The EV problem.

[gangzoom]

 

You can see by the lack of software customisation/voice command the 3 is still pretty much in 'beta' form. It'll get there but I doubt we'll actually see the final production ready car until nearly the end of this year. 

 

The car it self looks perfect as a replacement for wifes car, but 2-3 years is a long long time to wait, just glad we have our own X back now :). 

 

[Ekona]

Controls on a touchscreen is a sh*t idea full stop. Worst design idea ever, and I include that for every manufacturer that does it. Give me a button that I can grab and operate by feel alone so I can keep my eyes on the road, not a screen I've got to plough through menu after menu to get anywhere.

[coldel]

Glad I am not the only one that feels this way! And this is no dig at EVs, many cars of all propulsion types seem to think its ok to have a dynamic dashboard which you need to stare at and try to jab little buttons whilst the car is moving around and you cannot keep your hand steady. Its utter madness that this seems like a safe idea, I have a touchscreen double din headunit which is bad enough, let alone all my controls being shunted onto it.  

[Jay84]

Yeah but when I compare my zed sat nav which isnt touch screen, with my touch screen astra the astra wins hands down.  Although if I could use post code look up on the zed it'd help. But the astra responds really well to voice commands which can be accessed from steering wheel for calls and navigation...just a shame I'm in an astra (actually I really like it but sshh). 

I think the issue for me with that Tesla tablet, is that a, it looks like it's been such there as an afterthought rather than built in to the dash. And b, it looks too distracting due to the satalite realism, it draws the eye like a TV.  I had the same issue with my dash cam and that's a tiny screen. 

[coldel]

Sat nav in most cases though is switch on, glance at it during journey/listen to instructions, switch off when finished journey. If you look at most instruction manuals its clear in them that you should not attempt to input destinations into sat navs whilst moving in any case. 

 

My issue is putting everything on the screen, its a disaster waiting to happen. I want to adjust something I can reach for where the control is, tactile control, and complete without ever taking my eyes off the road. With Teslas big call outs on how safe the car structure is (and are most manufacturers), they seem quite happy to sling a huge amount of distraction from the actual important stuff like watching where you are going.

[Jay84]

I agree, I'd find that set up distracting. 

[gangzoom]

Porsche Mission E taking shape.....looks like a possible alternative/rival to a high spec Model 3. Plenty of choice for our second EV come 2019/2020 :). 

 

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/4/16418658/porsche-mission-e-electric-photos-tesla

[gangzoom]

Tesla meanwhile continue to expand the supercharger network, work on a massive 24 bay charger site is about to start at Leicester Forest East. Soon it'll be hard for me to drive more than 50 miles on the M-way in any direction without coming across another Supercharger site. If Porsche start rolling out their own charging sites, and than come to deal with Tesla to share chargers it'll be great way to ensure fast charging infrastructure for EVs get developed quickly  :). 

 

[davey_83]

Not sure if repost........

 

https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/study-tesla-car-battery-production-releases-as-much-co2-as-8-years-of-driving-on-petrol/amp/

 

[Cimanu]

Surely the future is plug in hybrid though.. seems to have the largest benefit to me.

 

Take the 330e - 25 mile electric only range up to 62mph before engine takes over, fully charged in 3 hours from regular house plug.

 

That's free commuting all week, then at the weekend I can use the engine - in that it's the 320i 184bhp 4 pot turbo which lives in the cooper s among other things, it does the job.

 

An M3E though.... there's a more interesting concept..

[un1eash]

Boss has a 330e and doesn't like it at all, it averages 28mpg. His old Lexus IS 300h which he says was miles better in both performance and quality would do 45+ mpg

[davey_83]

[gangzoom]

^Seriously?

 

Here is the offical UK data provided by the national gird, depsite a lack of investment from central goverment and a cut in solar FiT traffifs, renewables now provide the same contribution to the grid as nuclear.

 

Also notice how overal UK energy demand has FALLEN over last 10 years by nearly 10 TWhrs.

 

 

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/data-portal/electricity-generation-mix-quarter-and-fuel-source-gb

 

Q2/Q3 2017 data is looking even more impresssive, apparently 1/3 of electricity now generated via wind/solar.

 

https://futurism.com/a-record-breaking-29-of-the-u-k-s-electricity-is-now-generated-by-renewables/

 

UK energy compaines are now building massive battery storage solutions to smooth out variable supply that is associated with wind/solar generation.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/09/uk-first-mega-battery-plant-come-online-sheffield-eon-renewable-energy

 

Germany now have days when the net cost of electricity generation is ZERO, due to their investment in renewable generation.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/germany-grids-paying-electricity-customers-renewable-energy-power-surplus-wind-solar-generation-a8022576.html

 

I've said this before but the impact of using batteris combined with solar/wind will have a much bigger impact than EVs replace combustion cars. The potential of 'free' electricty is going to benefit vast swades of the developing countries. Building a powerstation and than supply lines in rural India/Africa/China is expensive/hard work. Building a solar farm/wind mill + battery system for a village is so much easier.

 

What Tesla have done in Puerto Rico is partly a publicity stunt, but it does demonstrate just how viable renewable energy generation is now as the main player in keeping the lights on. The fact solar PV panels/battery packs are falling so quickly in price IKEA is now selling them shows just how quickly things are changing.

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/puerto-rico-crisis/bright-idea-why-some-puerto-rico-are-banking-solar-solution-n817746

 

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/ikea/solar-panels/

Edited November 8, 2017 by gangzoom

[Ekona]

#triggered

[davey_83]

Edited November 8, 2017 by davey_83

[Jetpilot]

Batteries 

On 24/10/2017 at 17:57, davey_83 said:

Not sure if repost........

 

https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/study-tesla-car-battery-production-releases-as-much-co2-as-8-years-of-driving-on-petrol/amp/

 

Feel this is worth a bump with all that battery talk

[Jetpilot]

Lets face it, its all smokes and mirrors to further tax the motorist, i caught a repeat of TG Sunday and Chris Harris was driving the new 718 Cayman, bought about to meet emissions targets, however, to meet those targets he had to crawl along and whilst not factual, he mentioned driven normally it probably produces similar emissions to the model it replaced.

[Stutopia]

The graph shows Coal, Oil & Gas in 2006 at 105, 59 and 58 TWh, which adds up to 222 TWh total produced by fossil fuels.

 

Then in 2017 it shows Coal, Oil & Gas at 78, 77 and 77 TWh, which adds up to 232 TWh total produced by fossil fuels.

 

 

So we' re producing 10 TWh more electricity by fossil fuels than 11 years ago, which proves that Electric Cars are clean? What am I missing?

[G1en]

I think its an add up type chart Stu. Not sure of the proper name. So you only measure the difference (additional) colour for the number. 

Ie Q1 2017 red starts at 26 finishes at 43 = 17TWh

Then blue starts at 43, finishes at 75 = 32TWh

although i could be completely wrong i think thats how we did it in the queens finest GCSE exams. 

[gangzoom]

15 hours ago, SuperStu said:

The graph shows Coal, Oil & Gas in 2006 at 105, 59 and 58 TWh, which adds up to 222 TWh total produced by fossil fuels.

 

Then in 2017 it shows Coal, Oil & Gas at 78, 77 and 77 TWh, which adds up to 232 TWh total produced by fossil fuels.

 

 

So we' re producing 10 TWh more electricity by fossil fuels than 11 years ago, which proves that Electric Cars are clean? What am I missing?

 

All I can present is factual information as produced by the national grid. How you want to read the data is upto you. But here is the text from Ofgem explaining the trends.

"Electricity generation mix: At-a-glance summary

The GB electricity system is undergoing a period of significant change as we transition from a large-scale conventional fossil fuel dominated generation mix to intermittent renewable generation. Over the past few years we have seen a marked increase in output from wind and solar farms. Over 2015 and 2016, the share of electricity generated from gas increased, while the share generated from coal decreased. This was partly due to improved economics for gas-fired generators."

[coldel]

We have to move to renewable energy because a. our growing world population demands more energy and burning stuff generates too much pollution and b. fossil fuels will simply run out so, it makes complete sense. To call electric cars right now 'clean' is a marketing language joke pushed out there by the government though - it's like saying the AC in my car is 'clean' technology because it runs off electricity. There are conflicting reports about the pollution generated making batteries and disposing of them. EVs are not clean by any stretch but they are clearly not as 'dirty' as ICE driven cars. We have global pollution targets to meet we aren't meeting them so the government needs to push a message/tax ICE cars so that they dissuade people from using the more polluting option.

 

The way EVs are built interior wise and outside/the styling, the lack of noise/lack of ability to tinker with for me at the moment adds up to just about one of the most unappealing cars out there - I can see how they appeal to others though. Owners however cannot honestly say they are not producing pollution as ownership of one dictates it does, just not as much as an ICE car. Its cleaner, but not completely clean 

[davey_83]

We need more EV's

 

Sturgeon's wind turbines cost UK £90m a year - to stay SWITCHED OFF

 

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/734688/Nicola-Sturgeon-SNP-approved-windfarm-is-shut-down-after-two-weeks

 

In the latest blunder in Ms Sturgeon’s “critical” energy policy, a plant with 11 wind turbines was shut down after just two WEEKS because they weren’t needed.

Energy customers have already funded £10,000 in subsidies to keep the 110 metre-tall turbines on Assel Valley Wind Farm in Ayrshire switched off due to an energy surplus– after opening on October 28.

Express.co.uk can reveal Ms Sturgeon's Government, who intervened to grant the application of the wind farm 30 miles from her home town, has overseen the approval of upwards of 200 large scale Scottish onshore wind farms.  Of these no less than 36 have been paid £248m since 2010 and £87.8m in 2015 alone from customers to switch off.

--------------------------------

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/04/06/national-grid-pay-power-plants-shut-summer/

 

 

 

[coldel]

Massively right wing newspaper in anti SNP article about nothing with debatable facts 'shocker' ?

[Ekona]

SNP being utterly incapable at actually governing shocker?

[coldel]

Power companies in turning off renewable energy production during oversupply but still burning fossil fuel shocker?  But agreed hardly any confidence in the fish but even less so in trash like the Express who would have you believe the Tories are doing a great job with many things right now.

 

There is a huge economy of energy pricing that happens pretty much daily, its not a case of Homer Simpson sitting in a room and seeing a dial that says 105% so presses a button that turns off the turbines - pinch, salt, taken.