Living with Electric Vehicles

[EVIE/BEE]

Your grandchildren will probably only know EV cars. However the electricity used by those cars will possibly still be partly coal generated. Petroleum may disappear, and for strategic reasons (and Australia's economic reasons - we have bugger-all) it will be no great loss.

I'm with Ubutey45 carbon and hydrocarbon fuels are here to stay.

 

[Grey Panner]

Your first comment is indisputable.

The second is unlikely - if you get your gas bottles from a typical swap system at a service station, they simply remove them from service as they get old, and take your old one regardless of condition . It is very unlikely that you will be given one that nowhere will then take when empty. And with expensive vehicle batteries there will no doubt be greater protection. But unless there is some very dramatic change in the size of batteries (highly unlikely) it will only be fleets doing it anyway, not the average motorist (as you say).

Actually I have known three instances where a dealer declined to exchage a gas bottle because it was near.its expiry date. In each case the motorist was forced to buy a brand new gas bottle. This may not be common practise but it happens.

 

[grubstake]

Actually I have known three instances where a dealer declined to exchage a gas bottle because it was near.its expiry date. In each case the motorist was forced to buy a brand new gas bottle. This may not be common practise but it happens.

Were these cases reasonably current or historic?

 

[Grey Panner]

Were these cases reasonably current or historic?

These cases happened BC, that is, before COVID. That would make it about five years ago.
Whenever possible I get my gas bottles re-filled rather than exchanged.On one occasion, when a re-fill was not available, I handed in a gas bottle with a couple of years left on it and was given ,in exchange, the last bottle that they had left. A plastic wrapper covered the date stamped on the bottle. I found out later that I had been provided with a bottle with only a few months left on it and subsequently could not get it either re-filled or exchanged.
If things are different now that would be good but a gas bottle that is time-expired must be discarded and the person who is stuck with it is the one who pays.

 

[grubstake]

ELGAS, with thousands of Swap 'n' Go agents across Australia, say this:



https://www.elgas.com.au/swapngo/

 

[user 22230]

Issue does arise when you get a bottle close to expiry and you don't use a lot of gas ( the once a year camping trip) and then when camped up and run out, remote local filler / servo doesn't do swap and go can refuse to fill if expiry date has passed. Other issue I have found is my camper trailer and many others the designated bottle holder dictates size of bottle. Not all same capacity bottles are the same external dimensions. Not good when you get back to camp and it won't fit in holder. I got sick of buying new bottles and handing them in and getting an old one at swap n go, so purchased a decanting hose and just fill from a larger bottle solving several issues including being much cheaper.

 

[Grey Panner]

ELGAS, with thousands of Swap 'n' Go agents across Australia, say this:

View attachment 8299

https://www.elgas.com.au/swapngo/

First class service, buy not available everywhere.

 

[geof_junk]

Electric car paint.

https://www.drive.com.au/news/worlds-first-solar-powered-electric-car-enters-production/

 

[user 4386]

Electric car paint.

The full story

"the production-ready Lightyear Zero went on sale in Europe in February 2022, priced from $AU231,000".

"Lightyear claims the Zero’s bodywork incorporates five square metres of solar panels, which can add up to 12km of driving range every hour on a sunny day......validation prototypes typically add 25 miles' worth of solar energy to the battery on cloudy days. The car is charging itself anytime the sun is shining, but when it's driving, it's probably consuming most of that charge. Clearly nobody is crossing the outback without stopping in this rig .......Nevertheless, to ensure nobody gets stranded there's also a 60-kWh battery onboard, which you can top up using a normal EV charger. This effectively renders the solar array a range-extender, much like the tiny gas engines used in some EVs to extend the range of the battery while on the go or far from chargers".

Ah well, why go out on cloudy days?

 

[user 4386]

This makes more sense

https://www.autoweek.com/news/green-cars/a42634857/lightyear-0-production-halted/

 

[Newprospect]

Would luv to see a 4WD electric , go off road for a couple of weeks. Just plug in to your nearest gum tree and off you go

 

[Moneybox]

Solar powered would make sense in the remote parts of Australia.

 

[user 4386]

Something I had not thought of - you break down out in the bush....

Can You Tow an Electric Vehicle?​

Yes you can. The safest way will be on a flatbed or car carrier. Otherwise, you could cause damage to the drive motor.

Most owner's manuals will insist your electric vehicle be towed with the wheels off the ground.

Electric vehicles can experience damage to the electric motor (or motors) if towed with the wheels rolling on the ground. This is because of the way the majority of electric vehicle motors work.

One way to assure your vehicle is moved properly will be by hiring an auto transport company. The other is using a local tow company and have them guarantee a flatbed is being used.

 

[Moneybox]

Why not buy Chinese?

 

[Ridge Runner]

Why not buy Chinese?

There is a Guy over here who is a Caravan Journo and he uses one to Tow his own Caravan and much bigger ones with a Kia EV6 and Towing a 22/24ft Caravan he was getting 1.8 miles per Kwh OR 2.8962 Kms per Kwh, The unladen weight of the Van was 1500kgs and with water and LPG it weighed 1600kgs which is the Max weight the Kia EV6 can Tow,

The upside to using them in the EU if you are Camping Off Grid you can Plug the Caravan in to the Kia and power the Caravan when your parked up or Camping, The Kia EV6 comes with an adapter/Fly Lead,

 

[user 23515]

Why not buy Chinese?

While the current conduct of the PRC is often deplorable, the guy that put that video together does nothing but produce anti Chinese videos. (From what I can tell).
In China there are a huge number of EVs on the road and models from there. BYD have been in Europe and NZ for a while.
I suspect from the 2 mins research I just completed, you might find that there is no more likelihood of any ev catching fire than there is of a ICE powered vehicle catching fire, and probably less.

 

[EVIE/BEE]

While the current conduct of the PRC is often deplorable, the guy that put that video together does nothing but produce anti Chinese videos. (From what I can tell).
In China there are a huge number of EVs on the road and models from there. BYD have been in Europe and NZ for a while.
I suspect from the 2 mins research I just completed, you might find that there is no more likelihood of any ev catching fire than there is of a ICE powered vehicle catching fire, and probably less.

Why then is the aircraft industry so restrictive on the transportation of lithium batteries??

Just curious.

 

[grubstake]

Why then is the aircraft industry so restrictive on the transportation of lithium batteries??

Just curious.

Because they don't want to risk whatever batteries might be brought onboard by passengers or included in freight. Big lithium batteries permanently installed on aircraft, have been in use for over a decade:
http://787updates.newairplane.com/787-Electrical-Systems/Batteries-and-Advanced-Airplanes

 

[user 23515]

Why then is the aircraft industry so restrictive on the transportation of lithium batteries??

Just curious.

An if you want to keep this connected to methods of powering vehicles, probably the same reason the aircraft has tanks full of fuel yet does not want you to bring diesel or petrol in you checked luggage.

 

[EVIE/BEE]

I love lithium batteries in my detector but i won't leave them charging overnite while i'm sleeping.

I'll be driving across The Nullabor soon. Don't see enough when flying. That's my excuse.