Some PiP news from Japan

Hmmm, I don't know if this ever occurred to battery designers! =\

Seriously, the Battery Maxim has always been: High Speed, Long Distance, Low Cost: Choose any two.

That is a joke from the 1950's that is still true today. While there have been improvements in battery technology since then, they have been incremental, and not exponential. I think a more effective solution would be to use lighter materials and fewer heavy options (power seats, anyone?) than to hope for a significant change in the efficiency or power density of batteries anytime soon. Or, perhaps using capacitors for some loads?

 

It is targeted for all three Japan, Europe and US. The target 12.4 miles (20km) from the prototype can cover over 50% of the distance in EV in Japan and Europe. In the US, it is about 40%.

Since the TM USA announced our EV range would be 15 miles for the production model, that should cover about 46% of US typical user's miles.



Source

 

Thank you USB!
Daily trip means if you commute to work and charge there we may have 40km running EV per day, covering 2/3 of drivers needs.

 

Visited Tokyo Motor Show and had an opportunity to talk with a Toyota staff.
He said there is no difference on final drive ratio or motor specification among markets worldwide.
One interesting he said was the EU PiP has a special "EV-City" button feature.
The button enables more EV power than normal EV-mode and the EU PiP can drive over 100km/h (62mph) by motor only on that "EV-City" mode.

Ken@Japan

 

Sh*t, this is unfair...........I'm ordering mine from the EU market.
Or, this will means a heavy hacking in the US PiP software...

 

They have to have an override to lock out the ICE or they wouldn't be allowed in EV only city centers. When some American towns wise up and outlaw ICE's we'll probably get the button too (don't hold your breath).

 

Hmmm. You'd have to spend two to three times as much to get a gasoline sports car that can match the Tesla Roadster's acceleration. But they seem to think that the Tesla costs double its conventional counterpart.

I was delighted to get the federal tax credit and the state sales-tax exemption. But it really does not make sense to subsidize luxury cars. If government wants to promote electric cars, and since funds are always finite, it would make more sense to give the largest subsidies to affordable EVs with utilitarian range. Thus the Leaf should get a bigger subsidy than the Tesla, because the Leaf is affordable to more people and has an ideal range for most people. It's a more utilitarian car. The Volt should get less subsidy, if any, because of its relatively dirty ICE. If the iMiev is reliable, and cheaper than the Leaf but with similar range, it should get a higher subsidy.

OTOH, an argument could be made that a better use of funds would be to invest in battery R&D. Bringing down the cost of batteries would do more for EVs than giving money to individual buyers as an incentive.

Everybody wants a give-away. And everybody can construct an argument for why they deserve a give-away. But all those tax write-offs for Prius buyers in the early years did not put a single additional Prius on the roads, because demand was higher than supply. The same can probably be said for the Leaf. I might have balked at an additional $15,000 for my Tesla (in the absence of federal and state incentives) but subsidizing a luxury sports car is not a good use of tax money. I'm happy to get it, but I acknowledge that I don't "deserve" it. Simply installing clean electric infrastructure would be a better use of funds than giving money to car buyers.

 

Not true, a Corvette C6 ZR1 can out perform the Tesla 0-60, 3.3 to 3.7 for about the same price.

 

A Corvette Z06 can do 0-60 in 3.7 seconds for $75,000.

 

I stand corrected with regard to the Corvette. One question: Can an untrained driver accomplish that 3.7 seconds? Most sports cars require a high degree of skill with the shifting to achieve their best acceleration. The Tesla has a one-speed transmission, so you just step on the pedal.

 

Sorry to help out with the thread derailing, but the $90K 2013 Nissan GTR can go 0-60 in 2.7 seconds. Anyone with a right foot can launch the car correctly. Just set the computer and press the gas.

 

Any guesses as to what the PiP can do?

 

You mean like the millions of people who fill up their 19 or 26 gallon gas tank instead of putting in what they are going to use? I know a lot of pickup drivers (no they are not farmers or construction workers) who only let their tank get to half before refilling. They says its cheaper. But they're carrying around 85 to 95 lbs of unused energy.

However, I'm hoping to carry around 70 lbs of unused gas myself.