Cold is the enemy of batteries, but EVs have more problems than cold:
Tim Pool has a Tesla, and he says using it in winter is a matter of knowing how to warm the thing up, which is just means carefully reading the manual—something a lot of these hapless owners failed to do. He does admit, though, that the vehicle has its limitations.
Hi Kev. I’m an EV convert from years ago. We bought a Nissan Leaf in 2018 30 kWh and then a Tesla M3 in 2020. Both cars are bloody fantastic. We both drive them every day for about an hour’s commute and just plug in at night. In the South Island we have hydro and at night it is really cheap to charge the batteries. We’ve never had real range anxiety and there are charging stations in every little town. The best thing is that they were exempt from road user tariffs and that must have saved us between $20-30.000 over the years apart from the charge cost savings. I guess the answer lies in charging infrastructure. It also is important to be able to charge at home. If you have your car on the street then until you can get fast battery swapping tech (going well in China) then I guess petrol is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteI normally delete anonymous comments. but I'm pretty sure it's you, John, so I've slapped this up. For future reference, may I ask you to sign "John" at the end of your comments?
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've conceded on the blog is that EVs make sense in small countries like Korea, where putting up a charging infrastructure isn't hard, and people aren't inclined to drive long distances except during the holidays. But in the US, a vast country, putting up a standardized infrastructure is very difficult, so EVs don't make sense for ambitious travel.
As to whether EVs are environmentally friendly, it seems the plants making them are not (see here for just one example). The batteries are a separate problem unto themselves, creating environmental problems at the point of manufacture and disposal, as is true with solar panels, which are a nightmare. So for a typical American who doesn't live in a big city, EVs make little sense. Big-city Americans disagree, of course.
I'm all for an environmentally friendly vehicle; God knows we have enough smog. But I don't think we're there yet.
What made you switch to a Tesla so quickly? Or is the Tesla an addition to your growing fleet?
Will do with signing. I guess in the US the distances can be ginormous but most people live in their little bubble and only drive a long way occasionally in holiday. The only time I needed to go a long way as when Mari’s mum and partner came to visit. Then we rented an SUV - big jap machine and bloody good it was too. Our old Nissan has still got years ahead of it and we’ll eventually give it to Tory for a run-around in Dunedin. I went M3 because there is really nothing to break on them. They are a really powerful and smart car. I just stick on autopilot and daydream my way to and from work. Really awesome tech. We dont have FSD yet in NZ but it is coming this year. Ill wait and see what that massive over the air update will bring. John
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