EV Thread

Andy · Jul 10, 2021

Popcorn:

The EV 1000: 11 EVs Face Off in a Long-Distance Race

A 1000-mile race reveals what it's like to drive an EV long distances in 2021.

www.caranddriver.com

FWIW, I just got back from a road trip nearly that long in my ID.4 and it was 896 mi, 56 mph, 15h56m driving, 2h35m charging, 3.0 mi/kWh, 296 kWh.

Uwe · Jul 10, 2021

Andy said:
Popcorn:

The EV 1000: 11 EVs Face Off in a Long-Distance Race

A 1000-mile race reveals what it's like to drive an EV long distances in 2021.

www.caranddriver.com

Our drivers are split when asked whether the EV 1000 was harder or easier than expected, but most say that if they were to do the trip again, they would do one thing differently: drive a gas car. And that includes the Tesla drivers.

-Uwe-

vreihen · Jul 15, 2021

Don't know if this has been posted yet, but it makes an interesting rationale for using drum brakes in EV applications:

https://www.autoblog.com/2021/06/16/drum-brakes-evs/

Given the limited use of the physical brake system when properly driving an EV with regenerative braking, it makes total sense to me.....

.

stefdds · Jul 16, 2021

New Tesla model caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

The car owner’s attorneys said that he noticed smoke coming from the back of his 2021 Model S Plaid and tried to unlock and open the doors but had to force his way out of the vehicle.

www.nbcnews.com

Uwe · Jul 17, 2021

stefdds said:
New Tesla model caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

The car owner’s attorneys said that he noticed smoke coming from the back of his 2021 Model S Plaid and tried to unlock and open the doors but had to force his way out of the vehicle.

www.nbcnews.com

I'll say it before and I'll say it again: If this had been an ICE car, there might have been a blurb about it in the local news outlet, but it certainly wouldn't have made the national news. This is exactly what happened when a totally conventional pickup caught fire and ended up looking not to different than this Tesla on the road right in front of our office.

There are something like 150,000 car fires every year in the USA. I have yet to see anyone make a case that Teslas and other EVs catch fire at a higher rate than conventional cars do.

-Uwe-

vreihen · Jul 17, 2021

This picture that I saw online a few years ago *was* a BMW i3, with a footnote that the fire was caused by something else in the garage and not the EV. Interesting how the carbon fiber tub and most of the seats are completely unrecognizable:

.

Uwe · Jul 17, 2021

vreihen said:
Interesting how the carbon fiber tub and most of the seats are completely unrecognizable

I'm not surprised. The resin that binds the carbon fiber into a very high strength, low weight structural material is not amenable to high temperatures, and unlike a metal structure, will probably actually burn.

-Uwe-

vreihen · Jul 17, 2021

The above picture is why the second action that I took last month upon being alerted that our neighbor's house was on fire was to move the i3 down the street to keep it away from the heat.....

Andy · Sep 7, 2021

Is this doing it right? I have a Honda-engine generator (rated 6800/8500W) that I use to power my house during outages and I fired it up to blow out the cobwebs and get fresh fuel through the carb. While it was running, I figured why not try applying a load and to my amazement the ID.4 charger was perfectly happy with the power and a Kill-A-Watt showed 1125W while the car showed the typical 2-3 mph. I only ran it for 15 minutes or so and used about 0.25 kWh.

vreihen · Sep 7, 2021

My generator's instructions say to do test runs with a load attached, so I'd say you are doing it by the book!

I assembled my OpenEVSE kit with the matching 230V plug to our garage, um, welder outlet

and generator sockets, so we can do a full Level 2 charge of both EV's in the event of an extended power failure.

What I need to do one of these days is buy a diesel generator, because playing the 5-gallon gas can game gets tiring when you don't have a gas-powered car to burn off the post-blackout excess before it goes stale with no gas-powered cars in the fleet. (We won't count the TT, since it sits in the trailer and only runs on super unleaded. If I had a diesel generator, I could tap the heating oil tank or buy pump diesel in cans and dump the excess into The Mighty Dodge.....

vreihen · Sep 7, 2021

I should throw in a note here that the 12V aux battery in my Bavarian Golf Cart (BMW i3) finally gave up the ghost two weeks ago. Six years without a replacement seems to be a BMW record, because most of them crap out after 3 years. First EV repair that I've had to pay for, $140 for the unicorn AUX-18L battery and $32 for the BimmerLink smartphone app to register it in the car's controllers.....

Uwe · Sep 7, 2021

vreihen said:
the unicorn AUX-18L battery

A quick web-search shows Deka/East Penn makes them. Can't be that much of a "Unicorn".

Still, sounds easier than this job.

-Uwe-

vreihen · Sep 7, 2021

AFAIK, the only application for the AUX-18L is in the BMW i3 (and possibly the i8). Other than one battery retailer in the midwest who keeps them fresh in stock for ground shipping, the only source is a regional Deka showroom...who likely has to order it themselves because of the limited number that were sold. It is also apparently unobtanium as BMW P/N 61-21-9-321-815 through their dealer parts network, although I didn't try our local dealership to confirm.

The last (read: only) time that I was ever at our local BMW dealer, the service advisor tried to sell me a ~$600 oil change package for a battery-only EV. No, you can't make this stuff up..... :facepalm:

NZDubNurd · Sep 7, 2021

vreihen said:
Six years without a replacement seems to be a BMW record, because most of them crap out after 3 years.

The Battery in our old E39 525i *only* lasted a few days over 13 years... despite my Mrs running it flat and roll starting the car (yes, it had a real trans too).

The one in Dads E30 325i SE *only* lasted 9 years... and the second one only 6 months... turns out the alternator regulator had a slight fault and the first battery was actually not the fault

Uwe · Sep 7, 2021

vreihen said:
The last (read: only) time that I was ever at our local BMW dealer, the service advisor tried to sell me a ~$600 oil change package for a battery-only EV. No, you can't make this stuff up.....

Maybe he previously worked at a Tesla service center?

Tesla Model Y Teardown Reveals Oil Filters Attached To Its Motors

Did you know the motors in a Tesla had oil filters attached to them? They are from the gearbox units, as the Model Y teardown process revealed.

insideevs.com

-Uwe-

Andy · Sep 9, 2021

No spoilers but I was quite unsurprised by the outcome:

Andy · Dec 2, 2021

A neat battery recycling vid that is relevant to my current ID.4 interests:

Uwe · Dec 2, 2021

Andy said:
A neat battery recycling vid that is relevant to my current ID.4

Uhm... ID.x batteries should not need to be recycled at this point!!!

-Uwe-

vreihen · Dec 2, 2021

Uwe said:
Uhm... ID.x batteries should not need to be recycled at this point!!!

Yes, but one must be aware of the lithium footprint

of their current EV when it reaches the end of its service life. (I just made up "lithium footprint" right now, and think that I should trademark it so that I can control its use.)

Out of curiosity, does anyone have access to the VAG mothership's parts system that can look up 0Z1915913M and see what vehicle(s) it is used in? The part number was on one of the computer screens in @Andy's video above, and I'm curious if the batteries being recycled are ID.x or older eGolf ones.....

Andy · Dec 2, 2021

@vreihen I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to purchase lithium credits from you to offset my lithium footprint.

Edit: That looks like the smaller ID.3 battery, the entire assembly with all the cells and controllers and whatnot.

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