Moving to greener sources of energy

101

The Tesla is an “average driver”
Far from the hellcats & demons that video shows it racing against on a drag strip
Or event the Dart thats purpose built to BE a drag car

If you want a track car then I would suggest watching https://www.fiaformulae.com

Dont get me wrong a petrol engine IS what I drive, and drove
And there is something about the sound of one hitting 9 or 10000 RPM
That whine is something I grew up with

But, sitting in the Tesla and feeling it basically pin you to the seat wasnt something I expected from it
Even the owner/driver, who literally traded in his Porsche Taycan (1st gen) likes the Tesla more than the Porsche
Way better acceleration he tells me
And it works (where the Taycan was just a pain in the rear - maybe they have that sorted now)

Until you;e ridden in one and seen what it can do you will probably remain skeptical
I get that
I’ve bombed around in this fellow R8 and its fun
But the Tesla puts it to shame in many ways

It just doesnt have that sound … :man_shrugging:

102

Frequent use of fast chargers is harder on the battery, particularly if you always push it to 100% (although fast chargers slow way down at the end). However, as I pointed out, most people don’t need them most of the time. If your main use case is multi-hundred-mile road trips with no pause at the destination, you are a very unusual driver. A level 1 or 2 charger at home is all you will typically use, and if your EV has a range of over a couple hundred miles you probably won’t charge to 100% even then. This is something people simply don’t understand because they are so accustomed to going somewhere to purchase fuel.

In any case, countless people who have owned early-model Teslas and who are not fanboys (many purchase used Teslas because they can’t afford new ones) have publicly stated that the cars are still reliable and present no problems.

So “the possibility of a costly battery replacement in the near future” is at least as low as buying a conventional vehicle and worrying about “the possibility of a costly engine replacement in the near future”.

The only negative experience I had with anything like an EV was a hybrid SUV I used to own. It had problems with the electric side of the vehicle that my dealer could not resolve, in part due to a shortage of spare parts during the pandemic. I have come to believe that an active (plug-in) hybrid is a bit of a Frankenstein monster – you get all the moving parts of a conventional ICE vehicle with the electric stuff bolted on, and the integration is an extra engineering challenge that the manufacturer doesn’t always get right.

But actual EVs have only a fraction of the things to go wrong in a conventional vehicle, and the only time the battery is a concern is when the engineering is wrong, as with the Chevy Bolt or Nissan Leaf. The Leaf has a longevity problem that is unusual, and the Bolt simply would catch fir for no reason because the batteries were poorly made in Korea – it was nothing inherent in the technology, just a reflection that traditional manufacturers sometimes struggle with the different requirements of EVs, and since they have difficulty ramping up to a profitable volume, they cut corners, and hilarity ensues.

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For all those climate-denying people around the world. I live in the desert part of Botswana. 75% of Botswana is the Kalahari desert, the rest is the green Okavango delta.

Since 2015, the Ngami Lake has dried out because the Okavango River doesn’t reach that far any more. Up until 2011, there was plenty of water. Farmers now have to drive 4 to 6 hours to get water.

On our field at Molopolole, we must deal with temperatures above 45°c. People fading out despite the fact we provide them with enough water and protection.

When it occasionally rains (I can’t remember when it rained the last time), it’s like buckets. However, after a few hours, the water is dried, and the soil is again dried.

In our field, people need to be careful with their efforts. You run out of oxygen very quickly.

At the moment of writing, no water is coming from the water system. The water at Gaborone Dam is so low it needs to be rationed. When the water gets too low, the hydro dam stops producing electricity.

To be protected from sunburn, almost all my body is covered, including my head. Can you imagine around 40°C and covering your whole body? After 5 minutes, you get burned by the sun.

This is the climate change people. People are dying from heat stroke in the streets. I do not know how it will be here over twenty years. I know that you all can expect an exodus of climate refugees. And in the end, your turn will also come. Now, it is our turn to suffer; soon, without change, it will be your turn to suffer. Your elderly people and the weak will die first, and then the rest will. Get a higher risk of skin cancer.

If this is no reason for you to make an important change today, then you deserve the suffering and disaster which will soon follow.

3 Likes
105

Here is an update on what happened yesterday evening. After so many times, there was no rain here in Botswana; yesterday evening, we had heavy rain with thunderstorms.

In Cape Town in South Africa, there is a lot of damage. Streets flooded, and houses were damaged beyond repair.

Do we have to say more about climate change?

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106

In addition … most EV manufacturers fully warranty the battery for 200,000 miles or 10 years or similar and this is longer than most people hold onto a car. It is as if an ICE car’s motor would get a zero cost replacement if it failed within that time frame.

I saw someone who owned one of the very first Teslas who had their battery pack gone over and failed cells replaced who had priced that out 2 or 3 times over the years and the cost came WAY down over time. I think it was around $5K in the end. So the other factor is that as battery tech gets better and production volume increases, replacement costs come down. Early EV batteries like the one this guy had might have degraded to 70% of original capacity but it is more like 85% now. Things are always improving.

107

I own a hybrid Camry and the battery is about 15 years old, with no issues. I am sure the battery doesn’t hold a charge as it did brand-new. It still works perfectly fine. The hybrid has over 300,000 Mile’s and still works fine.

108

Not many manufacturers offer that long warranty for battery. It’s usually 5 to 8 years and about 160000 km. Also, 70 % working battery is still considered to be good but try reselling the car with battery like that.

109

Teslas are all 8 year with different mileage (100K MILES is the lowest up to 150K MILES)
2023 Nissan Leaf battery warranty is 8 years 100K MILES
Toyota is 8 years / 100K miles

So that does indeed seem to be VERY common for EV’s

I didnt look at Nissan or Toyota hybrid battery warranties which could be different

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111

But I assume your range and MPG has gone down because of that?

-Karen

112

When new, the hybrid camry had about 40 mpg in the city, and about 36 mpg on the highway. The battery usually wasn’t used on the highway because of more wind drag.

Now the car is older, the hybrid camry has about 36 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway.