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Originally Posted by jamesqf
Even at the worse, doing those things won't take more than 15 minutes or so. What do you do with the other several hours it's going to take to recharge?
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I think several hours may be a bit more than is required.
Depending on the distance remaining on your trip 15 minutes may be more than enough. 30 minutes gets you 170 miles.
https://www.tesla.com/supercharger
And i imagine there will be many reasons to take longer than 15 minutes. Currently service stations are designed around grabbing the customers attention while they stand in line to pay and convince them to buy a pack of Jerky.
Imagine all the 15 to 30 minute tasks that could be marketed to customers.
Why take 30 minutes out of somewhere else in your day when you could get a haircut while your EV charges. Get your nails done, Probably not those things exactly but that sort of idea. Who knows what business minds will come up with once they see a market.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
Even with IC engines today, it's easily possible to have engine noise be less than tire & wind noise at cruise. I doubt this is much of a plus for a large segment of the car-buying public, else why would manufacturers make most of their vehicles much louder than necessary (diesel pickups, for instance)? Even then there's a large market for aftermarket mufflers & other exhaust components that are much louder than stock.
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Making pickups louder than is technically required is just marketing. Appealing to the owner that wants their vehicle to sound louder than everyone else's or at least to sound like the engine is bigger than it actually is. There has always been a market for making owners feel like theirs is bigger than the next guys.
I am sure they will do the same for EVs. After market badges that make it look like you bought the more expensive long range battery pack. Hub caps that look like in wheel electric motors.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
IC related maintenance is already trivially low on well-designed modern cars: oil & filter change around 10K miles, spark plugs at 100K. The non-engine parts of an EV - tires & suspension, A/C. wipers, &c - will need just as much maintenance as an IC-engined car. Maybe more, if you burn a lot of rubber in ludicrous mode :-)
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Spark plugs for my car that last 100K are over $20 a plug so there is $160.
Oil is around $40 for enough to do an oil change.
Oil filter is cheap, about $5
But that is still ~$610 in materials if you do the service yourself, add in a mechanics labour cost for most drivers. (estimates in AUD$)
Then at different intervals there is the fuel filter, air filter, coolant, thermostat, fan belt, timing belt, lead acid battery, catalytic converter, transmission fluid, trans filter.
And that is just off the top of my head, there are probably heaps more listed at the back of the vehicles service book.
Then factor in all the accelerated degradation of just about everything else under the bonnet due to exposure to 100degreeC temperatures (more for things near the exhaust) and most cars end up giving everything a liberal coating of oil as well.
Hoses degrade and fail, plastics harden and get brittle.
Under the bonnet of an ICE powered vehicle is not a pleasant place.