December 16, 2017

The world outside of China has had two waves of EVs, the first with the Leaf, i-MiEV Zoe, and Tesla Model S, and the second led by the Tesla 3 and Y. Neither wave have been inexpensive. China has been another world as for EVs, with an EV market as large as the entire rest of the world, but with a completely different set of vehicles priced from as low US$5,000. Other than Tesla, EVs from outside China don't sell in China, and EVs from China have not sold outside China. These two separate worlds have begun a hurried unification, that will bring the world a 3rd wave of EVs, further disrupt the automotive industry, and bring EVs to more people than ever.

This is a charge time calculator, which can be set to the charge curve of any car, but defaults to the values for the Atto 3.

In this polarised world, there seem to be two groups: those who all vehicles to be EVs now, and those who feel EVs will never be a good idea. Truth is, it would create a legal minefield and cost consumers and the environment heavily to ban too quickly, but bans will come. This is an exploration of reality of a transition to EVs, which concludes any optimum transition takes around 30 years. This conclusion means anyone wanting to reach EVs by 2050 needs to start very soon, and anyone worried all EVs should never happen, can take comfort that any environmentally sound transition will take a long time, although for economic reasons, does need to at least start soon.

For almost 100 years, people have grown up in an age of the internal combustion engine. For many people this has meant an understanding of engine capacity, cylinders, spark plugs, engine compression, crankshafts, valves, turbochargers, exhausts etc. The bad news is that EVs mean so much that previous literacy is about to be consigned to history and replaced by induction and permanent magnet motors and other new terms. The good news is, it is easy to build and EV literacy on the those ICEV foundations, so there is no need to feel illiterate in this new EV world.

The Atto 3 (or Yuan Plus), is not only BYDs first global car, but also what I would call the first mainstream, 3rd wave affordable EV for the west, ending the era of EVs as being called just rich man's toys, and the dominance of Tesla. While BYD has exported cars before, the Atto 3 is based on the "global focused" e-platform 3.0, and with a more significant, and challenging, launch into larger markets than previous BYD tentative exports, is now part of a much bigger international push. Unlike lower volume that BYD Tang and Han models, the Atto 3 is set to change the market for price parity EVs globally.

There are solar boats and even a solar plane already, yet the solar vehicles we hear most about, solar cars, are as of early 2022, not yet on sale. However, that is about to change with at least 3 solar powered cars nearing production. The situation with solar cars is almost identical to the early days of EVs. Plus, the solar does not have to be built into the vehicle to enable solar powered travel. This page will be updated as solar vehicles come to market.

What is the real answer to how the grid will cope? First, the answer from an actual power company, a link to one from a popular vlogger, both of which should placate most people, although neither is water tight as both skip over some details critical to the full answer. But it is when looking at the deeper questions on the impact will be on power bills, grid reliability, and the transitioning of the grid to renewables, that real surprise emerges: the grid NEEDS EVs!

Batteries for EVs have progressed: From: very expensive even while delivering an impractical range.To: Less expensive with an acceptable range. Only now in 2022, are batteries showing signs they can soon enable EVs price competitive and range competitive. With the new world of EVs, comes a whole new world of understanding cars, with batteries at the centre. This page provides background, the rethink batteries bring, the different battery technologies, though to how to car for batteries, and who makes what.

Its 2022, and only 1 in 8 new car purchases globally is an EV, and as only 1 in 4 car purchases is a new car, only 1 in 32, or around 3% of all car purchases, are an EV purchase. While the EV percentage is rising, there will be gas/petrol/diesel cars until at least 2045, and little reduction in emissions from the EV transition alone. As demand for EVs will continue to outstrip supply, no one will need to choose an EV to save the planet, or run out of other choices any time soon. Bans are to pressure manufacturers to move from protecting their existing assets and produce enough EVs to meet demand, rather than force consumers into ICEVs.

After friend told me "I am not interesting in electric cars, because I will wait for hydrogen cars", I did the research, and found that such a future would make no sense, and will never happen. It turns out that hydrogen cars were never "the ultimate", are now worse at times or range problem, and they were only ever expensive to build and operate, higher emissions, limited interim stop gaps, for the time until we solved limitations of battery EVs.

This page covers charging equipment and what to install and how to charge at home, charging on road trips, through to the technical side, and a look at wireless and the future of charging, and how recharging requires a complete rethink from refuelling, but it can at least match the speed. Public recharging infrastructure for EVs is growing, but recharging at home will be most important for most people. Fully benefiting from having an EV, requires understanding, being prepared for recharging.

There is a full exploration of recharging electric vehicles on another page, but there is an a "refuelling" alternative to recharging: battery swapping. With electrical appliances in the past, when the batteries went flat, we swapped them. Then rechargeable batteries became popular so we could avoid throwing out the old batteries, but I swap first and then recharge. It turns out, we can also do that with cars, and it is happening already. Battery swapping, take only around 5 minutes, but so does recharging the latest batteries. Battery swapping will likely play a key role in the future, but not necessarily the role many expect.

Electric vehicles have become desirable "real" cars much sooner than expected. We are in a time of disruption by electrification as planes, trains and automobiles, as well as shipping, all move to electric power, but it is the car industry that will be most disrupted. New players such as Tesla, Rivian, Lucid and others, combined with the globalisation of the EV centric Chinese car industry, will take around 50% of the market. So what happens to the existing big brands of the legacy car industry? Either half die out, all halve in size, or some combination of both.

Has BYD overtaken Tesla as the leading EV maker? Yes and Not yet. It depends on how you count EVs, and there are strengths to both positions. So no undisputed world number 1, but by year end it is quite possible BYD will be clear number 1, at least for a while. These two are the current EV market leaders, and as EVs gain market share, these two are on trajectories to become no #1 and no #2 car carmakers world wide when EVs take over, if no legacy brand passes them. But will either of them ever reach true #1 before the chasing pack catches them? This page is to report and track progress.

In the race to stop CO2, there are many scams involving hydrogen, but are the public or the backers being scammed? There are many myths, and in the end, Hydrogen is a light, but inefficient battery solution. This is an exploration of where Hydrogen may be a solution, and where it just does not add up.

This is a look at range, covering from how range specs don't mean what you would expect, through why range is so unlike that of fossil fuelled vehicles and optimising range is all about efficiency, through to what range is required around the town or on the highway. Range with EVs is such a different experience that novices can feel anxiety, despite that in practice running out of charge happens around the same rate that cars run out of gas. While EV range is getting closer to ICEV range, most EVs, unlike the Lightyear One pictured here, aren't solar and still don't match the range of internal combustion engine cars, but the convenience of background charging means range with EVs is only relevant on relatively rare road trips.

The key specification for EVs so far has been 'range'. But how are the numbers measured, will range specific match reality, and can the number even be compared? It turns out there are even 3 different standards for measuring range, and they give very different answers! Further, why have we moved from 'economy' to 'range'? Is there still even economy with EVs?

Moving to EVs is going to increase electricity requirements, and at a time when there is already a technical challenge to more the electricity supply to "green" source. But what it electric vehicles could solve the "green power grid" problem, provide energy security, and avert a threat of increasing inequality? It turns out dream scenario is definitely possible, but can be fully realised only if the home charging problem be solved.

(see the mystery below). Way back in 2001, Dean Kamen launched the Segway, heralding a new era in personal mobility. Although the Segway did not deliver that new era, it is possible he was onto something that is gradually becoming a reality. This is a look at how far the Unagi E500 model one electric scooter advances personal mobility, and what broader steps technology has made towards personal mobility.

All tools can bestow superpowers and motor vehicles are no exception.Superpowers provided by motor vehicles include the ability to quickly travel and transport goods and people on local trips, and the quite different but key superpower to travel to new and more distant places on road trips. .

There is much talk of a 'hydrogen economy', but what is the substance behind it all? There are many myths but hydrogen can be : 'green' hydrogen, not a source of energy, but a less efficient storage stepping stone on the path to battery power.or blue/grey hydrogen, the fossil fuel industries' hope for greenwashing emissions. This exploration provides looks at the reality, and the myths about hydrogen, and provides background for other pages such as: Electric or Hydrogen Cars and Hydrogen Scams.

This is an exploration comparing "standard" gasoline/petrol and diesel vehicles, with hybrids, plug in hybrids and battery electric vehicles. There is a separate exploration of hydrogen vs battery electric cars, so this page is focus on pros and cons of hybrids vs "standard" vehicles, or pure battery electric vehicles.

If you follow car industry publications, there both facts and well recognised predictions that combined, signal a storm for the car industry. Reality: Why Makers Are Lying. The Lies and The Sad Truth: Industry Combined Revenues Will Plummet. The Predictions of Doom: Both Right and Wrong. Bankruptcy, Pivot, Or Downsize. The Industry Future: Robotics? Reality: […]

The Problem: Road Trip ‘Fast’ Recharge Sucks. The Counter Point: Local Trip ‘Sleep’ recharge doesn’t. In fact it is an improvement Solutions For Road Trips. Conclusion and Where Next.

I have been exploring electric vehicles. What is needed to make them affordable, and what it is like to live with them. When exploring charging, the charging systems became so complex that I have extracted what I found as its own exploration, which I plan to keep updated as a reference. It currently does need an update for wireless charging, but some information can be found on my exploration of the logistics of charging.

One image of a driverless cars is a Google car with a very prominent LIDAR device on the roof. This is a look at the technologies and the needs of self drive systems, and where things are at in 2017. There is logic to the suggestion by Elon Must that LIDAR is not needed, but there is also logic to suggesting that the steps forward form where we are to true autonomous may be a lot more challenging than it appears.