EVs Are Great Around Town, But.......

[Angel And The Wolf]

Something like this:

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

The problem with that "trick" is that you're condemming yourself to a pretty miserable life.

I'm in the country and I drive a nissan leaf.
I know I'm never going to live in the city again if I can help it.

[Angel And The Wolf]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

I'm in the country and I drive a nissan leaf.

Have you ever needed to drive farther than your Battery range?

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by Angel And The Wolf

Have you ever needed to drive farther than your Battery range?

I built my own charging network and bought a portable CHAedMO unit so yeah.
But I don't want to put gas in a car a lot more than I wish I had more range.

If I was going to build one this is how I would do it.
Set a target speed and set a power base line for that speed.
Let's say 60mph. In the summer the leaf could be drawing around 15kw to maintain 60mph. When it's cold it's closer to 20kw, with a cross wind over 20kw.
Based on that I would build a leaf pusher using a 25 to 26 horsepower engine that goes on the standard trailer hitch.
I would probably also use a single wheel, single fixed speed transmission. That way the transmission would weigh almost nothing and the engine would weigh around 75lb.
Use the single speed transmission because we are assuming that the engine is needed on the highway and the the car can get up to speed under its own power.
That 25hp would provide enough power to maintain speed and give a little regen under most conditions.

[Angel And The Wolf]

Yes.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

The problem with that "trick" is that you're condemming yourself to a pretty miserable life.



Nope. The problem is that there's too many people, no matter what sort of people they happen to be. A city full of dedicated pacifists of your preferred racial/ethnic/gender mix is still a city full of people - and even if you magically removed the people, it'd still be a lifeless conglomerations of concrete, asphalt, and steel.

Alone in the sticks is where misery lays. Where things go to die. Man has always built cities. Get a clue.

And your blanket condemnation evinces what? Profound ignorance is the kinder, gentler response.

I don’t care what analogy is used about cities, machine or organism. Some flat work well. The reasons aren’t hard to deduce. In 5000-years plus, there are patterns.

You keep your hairshirt.

The problem is in getting around. Safely. With some protection from weather. Ruin the cities and no amount of gold-plating will convert a tremendously expensive tool into a cheap one. It’s past relevance.

.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Angel And The Wolf

A turbodiesil in an insulated garage is an improvement in mileage, but the potential savings is offset by the higher price of diesel, and pollution is still there.

It’s the simplest choice for low cost to the owner. First consideration always.

The electric is the higher cost. FAR higher. Needs total infrastructure built. What generating capacity will be needed to charge 100-million cars every night?

ICE doesn’t need any of this. It’s already built. And the pollution is nothing compared to fifty years ago. Thus a non-starter.

Electric is for those who want others to pay for their feel-goods. DIY, or it’s bull****. The pollution generated by every aspect of electric cars on a national isn’t trivial. It’s nasty as hell.

Will you be joining the military to adventure in Africa or Far Asia to TAKE what’s necessary? Yeah, didn’t think so. Your assumptions about national prosperity haven’t been examined, have they? Since this is where the entire argument falls apart.

Oil & coal we have. We are hardly through in discovering what it can do.

What’s the minimum one NEEDS to drive annually? The more the cities spread, the worse it gets.

A safe home in a safe neighborhood isn’t negotiable. The real problem.

.

[Angel And The Wolf]

Originally Posted by slowmover

Electric is for those who want others to pay for their feel-goods. DIY, or it’s bull****. The pollution generated by every aspect of electric cars on a national isn’t trivial. It’s nasty as hell. Oil & coal we have. We are hardly through in discovering what it can do.

The majority of electricity is generated by burning hydrocarbons to turn generators, but a few well tuned centralized power stations are less polluting than millions of out of tune vehicles. Diesel, natural gas, gasoline. But I don't buy "clean coal." That's just an attempt to save the economies and jobs of high coal states. We need to find processes to make non- burned products from coal, or we need to leave it in the ground.

[jray3]

Angel and the Wolf, don't get discouraged by the blanket condemnations and ignorance- which is particularly interesting to find on EcoModder..
For full detail, refer to my article on the subject; https://insideevs.com/explained-mits...xtender-story/
Suffice it to say- pushers can be simple, extremely effective, safe and stable to tow, and if used only for occasional long highway trips, deliver greater overall lifetime mpg than a hybrid with or without a plug.
A gentleman who is not active online but probably the most accomplished EV pusher EVer is currently en route to my place on his semi-annual rental property inspections from Utah to So. Cal. to B.C. Canada and back, all done with an aircooled VW engine pushing his RAV4 EV!

My second pusher trailer (and first one built from scratch by me) has recently finished engine resurrection and installation (pulled from a Karmann Ghia totalled in a 1995 collision)!
http://karmanneclectric.blogspot.com...tin-rangy.html
Some of the high school auto shop kids on this project had never dealt with points or a carburetor before, let alone valve adjustment.. I'll try to report back after road testing, which is due to happen in the next two weeks.
https://karmanneclectric.blogspot.co...rangy-ier.html

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by slowmover

Man has always built cities. Get a clue.

Man has always built cities because until recently he hasn't had fast transportation & communication. But as soon as those started to become available, those who could afford to do so started to move out of the cities. This even pre-dates the automobile: look at the growth of commuter railroads in the late 19th & early 20th centuries. Even before that, many of the wealthy had their country estates, and only came to Town for the "Season".

With electronic communication, nowadays there's really no reason to spend time in cities once you attain a moderate amount of money and/or professional reputation. If you personally like city life, feel free to stay there. But many of us do regard it as a foretaste of Hell, so don't expect us to join you voluntarily.

Alone in the sticks is where misery lays.

It's strange, but I've never been more alone than the times I've had to live in cities. Yes, there were people around, but I didn't know them, and they didn't know me. In the country, I might not have that many neighbors, but we know & help each other.