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Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2023 10:09 pm
by mark4007
Firefly wrote: ↑Sat Dec 16, 2023 1:55 pm
Mark4007
Rather than relying on one man's opinion, I prefer to wait and see the outcome, if such an event happens on our motorways. Until then I'll stick with what I've got.
I see that the article mentions the Tesla again, what is it with those cars, that they seem to be the be all and end all for some people?
Tesla are like ford..
they have already changed the automobile industry / space flight and solar energy..
They may end up going bankrupt in the same way as the canals and the railways but the steps forward they are making have already benefited us all...
oh and the cars they make are really rather good,..
As for EVs in traffic jams.. you stick with one mans opinions (your own)..
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2023 10:50 am
by WHL
Most of us won't be around in a few years , so I for one are not going to spend time worrying what if this and what if that re electric cars
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2023 11:46 am
by Firefly
Mark
It's not an opinion as such, rather that I would like to see the results of tests, with my own eyes, and so far, there are non to see. So it's all conjecture as I see it.
Like many ideas, they don't always work in practice.
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2023 11:52 am
by Aargent
Firefly wrote: ↑Sat Dec 16, 2023 1:55 pm
I see that the article mentions the Tesla again, what is it with those cars, that they seem to be the be all and end all for some people?
The cars are named in honour of Nikola Tesla a once famous scientist whose specialty was Electricity as with so many geniuses he made a lot of money and could have made more with the patents that he held but died alone and bankrupt. What I find ironic is the he concentrated on moving away from DC [ direct current ] and furthering AC [ alternating current ] whilst, of course, the cars are driven by batteries. in other words DC.
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2023 12:03 pm
by Firefly
Aargent
Thank you for that, interesting too.
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2023 5:56 pm
by mark4007
Firefly wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2023 11:46 am
Mark
It's not an opinion as such, rather that I would like to see the results of tests, with my own eyes, and so far, there are non to see. So it's all conjecture as I see it.
Like many ideas, they don't always work in practice.
What exactly do you want to see.
A big battery in an electric car holds a lot of energy.. say 70!kwh.. a big heater in a home consumes 2Kwh .. even if the battery was at 50% you’d still have 17 hours of tropical heat in a traffic jam..
I provided a link to test results ., do you actually want to stay in an EV for 24 hours to prove you could survive a 24 hour traffic jam?
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2023 7:42 pm
by Firefly
No, I, don't want to stay in an EV for 24hrs, in a traffic jam.
That's precisely why I would like those who have done test, so let us see the test taking place.
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2023 2:01 am
by mark4007
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2023 10:39 am
by Paul
I was watching videos on youtube about two men who drove from john o groats to lands end,
one was driving a 2 ltr BMW diesel and the other was driving an electric Porsche Taycan.
The BMW did the trip and the cost of diesel was £122 at the time.
The Porsche Taycan electric and the cost of electric was £298 for the same trip.
One of the main problems for the electric car was charging it up and range.
The BMW got to Birmingham before it needed fuel!!

Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2023 10:41 am
by Aargent
What would worry me about an EV is not so much that it could run out of juice in a traffic jam as the fact that if it did you cannot tow it. Since it has no gearbox it has no Neutral and towing would cause damage . You’d be ok in Cyprus as they use Flatbeds but in many circumstance in other countries that is not an option.
My take on the EV is that it is the modern equivalent of the VHS recorder. Many will remember everyone owning on and a raft of ‘Blockbusters’ across town what could go wrong? Well first it was the DVD, which Blockbusters survived but then came streaming and the end of VHS and DVD.
The biggest car manufacturers in the world are spending a lot of money developing Hydrogen powered cars and although Hydrogen is expensive to produce at the moment it can also be found by drilling in a natural golden form which the Earth replaces as a natural function.
https://www.science.org/content/article ... -free-fuel
What I am saying is that the EV may well be the VHS of the present but it is certainly not the future.
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2023 1:47 pm
by Devil
I'm sorry, Alastair, but I believe you are wrong on a number of points. In the first place, I see no reason why an EV cannot be towed. In fact, it could even be that towing the vehicle could help to recharge the batteries. I wouldn't say that they are okay in Cyprus but mainly because the electricity generated to charge the batteries, especially at night, would come mainly from fossil fuelled power stations. Depending where the electricity comes from, the EV will almost certainly be the most economical means of transport. They are taking off in a big way in a number of countries.
Hydrogen is inefficient because it is generated electrolytically. This means that you have to have an electricity supply from some other means in order to produce it, with significant energy losses in the process.I should add that hydrogen from the earth is not proven yet.
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2023 2:07 pm
by Aargent
Devil wrote: ↑Mon Dec 18, 2023 1:47 pm
Hydrogen is inefficient because it is generated electrolytically. This means that you have to have an electricity supply from some other means in order to produce it, with significant energy losses in the process.I should add that hydrogen from the earth is not proven yet.
Suggest that you read the article quoted in my last post. you know the one about naturally occurring Hydrogen that requires no electricity, it comes up just like natural gas and it replenishes itself. I am not usually in favour of the BBC but this is a factual story
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67541581
Secondly I suggest that you Google " towing an EV " there are plenty articles saying that it a bad idea and will damage the vehicle.
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2023 7:27 pm
by Devil
Aargent wrote: ↑Mon Dec 18, 2023 2:07 pm
Devil wrote: ↑Mon Dec 18, 2023 1:47 pm
Hydrogen is inefficient because it is generated electrolytically. This means that you have to have an electricity supply from some other means in order to produce it, with significant energy losses in the process.I should add that hydrogen from the earth is not proven yet.
Suggest that you read the article quoted in my last post. you know the one about naturally occurring Hydrogen that requires no electricity, it comes up just like natural gas and it replenishes itself. I am not usually in favour of the BBC but this is a factual story
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67541581
Secondly I suggest that you Google " towing an EV " there are plenty articles saying that it a bad idea and will damage the vehicle.
I did read it from beginning to end and it is made quite clear that, at this stage, it is pie in the sky.
the article you mentioned and others are about using the vehicle for towing, not for the vehicle being towed. Furthermore, the range drops mentioned are for when you are pulling the extra load. Even petrol and diesel engines increase the consumption when the load is increased.
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2023 12:26 pm
by Aargent
Devil wrote: ↑Mon Dec 18, 2023 7:27 pm
Aargent wrote: ↑Mon Dec 18, 2023 2:07 pm
Devil wrote: ↑Mon Dec 18, 2023 1:47 pm
Hydrogen is inefficient because it is generated electrolytically. This means that you have to have an electricity supply from some other means in order to produce it, with significant energy losses in the process.I should add that hydrogen from the earth is not proven yet.
Suggest that you read the article quoted in my last post. you know the one about naturally occurring Hydrogen that requires no electricity, it comes up just like natural gas and it replenishes itself. I am not usually in favour of the BBC but this is a factual story
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67541581
Secondly I suggest that you Google " towing an EV " there are plenty articles saying that it a bad idea and will damage the vehicle.
I did read it from beginning to end and it is made quite clear that, at this stage, it is pie in the sky.
the article you mentioned and others are about using the vehicle for towing, not for the vehicle being towed. Furthermore, the range drops mentioned are for when you are pulling the extra load. Even petrol and diesel engines increase the consumption when the load is increased.
How difficult can it be to tap “ TOWING AN EV “ into google and to ignore any “ towing WITH an ev" ? which is not what I suggested. For instance
Using a hook and chain truck, dolly, or wheel lift tow truck leaves two of the EV’s wheels spinning. When an EV’s wheels spin, they continuously generate power to the battery. If that power is not being used it can damage the battery and motor. In order to safely tow an electric vehicle, you must use a flatbed tow truck.
Because of the complications that come with the absence of a neutral gear in an electric car, the only way to tow an EV is with a flatbed tow truck. A flatbed tow truck will usually carry other vehicles on its body. This is done by lowering or tilting the flat bed to load the car, or by winching the car aboard.
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2023 3:01 pm
by Devil
It is foreseeable, I agree, that the massive overcharging of the batteries could reduce their capacity. Okay, you have a problem going along the motorway, for whatever reason, and your battery is flat. This doesn't happen from one minute to the next and you would lose sufficient traction to keep up your legal 100 km/h. You would get to the next junction, where someone has had the foresight to build a charging station for you. No damage done other than a loss of time for your next appointment.
So, a kind Samaritan has seen your plight, asked where you are going and hitches a tow rope onto your vehicle and pulls you for several hundred kilometres to the other end of the island. Then you complain that your battery has been damaged, which is extremely unlikely because the electronics in your car would have taken care of the problem, the same way that, if you leave it plugged in, the excess charge would be negligible in terms of battery life.
EV cars are still in their infancy and their electronics is improving almost daily. Take it in for routine servicing and there is every chance that at least one circuit board controlling the vehicle has changed. In a former life, I used to be a Chartered Electronics Engineer. For many applications, we used rechargeable batteries (in those days, either lead-acid or NiFe cells) and we always took care to prevent overcharging. Yes, we even had battery vehicles in those days – submarines – and the batteries were recharged from diesel generators catering for both fast and slow charging. It wouldn't do, if you were submerged in the middle of the Pacific, to have a battery failure, would it?
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2023 7:09 am
by mark4007
Aargent wrote: ↑Mon Dec 18, 2023 10:41 am
What would worry me about an EV is not so much that it could run out of juice in a traffic jam as the fact that if it did you cannot tow it. Since it has no gearbox it has no Neutral and towing would cause damage . You’d be ok in Cyprus as they use Flatbeds but in many circumstance in other countries that is not an option.
My take on the EV is that it is the modern equivalent of the VHS recorder. Many will remember everyone owning on and a raft of ‘Blockbusters’ across town what could go wrong? Well first it was the DVD, which Blockbusters survived but then came streaming and the end of VHS and DVD.
The biggest car manufacturers in the world are spending a lot of money developing Hydrogen powered cars and although Hydrogen is expensive to produce at the moment it can also be found by drilling in a natural golden form which the Earth replaces as a natural function.
https://www.science.org/content/article ... -free-fuel
What I am saying is that the EV may well be the VHS of the present but it is certainly not the future.
The funny thing is, the vast majority of Hydrogen vehicles are EVs.. The hydrogen is used in a fuel cell to power Electric motors which then move the vehicle.
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2023 10:58 am
by Paul
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2023 1:31 am
by mark4007
Yep.. if your regular drive is 974 miles in two days then I would not recomend buying a 120k EV.
But if you live in cyprus, most of your journeys are short distances, you can charge up your EV at home with (almost) free solar power and only occassionally feel the urge to travel from coast to coast (150 miles?) then maybe you should think about a reasonably priced EV for your next car purchase (be it new or second hand).
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2023 8:08 am
by cyprusmax47
mark4007 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 22, 2023 1:31 am
But if you live in cyprus, most of your journeys are short distances, you can charge up your EV at home with (almost) free solar power and only occassionally feel the urge to travel from coast to coast (150 miles?) then maybe you should think about a reasonably priced EV for your next car purchase (be it new or second hand).
Exactly, I could not have said it better. If you charge led say 50 kW/h with the credit you have from your solar modules it would be 2 Euro only and with 50 kW you can drive long distance here in CY....
Max
Re: Electric Cars - Caveat Emptor
Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2023 2:00 pm
by Devil
(Curmudgeon-sarcasm on) we all know that electric cars are totally useless in cold weather and the hot weather. There have been any number of posts on the media giving examples of how electric cars don't work, except in temperate climates. (Curmudgeon-sarcasm off)