11541 replies to this topic

[Rob Randall]

a former Apple employee was captured at the airport just before boarding a flight to China, after apparently stealing some of the tech giant's secret plans for self-driving cars.

 

The ex-employee, Xiaolang Zhang, had been a person of interest, already interviewed several times by Apple, and also by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

...

Apple informed the FBI about the data taken, which included a 25-page document containing electrical schematics for a circuit board used in Apple’s proprietary self-driving project.

 

 

https://www.usatoday...heft/774643002/

[LeoVictoria]

Ontario cancels cap&trade and with it their EV purchase rebates.    Too bad and will definitely put a big dent in Ontario sales for a while but in the grand scheme of things wont make a difference as more and more EVs are competitive without incentives. 

[Mike K.]

Meanwhile Must is celebrating that he's finally going to get this Chinese plant where he estimates he'll pump out 500,000 cars annually.

[tjv]

^haha, yes and Forbes is asking already how he can afford to pay for it

[LeoVictoria]

Every automaker needs production capacity in China..  Critical to long term success.

 

 

Meanhwhile, the first of the 20,000 iPaces that Waymo ordered have arrived.  Car looks pretty good, wheels not so much though in that picture at least.  https://electrek.co/...c-i-pace-waymo/

[LJ]

And Ontario just got rid of the rebate for electric vehicles. We will see how popular they become now.

[LeoVictoria]

https://youtu.be/P2fLYBaCWKM

The Camry with a battery does a 1.29 stock on Cayuga and a 1.21 with upgraded wheels/brakes. Same time as a Porsche Cayman S on this page: http://fastestlaps.c...otorsports-park

That’s the base version. Performance is gonna be nuts

[LeoVictoria]

Took the kids down to the great wolf lodge, Tacoma zoo, and see some friends. 

650km.  $16 in public charging costs.   

The original Leaf we have is not a road trip car, but with the kids it works since they need to stop every couple hours anyway.   

 

The EVGo network of fast chargers is decent around Seattle.  Gets a little more sparse south of Tacoma and on the islands but at least they were all functional.   

 

 

 

[MarkoJ]

How much real life range do you get out of it?

[LeoVictoria]

How much real life range do you get out of it?

 

Depends on the speed.   160km around town, on the highway I wouldn't really plan on charging stops further than 120km apart.   

[phx]

Depends on the speed.   160km around town, on the highway I wouldn't really plan on charging stops further than 120km apart.   

 

So a round trip to Vancouver is possible, but close to the limit?

[thaicobb]

Depends on the speed.   160km around town, on the highway I wouldn't really plan on charging stops further than 120km apart.   

24 or 30 KW-hr battery?

[tjv]

and how long does a Leaf take to charge?

[LeoVictoria]

So a round trip to Vancouver is possible, but close to the limit?

 

Exactly.  Drove to Vancouver a couple months ago, arrived downtown with 52% battery remaining.   So I could make it back, but that is too close so I plug in for at least half an hour somewhere.  Many of the parkades in downtown Vancouver now have multiple chargers (that are free with parking) so that works out.  

[LeoVictoria]

24 or 30 KW-hr battery?

 

24.   2013 model year.

[LeoVictoria]

and how long does a Leaf take to charge?

 

Household plug (110V) also called Level 1 charging takes about 18 hours from 0 to 100%   (~1.2kW)

220V electric vehicle charger (also called Level 2 charging) about 4 hours 0 to 100%. (~6kW)

DC fast charger (also called Level 3 charging) is usually used to charge only to 80% charge on the road because charging slows down quite a bit after 80%, and it would take about 25 min to get from 0 to 80%.   (~45kW) 

 

 

The big difference between my Leaf and a Tesla is the charge rate on the fast charger.   A Tesla will charge about three times as fast on their superchargers.    In practice that means you still end up stopping for 20/25 min, but you go three times further between charges.  That makes the Tesla the only practical electric car for road trips right now (the Chevy Bolt can also work if you're not going cross country).  

Edited by LeoVictoria, 23 July 2018 - 08:42 AM.

[MarkoJ]

Depends on the speed.   160km around town, on the highway I wouldn't really plan on charging stops further than 120km apart.   

 

That is really solid. The way I drive I barely get 250 km practical range out of my Tesla around town. By practical I only charge it 85% every night and I wouldn't want to let it go below 5%.

 

I also leave my a/c on if I am coming back to the car in less than one hour.

[Rob Randall]

Is it practical to carry a little solar recharger for emergencies? I've seen them at campgrounds, people unroll them and drape them on their trailers.

[thaicobb]

Is it practical to carry a little solar recharger for emergencies? I've seen them at campgrounds, people unroll them and drape them on their trailers.

Yes and no.  It would need to be a pretty large trailer.  Current solar panels can deliver up to 200 watts output per square meter in direct sunlight.  However its tough to get more than four or five hours direct sun per day.  Assuming the higher figure that's 1 KW-hr output per day per square meter.  Thus to charge the 24 KW-hr battery in a first generation battery to 85% charge in a day requires about 20 square meters of solar cells.

[lanforod]

Depends on your definition of 'little'. Those rolled up ones for cell phones won't make any difference. A suitcase of 4 panels at 200 watts each may make enough juice in a long enough period to give you 10 km range or whatever... probably not worth it. Better off carrying an emergency, charged up battery.