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Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Aren’t VW the only ones that actually make a half decent ground-up electric van? Everything else is building on a diesel platform with the bare minimum of battery capacity, trying to sell as a greenwashing prop to customers doing 12km per day.

But IIRC the Buzz doesn’t have a heat pump (correct me if i’m wrong) so winter weather kills it.
 
jack_christie said:
Some of the problems are real, but the experts keep telling people they should have charged at home and left it plugged in overnight , but not everyone can do that🤦‍♂️
Click to expand...

IMO being able to charge at home is a necessity to even think about an EV. Starting every day with a full tank is nice.

I can’t charge at home so my car runs on the only fuel that makes sense for a piston car that isn’t a supermini. Diesel.
 
Perc said:
Aren’t VW the only ones that actually make a half decent ground-up electric van? Everything else is building on a diesel platform with the bare minimum of battery capacity, trying to sell as a greenwashing prop to customers doing 12km per day.

But IIRC the Buzz doesn’t have a heat pump (correct me if i’m wrong) so winter weather kills it.
Click to expand...

There are others.

KIA just launched this.
www.wardsauto.com

Kia Unveils Global Modular EV Lineup

“The design strategy is to enable a single vehicle chassis to be used to fulfill multiple mobility needs," Kia says, in describing the vision behind its Platform Beyond Vehicles.
www.wardsauto.com www.wardsauto.com
 
Perc said:
IMO being able to charge at home is a necessity to even think about an EV. Starting every day with a full tank is nice.

I can’t charge at home so my car runs on the only fuel that makes sense for a piston car that isn’t a supermini. Diesel.
Click to expand...

Some shelter or garage is kinda required?
 
This guy was saying that his van usually had an 89 mile range and was down to 45, so either he didn't charge it overnight or it had a tiny battery. Not charging it overnight will increase the losses as the pack manages its thermals and you use more power for... everything when using the van.

I learnt the hard way that you need to be able to charge at home to make it work, without that you at the very least lose the novelty of pre-heating/cooling and that's one of the reasons to buy one. It's also fucking expensive. Depending on your daily usage, a normal 240V, 13A outlet might not cut it either, as an overnight charge wouldn't do half of an average EV battery. Having a place to store the car that stays relatively warm is a huge advantage.
 
Why is the Ford Ranger selling so poorly in the US? Today I learned that it's not selling very well, even outsold by the Honda Ridgeline. The Maverick outsold it 3:1 in 2023.
 
The Maverick is all the truck most people need to satisfy their "have to have a truck" instinct and is give or take eight grand cheaper than a ranger of similar spec.

And if you want something larger, an F-150 is just two g's more than a Ranger, which is easier to lose on the financing arrangements.

But what do I know, I think the Maverick is by far and away best Escape. ;)
 
gaasc said:
But what do I know, I think the Maverick is by far and away best Escape. ;)
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I think I get this reference.
1705714366427.png


I always liked these, they're not as charismatic as a Freelander but much better than the old Terrano II that was rebadged as the first Maverick sold here.
 
edit: deleted all of this because I’m just getting mad anyway and won’t convince any of you that you’re wrong either so what’s the point. The entire discussion is irrational anyway.
 
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Matt2000 said:
I think I get this reference.
View attachment 3571500

I always liked these, they're not as charismatic as a Freelander but much better than the old Terrano II that was rebadged as the first Maverick sold here.
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Indeed yes sir. I also quite like them. The hybrid gen2 (in true Ford tradition, just a heavily revised one of these really) version in particular.

Also in true ford tradition, the current Maverick is based on the same C2 platform that underpins the current Escape/Kuga...and the Focus...and the Bronco Sport...and the vehicle with the best name currently on the market, the Lincoln Corsair.
 
jack_christie said:
Some shelter or garage is kinda required?
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Errr, no?
While I do have a garage/carhole, it is filled with all sorts of crap and therefore the car won’t fit. Actually come to think of it, I don’t think my EV6 will fit even with it empty.

Point is, car lives outside (as did my first EV) and I just have the charge cable across the pavement/sidewalk.
 
So the cable gets trampled on by pedestrians and their wheels? Prams, wheelchairs etc?
 
Perc said:
So the cable gets trampled on by pedestrians and their wheels? Prams, wheelchairs etc?
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I live in a dead end road in the middle of nowhere, so traffic is extremely light.
Also I usually charge at night, when there's absolutely nobody around; I get that this is a pretty sahweet deal I have and this may not apply to everyone, but it works.
And if for some reason this was not legal, I have a public AC charger at like 500 m, aside from the work or highway chargers. Point is : charge when you can, not when you absolutely have to. Which is what would have saved those Chicago people a lot of aggro.
Also also (and I think this is an American thing), you can charge a Tesla on a non Tesla charger aswell? And I'm guessing there's those around publicly too?
 
NooDle said:
[...] Point is : charge when you can, not when you absolutely have to. Which is what would have saved those Chicago people a lot of aggro.
Also also (and I think this is an American thing), you can charge a Tesla on a non Tesla charger aswell? And I'm guessing there's those around publicly too?
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That depends on the charger. Not all chargers work in freezing temperatures. For instance, Bjørn Nyland recently tested the new Model 3 (Highland) in extreme cold, he drove 1000 km in the Norway-route:


View: https://youtu.be/lb_98bdhUd0?si=DnFoVazHP3r811gb

View: https://youtu.be/EbX5A-w9uck?si=BmtvxoAfKm9c6ZmR
The Australian made Tritium-chargers that Ionity are using here seems to have problems in extreme cold, as per Bjørn's findings in that test, yet the Superchargers seems to be working just fine at extremely low temperatures. What happened in Chicago was most likely that the Superchargers were simply not built to handle the extreme cold and simply bugged. It's the same story with different types of Tritium chargers here, they would frequently bug out in the cold.
 
While true, this is not what I meant.
I have a feeling many US based Tesla drivers go to Superchargers because they don't know that they can also charge on pretty much every other charger (yes, I know, in some cases you need an adapter).
In Europe I frequently see Tesla's use "other" CCS chargers (just as we're now seeing other brands at Superchargers, but still not many people).
It seems in the US people seem to think a Tesla can't/wont charge on anything else?

Even so, why didn't any of these "stranded" people use the granny charger? Yes, it will take forever, but *some* kms of range is better than none?
 
NooDle said:
Even so, why didn't any of these "stranded" people use the granny charger? Yes, it will take forever, but *some* kms of range is better than none?
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because if they had any sense, they wouldn't be stranded in the first place.
NooDle said:
It seems in the US people seem to think a Tesla can't/wont charge on anything else?
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and vice versa! there's magic-dock superchargers across the US now as well. it's like the entire discussion is still stuck in the EV stone ages... when chademo was still a thing or something :p
 

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K64HQ5ZPfdQ
NooDle said:
Errr, no?
While I do have a garage/carhole, it is filled with all sorts of crap and therefore the car won’t fit. Actually come to think of it, I don’t think my EV6 will fit even with it empty.

Point is, car lives outside (as did my first EV) and I just have the charge cable across the pavement/sidewalk.
Click to expand...
But it would be easier. Sometimes see in Bjorn's video's he uses a portable heater to heat up car interior before a trip

OutofSpec in Chicago afterwards

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K64HQ5ZPfdQ
 
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