11576 replies to this topic

[LJ]

Consumers demanded lower cell phone plans, how's that working out?

[Victoria Watcher]

well believe it or not they have gone down.  

[rjag]

What I mean is the infrastructure required to properly charge 20 vehicles is not a simple project. You need some serious juice to do anything more than a trickle charge, I think.

 

https://www.cat.com/...rator-sets.html

 

https://www.dieselse.../New-Generators

[Victoria Watcher]

https://www.cat.com/...rator-sets.html

 

https://www.dieselse.../New-Generators

 

lol.

[Victoria Watcher]

That's when the Toronto-based entrepreneur said he started "scheming" on a plan: converting a gas guzzler into an electric vehicle. Singh went from studying cell biology and working in the pharmaceutical industry to learning everything there was about the design and engineering of e-cars. 

 

In 2012, he successfully retrofitted his 1985 Jaguar XJ6. Singh now runs Epic Car Conversions, which specializes in converting internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles into 100 per cent EVs.  The company has retrofitted about 40 vehicles, mostly high-end vintage cars, including Porsches and other Jaguars.

 

Epic removes all the combustion components of the vehicle, from the engine to the fuel tank to the exhaust, and custom builds an electric drive unit specific to the car being retrofitted. It includes assembling a motor, inverter, battery pack and charger. It's a simplified unit that requires very little maintenance, said Singh. "You will not have to see your mechanic ever for oil changes, spark plugs or tune-ups." 

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...-cars-1.5307221

 

Singh has a team of about 10 people, including mechanics and machinists, and the retrofitting process can take about two months — depending on the amount of customization involved, it can take longer.

 

Because each retrofit must be custom-built "from scratch," the switch isn't cheap. Singh said prices range from about $25,000 for a battery with a 100-kilometre range (good for city driving) to $45,000 for a 250-km battery. He said some builds can be more than $85,000, but those are rare and typically include more range and customized paint jobs.

 

 

that sounds interesting.  it's obviously extremely niche.   i mean who is really going to pay $25-45k to convert an existing car unless you are rich and/or nuts (see:  neil young on both counts).

from a technical point of view it would seema  rear-wheel drive car would be easiest to convert.  anyway it would be very interesting to see how they do each.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 October 2019 - 07:26 AM.

[Tom Braybrook]

they are much less demanding than any commercial build or renovation.  so if you said you needed 5000 in victoria by the end of the year you'd have them.  barring some government regulations that slows you.

i installed my own...did so by "relocating" the 220 outlet i am not using for an electric stove...

[Victoria Watcher]

New growth area in the audio industry: What should electric cars sounds like?

If you’ve been anywhere near a Tesla, a Volt/Bolt, or any of the other electric cars on the road, you’ll know that they’re pretty much silent. You might hear some tire noise and road crunch, but otherwise they make almost zero noise.

The problem with this is that you don’t hear them coming like you do with old dinosaur burners. This is a safety hazard for pedestrians.

 

https://www.ajournal...ars-sounds-like

[Mike K.]

You also don't hear four or six cylinder vehicles coming unless they're modified with loud exhausts. I doubt you could even hear my V8 SUV coming if not for the noise its tires make, as that motor and exhaust are just that quiet.

 

Speaking of loud cars, though. Last night my truck blew out a spark plug. I sounded like a freight train until I could pull over, lol.

[LJ]

^That sounds like an expensive sound.

[Mattjvd]

Yeah, from what I've noticed, most of the sound from a vehicle moving ~50 kph is the tires on the road and it pushing the air out of the way. Unless you are accelerating hard, it's difficult to tell the difference in sound between a Tesla 3 and any other mid sized sedan.

[Mike K.]

^That sounds like an expensive sound.

 

I'll be finding out very soon just how expensive this modification was.

 

Word to the wise, ensure your spark plugs are properly torqued, especially if you drive a ford 4.6/5.4/6.8.

[LJ]

Driving a Tesla can result in more emissions than a diesel....

 

https://dailycaller....oxide-mercedes/

[G-Man]

Ha yeah right. If you did from extraction analysis to power comparison of both over the life the vehicle there is simply no comparison. They are comparing source extraction on one car and how much carbon that produces to the actual emissions of the diesel. Not even close to apples to apples but if it makes you feel good!

[LJ]

^Doesn't make me feel good or bad, I don't really care all that much.

 

I would own an electric vehicle if the prices weren't so ridiculous for such a simple piece of machinery. I do own two electric golf carts tho, does that count.

[Mike K.]

What about emissions to power the outlet that powers the electric car? Not many jurisdictions are as fortunate as we are to have so much hydro power, but even hydro power is deemed extremely destructive in some regards (Site C). Nuclear also has its faults, and the environmental implications of nuclear waste 50-100 years from now is a guessing game.

[Rob Randall]

Some of BC's power is nuclear.

[Victoria Watcher]

Some of BC's power is nuclear.

 

is was more than a decade ago but would that still apply today?  hanford is closed and the columbia station can only produce 10% of washington's power.  i'm not sure we'd be importing that much if at all.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 08 October 2019 - 12:39 PM.

[tedward]

Some of BC's power is nuclear.

 

While BC may not need it, large parts of the world need nuclear power. Anywhere they have or wish to build a coal or gas-burning plant would be better served with a nuclear power plant. 

[Mike K.]

Until there is a nuclear accident, or an issue with the storage of nuclear waste 200 years after it is dumped.

 

Nuclear is most definitely the best alternative for regions not wishing to use coal or gas, but the potential for disastrous long-term impacts is there and it won't go away because of how society feels about coal and gas.

[Mattjvd]

Until there is a nuclear accident, or an issue with the storage of nuclear waste 200 years after it is dumped.

Nuclear is most definitely the best alternative for regions not wishing to use coal or gas, but the potential for disastrous long-term impacts is there and it won't go away because of how society feels about coal and gas.

But even with our worst nuclear disasters, nuclear energy is orders of magnitude safer to human health than coal.