Featured Long-Range EVs Are The Antithesis Of Efficiency And Sustainability

after the mountains of brown coal ash start to pile up, maybe get rained on, & spread like a toxic River, like has happened here in the US, the public down undah - may have 2nd thoughts, & start fighting back against the politicians that were bought off to allow for such shenanigans.
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toyota made a bev decision recently, based on the china market alone. and they make a lot of decisions based on the japanese market alone. the rest of us get the crumbs, and we're grateful for them!

 

Wow! Interesting chart. That's a lot of hybridized Lexus considering the market & their costs - even over the past years. Source of the data?
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Some of us were grateful but we’re in a different place today. Not opposed as much as we’ve found better solutions for our requirements.

Bob Wilson

 

agreed, we all drive what works best for us. at around 90% ev, pip is the perfect car for me, and i'm grateful toyota decided to build it. it was touch and go for awhile, as they really were never enthusiastic about putting a plug on anything. hmm, sounds familiar...

the only downside is that it doesn't burn enough petrol

 

try my better ½'s favorite technique. Put your foot into it, from light to light.
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She drives the Tesla?

Bob Wilson

 

I've had enough of her tire wearing tactic in the Tesla. Traded it in for the mild-mannered plug-in minivan. In the Pacifica plug-in, I'll average in the low 60mpg's, she'll drop it down to low 50mpg's. I'll post pictures of the 5,000 mile range tallied up so far when I get a chance.
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The WHO's findings was based on a study of workers in an enclosed mine using off road diesel equipment. I don't dispute them, but they don't apply to cars with modern exhaust systems for the same reasons health studies of lawn mower emissions don't apply to modern gasoline cars. Particulates are the carcinogen, and their emitted level from DPF equipped diesels is lower than gasoline cars, including port injected ones.

NOx is bad, and it is bad in Europe because of lax standards. The US took a far stricter stance on diesel passenger cars. When ULSD became the norm, diesel cars here had to meet the same limits as gasoline cars. That was like imposing emission standards from the late '90s on cars in the '70s. It was a hard requirement. But scrutinized GM and BMW diesels has shown that diesel cars can be as clean as gas ones, even the cleanest.

All diesel in Pennsylvania has been B2 since 2009, because of a mandate based on the amount of biodiesel manufactured in state. There is a chain of fleet stations selling next generation biodiesel, that is a direct replacement for diesel, in California.

But I wasn't thinking of biodiesel. The process using water, CO2, and renewable electricity for renewable methane can be extended to get a light weight, sulfur free synthetic crude. It can be used as is in power plants and ships. With simple refining, it yields diesel. In theory, gasoline could be made, but I'm guessing the energy requirements for that mean a large deficit. Audi has a pilot plant for the methane, and one for the syncrude. Their renewable gasoline efforts are with biotech firms developing organisms to make the fuel.

 

Actually, we have been discussing the EV model of C-HR for over a year now. The perspective of "recent" is the antagonist narrative being passed along.

As for that "the rest of us part", it is why the "Who?" question was asked so many times over the years. In fact, that's how "know your audience" came about. There was a genuine concern the EREV nonsense would mess up the market here. And sure enough, that "vastly superior" push soured reception here.

I am not the slightest bit grateful for that unfortunate outcome, since it was preventable.... and I was one of those in the "we" that fought hard to try to prevent this.

 

the "who" that is soured, is who? Every EREV slash PHEV that start talking about their cars, are loving what they got - & each is a fan because it meets their needs.
The 'sour' comes in, when manufacturers of the vehicles they love (whether ICE, EV, HEV, PHEV) get cancelled - regardless of whether it's doing well or not. The graph below proves that 'outselling' - doesn't guarantee it won't face The Chopping Block;


Visualizing Electric Vehicle Sales Around the World
The #2 selling vehicle, although out of production in the US, has still sold more than all the other vehicles below it - ie, others still haven't caught up. So its popularity speaks for itself. The only conclusion is, the manufacturer is battery constrained, just like Toyota, Ford, etc. There's somewhat of an irony when plug-in advocates become as hostile to another manufacturer's plug-in, almost as much as big land barge coal rollers.
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There are also loop holes that allowed emission systems to shut down in order to "protect" the engine. These all fall under lax standards.

If exceeding emission limits on the road is your metric, then all cars cheat. Even gasoline ones exceed Europe's NOx limits when driven normally.

VW should have been punished harsher, but their crime wasn't just the extra pollution. Their actions also prevented truly clean diesels from having a chance in the market. Honda was planning a diesel Accord for the US after they cancelled the first hybrid one. Their diesels are respected, and they give a damn about emissions. But they couldn't the car to pass emission testing like the Jetta was at the time. Then the same thing played out when Mazda tried introducing a diesel.

Same arguments are being used against BEVs now. Yet the Mirai is heavier than a Model 3.

Diesels may regain some share among trucks and SUVs. Some people actually use these vehicles for work, and so far, no successful hybrid has been up to the task. The F150 has a diesel now, and will be getting a hybrid option next year. It shall be interesting to see how the market responds. Though the manufacturers know there is demand for diesels, and only offer them in higher trims as a result.

In the seventies, Japan's MITI started running a LEV(low emission vehicle) program with the auto industry. It included research into EVs and hybrids. In Japan, the Prius has had a subsidy lowering its effect price since its introduction, because of this, or an offshoot, program. The conclusion drawn on BEVs was that they would only work as short range city cars. For the time, that may have been true, as the cutting edge technology was NiMH; most of the BEVs sold were using lead-acid. This group think seems to still be in place at many Japanese car companies, including Toyota.

In the Volt's case, there was more at play than just battery supply. The other car models made at the same factory had dropped in sales. Unlike Toyota with the Avalon and ES, GM and Ford couldn't afford to keep making low volume sedans for the sake of pride.

So the Volt wasn't cancelled. Its factory was shut down because the other model lines made there were cancelled. Now being a sedanish car, moving Volt production couldn't be justified. The drive train is in a couple of Chinese Buicks, so Voltec didn't fail.

 

I'm having a 'slow day' ... what is "EVRE"?

If this is a backhanded comment about my trade-in of the Prius Prime for the Model 3, the decision was a question of meeting requirements.

We got the 2017 Prius Prime because TSS-P was so superior to the absence in our 2010 Prius. But this past year, I was not racking up miles in the Prime because the dynamic cruise control in the BMW i3-REx was 'good enough' and the other TSS-P features like lane keep alert were weak. The short wheel base and high power to weight of BMW i3-REx let it scoot around town with better steering and size for traffic. Then the $35k Model 3 arrived.

With AutoPilot, I can confidently drive long distances. The car auto steers in its lane with a few easily identified exceptions. The dynamic cruise control is nearly identical to Prius Prime including the problem of trying to brake for turning cars.

Backing up AutoPilot is a weaker, lane keep assist that unlike TSS-P, does not over steer back across the lane and penetrate the next one like TSS-P. The car will slow oscillate between the lane markers and not violate them (in my limited testing.) But AutoPilot is really the way to auto steer staying in the lane.

One big unknown was SuperCharger costs and driving long distances. Three round trips of +600 miles each way and a 500 mile round trip has resolved: (1) SuperChargers are affordable, ~75-95 MPG costs, and (2) speed and costs can be minimized. Our Model 3 has become a reliable, cross country car . . . for us.

So was my brief dissertation "EVRE?"

Bob Wilson

 

EREV extended range electric vehicle
Volt fit under that description, same with your BMW.

And yes, Superchargers are extremely reasonable. My last Supercharging session cost me 14 cents per kWh.

 

It was bad spelling (or is that bad abbreviating) . Should be EREV - extended range ev / a fictionalized word to suggest it's a different thing from a PHEV. 6 of one ½ dozen of the other. Fixed it so it wouldn't confuse. Thx
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