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Featured Threads Archive
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North American Charging Standard?
Is there any news about Toyota implementing NACS for any 2025 models?
It would be a big surprise if the 2025 Prius becomes first out of the box. -
Prius Prime Name Change for Model Year 2025 to be known as Prius Plug-in Hybrid
2025 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid - Toyota USA Newsroom
No new stuff just rebadging for the 2025 Prius Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) so now it'll have the PHEV logo on the back instead of the Prime. No pricing has been announced as of yet but the 2025 RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid saw an $175 price increase. No manufacturing date has been announced but I'm assuming the 2025s will roll out about March 2025.
MPO, I'm assuming this is to differentiate their powertrains when they eventually switch everything to hybrids as well as make it the same across the globe. -
Hybrid electrics have a place
At 33 minutes, a bit long but tells the tale:
Edison motors makes work trucks for logging and other work. Not finding them on the market, these Canadians built their own. Excellent job!
At the other end of the spectrum, my 2017 BMW i3-REx. Transmissions are so 'old school.'
Bob Wilson -
eBeaver Seaplane
Every now and then, you see a step change:
I know the electric air taxies look awesome but this really piques my interest. One more thing to add to my 'bucket list.'
Bob Wilson -
Three Mile Island May Be Coming Back
Three Mile Island Isn't Dead After All (msn.com)
I wonder if Microsoft will share. -
Tesla Cybertruck's light bar/taillight/brake lights/center high-mounted stop lamp
I saw a Tesla Cybertruck when I was driving yesterday, and I couldn't believe the taillight design. It is potentially violating some DOT regulations. If not, it is barely legal with questionable safety. I thought the center high-mounted stop lamp was supposed to be higher than the other brake lights. Basically, sections of the light bar is turned off during braking so that it looks like the brake lights and a center high-mounted stop lamp.
Tesla Cybertuck brake-light video
Even the Tesla Cybertruck’s brake lights don’t make sense -
IIHS wants more nags
Source: Drivers quickly learn to skirt limits set by partial automation systems
. . .
In the second study, a different group of IIHS and AgeLab researchers examined how the driving behavior of 14 people who had never used Tesla’s Autopilot or any other partial automation system changed over a month of driving a 2020 Tesla Model 3. Unlike the Volvo study, this one focused on how often the drivers triggered the system’s initial attention reminders, escalated warnings and emergency slowdown and lockout procedures.
. . .
In total, the volunteers drove a little more than 12,000 miles with Autopilot engaged. During that time, they triggered 3,858 attention-related warnings from the partial automation system. About half of those alerts occurred when they had at least one hand on the steering wheel... -
Which cars are safe for the other guy?
What to do about America’s killer cars
cites a study of crashes involving two vehicles and a death in which the weight of the two vehicles varied. As we get more EVs we get more weight in a vehicle and while the article doesn't go in depth on the statistics, it does cite weight as killing the person in the lighter car significantly more often than the person in the heavier car. A 1,000 pound weight difference raised the fatality rate 47%. So while you may be safer in that big heavy vehicle, the other person isn't. The weight of the average car has increased from 3,400 to 4,100 pounds 1990 and 2005 and probably more since then with the popularity of SUVs. -
Munro on KIA EV9
Sometimes Munro focuses on minor details and misses the mountain:
Two out of three ain't bad:
- Wye motor performance
- Delta motor performance
- Missed - step up/down Wye, power transformer
- Driving one Wye leg doubles the voltage on the other two.
- Driving two Wye legs halves the voltage on the other.
- Power is limited by what the motor can handle.
- Most 800-to-400 VAC converters limit the charging power . . . inefficient and expensive.
Motor performance is nice, effectively a two-stage 'tranformation' but the built-in voltage doubling is the real gem. I have long thought about a home, fast DC charger, but the cost of a 40 A , 240 VAC transformer put me off. But if I can get a salvaged KIA 9 or IONIQ 5 motor, problem solved for a fraction of the cost.
Today, my NEMA 14-15 circuit, limited to 40 A at 240 VAC, can provide 9.6 kW. But both of my... -
Stock Toyota Prius Breaks MPG Record for Cross-Country Drive
Especially cool considering the varying terrain, elevation, and weather.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/toyota-prius-breaks-the-guinness-world-record-for-highest-average-mpg-on-a-cross-country-drive -
Mobileye
My first Mobileye experience was dynamic cruise control in a 2014 BMW i3-REx. Other than sensitivity to overhead signs on overpasses and low sun angles, it was brilliant. My 2017 BMW i3-REx has traditional cruise control. At one time, Mobileye had been considered competition to AutoPilot. But things are changing:
Intel (INTC) Is Considering Options for Its Stake in Mobileye - Bloomberg
Intel Corp. is considering options for its stake in its struggling automated driving systems provider Mobileye Global Inc. as part of a major strategy overhaul, people with knowledge of the matter said. Shares of Mobileye fell to a record low.
The chipmaker could offload some of its 88% holding in Mobileye on the public market or via a... -
Dr Prius App Deep Dive - Request Assistance
Greetings to all!
Noob on this forum. I am the third owner of a 2014 Prius V here in Southern NM with about 185K on the odometer. This vehicle is originally from Michigan. It is still running the original traction battery. Although I suspect the heat of the summer months are the primary cause for the rapid battery drain due to AC usage, I also harbor a feeling that the age of the battery is part of my concern.
I recently downloaded the Dr Prius app and I have finally gotten this to work. So my question goes to interpreting the data that is saved to csv files.
I recorded the data from a drive this morning. I am trying understand the various aspects on this software. I am not running the two paid for app extensions (yet). From what I have read the traction battery is only intended to charge to 80% and that the multi-function display, at the lowest one bar indicator, is at 40%.
I have noticed that within the State of Charge (SOG%) column the lowest is 55.692398% while the... -
" BeamSpot" Recharging Station
"San Diego-based Beam Global (Nasdaq: BEEM) has launched EV chargers powered by solar, wind, and battery storage that replace streetlights."
Apparently they are designed so that you can unbolt an ordinary streetlight, plug one of these into the existing base and wiring, and voila' you have an easy install with no digging up the road and no permits to pull. It is supposed to work for a while even if there is a blackout. I'm not sure how the wind energy fits in. Unfortunately it has a "proprietary integrated battery"
Looking at how small the solar panel is up on top of the pole, I'm going to guess that the "solar" part is more symbolic than practical. I think it would take a couple of days for that panel to charge up a modern car.
Been thinking about the circuit that runs the lights. Lights are a pretty light load and all existing setups would have wiring sized to the existing load. Add this thing in and - ?... -
SIAC EVs getting solid state batteries
Well semi-solid ones.
"The company has announced that the battery is actually a semi-conductor battery, although it still uses an electrolyte that combines a fluid with a solid component."
The liquid portion is 5% by mass. They claim more than twice the capacity of LFP.
https://uk.motor1.com/news/715871/im-l6-ev-solid-state-battery-sale/
https://uk.motor1.com/news/732606/mg-model-solid-state-battery-coming-2025/ -
Lithium price collapse, predictable
Source: Daily Automotive News
U.S. EV EFFORT SUFFERS SETBACK
We start out today’s show with a big setback in the U.S. effort to become self-sufficient in securing lithium. We’ve been following the crazy decline of lithium because a big part of it is caused by the drop in EV demand since lithium is a key ingredient in batteries. Prices are down 83% in the last year alone. And one company seems to really be struggling with that decline. U.S.-based Piedmont Lithium laid off a third of its workforce earlier this year, last month it canceled a planned project in Tennessee and now it’s pulling an application for a government loan. The company says it’s making the move partly because of high... -
2024 Millenium Technology Prize goes to IGBT inventor
Yahoo! news link
-a few quotes frorm article-
Professor Bantval Jayant Baliga was handed the 2024 Millennium Technology Prize for inventing the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT).
...
Baliga is credited with having the most negative carbon footprint in the world. His IGBT is estimated to have reduced global emissions of the greenhouse gas by more than 82 gigatons since the 1990s — roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide generated by all human activity for three years.
Nice work, professor! -
GM finally got it right "Chevy Equinox EV"
I'm skeptical of YouTube videos by those who make a living reviewing EVs. Too often, their reports don't match what the EPA numbers show or early adopters discover. But this one sounds interesting:
- claimed 315 mi EV range - my 2019 Tesla measured 240 mi
- 150 kW charge rate - my Tesla was initially 120 kW but now +170 kW
- right sized SUV style
A good rule of thumb, always buy the 2d or 3d model year to give the manufacturer time to correct the infantile problems. When shopping, start with the EPA numbers in Fueleconomy.gov. Not perfect but head a shoulders above there rest.
Bob Wilson
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