Still want an EV? (NO POLITICS)

[eugenebmw]

The true color of EV. Canadian are starting to get the very expensive after taste of it.

Edmonton faces questions of calculated risk following $82-million electric bus failure.

“None of the buses have ever achieved 328 km on a single charge,” the proof of claim says. “On average, the bus range has been approximately 165 km in the winter and, at best, 250 km in warmer weather"

https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/...ic-bus-failure

[eugenebmw]

You think you can get away of lower the cost of ownership with a EV. Don't be a fool. Your are going to pay for higher insurance premiums

https://www.ctvnews.ca/autos/how-a-s...ance-1.6765432

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by eugenebmw

The true color of EV. Canadian are starting to get the very expensive after taste of it.

Edmonton faces questions of calculated risk following $82-million electric bus failure.

“None of the buses have ever achieved 328 km on a single charge,” the proof of claim says. “On average, the bus range has been approximately 165 km in the winter and, at best, 250 km in warmer weather"

https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/...ic-bus-failure

What a mess the transit company have got themselves into and what happens to the buses that are not fit for purpose...as the gub ment shrugs its shoulders after forcing the company to go electric.

[Murf the Surf]

Mr. Bean blamed for low EV sales in United Kingdom
Well, technically, the actor who portrayed Mr. Bean—Rowan Atkinson—is taking the blame, but why?

Author of the article: Ben Carrozza, Driving
Published Feb 10, 2024 • Last updated 3 days ago • 2 minute read

https://driving.ca/auto-news/enterta...iving_promo_AO


British comedian and actor Rowan Atkinson has been singled out for “damaging” the reputation and sales of electric vehicles in the United Kingdom.

The star, best known internationally for his role as the bumbling man-child Mr. Bean, was specifically mentioned by environmental watchdog Green Alliance in a British parliamentary committee meeting for impacting the sales and eco-friendly esteem of electric vehicles (EV) after penning a recent op-ed in the Guardian.

In the piece titled “I love electric vehicles – and was an early adopter. But increasingly I feel duped,” Atkinson wrote EVs don’t “seem to be quite the environmental panacea it is claimed to be,” pointing to ongoing issues of greenhouse gas emissions during manufacturing of lithium ion batteries, as well as the problem of clean disposal of EVs after short, ‘fast fashion’ type life cycles.

The actor went on to offer possible solutions such as owners holding onto their vehicles for longer, as well as increasing the adoption of synthetic fuel, going on to say: “I’m feeling that our honeymoon with electric cars is coming to an end…”

Green Alliance presented its views with the committee on obstacles to the British government’s current plans to eliminate gas-powered vehicles in the U.K. by 2035 — one of those obstacle being “accuracy of the information in the public domain” in regard to EVs. It goes on to cite the comedian’s June 2023 editorial as: “One of the most damaging articles…” about the subject. Further, Green Alliance responded to Atkinson’s piece saying, “Unfortunately, fact checks never reach the same breadth of audience as the original false claim, emphasising the need to ensure high editorial standards around the net zero transition.”

The committee meeting highlighted other obstacles facing adoption of EVs in the U.K. including low numbers of charging points, prohibitive pricing, and the absence of “consistent messaging from the government.”

The Guardian itself published a response a week after Atkinson’s piece by deputy editor Simon Evans — who also serves as senior policy editor of the environmental news site Carbon Brief — which looked to rebut the comedian’s claims. Evans flagged Atkinson’s “failure to recognise that electric vehicles already offer significant global environmental benefits, compared with combustion-engine cars” as his “biggest mistake.”

[Murf the Surf]

Chrysler says Halcyon EV could cross country without plugging in
The automaker's newest electric concept comes crammed with new tech, but its headline no-charging-required claim comes with an asterisk

Author of the article: David Booth
Published Feb 13, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 7 minute read

The first thing Chrysler wants you to notice about its Halcyon Concept is its futuristic shape. So much of the marketing bumpf — oops, the press release — that accompanied the photos here tries to convince, in the written word, how far its stylists pushed the envelope. The second thing the company’s wordsmiths are trying to convince us of was how high-tech its interior would be when — more like “if,” considering how little attention Stellantis is paying sedans these days — something shaped like this might hit the streets. Lost — barely mentioned, in fact — in the 2,958 words pontificating on the Halcyon’s beauty and high-tech-ery were some seriously impressive battery and charging technologies.

But do you care to guess which of those three highlights tickled my interest?

I’ll cover the obvious first. The Halcyon looks to us like a super-streamlined combination of ancient Le Mans racer — I mean, check that windscreen disappearing into the front hood — and a little-known Corvette prototype, the CERV III, blended with a touch of a ‘60s Lincoln Town Car — via the rear suicide doors — thrown in for good measure.

Officially, Chrysler talks about “a distinctive vehicle character line travelling around the concept” and its “warm acrylic-tinted butterfly-hinged canopy,” but I think the highest compliment that can be paid is that the Halcyon seems totally futuristic without looking like it was penned by George Jetson. If this is what the future looks like, sign me up!

As for the high-techery, I am, being an old fart — not to mention having just read a treatise in automobile cyber-hacking — a little less enamoured. The doors, for instance, are autonomous—in other words, yes, they are self-opening. Seriously, it’s now worth offering black-hat hackers another attack vector — and one that allows direct access to the vehicle — just so you can brag no door handles are needed?

Sometime in the future, we’re going to have to choose between convenience and theft-proofing, and I suspect I know which one many are going to pick. As cool as they sound, I’m not sure self-opening doors are going to pass muster.

Other new features will no doubt prove more useful. The STLA Brain system delivers over-the-air updates, and STLA AI will allow the Halcyon to diagnose its own ills far more comprehensively than current automotive electronic control units. The car itself is, no surprise, also autonomous, so much so that the steering wheel disappears into the dash, the pedals retract, and the “driver” is completely unencumbered — or is that freed from? — steering and driving the car. Even the rear buckets can be retracted into the trunk area, creating the sedan version of Chrysler’s famed Stow ‘n Go seating.

Throw in a giant 15.6-inch touchscreen that can be rotated between a panoramic or portrait orientation for maximum graphics clarity, and—and, well, there’s still a bunch more high-tech inside. For one thing, when it’s set to autonomous driving, something Chrysler calls “Stargazing Mode” uses the huge augmented-reality windshield HUD to project information about the stars and constellations you might see above. The augmented-reality HUD also includes a “Memory Landmark” feature that can pinpoint local areas of interest.

Chrysler also claims all the materials inside are “sustainable.” Some of the trim material, for instance, is made from recycled music CDs. About 73 per cent of the Solar White suede upholstery is reclaimed from PET bottles. Oh, and 100 per cent of the polyester that makes up the Melange Heather trim fabric has also seen previous duty.

There’s a bunch more that Chrysler wants to brag about the Halcyon’s interior, but I want to get to the meat of what really makes this concept so interesting, namely the battery tech claims will be driving the Halcyon to “unlimited” range. Yes, I said “unlimited,” and, yes, that’s a direct quote from Stellantis.

First off there’s the battery. While there’s nothing overly special about the fact the Halcyon’s running an 800-volt architecture — Porsche just boosted its 2025 Taycan to 830V and top-of-the-line Lucids run as much as 900V — the fact its batteries are based on lithium-sulfur chemistry certainly is.

Combining lithium with sulfur has all sorts of advantages, says San Jose, California-based battery designer Lyten, not the least of which is that sulfur, being common as (literally) dirt is far less expensive than traditional nickel, manganese, and cobalt (NMC) ingredients. That ubiquitous-ness also means a battery’s constituent materials won’t have to travel hundreds — sometime thousands — of miles from mine to factory.

But the real attraction is that lithium-sulfur offers unheard-of energy density. Officially, Lyten says its chemistry offers twice the energy density of current lithium-ion batteries. More impressively, lithium-sulfur’s 0.6 kilowatt-hours per kilogram is 50 per cent greater than the 0.4 kWh/kg that much-touted-but-yet-to-arrive solid-state batteries will boast. And compared with the LFP batteries that can compete on price, Li-S is three times as energy-dense, that 0.6 kilowatt-hours per kilogram competing against just 0.2 kWh/kg.

What that means is that current batteries could be smaller and lighter, making cars — such as the Halcyon — more efficient and range-happy. Conversely, behemoth — and energy-sucking — beasts like full-sized pickups could fit more kilowatt-hours between their frame rails, and perhaps be able to tow boats and other heavy loads further than their current 150-kilometre (93-mile) limits.

Whether it’s doubling the range or powering a lighter-weight EV, the promise of this chemistry is enough that no less than CEO Carlos Tavares says “Lyten’s lithium-sulfur battery has the potential to be a key ingredient in enabling mass-market EV adoption globally, and their material technology is equally well positioned to help reduce vehicle weight, which is all necessary for our industry to achieve carbon net-zero goals.” Bold words, indeed.

Especially since sulfur is, well, a right pain in the you-know-what to work with. Even Celina Mikolajczak, chief battery technology officer of Lyten, says “sulfur is unruly.” So is lithium, says Mikolajczak, and, when you put the two together, she told a recent BNEF summit, you get a battery that is really “fussy” to work with.

The big problem seems to be that sulfur goes from a solid to a liquid as it is charged and discharged, causing the cathode to dissolve into the electrolyte in early Li-S cells. The secret sauce to Lyten’s battery would appear to be 3D graphene, but, for the life of me, I can’t figure out exactly how it makes sulfur a more tenable battery material; what I do know is that Lyten claims it can lighten the average battery’s weight by as much as 170 kilograms (375 lbs) and reduce the CO2 produced in its manufacture by some 60 per cent.

So, Chrysler’s contention the Halcyon will be powered by a lithium-sulfur battery may be an “if” — as opposed to the press release’s inferring it’s just a “when” — but its potential benefits seem well worth the work.

But that gets us “more,” not “unlimited” range. For that, we have to go to another unique feature Chrysler promises is in the Halcyon’s future: Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer (DWPT) charging. Most of us — at least those interested in EVs — have heard of wireless charging. Similar in concept to the systems used to charge cell phones inside our cars, such systems promise to charge our cars’ batteries by simply parking over an inductive charging pad. No plugging in needed, thank you very much!

What “Dynamic” adds to the equation — as Motor Mouth has previously explained — is charging “pads” built into the roadways our future Halcyons will be driving over. Hence Chrysler’s claim that so equipped — and with a highway that can accommodate DWPT — a Halcyon would be able to travel from “New York to Seattle without need of charger, charge cord, or charge stations.” Though no such highway exists — or is planned for anything like the foreseeable future! — Stellantis demonstrated DWPT’s potential at Italy’s “Arena del Futuro” high-speed track back in 2022.

“Electrifying” our highways may end up costing as much as a million dollars a mile — not to mention, it would mean digging up our entire highway system — but it would allow cars like the Halcyon to never, ever need a charging station. Futuristic styling and doors that open automatically may be the attention-grabbers that “sell” Chrysler as a viable brand — still debatable, by the way, since its only current product is the Pacifica minivan — but envisaging lithium-sulfur batteries and wireless charging beneath our highways is why we should still pay attention to Stellantis’ electrification efforts, despite its slow start down the Zero-Emission Vehicle path.

[Car-Addicted]

No matter what the energy density is, the issue will always be the charge time and not the discharge.

Also what is it with concept cars and goofy steering wheels?

[eugenebmw]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

What a mess the transit company have got themselves into and what happens to the buses that are not fit for purpose...as the gub ment shrugs its shoulders after forcing the company to go electric.

We will end up with lots of fancy electric door stoppers

[eugenebmw]

Originally Posted by Murf the Surf

Mr. Bean blamed for low EV sales in United Kingdom
Well, technically, the actor who portrayed Mr. Bean—Rowan Atkinson—is taking the blame, but why?

Author of the article: Ben Carrozza, Driving
Published Feb 10, 2024 • Last updated 3 days ago • 2 minute read

https://driving.ca/auto-news/enterta...iving_promo_AO


British comedian and actor Rowan Atkinson has been singled out for “damaging” the reputation and sales of electric vehicles in the United Kingdom.

The star, best known internationally for his role as the bumbling man-child Mr. Bean, was specifically mentioned by environmental watchdog Green Alliance in a British parliamentary committee meeting for impacting the sales and eco-friendly esteem of electric vehicles (EV) after penning a recent op-ed in the Guardian.

In the piece titled “I love electric vehicles – and was an early adopter. But increasingly I feel duped,” Atkinson wrote EVs don’t “seem to be quite the environmental panacea it is claimed to be,” pointing to ongoing issues of greenhouse gas emissions during manufacturing of lithium ion batteries, as well as the problem of clean disposal of EVs after short, ‘fast fashion’ type life cycles.

The actor went on to offer possible solutions such as owners holding onto their vehicles for longer, as well as increasing the adoption of synthetic fuel, going on to say: “I’m feeling that our honeymoon with electric cars is coming to an end…”

Green Alliance presented its views with the committee on obstacles to the British government’s current plans to eliminate gas-powered vehicles in the U.K. by 2035 — one of those obstacle being “accuracy of the information in the public domain” in regard to EVs. It goes on to cite the comedian’s June 2023 editorial as: “One of the most damaging articles…” about the subject. Further, Green Alliance responded to Atkinson’s piece saying, “Unfortunately, fact checks never reach the same breadth of audience as the original false claim, emphasising the need to ensure high editorial standards around the net zero transition.”

The committee meeting highlighted other obstacles facing adoption of EVs in the U.K. including low numbers of charging points, prohibitive pricing, and the absence of “consistent messaging from the government.”

The Guardian itself published a response a week after Atkinson’s piece by deputy editor Simon Evans — who also serves as senior policy editor of the environmental news site Carbon Brief — which looked to rebut the comedian’s claims. Evans flagged Atkinson’s “failure to recognise that electric vehicles already offer significant global environmental benefits, compared with combustion-engine cars” as his “biggest mistake.”

Our government don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed. They took the stupidity to the next level

[eugenebmw]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

No matter what the energy density is, the issue will always be the charge time and not the discharge.

Also what is it with concept cars and goofy steering wheels?

What happen to that steering wheel when it turn 90 degree?

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by eugenebmw

What happen to that steering wheel when it turn 90 degree?

Then you are a candidate for the Vienna Boys Choir.

[M5Rick]

Another bus bites the dust and the cause of the fire is a mystery....
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ish-cause.html

[eugenebmw]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Then you are a candidate for the Vienna Boys Choir.

I am afraid it may turn uglier than that.

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Another bus bites the dust and the cause of the fire is a mystery....

The cause of the fire is easy, too many stupid politicians and green grifters and not enough pissed off voting tax payers.

[eugenebmw]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Another bus bites the dust and the cause of the fire is a mystery....
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ish-cause.html

I will be very concern about the toxic gases when an EV on fire. Over 100 organic chemicals are generated, including some incredibly toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide – both of which are fatal to humans.

The same hydrogen cyanide the Nazis used under the trade name Zyklon B to kill more than a million people in gas chambers in Auschwitz and other extermination camps.

The history is repeating itself

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by eugenebmw

I will be very concern about the toxic gases when an EV on fire.

Image when one of these bus's ignites and the electric door don't open. You won't be able to keep that off the front pages.

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by eugenebmw

I will be very concern about the toxic gases when an EV on fire. Over 100 organic chemicals are generated, including some incredibly toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide – both of which are fatal to humans.

The same hydrogen cyanide the Nazis used under the trade name Zyklon B to kill more than a million people in gas chambers in Auschwitz and other extermination camps.

The history is repeating itself

It won’t be long before modern day EV Nazis are gassing and killing millions in the name of climate change. We have to stop this and think of the children.

[gonzo]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Image when one of these bus's ignites and the electric door don't open. You won't be able to keep that off the front pages.

Want to bet?

[Murf the Surf]

Originally Posted by eugenebmw

I will be very concern about the toxic gases when an EV on fire. Over 100 organic chemicals are generated, including some incredibly toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide – both of which are fatal to humans.

The same hydrogen cyanide the Nazis used under the trade name Zyklon B to kill more than a million people in gas chambers in Auschwitz and other extermination camps.

The history is repeating itself

I'm no expert but if I recall that hydrogen cyanide is bad.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by eugenebmw

I will be very concern about the toxic gases when an EV on fire. Over 100 organic chemicals are generated, including some incredibly toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide – both of which are fatal to humans.

The same hydrogen cyanide the Nazis used under the trade name Zyklon B to kill more than a million people in gas chambers in Auschwitz and other extermination camps.

The history is repeating itself

This must have been known to our leaders when they forced the eV itinerary onto us, the 'brainy' scientists must have told them...or they just conveniently left it out.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Image when one of these bus's ignites and the electric door don't open. You won't be able to keep that off the front pages.

On the older diesel buses there was an escape door/window with a manual handle to open in case passengers could not alight in the normal way. I have not noticed any such emergency exits on the newer hybrid/electric ones.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

No matter what the energy density is, the issue will always be the charge time and not the discharge.

Also what is it with concept cars and goofy steering wheels?

Copied from the Austin Allegro, a 70's car nicknamed 'All Aggro'

[eugenebmw]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

On the older diesel buses there was an escape door/window with a manual handle to open in case passengers could not alight in the normal way. I have not noticed any such emergency exits on the newer hybrid/electric ones.

Good luck. Hope you stay claim, connect to youtube and go through the steps to finally open the doors.

Can people outside the car open the doors when the power was cut off? Imagine someone unconscious in the car during accident or fire and the power was off.

Simple answer: Break the window