Just got a Nissan Leaf (cheapest EV) after finally getting rid of the 18 year old civic. With the tax rebates, it was cheaper to get a new one than hunt for a used car, which was hard for me to wrap my head around given Iāve always bought used in the past.
Been fun so far, though Iām just using it as a commuter / work car / city driving. We still have the plug-in hybrid for longer trips. Of course on my drive home from getting it, the radio had a story on electricity prices this winter being super high in some places. I think Iāll still save on gas as long as I mostly charge at home, though itāll be interesting to see how this works out this winter with gas prices slowly coming down again.
Iām interested in reading about how itās going, so please do share.
It still seems like most 2 car families could fairly seamlessly convert one of their cars to an EV. Like you said, keep a 2nd hybrid or even a gas guzzler for long trips.
I just did my longest road trip last week. I drove to Charleston and back same day. My employees were working on Isle of Palms and forgot some stuff they needed so I had to deliver it.
From Charlotte with 96% charge I made it to IOP with 101 miles left. That was running heat on 70 degrees, but it was in the mid 40s to mid 50s for most of the trip so the heat didnāt have to work too hard.
I charged at an electrify america station in Charleston. Definitely felt the effects of the cooler weather with regards to that. I only got about 50kw charge speed. Unfortunately I have the lowest tier ioniq 5 so I donāt have battery preconditioning to warm the battery before charging. Charging back to 85% from 25ish % took over a half hour. I needed to eat anyway since I hadnāt eaten all day to that point so it wasnāt too inconvenient, but on a warm day that would normally take about 10-15 minutes.
It was a new electrify america station so they were doing complimentary charging so the whole trip cost like $11 since i didnāt have to pay to charge for the return.
Iāll try to update periodically. I have the lower range version, and have had to charge at night once so far. Once it starts to get really cold here, Iāll have to see how much more often I need to charge.
I think Iāll get braver for slightly longer trips than just metro area driving once I get used to how quickly the battery goes down. Thatās great about the complimentary charging. My wife gets complimentary charging at her work, so as long as she can find a charging spot when she goes, she basically can make it back and forth to work with almost zero cost even in a plug-in hybrid with really low range.
This has been reportedly done before but turned out to be false. I think theyāve probably done it finally, but only for less than a second. Still a ways away from little fusion reactors powering everyoneās neighborhoods & EVs.
My understanding is that even if we master fusion, we donāt have a solution to combat embrittlement of reactor materials from the constant bombardment of radiation, which are magnitudes higher in fusion than fission.
So we not only need major advancements in fusion technology but also material science.
@49RFootballNow may be able to shed some more light on it. I believe he works in nuclear power.
That would be interesting to read about. I was under the impression that the entire reaction occurred within a magnetic field that prevented any damage and fully contained the reaction.
The reactions I have read about are actually hotter than the sun, so the field is extremely important.
I did find this discussion regarding radiation:
Does Fusion produce radioactive nuclear waste the same way fission does?
Nuclear fission power plants have the disadvantage of generating unstable nuclei; some of these are radioactive for millions of years. Fusion on the other hand does not create any long-lived radioactive nuclear waste. A fusion reactor produces helium, which is an inert gas. It also produces and consumes tritium within the plant in a closed circuit. Tritium is radioactive (a beta emitter) but its half life is short. It is only used in low amounts so, unlike long-lived radioactive nuclei, it cannot produce any serious danger. The activation of the reactorās structural material by intense neutron fluxes is another issue. This strongly depends on what solution for blanket and other structures has been adopted, and its reduction is an important challenge for future fusion experiments.
The politics in question aside, if this keeps up itās going to sink Tesla, or possibly force Muskās ouster.
A year ago, the report found that 75% of electric car shoppers considered a Tesla. Last quarter, the number fell to 64%.
I think this is likely opening the door for the traditional players especially, but also the startup brands, to capture Tesla market share. Ford, Chevy / GM and even VW have the production expertise to build a much better vehicle outside of the battery pack and software (not to mention the luxury brands plus Honda and Toyota who are finally poised to stop dragging their feet). I think that aspect gets discounted too much, and will come into play in greater weight than some folks seems to believe. If you add the social media circus around Muskās antics and statements on top of some questionable build quality of Teslasā¦ The value proposition drops even further. Right now if I were looking, I think their Supercharger network would be about the only thing I would put in the definite plus column. Everything else is between no advantage and potentially iffy.
Tesla needs to update the car designs. Nothing wrong with them necessarily but lots of competition out there now and more hitting the market. Many are better looking than what Tesla offers and teslas looks have been stale for several years now.
A redesign would get many of their current customers to purchase a new vehicle as well.
Iām not sure Iād really call them boutique. The model 3 and model y are two of the best selling cars on the market. Not just best selling among electrics either.
Theyāre dragging ass on getting the cyber truck out but it will eventually hit the market and theyāll definitely launch a small hatch or something as well. Thatās a fairly robust lineup of vehicles.
Now they are. In the future though - they are going to be a boutique maker charging a premium for their product that pushes boundaries of tech while the big boys hit mass production levels that Tesla wonāt. Their current market share is really just because they have been bleeding edge and one of the only players for years. But as the market they helped create matures they wonāt be able to keep up with demand or bring product to market as quickly unless we see Tesla expand capacity rapidly while also improving their quality.