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An Unexpected Argument for Electric Cars
Leaving all the politics of climate change and all that aside, here is something to take notice of.
An all-electric car that is faster than a Formula 1 car. In certain configurations, it produces more downforce in kilograms than it actually weighs.
Published in General
This is a very valid point to consider. When I was looking at a solar system for my home, we discussed batter storage. Do you put them inside, where they take up room and are a potential fire hazard? Or do you store them outside? Where I live it does sometimes get cold enough to affect the batteries. It doesn’t take a ton of energy to overcome the issue (i.e., using some of the energy to keep the batteries warm enough), but it degrades the cost / benefit. In my case, the break even was a wash. The system would need to be replaced by the time it paid for itself. And that was including the tax credits.
So we aren’t there yet, but we are moving in that direction.
A good question. It’s not as stagnant as you think. Digital 3D, like the rest of 3D, had a new wave of products in 2008-2016 and the cameras have autostereoscopic screens on the back–no glasses. It looks like a lenticular greeting card or album cover. So far autostereoscopic displays are really expensive once you get beyond roughly 8 inches diagonal, but they’re getting there, price and performance wise. I use a 3D TV with passive glasses to view my “slides”. Oculus and other virtual reality tools/toys are keeping the field alive until the next wave, which is probably glasses-free.
Nobody questions the range issue.
Idea. Instead of selling cars they could sell a license to use a car, like Microsoft does. And they could declare it to be a service, and require you to update whenever they feel like it, whether while driving down I-94 between Ann Arbor and Detroit, or any other time and place.
Maybe it won’t work just yet, but as cars continue to morph into computers can we look for it in our future? I think farm tractors have already gone a step farther down this
roadcornfield than road vehicles. For example.Zero to 60 in ten seconds is still pretty damn commendable, especially for a car that requires little in repairs and gets 38 to 43 mph. (Except when I take a road that is all mountainous, switch back road ways.)
Are you still whinging about that? Let’s not cross the posts!
I had a 1973 Maverick too, and really enjoyed it. Insurance companies had just cracked down on blatant muscle cars, so between that and new emission controls, that particular horsepower era came to an abrupt end. So manufacturers (somewhat) beefed up cars like Ford’s Maverick, GM’s Nova, and Chrysler’s Dart/Valiant to give a bit of the old time street racer feel to what were basically family cars. A Maverick with a 302 V8 was no Ford GT, or even a goosed Mustang to be sure, but it was fast and fun.
Like a lot of old cars, I was happy to finally get rid of it when the time came, but now I wish I’d kept it.
Hate diversion:
I read a story a few years back about a dispute between two neighbors. The reflection of the noonday sun on the first guy’s solar panels was literally melting the other guy’s Prius in his driveway.
Rosie O’ Donnell assures us that fire cannot melt steel.
Rubber and plastic mostly. Besides,is there any steel in that car?
Just by the government from the taxpayers to pay for the subsidies they offer for folks to buy electric cars.
I was just discussing this subject with one of our senior engineers. He raised a point: removal of cobalt from lithium-ion. He said this won’t have a drastic affect on life and reliability of Li-ion batteries, but it will make them much cheaper to produce, much easier to recycle, and will drive adoption.
That is spelled s-t-e-a-l.
Tesla is different. Yes, I understand that car dealerships make their money on service and repair. Tesla decided not to go that route. They have some showrooms but you just order a car online and they deliver. They also have a mobile repair service. There’s no money in service… and why should there be?
Maybe eventually they will also profit from charging stations.
Musk is planning to buy back all leased model 3’s and convert them into robo cars in the next several years. This will be a different revenue stream.
Also, Tesla will be in the auto insurance business. since every Tesla collects data on drivers, they have better information to price insurance more competitively.
It’s a little like Amazon. I wondered how they were going to make money selling books. Now I’ve learned something!
Whatever, it’s still a Peter to Paul operation with a hefty skim charge by the middle man.
AKA: choosing winners and losers. It’s a nice gig if you are one of the winners. My company did a lot of solar installs in Arizona until the tax subsidies ended.
I kind of wonder how that repair model will work if Tesla’s pickup model is actually developed for serious usage. The dealerships in Midland-Odessa have about a month backlog of stressed oilfield pickups needing repairs.
It’s whining, not whinging. And I’d have to turn in my reticulator license if I wasn’t able to connect the two topics.
No, with a brush & scrub sponge.
I’m not sure what point you are making here. My position is that electric cars (and pickups) have far fewer problems and needs. If the cybertruck is adopted and is used in a concentrated area ( ironically for oil extraction ?) I imagine they could set up a repair shop, if needed, no problem.
My Maverick had a 389. I don’t know if that engine came original with the car, or if the owner between me and the factory had put it in.
I would just think that for corporate fleet sales, a fixed location repair shop before the sale would be something companies would require if the vehicles have to be serviced. You’d need a location with lifts in place to do high-volume repairs and/or preventive maintenance if the plans are to compete with the regular ICE vehicle builders outside of the passenger car market, especially for pickups that are going to get serious off-road use. If Tesla just wants to build ‘Urban Cowboy’ pickups for people who like the style, but don’t really plan to work them out, then they could probably get away with the no repair shop model.
I went looking for info on how Rivian is planning to handle service for the Amazon delivery trucks etc., and found some weasel words about learning from Tesla’s mistakes and making them easily repairable. Which doesn’t answer the question of how and where they are going to get serviced.
In a major metro area, I could see where roving repairmen might work. I don’t see how it works in outlying areas, and while car batteries might not require the preventive maintenance and repairs that a conventional engine does, other things like brakes, suspension, getting power from the battery to the wheels and road hazards in general aren’t going to change between electric and gas-powered engines. At the very least, Rivan and Tesla will need to support third-party repair locations that can do warrantied repairs on EVs at high volume levels.
Ok, I’ll say it: Flying Robot Repair Technicians. (FRRTs)
And they can rest on the power lines to recharge!
First they need to make those trucks available through Amazon Prime. Amazon claims to have invested $700 million in Rivian, but you can’t buy one of those trucks with Prime two-day delivery. Their order for 100,000 trucks is not going to be completely fulfilled until 2040.
It is my opinion that this post should be the Member Post of the Week. If it isn’t, and because I didn’t with the wooden jigsaw puzzle, I shall raise cain. Which is to say I’ll rant and rave like an impotent jerk.
With the two badges you look really important.
I feel really important.
*Poke* *Poke* Feel kind of squishy to me.