Electric Vehicles, Hybrids...Battery tech... Land Air and Sea. Let's See 'em.

Is the internal combustion engine doomed to history

  • Yes

    Votes: 10 25.6%

  • No

    Votes: 21 53.8%

  • Not sure

    Votes: 5 12.8%

  • Don't care

    Votes: 2 5.1%

  • ...er... what was the question again?

    Votes: 1 2.6%
  • Total voters
    39
Ford lightning 150s and E-transits are piling up on the sales lots.



Hybrid Demand


Ford’s quarterly profit report last week was solid, beating Wall Street’s expectations and raising its outlook for the full year. However, its success was built on traditional gas-powered trucks and SUVs, not its fleet of EVs, where adoption has been slower than expected. It’s not just Ford, though. In a recent study, Cox Automotive found that US dealers have more than 92,000 EVs parked in stock, more than three times the inventory from a year ago.


Even after cutting prices on its EV F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E models, Ford’s EV division lost $1.08 billion last quarter, and the company expects a $4.5 billion loss for the entire year. In addition to strong sales from traditional vehicles, the surprise was the health of hybrids:
 
Not surprising Fords putting a different spin on it
Edit : article was from Mar 3, 2023
 
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As Ford loses billions on EVs, the company embraces hybrids
  • Ford executives said the automaker is working on a slate of new hybrid models.
  • The comments run slightly counter to recent messaging from the Detroit automakers.
  • “What the customer really likes is when we take a hybrid system that’s more efficient for certain duty cycles and then we add new capabilities because of the batteries,” CEO Jim Farley said after the company’s second-quarter earnings reports
Now were getting closer to the facts :whistle:
Edit : article was from 3 days ago
 
Nuclear Reactor Goes Live
Georgia Power Co. yesterday announced the commercial operation of the first new nuclear reactor built in the US in more than 30 years, powering utilities in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.

The reactor, known as Unit 3, is one of two that began construction in 2009 at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta, and can power 500,000 homes and businesses at full capacity. The reactor was initially expected to start generating power in 2016; however, the project faced delays and unexpected costs, which increased from $14B to $35B. The plant already has two reactors that have been operating since 1987 and 1989. Once all four units are operational—Unit 4 is expected early next year—the site will become the nation's largest generator of clean energy. Units 3 and 4 are expected to produce about 2,234 megawatts combined, enough to power more than 1 million homes and businesses.

Nuclear energy currently accounts for about 18% of US power generation, and more US states are looking to the power source for clean energy. Experts say the US would need 200 gigawatts of advanced nuclear energy to power about 160 million homes.
 
Raymond said:
Useable, commercial, safe fusion power is just 20-30 years away. Been that way all my life.
Click to expand...
Besides the technical problems of nuclear energy one thing I heard from a guy who worked on building one a few miles from here was the waste that goes on during construction, at least at this one. He mentioned that the contractors were paid on something like "cost plus". The more spent on materials the more profit for the contractor. He told about being paid to cut 2X4's in to short chunks and toss them into dumpster for a full day, brand new right off the truck.
 
Mailman said:
”Tesla exaggerated EV range so much that drivers thought cars were broken.
Inundated with complaints, Tesla created "Diversion Team" to cancel appointments.”
Click to expand...

650Skull said:
Might b different in the US, but over here that that would b a criminal offence.
Click to expand...

“Angry Tesla customers sue firm over “grossly” exaggerated EV range”

A class action lawsuit was filed yesterday against Tesla for deliberately misleading customers about their vehicles range.

“Tesla is facing a class-action lawsuit filed by customers who say they were misled by the company's exaggerated range claims. The lawsuit was filed yesterday, days after a report revealed that Tesla exaggerated its electric vehicles' range so much that many drivers thought their cars were broken.”

"Tesla marketed its electric vehicles as having a grossly overvalued range in an effort to increase sales to consumers," said the lawsuit filed in US District Court for the Northern District of California.


The lawsuit seeks class-action status to represent all people in California who purchased a new Tesla Model 3, Model S, Model Y, or Model X vehicle.

https://apple.news/AFy9zZgbXThiLuci1gSIEdA
 
As far as I can establish the quoted range of Tesla cars sold in the US uses the EPA standard as do other manufacturers. There is also the WLTP and NEDC standards.
As the methodology of these standards differ so does the claimed range.

These standards can only indicate what you may expect under the specific test conditions and NOT what you may expect in the real world.
They may have some validity for comparing one vehicle with another.
As explained in the link, the test procedures are performed indoors at room temperature and at very specific speeds. The vehicles are also tested with only a single person inside (the driver), without additional passengers or cargo. These and other factors can cause an EPA EV range to differ from real world experiences, where drivers experience extreme heat or cold, haul lots of passengers or cargo, or keep a lead foot on the accelerator and use of the air-con etc.

I can remember exactly the same argument regarding the fuel consumption of I.C. vehicles so nothing has changed in that respect.

It would be one thing if Tesla had altered the test procedure to affect the result, but assuming that they haven't then it is more down to the users not understanding the data or how it is obtained.
 
Funny thing is, several times over the years I've easily beaten the mfrs official figures for mpg, just by driving fairly sensibly.
Otoh, I've consistently noticed lies, more lies and damned lies when it comes to electric range.
 
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