EV article, scary

[Jim Richards]

Looks like govt. mandated-pollution controls. I wonder how much it hurts performance.

[pmax]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

Not just the Leaf.

https://electrek.co/2020/01/03/chevy-bolt-sales-decline-for-second-straight-year-a-warning-for-tesla-competitors/

It's amusing how that article wears the writer's Tesla fanboyism with statements such as "The design of the sheet metal is less exciting. The interior is blah. The seats are thin."

Nothing wrong with the sheet metal design IMO for a commuter class EV.

[Jim Richards]

That contention is certainly subjective. But in our household, neither of us liked the Bolt, so we ended up buying a Volt. And, the article cites flagging sales figures for the Bolt since it’s introduction. So, is there a tie in between design and sales, or is it solely due to the Tesla supercharger network?

[Sooner or later]

The network is a large positive for Tesla.

There should be standardized plug for all EV.

[gtc]

Also keep in mind that 2019 overall car sales were down slightly from 2018, it wasn't just electrics.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

There should be standardized plug for all EV.

This.
And battery rack etc.

The gubmint has given enough into that industry to be able to demand something good come out of it.

[David]

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

The network is a large positive for Tesla.

There should be standardized plug for all EV.

There is. Tesla just doesn’t follow the standard.

[MRM]

If you read enough you’ll find an article by a professor that argues eloquently for anything and sounds convincing while you’re reading. I’d be more concerned about the OP’s article if I hadn’t read the same drivel in 2010.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hybrids-electric-cars-and-more-what-youll-be-driving-in-2016/

With the new decade I read a few retrospective articles on what “experts” were predicting at the beginning of the 2010s. The article I posted was referenced as typical of the “expert” consensus of the time - that CAFE fuel standards and new plug-in hybrids were going to usher in a new era of fully electric vehicles. Instead we’re in a golden age of ICE cars with no end in sight.

[Jim Richards]

Flying cars!

[Deschodt]

I'm curious to see what happens this coming year with VW's onslaught of EVs. Big company, makes real cars, I think this will be make or break for the EVs. So far it's been $$ tesla, now $$ porsche and Audi, and cheap but crappy looking Leaves and bolts. VW could do cheap and cute, with decent range.

Their ID3 seems decent and it'll be bastardized here, but I'm super happy with my "rare and unsuccessful" e-golf as it is so I imagine their cars will be successful. I have a 1972 911 and a 73 2002 in the garage so assume I'm a gas car guy, but I'm totally converted by the E-golf's practicality and peanuts cost to run - *as long as you have a home and a charger* and don't need to commute too far and own another car when you do. Hell, I just put lightweight GTI size wheels on it this w/e and promptly lost 15% of my range (but gained handling and braking in spades)..

Where's the point again? Oh, I'm a gas car guy. I love my EV. It's ok to appreciate both for what they are good at. As a beater car (90% of my driving is to work in traffic), it's perfect. If we got our fingers out of our collectives arses and developed more clean nuclear and modernized the grid, this could work for most homeowners or apartment dweller.. Imagine most 2 car households with one EVs and one modern/cleaner car instead of what we have now. It would certainly cleanup cities some, and reduce oil imports... And they are fun to drive, I swear... But if you ask me to queue to refill at a public charging station and wait 20 minutes, no thanks, gimme gas. I guess it is slanted towards homeowners - workplaces might help too, mine has 10 chargers for 200 cars, ridiculous....

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

- *as long as you have a home and a charger* and don't need to commute too far and own another car when you do.

Oh. I'm sure that applies to every single apartment renter here in the USA.

Why not implement a fine for non-compliance also?

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Where's the point again? Oh, I'm a gas car guy. I love my EV. It's ok to appreciate both for what they are good at.

That seems to be hard for a lot of people to accept.

[Otter74]

Originally Posted by David

There is. Tesla just doesn’t follow the standard.

No, there's not one standard. Globally, there are five. In the US, there are three.

[pmax]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

So far it's been $$ tesla, now $$ porsche and Audi, and cheap but crappy looking Leaves and bolts.

Why even compare luxury class $$$ vehicles with the common man "crap" ?

[David]

Originally Posted by Otter74

No, there's not one standard. Globally, there are five. In the US, there are three.

I was referring to the SAE J1772 standard that came out 20 years ago. Others just didn't feel like it met their needs or they thought they had something better. The original standard also couldn't cope with current or future increases in power flow. I expect China will far out buy the rest of the world in electric vehicles and set the connector standard for the rest of the world in the next decade.

[petrolhead611]

There are millions of household outlets, and even they aren't standardized throughout the world.Justbhad to buy an Oz/NZ adaptor, already own Euro and US ones.

[Sooner or later]

Originally Posted by petrolhead611

There are millions of household outlets, and even they aren't standardized throughout the world.Justbhad to buy an Oz/NZ adaptor, already own Euro and US ones.

If our goal is to save the world we should make it a priority that every car can charge on any charger within a country.

I am torn on the Tesla only chargers. We subsidized their install with government money to Tesla and then some EV owners can't use the chargers that they helped pay for. On the other hand Tesla set up the network and should be able to set the rules.

To me all cars should be able to charge on the Tesla network. Tesla could charge a reasonably higher price for a non Tesla vehicle.

[island911]

So the charger port... is that IP that Tesla doesn't let others play with? -- I mean I hear stories of Musk giving away patents (not because they are worthless, but because he's so dreamy)

So what's the deal with the Tesla proprietary charger IP?

[Mahler9th]

Longshot... but this might be the professor:

https://tonyseba.com/

If so, I have met him.

He certainly has some interesting things to say.

At this time of massive change, there are many folks trying to figure out what is going to happen when.

But again, there are few mysteries when it comes to ice-based vehicle production. Most, if not all of the major players have told us quite a bit about their plans. Even Porsche.

We will see what happens.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by island911

So the charger port... is that IP that Tesla doesn't let others play with? -- I mean I hear stories of Musk giving away patents (not because they are worthless, but because he's so dreamy)

So what's the deal with the Tesla proprietary charger IP?

I figured someone HAD to be making an adapter. It is just electricity, and that can easily be converted.

https://insideevs.com/news/336319/ev-charging-adapter-wars-which-side-are-you-on/

I suspect like Betamax vs VHS eventually we will have an single standard country wide. In the meantime charging adapters can't be too hard to make. I will not need one for many years, but any obvious market like an adapter will find a vendor pretty quick.

It would be like having a car that can only fill up at Conoco stations and nowhere else.