Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle?

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mimico_polak said:
not looking good for Tesla…

gizmodo.com

Tesla Quietly Removes All U.S. Job Postings

It sure looks like Tesla has a hiring freeze after weeks of "hardcore" layoffs.
gizmodo.com gizmodo.com
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As expected they are struggling with the dichotomy of pretending they are a tech company making cars (with associated sky high valuation and expectations of exponential growth in perpetuity) and the reality that they are a decent but not spectacular auto manufacturer (in which case stock valuation is completely insane). Whacking a ton of payroll gives a temporary spike in earnings so you can say profit grew this quarter (and get executive bonuses).

Apparently they cut a bunch of the supercharger maintenance team too. That is a real head scratcher that could quickly spiral.

FWIW, I drove past a supercharger station in Barrie a few times on the weekend. About eight bays and both times they were full of blah. Tons of 3/Y with a token S. It reminded me of bike night circle jerks with the owners congratulating each other on their choice.
 
SunnY S said:
great news for Ontario and great news for big H, watch for a big announcement on Thursday,

Honda is putting in as much as $16b (billion with a B) for EV initiative and expansion in Alliston.
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Get ready for more great news.

HONDA to announce another plant in Niagara related to battery manufacture.
 
Saw a headline that the US is planning to quadruple tariffs from 25% to 100% on Chinese EV's sometime very soon. Don't hold your breath for a $10,000 BYD in North America in the immediate future. Wonder if it'll affect pricing here for other brands like Polestar/Geely...
 
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MacDoc said:
Wonder if this technology would work with mcycles.
www.wired.com

An Innovative EV Motor Used by Lamborghini, McLaren, and Ferrari Is Being Mass-Produced by Mercedes

Compared to the usual EV power plants, axial-flux motors are smaller and lighter, and have more torque. But they're hard to make at scale. Now Mercedes is bringing them to the masses.
www.wired.com www.wired.com
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One of the biggest issue with wheel motors is unsprung weight. If you could ditch the brake disc, maybe that becomes much less of an issue but I don't see regulators letting that happen any time soon.
 
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That motor might munch the F1 cars but again unsprung weight. Interesting times.
I recall seeing a Siemens electric aircraft motor small enough to go in overhead luggage with 318 HP.
They are getting good at this.
Now about the batteries....🍿
 
Axial-flux motors are probably going to happen but not as in-hub designs; too many problems with that. Electric motors want to spin fast, and re-orienting the magnetic field doesn't change that. Chassis-mounted, with a gear-reduction, to CV-jointed shafts ... just with potentially a lot less weight.
 
Brian P said:
Axial-flux motors are probably going to happen but not as in-hub designs; too many problems with that. Electric motors want to spin fast, and re-orienting the magnetic field doesn't change that. Chassis-mounted, with a gear-reduction, to CV-jointed shafts ... just with potentially a lot less weight.
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If they really wanted compact, it should be possible to mount the electric motor in the centre of a planetary gearset in the hub. Even more unsprung weight though. Could be an interesting packaging option for a MC wheel (obviously not a peak performance bike with that much unsprung mass).
 
Brian P said:
Axial-flux motors are probably going to happen but not as in-hub designs; too many problems with that. Electric motors want to spin fast, and re-orienting the magnetic field doesn't change that. Chassis-mounted, with a gear-reduction, to CV-jointed shafts ... just with potentially a lot less weight.
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Not to mention the gyroscopic effect.
 
High-voltage power cables plus coolant lines (compact high-powered motors need that) flexing with the suspension and steering movement are no bueno. Electric motor to planetary gear reduction mounted in the chassis with a CV axle to the wheel is no problem.
 
Brian P said:
Who would buy the Volvo when the Polestar is available?
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The new Biden tariffs going up to 100% from 25% will impact all EV's made in China and at the moment the Polestar 2 and 4 are made there.

Granted, production of the P2 for 2024 is done it seems and not sure if there'll now be a 2025 model - it may get moved to the Belgium plant that makes the Volvo xx40 vehicles maybe??

The P3 is slated for production in S. Carolina but not there yet so it'll be interesting times ahead to see what Polestar does.

I'm not sure if any Volvo EV's are made in China that come to the US.
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