I wish US manufacturers would be more aggressive. Feels like we are all going to be driving chinese cars if this keeps up.
GM seems to be positioning itself as a player in the EV market between this, their caddy EV, and the agreement to produce EVs for Honda.
At least they have a plan. Between them and Ford we may have some american makes survive.
Continuing on that theme:
Torque News: Consumer Reports - No Gas For Toyota RAV4 Prime Over 800 Miles In Testing.
I am shocked that no one is announcing an electric school bus for public schools. To me this is a slam dunk. 1 to 2 hours maximum of diving twice a day with plenty of charge time in between. Fuel and maintenance cost savings would be big. NC is a big player in the school bus industry so it could be a boost the local economy if the new eco friendly government puts this in place as a mandate. Could be a 5 to 10 year roll out plan so by 2031 they are 99.99% electric.
I would assume it has to do with weight. At over 20,000 pounds without anyone in them how many batteries would they need to be able to make a 2/3 hr run and then have those same batteries charged back up in 5 hours for the afternoon. Plus the buses donât get much cruise time all stop and go which would be a further drain on the batteries.
Districts also often use the same buses for middle school and elem or middle and high depending on start and end time so the drive time could be close to 4 hours.
Wouldnât the stop and go actually be better for recharging batteries off the brakes? Maybe just better compared to gas, but still too draining.
Agree with your other points. Wonder if the electric freight trucks they are developing are solving some of those issues? Those would also be pulling big weight for a longer drive time, but less stop and go, and less need for fast charging.
They do already have electric garbage trucks, thatâs probably more similar.
Thereâs also more focus on possibly producing swappable batteries for the big rig EVs.
Teslaâs semi batteries are expected to weigh about 13,000 pounds, but that is for the 600 mile variety. A school bus wouldnât need that kind of range. Probably at least 10,000 pounds though.
Solid state batteries will be smaller and lighter. Getting those to an economical production cost is the tipping point for EVs.
They claim to have produced 1,000 working units off a normal assembly line. This isnât a prototype. This is a working mass produced battery pack with a 5 minute full recharge to ~250 miles range.
Business Insider: New electric-car battery charges as fast as filling up gas tank - Business Insider.
Itâs been picked up by numerous sources now
Any news on charger technology? Just because my bucket holds 1000 gallons of water, doesnât mean my faucet can fill it in 5 minutes. I want to see the specs on how many amps are being shoved into this battery, and what they do for heat dissipation.
One of the fast charge stories said that the chargers had to be boosted to about 2x the total amps they are now to achieve the super fast charge times. But they said the battery is the difficult part of that equation. They said using current fast chargers would take twice as long (about 10 minutes).
10 is still great. Of course some people wonât be satisfied until itâs 5. Then if thatâs achieved 2 will be the new benchmark for these people.
10 for a full charge is amazing. That would be about the same as stopping for gas and doing one other thing (bathroom, buying snacks, checking route, etc).
Itâs not going to happen overnight but pretty soon the difference will be immaterial.
I also think that charging stations lend themselves better to coffee bars and quick serve restaurants than gas / petrol does. Itâs not as big of a deal in the USA, but in Europe a lot of people already eat regularly at these places. I think it may become a bigger deal here. A Starbucks where you charge up while you get your Vente. A burrito or sandwich shop with a couple dozen charging bays. Refill your ride while you stuff your gut.