What Happened to the Affordable Pickup Truck?

#327
#327
Impossible Girl said:
And how is the grid going to support this?
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How should I know? I'm not an electrical engineer. But the grid has been expanding and/or becoming more efficient to meet demand for a century. It's not like we're on a downward trend on consumption. Regardless, electric is where the auto industry is moving. Short of hydrogen fuels cells becoming viable, I don't see that changing.
 
#329
#329
JCHateSteve said:
How should I know? I'm not an electrical engineer. But the grid has been expanding and/or becoming more efficient to meet demand for a century. It's not like we're on a downward trend on consumption. Regardless, electric is where the auto industry is moving. Short of hydrogen fuels cells becoming viable, I don't see that changing.
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Really? Brown outs. Rolling black outs?
Let’s dump millions of electric cars on the market with no plan for generating the needed electricity. Sounds like a plan for success.

Then let’s not even consider lower income folks. They can’t afford electric cars and will be the ones hurt worse in the transition.
 
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#331
#331
Impossible Girl said:
Really? Brown outs. Rolling black outs?
Let’s dump millions of electric cars on the market with no plan for generating the needed electricity. Sounds like a plan for success.

Then let’s not even consider lower income folks. They can’t afford electric cars and will be the ones hurt worse in the transition.
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Hybrids have hit 20k, just like gas cars. Why won't electrics come down too? Every other advance in auto technology has gotten cheaper over time. What exactly about phasing to them over 20-40 years is "dumping millions of them onto the market"? Doing it at all once would be nuts. Good thing I never suggested or implied that.
 
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#332
#332
JCHateSteve said:
Hybrids have hit 20k, just like gas cars. Why won't electrics come down too? Every other advance in auto technology has gotten cheaper over time. What exactly about phasing to them over 20-40 years is "dumping millions of them onto the market"? Doing it at all once would be nuts. Good thing I never suggested or implied that.
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You might look at Tesla’s numbers and then the other automakers and see how quick this could happen. And still no one is addressing the problems with Lithium mining and the long term implications of battery disposal. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of attempted punitive legislation against gas to push the trend.
 
#333
#333
Impossible Girl said:
You might look at Tesla’s numbers and then the other automakers and see how quick this could happen. And still no one is addressing the problems with Lithium mining and the long term implications of battery disposal. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of attempted punitive legislation against gas to push the trend.
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There are hurdles for sure, and it'll be complicated. But major change always is.

To be clear, I'm not actually advocating Electric Cars as a silver bullet to fix anything. I'm just saying that's the way the industry is moving. The CAFE regulations mentioned above are a big part of what's pushing it. Killing lite trucks in favor of the giant ones we've been getting for the last ten years actually had a negative effect on emissions. But the auto industry, as a whole, saw a decrease. So I doubt they'll get changed. 10 years ago I would have said electrics will never happen. But now the automakers seem to have embraced that trajectory. If electing Trump didn't change the regulations, I'm not sure what will.
 
#334
#334
Around here, an electric car would make a ton of sense. Electricity is cheap, the commute is short, and the weather is dull. The government will allow you to build a house here. I don't park on the street. I'm good at wiring. I don't care what anybody thinks about any of that. I have no predictions, but I can say energy sure is cheap.
 
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#336
#336
Firebirdparts said:
Around here, an electric car would make a ton of sense. Electricity is cheap, the commute is short, and the weather is dull. The government will allow you to build a house here. I don't park on the street. I'm good at wiring. I don't care what anybody thinks about any of that. I have no predictions, but I can say energy sure is cheap.
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I'm all for electric vehicles, as of now there are none that would work for us.
 
#337
#337
Practical question number one. When my gas powered auto approaches empty, I pull into a station and am fully refueled in under five minutes. When the same situation occurs in my Tesla, how many hours to i have to sit with my car plugged in before proceeding. Yes, EVs are great for around town and short trips when I can just plug my car in each night. But when you are in a road trip that exceeds your charge range, you are up excrement creek so to speak IMO
 
#338
#338
And from an engineering efficiency standpoint, when consuming the fuel at the point of work (ie the automobile engine), you transfer a much higher percentage of the chemical energy of the fuel into work (motion). With electricity, an obscene amount of the potential energy is necessarily lost in resistance in the transmission lines between the power plant and charging outlet. The only way to overcome this unavoidable efficiency penalty is with fuel cells.
 
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#339
#339
Impossible Girl said:
When is a new nuclear plant planned?
I’ll wait.
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TVA just built a new reactor at Wats Bar in Spring City TN(2016). Vogtle in Waynesville GA has 2 under construction.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Here are a couple handy maps on plants of all types opening and closing in the next year. This debate got me to reading about power generation

Here a link I found informative. It's also where the maps are from.
Electric Power Monthly - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
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figure_6_01_d.png
 
#340
#340
OrangeTsar said:
Practical question number one. When my gas powered auto approaches empty, I pull into a station and am fully refueled in under five minutes. When the same situation occurs in my Tesla, how many hours to i have to sit with my car plugged in before proceeding. Yes, EVs are great for around town and short trips when I can just plug my car in each night. But when you are in a road trip that exceeds your charge range, you are up excrement creek so to speak IMO
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An engineer who has an emphasis on vehicles, motors, etc took a cross country trip in his Tesla. He documented on his youtube the trip. He addressed your question. Even though he is a Tesla fan, he did a fair pro/con of the experience.

My take home was a long trip is not an easy or convenient journey in an all electric vehicle.
 
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#341
#341
McDad said:
An engineer who has an emphasis on vehicles, motors, etc took a cross country trip in his Tesla. He documented on his youtube the trip. He addressed your question. Even though he is a Tesla fan, he did a fair pro/con of the experience.

My take home was a long trip is not an easy or convenient journey in an all electric vehicle.
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Thanks!
If finances allow, my desire would be to have something like the Fiat500E or a small Tesla for commute, errands around town, and trips under 200 miles. And then a larger gas car or pickup for everything else. One other thing I wonder about is towing capacity for campers or trailers with EV.
 
#342
#342
OrangeTsar said:
Thanks!
If finances allow, my desire would be to have something like the Fiat500E or a small Tesla for commute, errands around town, and trips under 200 miles. And then a larger gas car or pickup for everything else. One other thing I wonder about is towing capacity for campers or trailers with EV.
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The forthcoming electric trucks have towing capacities on par with V8 pickups. The downfall to them is towing will severely lower their range when doing it.
 
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#343
#343
OrangeTsar said:
Thanks!
If finances allow, my desire would be to have something like the Fiat500E or a small Tesla for commute, errands around town, and trips under 200 miles. And then a larger gas car or pickup for everything else. One other thing I wonder about is towing capacity for campers or trailers with EV.
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Towing with an EV would be great considering the torque an electric motor can produce. Range would be the major issue.
 
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#344
#344
JCHateSteve said:
Lol
I mean, it works. It just requires line of sight and wastes a lot of power. Maybe we can just park cars on a giant version of this.
View attachment 373114
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A company called IDEX has a subsidiary that does just that. It’s called WAVE wireless charging. It’s thought that eventually all parking places will just be a charging pad. Or your garage floor will be, etc.
 
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#347
#347
Tri-CitiesVol said:
A company called IDEX has a subsidiary that does just that. It’s called WAVE wireless charging. It’s thought that eventually all parking places will just be a charging pad. Or your garage floor will be, etc.
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I know we've had this discussion in the stock forum but for those that are reading here, I would take the claims of a pump and dump company (IDEX) with a HUGE grain of salt....
 
#348
#348
BigOrangeMojo said:
I know we've had this discussion in the stock forum but for those that are reading, I would take the claims of a pump and dump company (IDEX) with a HUGE grain of salt....
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Over the past year they’ve proven to be quite legitimate I believe. I no longer hold a position, but could see them establishing themselves as a player in the sector.
 
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#350
#350
JCHateSteve said:
TVA just built a new reactor at Wats Bar in Spring City TN(2016). Vogtle in Waynesville GA has 2 under construction.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Here are a couple handy maps on plants of all types opening and closing in the next year. This debate got me to reading about power generation

Here a link I found informative. It's also where the maps are from.
Electric Power Monthly - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
View attachment 373339

View attachment 373340
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Two nukes in Illinois shutting down, bet they start to look like CA with rolling brown outs.
 
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