Thread: EV general discussion

Originally Posted by 101RRS

Last weekend I saw a Tesla 3 towing a caravan of about 18' in length - was in the country not in the city either. I know that Teslas have good range and efficiency but I am sure towing an 18foot van would really make range anxiety kick in.

Garry

Bet the van has a genset.

And this is in one of the best developed EV areas on the planet.

Originally Posted by Homestar

And this is in one of the best developed EV areas on the planet.

If you think thats bad the EU is worse perhaps? My bold being the kicker of doom?

"Electric car charging stations have not kept pace with the increasing number of electric cars on the road, European automakers said on Monday.A report by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) said electric vehicle (EV) sales had grown three times faster than the number of EV charging points installed in its 27 nations since 2017.
ACEA said the European Union will need 8.8 million charging by 2030, which would mean installing 22,000 points every week — eight times the current rate.
The European Commission, however, estimates that the bloc will need 3.5 million charging points by 2030.
The report added that EV infrastructure was key in motivating more people to buy electric cars, all of which is vital in achieving the EU target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050."

It's where the power is coming from as well to run all the new chargers. A company we work with that does big shopping centre Charging stations is running into roadblocks on several major sites as the supply authorities are rejecting their applications as the local area is at capacity and adding 3MW for a dozen chargers can't be done without upgrade to the Zone sub - we're talking an 8 figure sums to upgrade one single 22KV line to a single shopping centre to allow this which of course has stopped the job dead in it's tracks. This is on top of the 7 figure sum to actually put the dozen chargers in.

Bonkers money so a few wealthy people can charge their cars while their shopping.

On the brighter side perhaps

QS web site has this "As an intermediate step between the A0 and the QSE-5 B0 prototypes planned for later this year, Alpha-2 cells feature the main functionality of the QSE-5 and are an opportunity for customers to test key performance parameters and prototype-level reliability. While Alpha-2 prototypes are being tested in customer labs, QuantumScape is working to integrate those component-level improvements into the planned QSE-5 cells, which will consist of 24 layers and use electrolyte-separators produced using the faster Raptor equipment and process.
“The Alpha-2 shipments represent an important milestone on our path to commercialization,” said Dr. Siva Sivaram, president and CEO of QuantumScape. “Customer feedback is the most critical input in the product development cycle as it provides insight into areas that need improvement and strengthens collaboration. The faster we can get new product iterations into customers’ hands, the faster we get to production. We are very encouraged by the initial Alpha-2 performance results and excited about the first QSE-5 cells we expect to manufacture later this year.”"

ALPHA 2 details

"Alpha-2 prototypes integrate many of the company’s significant component improvements made over the last year. The six-layer Alpha-2 prototype is more energy-dense than the earlier 24-layer A0 prototype. This is primarily due to higher-loading cathodes (i.e., packed with more active material) and more efficient packaging that optimizes the materials and space within the cell. The packaging improvements include tighter internal margins, thinner current collectors, and a slimmer design, all of which are integral to the final product." Link QuantumScape - QuantumScape Begins Customer Shipments of Alpha-2 Prototypes, a Key Goal for 2024

Suggesting later 2024 we get the first shipments of the "QSE-5 B0 prototypes planned for later this year"

"QSE-5 cells, which will consist of 24 layers and use electrolyte-separators produced using the faster Raptor equipment and process."

They are building the giga factory for them now.

NOT SHARE MARKET ADVICE

Originally Posted by Homestar

It's where the power is coming from as well to run all the new chargers. A company we work with that does big shopping centre Charging stations is running into roadblocks on several major sites as the supply authorities are rejecting their applications as the local area is at capacity and adding 3MW for a dozen chargers can't be done without upgrade to the Zone sub - we're talking an 8 figure sums to upgrade one single 22KV line to a single shopping centre to allow this which of course has stopped the job dead in it's tracks. This is on top of the 7 figure sum to actually put the dozen chargers in.

Bonkers money so a few wealthy people can charge their cars while their shopping.

And isn't that what you, and myself if I may add, have been saying all along. But not to worry, the grid can go 75% renewable right now according to some experts! Just need old Tesla to be reincarnated and show us how!

Originally Posted by Homestar

Bonkers money so a few wealthy people can charge their cars while their shopping.

I'll bet the insurers will add their "little" bit on top of that as well.

Originally Posted by Homestar

It's where the power is coming from as well to run all the new chargers. A company we work with that does big shopping centre Charging stations is running into roadblocks on several major sites as the supply authorities are rejecting their applications as the local area is at capacity and adding 3MW for a dozen chargers can't be done without upgrade to the Zone sub - we're talking an 8 figure sums to upgrade one single 22KV line to a single shopping centre to allow this which of course has stopped the job dead in it's tracks. This is on top of the 7 figure sum to actually put the dozen chargers in.

Bonkers money so a few wealthy people can charge their cars while their shopping.

Yes, this is no joke... I may have mentioned it before on here, so forgive the early onset of dementia if so

in an area of just 20km2 I have heard dozens of stories already regarding capacity.

1. My little brother has bought a house last year and intended to get rid of the gas heater but after much debate he was not able to upgrade his 1x25A connection to more than 3x25A, effectively only going from a single phase to 3 phase. 3x35A (which would be needed for an instant hot water unit) was just not going to happen.
2. A mate of mine has a kid that plays soccer, he sees other parents regularly and one of them got a new EV since the company forced it on him basically. He noticed he was charging his car on the electric charger in de parking lot of the sport complex. When asked why "I get bumped into being a business user/account by the power company if I use more than 17000kw per anum and that costs so much that it is cheaper to charge here"
3. That same mate works at a government owned and operated sewage treatment plant and they recently installed 2.7megawatt's of solar in a disused field. The power company has already told them that they are limited to 1.7 since they can't handle it. Since the power company can operate the inverters (switching banks off, which is a requirement with large installations) they can't even use the surplus power to charge their EV's
4. My car mechanic just moved places and the new location has 50kw of solar on the roof, from a time that nobody looked at what they were doing. In order to facilitate the large currents that he can put back into the grid he has a 3x80A connection which costs a fortune. We were looking into lowering the connection to the grid and switching the solar to batteries instead. He has already been warned that he CAN downgrade, but won't be able/allowed to upgrade back "ever" (ie. foreseeable future).
5. And to top it all off, a combination of the two above; a local school (so that is again public money) spend a fortune to fill their roofs with solar, stupidly/naively thinking that they were doing "the right thing" and when time came to hook it up the power company simply said: we don't have the excess capacity in the grid for this, at all, you can not switch it on. This means that the investment is rotting away, there is no solar power to charge their EV's with AND since they could not get the larger hook up to the grid the EV chargers they installed can't even be used since that would blow the mains to the entire school.

These are all stories from people that I know first hand and I have even worked on the electrical setup of half of them, not hearsay. This entire fiasco is beginning to look like a very VERY expensive pink elephant...

Then again, I broke my foot (yeah I know, dumb :P) and my bookkeeper took my out for dinner in his EV renault thingy. As a passenger I am ok with them

Cheers,
-P