Battery based electric vehicles of today and tomorrow.

[Larry Caldwell]

Thorcon is planning to build modular molten salt reactors in shipyards, tow them to their destination, and partially submerge them in shallow water. I have a lot of questions about how solidly they would be anchored in case of tsunami or violent tropical storm, but it's an interesting concept.

Thorcon

thorconpower.com

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I would be curious as to the type of demographic of Tesla buyers right now, and if it is a narrow demographic, whether that customer base can assume to apply to the rest of North America. Eg a certain narrow demographic buys a Porsche, a certain narrow demographic wants a super safe Volvo. A certain demographic buys Pickups , one replaces the previous one for our 60 yrs of driving we get ( thats me) ...
Tesla, and similar models will not be wanted by us all.

wawajake most watching first Tesla AI Day today are core Tesla owners. As you can see the Full Self Driving (FSD) is an effort to copy the way human brains drive as much as possible and surpass human driving skills.

This is a recruitment effort to college students.

 

[goeduck]

I don't play games behind the wheel. If I get behind somebody driving erratically I'll either get past them ASAP, or back off. Last week I left the interstate an exit before I wanted to because of the way that somebody was driving; all over both lanes, speeding up and passing me then slowing down so that I had to go past him again. I think that he was just fooling around, but I decided that if he was going to crash I wanted to be a long, LONG ways away from him.

That is about the way I do it. If some crazy nut is aggressive and he is going from front to back of me, I time it so I am behind him just as we come to an exit, then at the last second I take the exit. That has only happened twice in all my years, but I have no desire to get into a road rage situation. Life is too short.

 

[jeff9366]

Monarch Electric Tractors:

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

 

[Hay Dude]

Monarch Electric Tractors:

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Sure would be nice to get rid of all the oil changes!
I don’t know if I will farm long enough to have the opportunity to buy one and curious about prices. If we are forced to buy them, manufacturers will know it and prices will be high, unless free market capitalism and competition continues in the US.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Monarch Electric Tractors:

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Thanks for the link. I never realized how Tesla was indirectly impacting farming and other small businesses throughout the world. AI that Tesla talked about at their AI Day yesterday is filtering down to small farmers indirectly in ways I never thought about a year ago.

It good to see how small farming operations have a brighter future due AI providing the tractor driving needs. Tesla trained staff quit every day to start their own version of the future.

Buying A Tesla EV helps drive the future of all types of EVs. The positive side effects of GrumpyCat buying his Tesla in 2013 can't be measured. Early adopters of technology are key to our kids futures.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

GM recalls all Chevy Bolts due to fire risk, says owners should park outside and limit charging

The latest recall will cost the company about $1 billion, bringing the total cost of the Bolt battery recalls to $1.8 billion.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[sd455dan]

WoW -all Bolts, even the brand New EUV.
Some have made deals to turn their earlier Bolts in for the new ones.
What a mess.

This may be starting to look like the "root cause" is LG with the statement in the article:
GM said it will pursue reimbursement from LG.

Bummer for Bolt owners, since LG has barely even begun addressing the battery replacements for Hyundai's

GM recalls all Chevy Bolts due to fire risk, says owners should park outside and limit charging

The latest recall will cost the company about $1 billion, bringing the total cost of the Bolt battery recalls to $1.8 billion.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[3930dave]

WoW -all Bolts, even the brand New EUV.
Some have made deals to turn their earlier Bolts in for the new ones.
What a mess.

This may be starting to look like the "root cause" is LG with the statement in the article:
GM said it will pursue reimbursement from LG.

Bummer for Bolt owners, since LG has barely even begun addressing the battery replacements for Hyundai's

Unfortunate, but not entirely surprising. As covered before, we went through the same cycle with cell phones and laptops.

No details about the defect other than "manufacturing". Can't remember if the dendrite problem has been up here before.... it's an old issue in batteries.....

Scientists pinpoint cause of harmful dendrites and whiskers in lithium batteries: Team modifies electrolyte chemistry to prevent the piercing structures

A guy at work has a Bolt; I'll have a chat with him soon. Interesting that the "owners" should limit charging to 90%..... isn't that what all this tech and a software patch should be able to do ?

Rgds, D.

 

[sd455dan]

Unfortunate, but not entirely surprising. As covered before, we went through the same cycle with cell phones and laptops.

No details about the defect other than "manufacturing". Can't remember if the dendrite problem has been up here before.... it's an old issue in batteries.....

Scientists pinpoint cause of harmful dendrites and whiskers in lithium batteries: Team modifies electrolyte chemistry to prevent the piercing structures

A guy at work has a Bolt; I'll have a chat with him soon. Interesting that the "owners" should limit charging to 90%..... isn't that what all this tech and a software patch should be able to do ?

Rgds, D.

I have heard the root causes mentioned in the last day or so.
They said it is 2 things combined -a "folded" insulator layer not separating where it should and at the same time a "torn" anode tab.
So no insulation between 2 voltages and then a damaged Hot tab in the non insulated area where it can eventually short out.
Not 100% confirmation on this -yet. What is interesting/ disturbing is that these faults were allowed to persist at USA, Korea and China manufacturing plants. QC and maybe machine set up validation? maybe.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Nissan EVs haven't had the battery fires like GM but our 2016 Leaf SL was built April 2016, sold Sept 2026 and battery failure warranty was triggered Nov 2019 at 25K miles most made it to 50K+.

From 2010 through 2017 Nissan models had major failures but 2018+ model came with better batteries.

Tesla had garage fire issues especially early on.

It will be like 2026 before I would feel good about the batteries in Ford F-150 Lightning.

I think the EV rebates that is being discussed today could put Ford and GM out of business. They need five or 10 years to learn how to build EVS just like their predecessors took that long.

An EV maker who has not mastered in-house traction batteries design and production is like an OEM that didn't build their own engines.

Today there is only one proven EV maker in the world. 10 years from now there will be 10+.

 

[Grumpycat]

Tesla had garage fire issues especially early on.

Not batteries but poorly installed EVSE (it is an extension cord, not a "charger").

Lot of griping when Tesla revised firmware to detect poor electrical connections. "Mine charged perfectly before this software update! Now it doesn't like my Mobile Connector but works fine from a friend's house!"

Other Tesla fires were from hitting junk on the road which ripped the battery tray. A recall fitted a titanium bash bar on the leading edge of the battery.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

GM Is Having A Hard Time Blaming LG For Its Bolt Battery Fires

This impacting LG Chem by 6 billon dollars in the marketplace is likely to long term impact ongoing relationship with GM.

I wonder how much the rush to market is a factor? EV production hell may be in play.

If GM put together the battery packs with parts from LG Chem what about other EV brands using the same cells from LG Chem?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

BYD chip unit’s listing plan halted as regulator investigates law firm

Sounds like this concern impacts many other Chinese companies.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Here is a lot of information on the Bolt full recall. This guy from The tech college actually trains EV and hybrid repair as well as regular repair. He is eazy guy understand.

They are not replacing the battery pack but they're replacing the cells in each of the five modules

 

[Diggin It]

Question:

If you have one, and have insurance with Road Side assistance (towing), does that include towing to charging station? Or any other kind of charging?

Note that roadside assistance usually includes delivery of X gallons of gas/fuel.

 

[Grumpycat]

Question:

If you have one, and have insurance with Road Side assistance (towing), does that include towing to charging station? Or any other kind of charging?

Note that roadside assistance usually includes delivery of X gallons of gas/fuel.

Tesla fetches one if under warranty.

An EV can be charged simply by towing with wheels on the ground.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

F-150 Lightning leak says Ford has an enviable problem with its EV truck

Ford has strong F-150 Lightning demand. Now I am wondering what changes will come in the 2025 Gen2 F-150.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

3D printers produce solid-state battery technology for EVs and other uses

The potential of 3D printing could be huge for manufacturing some day.

 

[MossRoad]

An EV can be charged simply by towing with wheels on the ground.

From the Tesla website:
"Use a flatbed trailer only. Do not TOW! "

From the Chevy Bolt owner's manual:
"If the vehicle is towed with all four wheels on the ground, the drivetrain components could be damaged. The repairs would not be covered by the vehicle warranty. Do not tow the vehicle with all four wheels on the ground."