Yep, for many people EVs are not practical unless they can charge at home. Many people don’t have that option, and unlike an ICE vehicle, you can’t keep five gallons of electricity in the outbuilding or garage for emergencies. Patrick
This is a known issue with EVs. The batteries have reduced output in cold weather. The colder the worse the problem. They are working on it but this is where we are at now. EVs are not perfect for all situations. If you live where it gets very cold and or you have to travel far, EVs right now are not a good option. But if you live in a big city and don't normally travel far, EVs are a very good option. Especially if you can charge it at home at night.
I have been watching the EV fire situation since Uncle Tony's Garage showed me. Yesterday, I saw, in Deerborn, a new F150 Lightning go up in flames while being charged, taking to others with it. I don't think an electric truck is ready for prime time quite yet. In my case, I tow my trailer up as secondary highway at least twice a year. It is a 450 mile trip (750 Km) and an electric truck will not make that range, and there are no known charging stations. My F150, on the other hand, gets 600 miles (1000 Km) at least on a full tank if I am not pulling my trailer. No worries about fuel. If pulling the trailer, I get around 600 Km (400 miles) to a tank, as long as I keep it to 100 Kph, or a little less. I like to drive 90 kph (55 MPH), that way I get fairly decent mileage and fuel up half way, just in case. The cold weather will sap the range of an EV, plus, it seems below 0F (`-16 C), the super chargers have trouble providing a charge to the cars. EV's would be great for short distances, or in a warm climate, but, here in Canada, I think the Lower Mainland is the only place I can really see an EV making sense. Just my 2 cents, an opinion, that's all. I hope everyone has a great day. Remember, JLYSDI Chuck
Cold weather is a challenge for EV's in two respects. First, many of them use the electricity to make heat, so if it's very cold a lot of your battery can be used up that way. Also, the common battery type used in EV's is DAMAGED by extreme cold, so the cars actively manage the battery temp (the good cars do). This means while you are asleep, in your cozy bed, your car is using electricity to keep its battery's warm enough that they aren't damaged. If you play it close, you can easily get in trouble in these situations, as shown above. If you have a home charger or are careful to keep a significant charge on the batteries. No problem.
Early adopters always pay a higher cost. I'm betting this won't be an issue in a couple more years. The tech is moving FAST.
130 years ago electric cars suffered from range and charging time issues. What makes you think it will be fixed in a couple of years?
Here's another news feed. DEAD CARS......... https://news.yahoo.com/dead-cars-surround-chargers-teslas-222959512.html
I guess there’s no severe weather durability test with EVS or severe weather charging station durability tests.
Where do you get your 82* heat & defrost from. Dead short heating elements? We all know how well home electric water heaters work.
I wonder if Tesla could sacrifice some acceleration for range? I realize that they have to sell vehicles, and "fun to drive" is a seller, but maybe "low performance mode" for cold climates or some other way to increase range. Dual motor to single? Spitballing here.
I remember reading about Ford testing F-150s somewhere in Canada, and they had two interesting discoveries related to the cold: the glue on side trim fell off, and the exhaust exiting in front of the rear tires was a no-go; the steam frose up the brakes. They still started and ran, though.
An electric motor will always start and run, doesn't matter how cold it gets. But they generate little or no heat, so the parasitic loads in the cold are huge. Efficiency decreases with cold as the load increases, but a lot of that is due to metallurgy and not electrical principles. Haven't seen any EVs in the parking lot during the past little cold snap... They had the same problem 120 years ago, and they still haven't been able to resolve it. I guess it shows you can't beat physics, even though the Greenies always try to convince people they have achieved the impossible. Batteries are a terrible solution as a power source. It's been known from the start that they degrade with every recharge, they fail in the cold, and they are far from robust or reliable. Mistreat one and the service life is severely shortened, and the replacement cost far exceeds the value of the car. Not to mention, they are not economically feasible to recycle so they are a landfill problem that will be far bigger than CO2 ever was. I'm all for new tech, but at least make it do the same things as what it's replacing, don't force crappier products in place of working products. Electric cars, at least as long as they rely on batteries, is a dead end technology, just like the ICE is. Figure out an alternate power source, and then there's hope, and so far the best overall solution is the Hybrid, which offers the best of both.
Well your horse won’t run out of gas or blow a tire or run over your kids at a cross walk. Time moves on…the horse went lame and some bought a Model T or A. History repeats itself with different players. These issues with EVs are real and a real problem but the days of the ICE engine are numbered. The genie is out of the bottle. I don’t have an EV but I suspect I will have to own one…
I was in Iceland in the early 70s. Took some time to venture out and ride Icelandic horses. These suckers could deal with -40 F temps, no trouble eating (recharging) or being ridden at temps humans could endure, with reserve. Never saw a headline that stated Icelandic horses were too cold to operate. Never saw one stuck on the side of the road. (edited to add.... I posted the same time bostoncat68 did!)
One hundred years ago there was no need to force people to ditch their horses and buy cars, trucks and tractors. It is not necessary to force people into things that are better.
The cold is one issue, and, if you live in Canada, or any other northern, or extreme southern country, then maybe wait and see how they deal with the issues. Maybe they can solve the cold issue without having the car heat the batteries, thus reducing range The fire potential is another issue. That one, they are going to haveto solve before an EV bus goes up and kills everyone on board. i have seen reports of EV batteries that have been damaged going over a large bump that damaged a cell. Once LiPO batteries are damaged, they are a ticking time bomb, ask me how I know. I fly drones and run RC cars and had a charging battery go up. Can't put that s**t out easily. I picked it up in my hands and ran to the door, shouting "Open the door, open the door." It really hurt. I do not want an EV charging in our parking lot next to my Wildcat!me The last issue I have researched is what to do with the car when the batteries need to be replaced. China has the largest EV adoption rate, but they also have whole EV graveyards because it is cheaper to replace the car than the battery. There are a couple of people in Canada with a Nissan Leaf that have been waiting for over a year for a replacement battery, under warranty. The cars were older models and the batteries required are no longer produced. Now, with our ICE cars, if the motor dies, we either rebuild it, as I did, or replace it. This is not an option with EV's. We have to be able to, at a reasonable cost, recycle EV batteries to they do not end up in the landfill, or the cars in wrecking yards. maybe some company could get the rights to reproduce older EV batteries that the manufacturer doesn't anymore. No battery... no EV. I don't begrudge EV's. They are the future, they just need so, well, fine tuning. Maybe an alternative fuel source, such as the breakthrough they had with Fusion. Supposedly going to be the energy of the future. How about Hydrogen? Exhausts water from the tailpipe. Propane and natural gas are also options, as a stopgap measure. I don't know what is going to happen down the road. I guess we will have to just wait and see.
