Battery based electric vehicles of today and tomorrow.

[3930dave]

Better batteries will be the next major inflection point for EVs.

Lots to juggle though - performance, stability, longevity, and not the least - Cost.

One of the reasons that Pb-acid batteries have been a workhorse for so long is Cost. Low cost to produce, and relatively easy to recycle. (Saying that, while well aware they aren't in modern EVs....).

I'd hope that any high-volume battery product today is designed with recycling in mind - but when I see complex packing and exotic compounds in consideration, I'd like to see the process breakdown plans and costing........ The product performance may be there, but EV costs won't be dropping quickly if the cost of Lithium skyrockets....

Rgds, D.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Autonomous Taxi Goes Rogue, Escapes From Rescue Crew

This Full Self Driving non EV story is somewhat humourous the way it's told.

 

[3930dave]

Always liked the (ur) Westworld line....

What Could Go Wrong......... Go Wrong.....


Thanks for the chuckle Gayle

Rgds, D.

 

[Grumpycat]

Another (Proof of Concept) battery advance
by Harvard researchers

Researchers design long-lasting, solid-state lithium battery

Harvard researchers have designed a stable, lithium-metal, solid-state battery that is far more efficient than lithium-ion batteries.

news.harvard.edu

A dynamic stability design strategy for lithium metal solid state batteries - Nature

A multi-layered electrolyte, in which a less stable electrolyte is sandwiched between two electrolyte layers that are more stable, can inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites in highly pressurized solid-state lithium metal batteries.

www.nature.com

Thats nice and all that. But those are exactly the kind of "breakthrough" announcements which occur every few weeks the past 10 years.

"Scientists" magically solve all the world's issues, in the laboratory, but their perfect designs fail to work in mass production.

40+ years ago my materials professor said some genius somewhere is always discovering a cheap material in the laboratory with something outrageous like 500,000 PSI shear strength. The piece he finds under the microscope really is 500,000 PSI. Just can't grow a grain into something of useable size.

For a classic EV example go research large cell NiMH. Cobasys patented, Chevron/Texaco purchased. Was never able to produce more than prototype quantities, at exorbitant prototype prices. Toyota/Panasonic did successfully build large cell NiMH in the 2000s, used in the very limited production Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Affectionately known as the HiHy.

Seeing the writing on the wall Toyota/Panasonic settled. Agreed not to use large cell NiMH in a motor vehicle. Then rushed off to work on the more promising lithium battery technology.

Chevron grossly overpaid for the large cell NiMH "technology" (which the owner/developers could not make work) believing it was essential to the future of EV and hybrids, that all would bow before their great patent. Believe Chevron was shocked how Toyota/Panasonic would surrender by abandoning the technology. "Everyone said!" an EV must have big cells for big batteries! Then Elon Musk and Tesla kicked "everyone's" bottom using thousands of small, long-C cell, 18650 sized cells.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Traffic cones confused a Waymo self-driving car. Then things got worse.
While FSD has made progress clearly it has not arrived. Tesla is not dropping back to camera vision only without good reasons. It could be decades before I get on the streets in a car without a steering wheel.

 

[grsthegreat]

I see another a Tesla on autopilot struck a parked police car in wash state today. Ya, I trust that technology.

 

[drssg]

I see another a Tesla on autopilot struck a parked police car in wash state today. Ya, I trust that technology.

I find it strange that Tesla is the only one making the news about autopilot crashes, even though other manufacturers have the same functionality. Mercedes, Cadillac, and probably others have it, but I have NEVER read about these vehicles crashing while on their version of autopilot.

Did the other companies implement it better? Or are Tesla owners more "special"?

 

[drssg]

Traffic cones confused a Waymo self-driving car. Then things got worse.
While FSD has made progress clearly it has not arrived. Tesla is not dropping back to camera vision only without good reasons. It could be decades before I get on the streets in a car without a steering wheel.

I haven't been following Tesla for quite a while, but I hadn't heard that they are dropping back to camera vision only. I don't see that as a positive step. They started out that way, with bad results.

 

[3930dave]

I find it strange that Tesla is the only one making the news about autopilot crashes, even though other manufacturers have the same functionality. Mercedes, Cadillac, and probably others have it, but I have NEVER read about these vehicles crashing while on their version of autopilot.

Did the other companies implement it better? Or are Tesla owners more "special"?

I'd say some of it comes down to just Elon. He is still running a major company, not much differently than a Startup.

A GM or Benz..... much more likely to do conservative Safety and Legal reviews, before releasing a product to Production.

Both approaches have Pluses and Minuses associated.....

Rgds, D.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Here Comes the Biden Administration’s Generous Tax Credit for Buying Electric Vehicles | National Review

Until something is signed into law I consider this subject mostly noise. Tesla's production through the 4th of July is already sold out without tax incentives.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

New Graphene Aluminum-Ion Cell May Ditch Cooling Systems

My hunch is lithium and rare metal usage in EV batteries is Not a long term solution. Where aluminum is a viable option time will tell.

Toyota is talking about having lithium ion solid batteries in mass production by 2030 but 9 years from now may be too late.

 

[Grumpycat]

I find it strange that Tesla is the only one making the news about autopilot crashes, even though other manufacturers have the same functionality. Mercedes, Cadillac, and probably others have it, but I have NEVER read about these vehicles crashing while on their version of autopilot.

Did the other companies implement it better? Or are Tesla owners more "special"?

Tesla has at least 10,000 "autopilot" cars on the road to 1 of all the others.

Be careful to distinguish between Tesla Autopilot and Tesla Full Self-Driving. They have a few FSDs out there too. Autopilot will do a very good job holding a lane, even passing slower traffic. But it requires a tug on the steering wheel every 30-60 seconds else it disengages and will not reengage until the vehicle has stopped. Is commonly known one can hang a 16 oz weight to one side of the steering wheel to fake it out.

 

[txdon]

Ford Lightning reveal:

 

[txdon]

"The base model with 230 miles of range starts at $39,974, while the extended range version starts in the mid-$50,000s and can go about 300 miles."

Ford F-150 Lightning revealed: an electric truck for the masses

Up to 300 miles of range starting at just under $40,000.

www.theverge.com

 

[Gale Hawkins]

"The base model with 230 miles of range starts at $39,974, while the extended range version starts in the mid-$50,000s and can go about 300 miles."

Ford F-150 Lightning revealed: an electric truck for the masses

Up to 300 miles of range starting at just under $40,000.

www.theverge.com

2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Electric Truck Revealed: America's EV

I found specs at the end of this article. The kWH rating for each battery pack is blank and that is the information I need. There was mention of a battery pack weighing 1800 lb but I did not see the specs. It should be a hit even with the $12,000 in price difference over gas.

 

[JamesHW]

Looking a Verge article it states the extended version has “420kW of total power (563 horsepower) and 775 pound-feet of torque”

 

[kenmbz]

I keep seeing adds for the new "Mustang" crossover electric.
I find it hard to use the works Mustang and crossover in the same sentence though...

 

[MossRoad]

I keep seeing adds for the new "Mustang" crossover electric.
I find it hard to use the works Mustang and crossover in the same sentence though...

I'll say. You typo'd 'words'. Must have been subconsciously.

Hard for me to watch the commercials for it.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Mahle developing magnet-free electric motor that does not require rare earth elements

The possible EV automaker could be German based perhaps since this company is German based. China's edge in EV manufacturing has the rest of automakers on edge it seems.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Ford Motor, SK Innovation to announce EV battery joint venture, sources say

Ford Motor and South Korean battery maker SK Innovation are set to launch a U.S. battery joint venture to support Ford's electric vehicle rollout.

www.cnbc.com

Ford is getting EV serious it seems.