EVs, Mobility and Electrification.

After friend told me “I am not interesting in electric cars because I will wait for hydrogen cars”, I checked and found that future unlikely.  It turns out that hydrogen cars were never “the ultimate” and only viable as an interim step on the path to electric cars. Background: Hydrogen Myths and Misconceptions Summary. I […]

This page covers charging equipment and what to install, how to charge at home or 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. Refuelling EVs, as discussed on a different page, provides an experience more a like a visit to the fuel pump, but recharging EV is at least faster than recharging fossil fuels, and comes with its own perhaps surprising benefits, plus, it costs less.

The car named Atto 3 or Yuan Plus depending on the market, is not only BYDs first global car, but also what I would call the first mainstream, affordable EV for the west, ending the era of EVs as being called just rich man's toys, and the dominance of Tesla. The Atto 3, together with BYD Ocean series models, is being released in several countries in during 2022, mainly initially left traffic countries (wheel on the right) including Australia, and bring EVs to new price points, and into price parity with ICEVs in new market segments.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Once the darling of Hollywood in the wake of "green" image built by the Prius hybrid, Toyota has more recently prompted calls for boycotts by climate groups in response to Toyota anti-climate action and anti-EV lobbying has seen the company reach the status of no 3 climate enemy company in the world, behind only Exxon-Mobil and Chevron. Yet, more recently Toyota has announced what appears to be a significant program to introduce electric vehicles. What is the the real story, and can Toyota remain the worlds largest producer of automobiles?

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 comparison with battery electric.

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.

My mental Image of a driverless cars is a Google car with a very prominent LIDAR device on the roof. But on further reflection, it occurred to me that LIDAR is completely unnecessary.  In fact LIDAR and RADAR can both be short cuts that enable getting a close imitation of driverless technology without the intelligence […]

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.