LightningShow
Well-known member
We're in very early days. It will just get faster and faster. The battery and charging technology we'll be using in 10-15 years probably isn't even on a lab bench yet.
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Or we hit a dead end with battery tech or grid capability . OOps LOL .We're in very early days. It will just get faster and faster. The battery and charging technology we'll be using in 10-15 years probably isn't even on a lab bench yet.
Naw, the grid will be fine. If everyone switched to EVs overnight there would be a problem, but we’re talking a slow transition over 20 years or more.Or we hit a dead end with battery tech or grid capability.
Very well put!This is how it works when you pull up to a charge station:
Charge station: "Thanks for connecting, I can charge at 360 kW"
EV: "I can only charge at 50kW"
Charge Station: "No problem, I will slow down to 50 kW"
** Don't stress out over the charge rate while you are away from home, a hotel, or the destination. A fast charger only matters along your route. Since most owners charge at home at night 95% of the time, it's not that big of an issue. If Ford charged extra for faster charging, I wouldn't pay for it. Don't forget that a fast charge degrades the battery life quicker too.
The company I work for is looking seriously at ABB chargers for Medium Duty Truck and School Bus charging. School buses and delivery trucks have a defined route each day and they park in the fleet yard all night. We advise clients to size the charge stations to a 10 hour recharge. There is no need to upgrade the utility feed to a bus yard to support a fleet of 10 hour chargers. The grid requirements quickly spiral up for fleets.
Or we hit a dead end with battery tech or grid capability . OOps LOL .
How advanced do we really need, practically you are going to need to stop when driving long distances. Most vehicles today go 300-400 miles on a tank of gas. If I have 500 miles Max range that leaves me about 350 to work with when charging to 80% and stopping at 5-10%. Then if I can charge that back to 80% in 15 minutes or so. Sure that's longer than filling with fuel today but really we should be encouraging people to take breaks when driving.Or we hit a dead end with battery tech or grid capability . OOps LOL .
the other thing to note is that once critical amount of infrastructure is in place, it would be very costly to upgrade chargers. I doubt Tesla would upgrade its supercharger network to higher capability anytime soon.How advanced do we really need, practically you are going to need to stop when driving long distances. Most vehicles today go 300-400 miles on a tank of gas. If I have 500 miles Max range that leaves me about 350 to work with when charging to 80% and stopping at 5-10%. Then if I can charge that back to 80% in 15 minutes or so. Sure that's longer than filling with fuel today but really we should be encouraging people to take breaks when driving.
We're pretty close to having this today, the weight and cost just need reduced to where you can have enough battery for that range and be at the same weight as an ice vehicle and at the same cost. One good part of this will be as you reduce weight, less energy will be needed to travel the same distance.
What? Tesla is constantly upgrading their chargers. Their early SuperCharger units were 150 kW, but it was part of an A/B pair, so if you were the only one on the pair you could get 150, but if another car hooked up (inconsiderate ) then it would split 75/75. Then V2 came out which was also 150, but I think they have some installs of these that don't have the A/B pairing, could be wrong. Now they have V3 which is up to 250kW and no A/B pairing AFAIK.the other thing to note is that once critical amount of infrastructure is in place, it would be very costly to upgrade chargers. I doubt Tesla would upgrade its supercharger network to higher capability anytime soon.
The only way we hit a dead end on grid capability is if we keep voting for people that won't invest in infrastructure. There is no rule of the universe saying our current grid configuration is the only one we can have. We don't even need to upgrade it for EVs, in general we are using far more electricity now than ever before and should be planning for it. The idea of accepting a poorly performing grid system because "it is what it is" is insanely dumb.Or we hit a dead end with battery tech or grid capability . OOps LOL .
I want the nuclear fusion powered cars from the fallout games. Then we can stop…How advanced do we really need, practically you are going to need to stop when driving long distances. Most vehicles today go 300-400 miles on a tank of gas. If I have 500 miles Max range that leaves me about 350 to work with when charging to 80% and stopping at 5-10%. Then if I can charge that back to 80% in 15 minutes or so. Sure that's longer than filling with fuel today but really we should be encouraging people to take breaks when driving.
We're pretty close to having this today, the weight and cost just need reduced to where you can have enough battery for that range and be at the same weight as an ice vehicle and at the same cost. One good part of this will be as you reduce weight, less energy will be needed to travel the same distance.
Where we're going....we don't need roads.Mr Fusion
The Lucid Air Dream is reporting 520 miles of range. Then again its easy to have reported range and not be full production, established manufacturing volumes. Also easier to achieve those range numbers in a sedan than a tall truck.How advanced do we really need, practically you are going to need to stop when driving long distances. Most vehicles today go 300-400 miles on a tank of gas. If I have 500 miles Max range that leaves me about 350 to work with when charging to 80% and stopping at 5-10%. Then if I can charge that back to 80% in 15 minutes or so. Sure that's longer than filling with fuel today but really we should be encouraging people to take breaks when driving.
We're pretty close to having this today, the weight and cost just need reduced to where you can have enough battery for that range and be at the same weight as an ice vehicle and at the same cost. One good part of this will be as you reduce weight, less energy will be needed to travel the same distance.
Tesla just recently announced they are upgrading the 250kW chargers to 300kW.What? Tesla is constantly upgrading their chargers. Their early SuperCharger units were 150 kW, but it was part of an A/B pair, so if you were the only one on the pair you could get 150, but if another car hooked up (inconsiderate ) then it would split 75/75. Then V2 came out which was also 150, but I think they have some installs of these that don't have the A/B pairing, could be wrong. Now they have V3 which is up to 250kW and no A/B pairing AFAIK.
Anyway, they have upgraded old V1 units to V3, especially in higher traffic areas, and are rolling out V3 in new installs.
The biggest issue with any charger network, supercharge included, is cost of electricity. Most charging networks lose money because if you had to pay real cost of charging it would be much higher in many areas during peak times. This will be improved as more installations rely on solar to offset peak electricity costs and stuff like that, something Tesla is already doing on some V3 installs.