11498 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

In Europe, they have nearly double the next manufacturer, that had an 85-year head start.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 July 2022 - 09:28 AM.

[LJ]

Texas isn’t part of the North American “grid”. They opted out.


https://www.texastri...power-grid/amp/

They are part of the Texas grid, I didn't mention North American.

[Victoria Watcher]

Tesla is reporting that its fleet of customers driving with the Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta has now surpassed 35 million miles driven, and the pace is ramping up.

 

FSD Beta enables Tesla vehicles to drive autonomously to a destination entered in the car’s navigation system, but the driver needs to remain vigilant and ready to take control at all times.

 

https://electrek.co/...f-driving-beta/

 

Since the responsibility lies with the driver and not Tesla’s system, it is still considered a level two driver-assist system despite its name, but it is the closest thing to a self-driving vehicle that is available to customers and not in a closed fleet operated by companies like Waymo and Cruise.

 

Because Tesla is putting those vehicles in the hands of customers in fairly large numbers, it is accumulating data at an impressive pace.

 

 

With the release of its Q2 2022 financial results, Tesla shared some rare numbers showing that FSD Beta has now driven over 35 million miles and the pace is increasing:

[Victoria Watcher]

Elon Musk Hints “Full Self-Driving” Is Coming “This” Year

 

However, now he’s saying this data could help the company solve Full Self-Driving this year. Here’s another quote from the earnings call:

 

“I’m highly confident we will solve full self-driving, and it still seems to be this year. I know people are like, ‘he says that.’ But it does seem to be epic. It does seem as though we are converging on full self-driving this year.”

 

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard such a bold claim from Elon Musk. Then again, it looks like the FSD program didn’t take off and start delivering the data Tesla needed until only just recently. While we’re still skeptical that FSD will be here anytime soon, things are certainly steering in the right direction.

 

 

https://www.reviewge...ming-this-year/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 22 July 2022 - 03:18 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Volkswagen’s Herbert Diess is stepping down as chief executive, Europe’s top car maker said on Friday, after a four-year tenure in which he pushed VW’s electrification strategy and repeatedly clashed with its work council and board.

 

Mr. Diess will leave his role on Sept. 1 and will be succeeded by Oliver Blume, chief executive of Volkswagen-owned Porsche AG, who will retain his position as head of the sportscar brand alongside his new responsibilities.

 

Mr. Blume has worked at VW Group for his whole career, joining in 1994 on the international trainee program at Audi and chairing Porsche’s board since 2015. “My focus will be on the customer, brands and products,” he said in a statement.

 

Mr. Diess’s future at Volkswagen has been in doubt on multiple occasions during his tenure, most recently in the fall of last year over clashes with the company’s powerful works council about his electrification strategy and management style.

 

His departure, three years ahead of the end of his contract in 2025, comes as the company is pushing to beat Tesla at becoming the world’s top electric vehicle maker, catch up on software and execute an IPO for its Porsche sports car brand.

 

 

https://www.theglobe...ultuous-tenure/

[Mike K.]

IPO for Porsche!?!?

[Mike K.]

I’m watching the TFL guys testing the F150 Lightning with a mini camper on the bed.

The verdict is these vehicles are still many years away from being practical for anything other than driving in the city or going on trips unloaded. As soon as you haul, or tow, it’s game over for anything more than what we’d do as a run to Cowichan from Victoria.

And when you put on all-terrain radials on, efficiency drops by 5%, unloaded. I can’t recall the impact when loaded.

Overall, they spent a lot of time figuring out where to charge and how much to charge at each stop. They stopped nine times for charging between Sacramento and Seattle, over a distance of 1,084 miles. A gas F150 would have stopped three or four times with the same load, and five minutes per stop instead of 30 mins or an hour, etc. At campgrounds charging was largely useless at 120v (requiring four days to charge the truck), and the 240v charger adapter had problems and could not be used.

[Mike K.]

Their workaround for remote areas without charging was to use a hybrid F150 to power the Lightning. A full day is required to power the Lightning with the hybrid.

They said they lost 100 miles of range on the hybrid, to juice the Lightning by 8%.

[Mike K.]

The more I think about it, the more practical hybrids appear to be, for the next 10-15 years as technology improves.

There’s no nonsense. You need the ICE motor, it’s there. Short trips in the city are on battery. It’s the best of both worlds.

[Victoria Watcher]

Most cars never go on long road trips.

The ones that do can be gas for a while longer.

We are going to have gas cars for 15-25 more years anyway.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 July 2022 - 10:01 AM.

[Mike K.]

We’re talking trucks, though. They haul and tow, but that’s impractical right now for the average person.

I suspect that’s why Tesla hasn’t released its monstrosity yet.

[Victoria Watcher]

Trucks go on camping trips etc. But not other long trips I suspect.

It’ll all work out.

The Tesla truck is coming, don’t you worry about that. The giga press to make the chassis is being assembled now. The largest most powerful casting press the world has ever seen.

The stainless steel plant is just finishing up too.

There is no point producing it until it can be produced at scale. If you don’t do that you end up with the Ford Mustang electric. Every one produced loses Ford money.

Tesla vehicles have the highest profit margin of any mass manufactured car ever.

That’s the goal with Cyberyteuck too.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 July 2022 - 10:11 AM.

[Mike K.]

I’m just saying, that anyone interested in a Ford Lightning can’t expect to use it for hauling or towing unless they’re prepared to charge frequently. Our terrain is also harder on efficiency.

[dasmo]

No one is camping in the Delorean truck.

[dasmo]

But… as far as camping goes having a big battery would be useful as long as you don’t run out. They must have software to set a limit. Our last trip a friend brought a deep cell and a light string. Was super nice.

[Spy Black]

There is no future for long-haul personal electric vehicles.

 

In a local (under 50 clicks) environment, electric will (IMO) eventually become commonplace.

In a commercial trucking environment, where a vehicle has the space, and weight handling capacity for massive batteries, electric could make some headway eventually.

 

But all personal  or recreational electric vehicle owners who attempt to make long distance travel plans with their Tesla (or whatever) report on a new personal anxiety issue, that of "Range Anxiety", whereupon a driver makes stressful choices as to whether to use their air conditioner, or heater, or stereo system based on how many miles they have to travel before they get to the next SuperCharger.

That "Range Anxiety" then turns into "SuperCharger Anxiety", whereupon you start to wonder how many cars will be in front of you at the SuperCharger station, and how long you'll have to wait before you can plug in and get your charge.

Remembering that (for example) a Tesla takes 15 minutes to charge in return for around 200 miles, if there are even a couple of fellow long haul Tesla owners ahead of you in line, you could easily have to wait up to an hour to get plugged in ... after which you have to wait half an hour or an hour to get your own charge ... for a potential wait time of close to a couple of hours (or much longer if the SuperCharger station is extremely busy).

You have to go through this "range anxiety" and "SuperCharger anxiety" every 300 miles or so if you want to avoid the suffering associated with each.

 

So "no thanks" to long haul electric for intercity travel and/or recreation ... I'll stick with my 5.0 litre F-150 which does everything I need it to do, and can get me to Southern California with a camper on the back, and do so painlessly, and with zero anxiety.

Edited by Spy Black, 24 July 2022 - 07:22 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

It’ll all work out. I’m sure 1920’s drivers had “gas station anxiety” too. But they didn’t take the horses instead. Soon there will be no waiting at charging stations. They will be too plentiful.

This change is not required overnight. And by the time long haul trucks go electric most of them will be self driving.

We might even see a bit of rail rennaisance. Self driving rail pods are more efficient than trucks in some cases.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 24 July 2022 - 07:40 AM.

[Mike K.]

Life’s too short for things to work out.

It’s was pretty goofy seeing those TFL guys stopping for 15% charge ups here, 40% charge-ups there, etc. it was equally as goofy seeing people sitting around twiddling their thumbs at the chargers. And it wasn’t cheap, either. They spent $200 on a run from Michigan to Colorado. At today's ultra high gas prices an F150 would have used $350 in gas, they calculated. But the gas run would have saved several hours. And the EV chargers encourage spending money while waiting around.

We’re still years away from road trips being practical in these machines. Which leads me to think hybrids are going to become the logical choice once the EV craze settles down a little after reality sets in. People are still in a honeymoon phase.

[Spy Black]

It’ll all work out. 

I'm not sure I could agree with your premise, based on the fact that electric motors are far from new technology, and the issues that plague (for example) Tesla today, are the same issues that have been issues for electric powered vehicles for decades.

 

There's lots to like about electric vehicles, like instant 100% torque, relatively silent running, and completely abandoning ones dependance on fossil fuels.

But there's also lots that continue to plague electric vehicles, like an inability to pull, or haul much more than the actual design weight (which includes passengers) of the vehicle itself, after which any extra weight causes a massive drop in the abilities of the vehicle in terms of speed, torque, and range.

 

I'd love a Tesla (or equivalent) to use around town, but don't believe pure electric vehicles will ever become commonplace in the long-haul commercial or recreational environment.

What will however, become interesting to watch - is the development of the hydrogen fuel cell / electric hybrid, a vehicle not yet commonplace, but definitely on the horizon.

 

But in 2022, the efficiency of turning a fuel (any fuel) into a motive force that can transit you over long distances on a roadway is solidly held by a gas powered vehicle, and that will likely never be surpassed by a pure electric vehicle.

[Victoria Watcher]

Life’s too short for things to work out.

It’s was pretty goofy seeing those TFL guys stopping for 15% charge ups here, 40% charge-ups there, etc. it was equally as goofy seeing people sitting around twiddling their thumbs at the chargers. And it wasn’t cheap, either. They spent $200 on a run from Michigan to Colorado. At today's ultra high gas prices an F150 would have used $350 in gas, they calculated. But the gas run would have saved several hours. And the EV chargers encourage spending money while waiting around.

We’re still years away from road trips being practical in these machines. Which leads me to think hybrids are going to become the logical choice once the EV craze settles down a little after reality sets in. People are still in a honeymoon phase.

Nope. 15-25 years before we are all electric. Hybrids are stupid.