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Thread: Electric Cars

  1. #46
    I guess it wont be that simple but one guy was on the radio that said he was doing battery exchange, you stroll up and they put a fresh battery in and you leave?

  2. #47
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    I didn't think any electric car manufacturer was actually doing battery swaps at this time. My understanding is the Tesla Model S has battery swap capability. Tesla did a demo on stage once showing a battery swap in of their vehicles. Tesla had a battery swap station open for a year or two, but it has been closed for several years. I don't know if the Model 3 has battery swap capability or not.

  3. #48
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    Warren, Now that you ask......YES I have a small jump starter I carry in my car. I found out the hard way several years ago about the 12V battery controlling the whole shebang. Mine went out on my '13 C-Max energy and NOTHING worked. It sat in the garage helpless and fully charged.

    Luckily the windows were down so I could open the doors, which in turn gave access to the hood release, but I couldn't even get it out of park to have AA tow it. The driver suggested jump starting. I was very reluctant to try as I had no idea how you jump start a plug in without causing damage. He knew nothing about them either, and the battery is in the rear of the car, hidden away.

    He did know it has a positive access point under the hood, and we easily found it covered with a very obvious red plastic cap, but the negative was not so obvious. Turned out there is a metal rod about a foot tall that is attached to the framework of the body, and that is the point at which to attach the negative cable. As we attached the cables, the car clicked on and everything worked again. That's all we did...touch the cables to the two points and it energized.

    I drove it to the dealer, shut it off, and it was dead again. They installed a new battery and all was well.

    Not one of Ford's better ideas, the car can notify you of lots of problems occurring, but didn't install a volt meter for the 12V, nor is there a light or indicator that warns you of a low 12V battery. I bought a small jump starter at Costco for $50 and keep it under the seat. It has a Lithium battery and I check it every few months.

    Today, I needed it. My '14 C-max is dead in the garage and I assume it has a bad 12V battery, as it fired right up by just touching the contacts for a second. I think a 12V lantern battery would do it just fine. I am heading out to the dealer for a new battery today.

    I know this is long winded, but wrote it to possibly inform anyone interested in real life plug in experiences.

    Please note: My cars are '13 and '14 models. They are probably two generations older than the new models, and much has changed since then as the systems get more efficient and reliable.
    Rick Potter

    DIY journeyman,
    FWW wannabe.
    AKA Village Idiot.

  4. #49
    Quote Originally Posted by Lee DeRaud View Post
    I could have sworn we did a multi-page thread on this exact topic not too long ago...
    Yup. OP was some guy with the initials "KW".
    Quote Originally Posted by Adam Herman View Post
    its difficult to answer questions when they are formed as an opinion not based on facts.

    the answer is then assumed the same and to be thrown out, instead of considered.

    the answer is, though, that most people charge at night when there is a much smaller demand on the grid, and evening out that demand curve actually makes the grid more efficient and the cars themselves present opportunity for surge capacity in the home when they are connected, and if you opt in, surge grid capacity.

    as an engineer in the O&g industry and a current plug in and future EV owner, i'm excited about the possibilities.
    So, I'm not supposed to have an opinion, and/or add my half/cent because I've already talked about this before?

    I'll just FO&D then....
    ========================================
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  5. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    So, I'm not supposed to have an opinion, and/or add my half/cent because I've already talked about this before?

    I'll just FO&D then....
    Sorry you took it that way. I was just pointing out some gratuitous dead-horse beating.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
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  6. #51
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    I don't think battery swapping is going to be a viable option. In sunny California it would work much better than in the dead of winter on a car with it's undercarriage covered in ice and frozen grime around here. Then there's mud season. Battery swapping would also need standard sized batteries. Even the good old car battery comes in far too many different sizes and terminal locations. If EVs are our future it'll be the government setting standards (like different levels of gasoline) is the only way it'll work.

  7. #52
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    I think there is an application for battery swapping in electric scooters where the batteries are much smaller and the owner can easily do the swap. This video discusses battery swapping in both cars and scooters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-xWYScsvts

  8. #53
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    We bought our first EV in 2018. It was the only bright green Chevy Bolt in the area for quite some time. Super easy to find in a parking lot full of grey and black cars.

    We love our EV. I know about the recall but am actually excited for it. I'll get a brand new battery pack with 8% more charge and a reset on the warranty.

    We charge our car at home with a level 2 charger. I only have to charge maybe once every 2 weeks and it's only for about 5 hours to fill it to 90%. I'm not worried about the extra electricity cost as our house has solar already.

    We now live in Ottawa Canada and this past year was our first winter with an EV. No problems at all. Range went down a little maybe 50km less but we never let the battery get bellow 1/4 charge.

    We also have a 2014 Durango for towing our airstream and for picking up lumber. I cannot wait for more EV SUV/Trucks to hit the market. At that point we will sell both our Bolt and Durango and just go with 1 larger EV that can tow and haul things. Until then we are happy to kick around town in our EV.

  9. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    One thing I think ALL electric vehicles should have is a 120 volt 60 Hz outlet that you could plug something into. For example, when there's a power outage, you could plug in your refrigerator or freezer.

    Or if you were out somewhere and needed power you could access it. I had a flat tire one time and couldn't get the lug nuts off because the gorilla at the tire place put them on too tight. I could carry a corded impact driver for those kind of problems. I had to wait for AAA to come with an impact driver.

    Mike
    Yes, this has always driven me crazy with my Tesla. With my previous Model S, you would be crazy to evacuate a hurricane using an electric car. With usual total traffic jams, and presumably lines at superchargers (or them not having power), it's just a non-starter - even with the ostensibly 230ish mile range.

    I thought long and hard about what use my Tesla would be after a hurricane with no power. Finally the lightbulb went off (terrible pun). A Tesla is the World's best iPhone charger after a hurricane. That's it.

    Now on the other hand, my new Tesla Model S Plaid with 348 miles of range, it becomes much more reasonable to use for an evacuation in a power failure.

    The 100kWh battery on the car could be extremely valuable if you could use it in a power failure. A company was thinking about making an adapter to make that work, but the rumor I heard was that Tesla nixed it, and wouldn't build their own. Boy that would be useful in California with all the power failures with brush fires. Oh well...
    Last edited by Alan Lightstone; 10-17-2021 at 9:12 AM.
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
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  10. #55
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    I wish Tesla made an electric lawn mower with self driving. They would clean up!
    Bill D.

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  11. #56
    if you are out somewhere run out of juice can a tow truck give you a boost or transfer enough that you can get home or close by to charge?

  12. #57
    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Lake View Post
    if you are out somewhere run out of juice can a tow truck give you a boost or transfer enough that you can get home or close by to charge?
    I never heard of that. I suppose he'd have to tow you. I think the vehicle gives you a lot of warning that the battery is getting low, however.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  13. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Lake View Post
    if you are out somewhere run out of juice can a tow truck give you a boost or transfer enough that you can get home or close by to charge?
    It would be doubtful that any tow truck would have a higher capacity 120v or 240v power source to charge an EV, at least at this point and it would be expensive to hold a truck in one place long enough do do what you suggest. So most likely, a tow will be required.

    Folks contemplating EVs need to consider where they live, where they drive and what their expectations will be to accomplish that. Paying attention to the "meter" will be part of that, just as knowing what's in the fuel tank is for ICE vehicles...especially with what I mentioned in the first paragraph. There are going to be a lot of folks who, for the time being, will be better served by a plug-in hybrid or non-plug-in hybrid for mixed use and when they live in areas that present difficult charging situations. There is no one best electrified vehicle and it will be some time before true EVs are ubiquitous.
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  14. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    I never heard of that. I suppose he'd have to tow you. I think the vehicle gives you a lot of warning that the battery is getting low, however.

    Mike
    As far as I know, you'd have to be towed. It's pretty funny what the car does as you get really low on charge. It starts giving you less and less subtle warnings, turns off the A/C, reduces maximum speed, etc... I've never gotten it so low that even more turns off, but it might be fun to try. As long as you do it near a charging location. People have driven Teslas to zero.
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
    - It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  15. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Lake View Post
    if you are out somewhere run out of juice can a tow truck give you a boost or transfer enough that you can get home or close by to charge?
    This is starting to be a thing in EV intensive areas. AAA apparently has vans with portable charging equipment and at least one startup has paired with a big towing company to outfit its trucks. Charging would presumably be done from a big battery on the tow truck, taking advantage of the very fast charge rates possible with a DC-DC charger. 10 minutes is plenty to add 40-50 miles of range to a depleted car. An onboard generator could recharge the rescue vehicle while it drives around, assuming it is an ICE vehicle. Otherwise it would need to return to base to be re-charged periodically.

    You can apparently also charge some/many/all(?) EVs by towing them in gear with their wheels on the ground. No idea how efficient that might be.
    Last edited by roger wiegand; 10-17-2021 at 9:46 AM.

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