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+--- Thread: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! (/showthread.php?tid=1859)
We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - nzoomed - 27-01-2023
Didnt know about the General Motors EV1 until now.
Looks like politics got in the way and the cars were all destroyed. Imagine where EV technology would be today if they had let EV's become the norm, this is going way back into the 90s!
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - Lilith7 - 27-01-2023
They surely would have made some difference.
The world's a weird place. And humans are crazy.
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - Praktica - 27-01-2023
Electric cars were about more than a century ago.
https://archive.curbed.com/2017/9/22/16346892/electric-car-history-fritchle
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - Zurdo - 27-01-2023
Grandma McDuck had one of those.
Back in the '80's I used to often follow an Electric Mitsubishi Mirage home from work...seemed to do the job ok.
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - nzoomed - 27-01-2023
(27-01-2023, 03:28 PM)Praktica Wrote: Electric cars were about more than a century ago.
https://archive.curbed.com/2017/9/22/16346892/electric-car-history-fritchle
Thats correct, EV's are not a new concept.
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - harm_less - 27-01-2023
That is well known in electric car community thanks to this movie:
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - harm_less - 27-01-2023
Also interesting to see this recent report about the progress of various countries' manufacturing capabilities in regard to EVs. Spoiler alert the Asian (but NOT Japan) are leading the charge.
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - nzoomed - 27-01-2023
(27-01-2023, 06:29 PM)harm_less Wrote: That is well known in electric car community thanks to this movie:Reminds me of the simpsons episode where they claim the stonecutters killed the electric car, i even found a tweet about it that elon even responded to!
https://twitter.com/mcwm/status/873210424111529986?s=20
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - harm_less - 27-01-2023
(27-01-2023, 06:43 PM)nzoomed Wrote:There is an EVs subcategory under Motoring that is where this thread should be. I also note that there is an apostrophe in "EV's" that shouldn't be there.(27-01-2023, 06:29 PM)harm_less Wrote: That is well known in electric car community thanks to this movie:Reminds me of the simpsons episode where they claim the stonecutters killed the electric car, i even found a tweet about it that elon even responded to!
https://twitter.com/mcwm/status/873210424111529986?s=20
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - nzoomed - 27-01-2023
(27-01-2023, 07:43 PM)harm_less Wrote:(27-01-2023, 06:43 PM)nzoomed Wrote: Reminds me of the simpsons episode where they claim the stonecutters killed the electric car, i even found a tweet about it that elon even responded to!There is an EVs subcategory under Motoring that is where this thread should be. I also note that there is an apostrophe in "EV's" that shouldn't be there.
https://twitter.com/mcwm/status/873210424111529986?s=20
I kind of put it here because it was kind of political why these cars were canned.
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - zqwerty - 28-01-2023
EV's is correct my old English teacher would say because there are missing but understood letters which go to make up the word Vehicles.
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - Olive - 28-01-2023
It is only acceptable to use an apostrophe in a plural when without one the meaning would not be clear. I don't think EV needs one. Here's a concise explanation:
"An apostrophe is indispensable, however, in the rare case in which you need to pluralize a letter of the alphabet or some other unusual form which would become unrecognizable with a plural ending stuck on it:
Mind your p's and q's.
How many s's are there in Mississippi?
It is very bad style to spatter e.g.'s and i.e.'s through your writing.
Without the apostrophes, these would be unreadable. So, when you have to pluralize an orthographically unusual form, use an apostrophe if it seems to be essential for clarity, but don't use one if the written form is perfectly clear without it. "
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - Wainuiguy - 29-01-2023
(27-01-2023, 02:01 PM)nzoomed Wrote: Didnt know about the General Motors EV1 until now.
Looks like politics got in the way and the cars were all destroyed. Imagine where EV technology would be today if they had let EV's become the norm, this is going way back into the 90s!
There is a doco called "Who Killed the Electric Car" about the development of the EV1. It had a waiting list of over 4000 when the scrapped it. It was only done via lease so the person driving it could not buy it outright and had to return it at the end of the lease term. In the end all the EV1s barring a couple in museums were scrapped. The factory where the EV1 was built was retooled to build - Hummers.
Sorry i see someone already posted it. GM's greatest folly. Had they continued they would have cornered the market on EVs and probably had a car that would do 1000km on a charge by now plus solved the towing issue with EVs.
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - zqwerty - 30-01-2023
Before we all came over from PressF1 there was a long discussion about E.V.'s. I won't go into details right now but here is an example of one of the things that was researched to gain a greater understanding of what may be involved in owning an E.V.
N.B. a swimming pool is required to drop the vehicle into to put out the fire otherwise it has to be left to burn it self out.
https://www.ktvu.com/news/tesla-spontaneously-combusts-on-sacramento-freeway?taid=63d614c866853e0001e6b2de
I believe this is quite a common phenomenon and incidents increase as the vehicles age, also spontaneously going on fire whilst being charged in the garage has also been known to happen.
Time will tell just how common this is.
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - harm_less - 31-01-2023
The subject of EV battery fire risk is one that is commonly levelled against EVs. This article gives a more balanced and knowledgable summary of the risks involved but essentially EVs are far less likely to catch fire than a fossil fueled car (which includes hybrids) and the ignition is far slower in EV batteries than for hydrocarbon based fires so more opportunity for occupants to exit the vehicle safely.
Also worth noting that battery technology is advancing rapidly with LiFePO4 becoming the most common now with solid state promising to dominate in the coming years. LiFePO4 is far less prone to thermal runaway (fire) than previous battery chemistries.
This diagram shows what characteristics are pros and cons in the various battery chemistries in current use. In addition sodium based battery technology is gaining traction currently and has more superior safety characteristics again. More suited to stationary applications like home storage of PV generation but work is ongoing so automotive use is likely at some stage.
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - zqwerty - 19-02-2023
Tesla driver killed after plowing into firetruck on freeway
"At least 14 Teslas have crashed into emergency vehicles while using the system."
https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-injuries-fires-59d22dced75ec1ce6929c9dfb094524c
RE: We could have had EV's 2 decades ago! - harm_less - 20-02-2023
(19-02-2023, 08:49 PM)zqwerty Wrote: Tesla driver killed after plowing into firetruck on freewayTwo factors that come into play there.
"At least 14 Teslas have crashed into emergency vehicles while using the system."
https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-injuries-fires-59d22dced75ec1ce6929c9dfb094524c
- Tesla owners with 'Full Self Drive' option are treating it as an 'autopilot'. In other words FSD is essentially level 2 autonomy but drivers are behaving as if it is level 4.
- Any motor vehicle accident/fire involving a Tesla becomes a lead story due to its click bait potential to the EV haters out there. I've also seen news stories describing images or video as being Teslas when the subject is clearly another car make or even a truck with exploding LPG bottles in one case.
The incidents of vehicle fires is far more common for ICE vehicles than for EVs in terms of total kms travelled but you'll seldom see a Chev, Ford, VW, BMW, etc ICE making headlines as their fuel and interior incinerate.