Are you gonna get an electric car anytime soon? (Or do you already have one?)

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I agree that hybrids are the best compromise right now. They get significantly better fuel economy than the equivalent gas only vehicle but don't have the range issues of an EV and don't need nearly the amount of expensive material for the battery because it is so much smaller.

Probably a plug-in hybrid that has 40-50 miles of battery only range is truly the best of both worlds. A normal commuter who has access to charging at work and home can be fully electric most of the time but not have to think twice about hopping in for a long trip.

I've never heard of a plug in Hybrid Lyle... Who makes those??

[Leo Enticknap]

My understanding is that most if not all of the big multinational automakers offer them now. As Lyle notes, the selling point of a PHEV is that a battery that gives you, say, 50 miles of range is nothing like as pricey, heavy, or a fire risk as one that gives you 250 miles, and with regular charging, the ICE would only need to be used a few times a year on long trips for many people. That having been said, I get the impression that hybrids that can go as far as that on electricity alone are unusual. I had a Prius as a rental car just before the pandemic, and I seem to remember that it would only do 5-6 miles of surface street driving at the absolute most before the engine started up.

The potential drawback is complexity: you have both an ICE and an electric drivetrain that can potentially go wrong.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I did find info on the one Toyota produces... It becomes more of an EV at that point, so... Still not very interested in a hybrid or EV either way...

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

In all fairness to people that do own EV's I read this article this morning... One thing the article bypasses is the fact that many Lithium batteries used at home and elsewhere simply get tossed in the trash.

[Marcel Birgelen]

"Markets WrapBiden’s New Chopper Is Demoted After Scorching White House LawnTesla S"

WrapBiden sounds like the summer special at McDonald's and a LawnTesla S like the new robot lawnmower by Tesla.
They both somehow got involved in a chopper incident that scorched the White House.

[Ryan Gallagher]

I'm probably more likely to splurge on an E-Bike long before I consider an EV. But as it is I have 3 bicycles in my studio apartment already. ;-)

[Lyle Romer]

I've never heard of a plug in Hybrid Lyle... Who makes those??

There's a version of the Prius that is a plug in hybrid. BMW makes one, I think Mercedes and a few others. The Prius Prime has 44 miles of electric range.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

There's a version of the Prius that is a plug in hybrid. BMW makes one, I think Mercedes and a few others. The Prius Prime has 44 miles of electric range.

Yes, I found that Prius info on line. Prius does have a smallish battery pack. There is a place in Salt Lake City I visited once that rebuilds them and I was surprised.. Also interesting they never seem to catch on fire.

[Lyle Romer]

Yes, I found that Prius info on line. Prius does have a smallish battery pack. There is a place in Salt Lake City I visited once that rebuilds them and I was surprised.. Also interesting they never seem to catch on fire.

Battery pack size and location probably makes them less susceptible to becoming an inferno.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Battery pack size and location probably makes them less susceptible to becoming an inferno.

That's entirely possible. Last I saw, they were under the back seat, not under the car.

[Leo Enticknap]

And charging intensity, too. The higher the charging current, the hotter the battery gets during charging. I even notice this with my little NiCd charger for 1.5v AAs and Ds. If I charge them for a day at 200 mAH, they remain stone cold throughout. But if I need some urgently and do them at 2,000 mAH for an hour, they get hot enough to be uncomfortable to touch.

If you're using a public charging station to charge up your EV, there's a limit to how long you're willing to sit around watching cat videos on YouTube, so you're going to charge as fast as you can. The high amperage, combined with the sheer size of an EV battery pack, creates a substantial overheating followed by thermal runaway risk. My guess would be that hybrids are trickle charged by the gas engine when it's running most of the time, and when they are plugged in to charge, it'll be on a regular 120V/15A outlet, the current from which which can't create an unmanageable amount of heat. Combine that with a battery pack around a fifth of the size of one in a pure EV, and the fire risk is an order of magnitude lower.

[Steve Guttag]

Here is Sabine Hossenfelder's POV (with a European perspective):

https://youtu.be/1yK7_LCbvec?feature=shared

[Martin Brooks]

I have a Hyundai Ioniq 6 and love the car, but there have been some recalls and bugs, especially concerning the 12 volt battery. My building does have L2 chargers in the garage. I get two years of free charging at Electrify America Level 3 DC chargers. Many Walmarts have them as well as two malls near me. At DC fast chargers, it takes around 18 minutes to charge the car to 80%. Many utility companies give rebates if one charges during off-peak hours. The thing I like best about the car is the silence. And the performance is spectacular.
If I were younger, I probably would have waited a few more years for better technology, like solid state batteries, although I was driving a 20-year-old car and it was time to dump it.

There are some amazing things going on in China. There's a car called the Zeekr_007 that has five trims ranging from $29,400 to $42,000 translated to U.S. $$. The four lower trims use a Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries, which are better environmentally than Lithium Ion batteries and they claim a 428 mile range and being able to get 311 miles of range in 15 minutes at a DC Fast charger. The upper trim uses Qlin batteries from CATL that claim a 540 mile range. All but the lowest trim includes a 21 speaker Dolby Atmos sound system. But obviously if they were exported to the U.S., they would have to be priced far higher due to the costs of setting up a dealer and service network as well as marketing.

CATL is also producing another Lithium Ion Phosphate battery that they claim will get 621 miles on a charge. Four models use it now and 50 by the end of the year. And Chinese brand Hyper claims that they'll be using solid state batteries by 2026 that will get a 621 mile range.

[Lyle Romer]

I have a Hyundai Ioniq 6 and love the car, but there have been some recalls and bugs, especially concerning the 12 volt battery. My building does have L2 chargers in the garage. I get two years of free charging at Electrify America Level 3 DC chargers. Many Walmarts have them as well as two malls near me. At DC fast chargers, it takes around 18 minutes to charge the car to 80%. Many utility companies give rebates if one charges during off-peak hours. The thing I like best about the car is the silence. And the performance is spectacular.
If I were younger, I probably would have waited a few more years for better technology, like solid state batteries, although I was driving a 20-year-old car and it was time to dump it.

There are some amazing things going on in China. There's a car called the Zeekr_007 that has five trims ranging from $29,400 to $42,000 translated to U.S. $$. The four lower trims use a Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries, which are better environmentally than Lithium Ion batteries and they claim a 428 mile range and being able to get 311 miles of range in 15 minutes at a DC Fast charger. The upper trim uses Qlin batteries from CATL that claim a 540 mile range. All but the lowest trim includes a 21 speaker Dolby Atmos sound system. But obviously if they were exported to the U.S., they would have to be priced far higher due to the costs of setting up a dealer and service network as well as marketing.

CATL is also producing another Lithium Ion Phosphate battery that they claim will get 621 miles on a charge. Four models use it now and 50 by the end of the year. And Chinese brand Hyper claims that they'll be using solid state batteries by 2026 that will get a 621 mile range.

I'll believe the solid state battery in production that soon when I see it. As far as pricing, those prices in China will NEVER translate to the same range if/when imported to the US. Even if it was the exact same vehicle, no matter which party is in power they will make sure that Chinese manufacturers aren't able to undercut the US car companies.

The range they are getting I'd have to research. I don't know how the safety regulations compare in China. It's possible that they have more lax crash requirements which would lead to a lighter vehicle and therefore longer range.

[Martin Brooks]

I'll believe the solid state battery in production that soon when I see it. As far as pricing, those prices in China will NEVER translate to the same range if/when imported to the US. Even if it was the exact same vehicle, no matter which party is in power they will make sure that Chinese manufacturers aren't able to undercut the US car companies.

The range they are getting I'd have to research. I don't know how the safety regulations compare in China. It's possible that they have more lax crash requirements which would lead to a lighter vehicle and therefore longer range.

They won't be that price if imported, but not because Democrats or Republicans will see to it that they're priced higher (unless a future administration puts import taxes on them). They'll be priced higher because of transportation costs and the high ncosts of setting up a dealer and service network. And they'll be priced higher because if there are still Federal incentives in place, they won't be entitled to them.
The main thing that makes EV's heavier are not crash requirements. It's the weight of the batteries.