[Car-Addicted]

To start the week off:
Electric Car, Sitting In Driveway, Burns House
05/02/2024
Firefighters were able to eventually extinguish the fire, but you can see in video footage the car was gutted. It’s safe to say the EV, whatever brand it was, is a total loss.

[Car-Addicted]

Electric car driver turned away from hospital car park
A father who was taking his child to Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool says he was turned away from the car park because he was driving an electric vehicle (EV).


Paul Freeman-Powell said he was told to park next to nearby grass because his car "could explode."
The hospital says it has temporarily banned access to the car park while it improves its sprinkler system.

Lots of good anti ICE quotes for those so inclined, It is the BBC of course.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c90zjne2v0jo

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by gblansten

Since I have been driving my BigControlSystem for over a year I haven’t had to get gasoline. I finally had to pump gas again today (for my wife). Not a big deal. But, I don’t miss it. Really love home charging.

So, I’ll just pose this question again. I have yet to see it addressed. What would be your plan for charging if you lived in a vintage apartment/condominium building in Chicago and you only had street parking and you parked in a different place every time you drove your car? My guesstimation is this applies to at least 50% of the cars in the city of Chicago.

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Nope, the news is bad for London.

Just caught up on my news watching and you guys are so screwed. At least we have the availability of concealed carry,

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by Weather Man

The sprinklers will stop the ICE parked next to the EV from burning, mostly. It won't do a damn thing to put the EV out. It might protect the concrete from suffering catastrophic structural failure.

I still expect the real issue with EV parking structures is low ceilings limiting the proper clearance for the right fire equipment for controlling EV fires. Not to mention need for ventilation from toxic out gassing from burning LiPo's.

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by Weather Man

You wonder how many times he can take a large steaming dump on his Teslaites before they say no thanks.

Love him or hate him Elon Musk has played this EV thing like stradivarius violin playing Beethoven. Like the fictional Hydra "If a head is cut off, two more shall take its place," Still his biggest profit is from selling carbon credits to other manufactures who them pass then on to their customers in the form of higher prices.

If I had to buy a EV tomorrow it would be a Tesla. (it would take a gun to my head to accomplish this task)

[Murf the Surf]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

So, I’ll just pose this question again. I have yet to see it addressed. What would be your plan for charging if you lived in a vintage apartment/condominium building in Chicago and you only had street parking and you parked in a different place every time you drove your car? My guesstimation is this applies to at least 50% of the cars in the city of Chicago.

This issue has been raised numerous times on this thread (I know I've brought it up quite a few times) as its not just an issue in Chicago but most large cities will have this exact problem.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by Murf the Surf

This issue has been raised numerous times on this thread (I know I've brought it up quite a few times) as its not just an issue in Chicago but most large cities will have this exact problem.

And yet it’s never been answered.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

So, I’ll just pose this question again. I have yet to see it addressed. What would be your plan for charging if you lived in a vintage apartment/condominium building in Chicago and you only had street parking and you parked in a different place every time you drove your car? My guesstimation is this applies to at least 50% of the cars in the city of Chicago.

Yeah there's no real answer for this. A colleague has a townhouse but no garages in this development, just a common shared parking lot around the block with two spots in front of each place. The length of cable needed for EV charging would be excessive leading to inefficient charging, and the cable would just get stolen for the raw copper value. Not feasible for him.

Orders of magnitude more public fast chargers? That would help, but that's not how you should be recharging these batteries all the time either. (They don't care.) Forcing developers to put in Level 2 charging everywhere? They'll just forward the cost it into rent/leases, making them even less affordable than they already are. (They also don't care.)

The true answer is that the people at the top don't care. They don't want you to be able to go anywhere or be able to charge. With any luck, EV fires will burn down entire cities, in which case they'll finally be able to rebuild from the ground up with their dreams of 15 minute cities, where you'll be eating the bugs and living in pods. You'll own nothing and be happy, jacked up on their pharma concoctions.

[gblansten]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

So, I’ll just pose this question again. I have yet to see it addressed. What would be your plan for charging if you lived in a vintage apartment/condominium building in Chicago and you only had street parking and you parked in a different place every time you drove your car? My guesstimation is this applies to at least 50% of the cars in the city of Chicago.

I’ve posted stuff before on this. It’s not my problem and I’m happy with my setup. I’ll let society figure this out. I’m a nephrologist so my skills are deployed in patient care.

[allinon72]

It's not about EVs succeeding, it's about the idea of people being mobile losing. Once you view everything thru that lens, racking your brain on the dozens of reasons why EVs aren't tenable on a mass scale are irrelevant to the discussion.

[JimmyTheHand]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

And yet it’s never been answered.

I'm sure when there is sufficient demand then you'll find streets dug up and chargers appearing with local government looking at it as a source of revenue.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Just caught up on my news watching and you guys are so screwed. At least we have the availability of concealed carry,

In the capital its another 3 years of hell, all the sane people are getting out.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by JimmyTheHand

I'm sure when there is sufficient demand then you'll find streets dug up and chargers appearing with local government looking at it as a source of revenue.

I understand your point. But, I’m wondering if you have ever been to the United States. I think it can be hard for Europeans to grasp the differences in size. The U.S. is about 40 times the physical size of the UK and the population is 5 times larger. I mention this because the infrastructure requirements and hurdles are phenomenal and short of the United States banning internal combustion engines and absolutely forcing no other option than EVs the demand for EVs would only ever come after the infrastructure is already in place or at the very least well into the construction phase. No one who would depend on the needed charging infrastructure is going to buy an EV on the promise that the infrastructure is coming.

I live in a relatively new condo building in Chicago with a 180 space parking garage. Even though my building is relatively new it does not have the necessary electrical infrastructure to accommodate any charging stations. It so happens that my building houses an electric company electrical vault that serves our entire neighborhood, so the cost for us to install the necessary infrastructure to be able to add charging stations in our garage is roughly half of what it would be if that electrical vault was not already in place. And the cost for us to do the infrastructure installation would be over $300,000. That’s just the basic electric infrastructure. The cost to install the chargers throughout our garage would probably be $3000 - $4000 per charger. That’s a total cost to the owners in my building approaching $1 million.

[Car-Addicted]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I live in a relatively new condo building in Chicago with a 180 space parking garage. Even though my building is relatively new it does not have the necessary electrical infrastructure to accommodate any charging stations. ......
The cost to install the chargers throughout our garage would probably be $3000 - $4000 per charger. That’s a total cost to the owners in my building approaching $1 million.

Man you must be looking forward to the next Condo meeting.
I'd have a well read copy of the condo by laws with you when you go.
I'll bet this exact scenario is playing out over thousands of condos and HOA's all over the world. I wish you well.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by Car-Addicted

Man you must be looking forward to the next Condo meeting.
I'd have a well read copy of the condo by laws with you when you go.
I'll bet this exact scenario is playing out over thousands of condos and HOA's all over the world. I wish you well.

Oh, we’re not doing it for all of these reasons. If it ever becomes a serious consideration in my building I will be leading the campaign against it!! I have all of this information because I have had multiple discussions with our building manager about the craziness of the cost. We know about the infrastructure costs because we did do some investigation about eight years ago when the board first had a discussion about what would be required.

At my suggestion we will soon be buying a couple of fire blankets in case of any vehicle fire, but in particular an EV fire. We have three or four Teslas in our garage. The very first one does have a charging station the board agreed to allow the owner to install and that’s when they found out the garage can’t accommodate any others. I think I’ve mentioned before our two level garage is directly under our condominiums and the thought of an EV fire (or heaven forbid multiple EVs on fire) is absolutely chilling.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Oh, we’re not doing it for all of these reasons. If it ever becomes a serious consideration in my building I will be leading the campaign against it!! I have all of this information because I have had multiple discussions with our building manager about the craziness of the cost. We know about the infrastructure costs because we did do some investigation about eight years ago when the board first had a discussion about what would be required.

At my suggestion we will soon be buying a couple of fire blankets in case of any vehicle fire, but in particular an EV fire. We have three or four Teslas in our garage. The very first one does have a charging station the board agreed to allow the owner to install and that’s when they found out the garage can’t accommodate any others. I think I’ve mentioned before our two level garage is directly under our condominiums and the thought of an EV fire (or heaven forbid multiple EVs on fire) is absolutely chilling.

I would be terrified also. If they can sink transport ships they could also do only who knows what to a building.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

I would be terrified also. If they can sink transport ships they could also do only who knows what to a building.

Thankfully our building is fully concrete and both of our garages are fully covered by sprinklers, but, of course, we all know how effective those are on an EV battery fire.

[JimmyTheHand]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I understand your point. But, I’m wondering if you have ever been to the United States. I think it can be hard for Europeans to grasp the differences in size. The U.S. is about 40 times the physical size of the UK and the population is 5 times larger. I mention this because the infrastructure requirements and hurdles are phenomenal and short of the United States banning internal combustion engines and absolutely forcing no other option than EVs the demand for EVs would only ever come after the infrastructure is already in place or at the very least well into the construction phase. No one who would depend on the needed charging infrastructure is going to buy an EV on the promise that the infrastructure is coming.

I live in a relatively new condo building in Chicago with a 180 space parking garage. Even though my building is relatively new it does not have the necessary electrical infrastructure to accommodate any charging stations. It so happens that my building houses an electric company electrical vault that serves our entire neighborhood, so the cost for us to install the necessary infrastructure to be able to add charging stations in our garage is roughly half of what it would be if that electrical vault was not already in place. And the cost for us to do the infrastructure installation would be over $300,000. That’s just the basic electric infrastructure. The cost to install the chargers throughout our garage would probably be $3000 - $4000 per charger. That’s a total cost to the owners in my building approaching $1 million.

I'm not sure why size of country is relevant when we are talking about issues in cities and on street parking issues - we have same issues this side of the pond.

and how many $millions worth of cars are parked in those bays - as the demand changes then people will start looking at ways of making things happen more efficiently thus bring down the cost. However that involves investment, something we seem to have reduced to almost zero.

[JimmyTheHand]

Originally Posted by SteVTEC

I would be terrified also. If they can sink transport ships they could also do only who knows what to a building.

And an electrical fault or a component failure in a moving diesel vehicle burnt down a multi-story car park

VW are being sued by the owners of and insurers Felicity Ace. They accuse VW of withholding information about the risks associated with transporting electrified cars and not telling them of necessary precautions for safely transporting the cars.

Basically it sunk because the crew had no idea how to deal with a fire in an electrical car - if it can't be dealt with safely then look to the insurance market adjust accordingly.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by JimmyTheHand

I'm not sure why size of country is relevant when we are talking about issues in cities and on street parking issues - we have same issues this side of the pond.

and how many $millions worth of cars are parked in those bays - as the demand changes then people will start looking at ways of making things happen more efficiently thus bring down the cost. However that involves investment, something we seem to have reduced to almost zero.

UK is hugely over populated and is getting to be one of the highest taxed places in the world, we need this investment (taxing the legal populate even more) for EV charging like a hole in the head.

[Car-Addicted]

Don't fall for the PHEV hype – go battery EV or go home
05/05/2024
You’ve probably seen the headlines: battery EV sales are slowing down, and PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) sales are hot; the DC fast charging infrastructure isn’t good enough for road trips, so you should drive a PHEV; battery EVs aren’t ready for prime time, but PHEV are the best of both worlds. I’m here to tell you that it’s all nonsense. Battery EVs are better today than ever, while PHEVs are full of compromises.
The inconvenient truth is that at the core, PHEVs are still basically gas cars. Sure, they also include a small EV drivetrain, but they are based on the same platform as their hybrid and gasoline twins, with the same packaging and safety compromises. So, unlike most battery EVs, which are built on a bespoke platform, PHEVs don’t have a frunk (front trunk), or a flat floor, or anywhere near the same amount of interior space.
Another important thing to consider is that you must be able to charge PHEVs at home (or at work) to make them worthwhile. If you never (or rarely) plug your PHEV into a power outlet to charge it, you’re just basically driving around in a heavier-than-normal hybrid with worse fuel efficiency than a regular hybrid.
Even a Nissan Leaf with just 150 miles of range will get the job done, and you won’t be wasting electricity to lug around a heavy ICE (internal combustion engine), gas tank, muffler, and related paraphernalia.
So, forget PHEVs – they aren’t the answer. Battery EVs are viable today, and the sooner we all get on board, the better. It’s time to commit! Go battery EV or go home.
https://www.techradar.com/vehicle-te...-ev-or-go-home

I'm pretty sure I don't agree with this author on too much but I do think she makes valid points. PHEVs offer all the complications and cost with little added benefits of lower maintenance, lower cost.