Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle?

[Rick CH]

It could also be that the Bolt's windshield has more surface area. It's defroster does clear a small spot near the vents fairly quickly, but that clear area is low from the driver's perspective. So maybe the performance of the system's not worse, but the dimensions and design of the windshield means it takes a little longer to get thing clear enough to drive.

 

[mxs]

I cannot comment on the defrost strength and speed in the Soul, because so far I had nothing to defrost. The heat comes up a bit quicker than in my previous ICE cars.

 

[nobbie48]

Just curious but would a gas heater be a practical option for hybrids in cold climates. Does the name Espar ring a bell?

 

[PrivatePilot]

I've seen about a 50-60km range drop in this cold snap. Mine is outdoors at home and work and have finally seen battery conditioning show up on the battery use graph. The power consumption I was averaging in the cool weather before this week was close to 18 kwh per 100 km; this week it's about 22 kwh per 100km.

So, on one of the -18~ish mornings this week you're still seeing roughly 300KM indicated on the range, and from your usage numbers it looks like you'd make it roughly 280 or so?

Was this mostly short to medium commute type driving where the HVAC was running pretty much constantly in high-demand? As with any vehicle, once the cabin reaches a warmer temperature (IE, everything inside actually warms up and stops radiating cold air back into the cabin) the heat demand drops, so a long road trip, even in these sorts of temperatures, would likely easily yield 300+KM as I see it.

Just curious but would a gas heater be a practical option for hybrids in cold climates. Does the name Espar ring a bell?

This is basically exactly what the Gen1 Volt does (in ERDTT, or "engine running due to temperature) mode) by using the engine to heat the coolant for cabin heat when it's below -4c out.

On the Volt it makes sense as the trade-off in increased EV range outweighs the bit of additional cost of gasoline.

 

[Rick CH]

So, on one of the -18~ish mornings this week you're still seeing roughly 300KM indicated on the range, and from your usage numbers it looks like you'd make it roughly 280 or so?

Yes, that's what the total range looked like this past week.

Was this mostly short to medium commute type driving where the HVAC was running pretty much constantly in high-demand?

Medium commutes (30-40km) and I could hear and feel the HVAC running at a higher level for most of the drive.

 

[Brian P]

I just test-drove mxs's new toy (Soul EV). It is a pretty neat car! And it totally works for his commuting situation.

My criteria for getting an EV has been, and remains, that DC fast chargers (that aren't Tesla) are installed at all of the OnRoute service stations plus one somewhere along the QEW between Hamilton and St Catharines. If that happens then I can get to any customer in southern Ontario with max 1 use of a public charging station. A Bolt will get me to St Thomas and back without charging, or to my sister's place (Lindsay) and back without charging, or roughly to Cobourg and back without charging. Any further would need a splash. But, today, at a local DCFC, the time it took to drink a coffee was the time it took to add 50 km of range ...

 

[mxs]

That was just a quick pit stop, but that is really what many people just need.

What fascinates me, is the on-going debate how the charging speed must somehow match the gas refill time. That clearly is coming from people who have no idea how useless most of the time this argument is. In the meantime, I will be just hopping the DCFC places with free re-fills. and btw, this is just 50kW ... surely the future will set somewhere north of it.

 

[PrivatePilot]

It’s interesting to see the generally positive opinions on viability (within realistic expectations) in this thread.

The usual EV related post on FB is overrun with one of the following, in short order:

1/ I need a car that can go more than 40K before it needs to sit for 24 hours to charge.
2/ Electric cars are useless in the cold.
3/ It’ll need a new battery every 2 years!

And the granddaddy of them all that makes my head asplode:

“Our electricity is so expensive here that it’s cheaper to drive on gas!”.

 

[DJM]

I have an electrician coming to wire my basement for finishing. Since the 200A distribution box is on the inside of the garage wall can I add 2 NEMA 50's to the circuit or is that too much? I'm thinking to do it for future-proofing while the guy is there.

 

[GreyGhost]

I have an electrician coming to wire my basement for finishing. Since the 200A distribution box is on the inside of the garage wall can I add 2 NEMA 50's to the circuit or is that too much? I'm thinking to do it for future-proofing while the guy is there.

If you don't have electric heat, you should have more than enough capacity. The sparky should know (or you should be hiring a better sparky).

If getting wire from the panel to the garage is still possible in the future, I would only have sparky wire what I actually needed within the next year. If the connection becomes almost impossible, I would drop a 100A sub panel in the garage (or just the feed without the panel if you want to save money). That lets you do two normal EV's or a Tesla. People spend a lot of money on future proofing and many times the future is different (for instance pre-piping for high-efficiency furnace w ABS which then became against code so it all had to be ripped out and replaced without ever being used). Keep whatever you install as flexible as possible.

 

[nobbie48]

That was just a quick pit stop, but that is really what many people just need.

What fascinates me, is the on-going debate how the charging speed must somehow match the gas refill time. That clearly is coming from people who have no idea how useless most of the time this argument is. In the meantime, I will be just hopping the DCFC places with free re-fills. and btw, this is just 50kW ... surely the future will set somewhere north of it.

The charge situation is something that could be worked in one's favour. "Sorry i can't come over and help you move. The car needs a 24 hour charge."

Realistically, it just means that one has to throw a bit of planning into their life. That could be a good thing.

Mechanically speaking the EV's are very complex in a different way from ICE's and people will have to pick up on the nuances of the different technology. Electricity can explode as well as gas so don't mess with stuff you don't understand.

One question is about service. Will the owner be handcuffed to the dealers?

 

[PrivatePilot]

2x50a circuits would be about as future proof as one could possibly need at this point unless you plan on buying a Tesla and need their crazy high charging options.

Most pure EV's like the Bolt only charges at 32A so you could fully charge 2 of them from dead in under 8 using this setup.

 

[mxs]

The charge situation is something that could be worked in one's favour. "Sorry i can't come over and help you move. The car needs a 24 hour charge."

Realistically, it just means that one has to throw a bit of planning into their life. That could be a good thing.

Mechanically speaking the EV's are very complex in a different way from ICE's and people will have to pick up on the nuances of the different technology. Electricity can explode as well as gas so don't mess with stuff you don't understand.

One question is about service. Will the owner be handcuffed to the dealers?

I would expect that in the very early days of the mass transition to electric propulsion (I don't think we are there yet, quite frankly, speaking specifically about Ontario, Canada ... I think Quebec is a bit ahead of us) you will see a lot of short term leases, which means no worries where or who repairs it, because it goes back to the dealer. The independents will take longer time for sure and probably a new generation of them. Within 5 years or so, I also think that you will see the main EV drive components manufacturers coming to the surface ... like Bosch, LG, Tesla .... etc. There will not be 30 or 50 of them .... more like 5-10 covering 80% of worldwide sales (20/80 rule I am thinking) .... I am sure BrianP can shed more light on that.

Most experts claim, that EV's are undoubtedly simpler ... but it depends who is is the judge. If it's the guy who dealt with ICE the whole life, I can guarantee you that is not how he sees it ... If you ask electrical engineer, they tend to say the opposite. Barring battery chemistry etc. .... I do believe, the EV drive train is simpler. Simpler to look at and understand from 10000ft view ... not necessarily simpler to design and manufacture with a success.

 

[mxs]

2x50a circuits would be about as future proof as one could possibly need at this point unless you plan on buying a Tesla and need their crazy high charging options.

Most pure EV's like the Bolt only charges at 32A so you could fully charge 2 of them from dead in under 8 using this setup.

There's a way to send more than 32A to the battery ... but it requires a Super7 win, new house, new everything and a nice L3 in the corner of the new driveway .... LOL

 

[GagguP]

PrivatePilot, did you get the new Volt yet?

 

[SunnY S]

I have an electrician coming to wire my basement for finishing. Since the 200A distribution box is on the inside of the garage wall can I add 2 NEMA 50's to the circuit or is that too much? I'm thinking to do it for future-proofing while the guy is there.

If I were you, I'd "cross that bridge when I get to it"

 

[PrivatePilot]

PrivatePilot, did you get the new Volt yet?

Not yet, the dealership found that a problem that needed to be fixed before I took delivery (inop heated seats) was a bigger issue than they anticipated...waiting for a module to come up from the US. Just emailed the salesman and told him that if it's gonna take a week for it to arrive, I'll take the cars without the heated seats working (I will survive LOL) and bring it back another day for the actual work to be done.

 

[DJM]

If I were you, I'd "cross that bridge when I get to it"

Too late already picked up the parts. That wall will be finished soon with cupboards as part of the laundry room. Now or never.

 

[mxs]

Not yet, the dealership found that a problem that needed to be fixed before I took delivery (inop heated seats) was a bigger issue than they anticipated...waiting for a module to come up from the US. Just emailed the salesman and told him that if it's gonna take a week for it to arrive, I'll take the cars without the heated seats working (I will survive LOL) and bring it back another day for the actual work to be done.

Let them deal with it now ... it will be much harder for you to bring the car back while already in process of enjoying it .. .and what if their fix doesn't work? ... more delay. I know you are excited to get it, but I'd just wait a bit more ...

 

[PrivatePilot]

Two problems with that – first off is that I know for a fact all of the parcel delivery services like UPS, FedEx etc (which the part is coming via) are drastically behind in their deliveries because of all of the online shopping, Black Friday, cyber Monday as well as the Christmas rush. Accordingly there’s a good chance that the part won’t even arrive tomorrow like it’s supposed to, maybe not even before the end of the week, and then we are into the holidays which means it would be next Wednesday or Thursday potentially before it even shows up, much less the work gets completed. Possibility exists that it would actually Dray going into the new year.

Secondly, When we went official on the purchase they suggested it would be a quick fix and I could actually pick it up as early as this past Saturday, Monday at the latest.. so I ended up selling my Magnum, telling the guy that I would be able to get it to him by today when I was finished with it. Long story short, I can’t hold onto it for potentially another week or two now, so I really need an interim solution.