lithium cobalt and other "Rare Earth" metals.
rinselberg APR 16, 06:10 PM
Maybe the "answer" is Curved Graphene.

"From supercapacitor cells to energy storage systems"

quote
Our patented Curved Graphene carbon material provides our supercapacitors with superior power and energy density in the supercapacitor industry, and this advantage carries over to our supercapacitor modules and systems.

We make our own Curved Graphene carbon raw material, and produce our supercapacitor cells, modules, and systems to strict quality standards, servicing our customers in automotive, transportation, grid and renewables, and industry.

German quality from the global technology leader in high-power energy storage.




... and you know the Germans make good stuff..!

Skeleton Technologies
https://www.skeletontech.co...capacitor-technology

The Electric Viking was impressed

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 04-16-2023).]

MidEngineManiac APR 16, 07:33 PM
Next project I am going back to gas bikes. But i'll make it tree-friendly.

theogre APR 16, 08:38 PM

quote
Originally posted by rinselberg:
Maybe the "answer" is Curved Graphene.

"From supercapacitor cells to energy storage systems"

Caps including "super" and "ultra" capacitors are not batteries.
Can work together but not replace 1 w/ other.

Some semi and other big trucks have both to start the engine easier.
Super/Ultra caps help battery by taking starter motor inrush current that is often 2 to several times the current to run a starter or other motors.
Your car starter pulls 120 to 150 amp but when you first turn the I-key, starter pulls 200 to 300+ amps for that first few microseconds.
Decades past to current Big trunks often have Huge batteries and starter may get 24v too partly to handle the huge inrush current. Now Some use the caps in parallel to cut some battery weight.

Some regen braking may use caps too because charges way faster then the batteries. Then dump the power to the motor(s) when that accelerates again.

Even for Grid power to a factory etc. Super caps can "eat" short demand spikes faster then any battery. (Many Commercial buildings have "normal" caps for decades to that help power in other ways.)