Electric vehicles

ABMax24 said:

The Tesla cars have 8 year unlimited mileage warranty, they obviously have a little bit of confidence on the longevity if they are willing to offer that kind of warranty.

We just bought a new vehicle and wanted to consider electric, but the problem is for range the Tesla's seem to be the best and you are either stuck waiting forever to order a model 3 or pay out the nose for a different Tesla model. So we bought a small diesel. There are of course other options out there but they are all the size of a shoebox with wheels and an electric motor.

What it seems like to me is Tesla is the only company willing to go all out on electric cars, other traditional manufacturers are hanging on too tightly to the Internal Combustion Engine to actually make a valid effort in producing a decent electric car.

Click to expand...

Very easy to have a huge warranty when you get massive government funding to pay for everything.

Tesla does have a good name going right now but a very cocky CEO that will make brash claims like unlimited warranty and lifetime free charging just seems unrealistic as a sustainable business. Warranty isn’t worth anything if they go under.

Just not an Elon fan.

I think the new Porsche EV and some of the other big boys will be good cars when they come out. The difference is that the big manufacturers beat things to death before they will do a release whereas Elon will just release it quick and hope for the best.

I see in the news today Tesla Model 3 has hit 1000/day production, per the website delivery is 6-10 weeks.

Not cheap of course, the basic zero option rear wheel drive is $60,100 Cdn and fully optioned performance all wheel drive $96,000. Thats before taxes and fees but minus whatever incentives which seem to take off about 10% right now.

https://3.tesla.com/en_CA/model3/design?redirect=no#battery

ducati said:

Very easy to have a huge warranty when you get massive government funding to pay for everything.

Tesla does have a good name going right now but a very cocky CEO that will make brash claims like unlimited warranty and lifetime free charging just seems unrealistic as a sustainable business. Warranty isn’t worth anything if they go under.

Just not an Elon fan.

I think the new Porsche EV and some of the other big boys will be good cars when they come out. The difference is that the big manufacturers beat things to death before they will do a release whereas Elon will just release it quick and hope for the best.

Click to expand...

And the big 3 haven't received government bailouts? Tesla receives government money because their business is forward thinking and in some aspects revolutionary, if there is a place for public money being put into private business this is it. The big 3 received bailouts due to poor management and a lack of foresight, this is a poor use of taxpayer money, paying billions so a company can maintain the status quo.

You can say what you want about Elon Musk but SpaceX and Tesla are 2 of the most innovative companies at the moment. SpaceX is doing things that NASA won't even attempt to do. He seems to inspire his employees to do great things, and fires those that don't. Again probably one of the better companies for public money to be invested in, let's compare this to Bombardier and see what our billions of dollars have bought us...

Don't disagree with Ducati's opinion of Elon, but Tesla is definitely pushing the envelope and moving technology forward quickly

Here's some info about charging you need to think about.

https://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/electric-vehicles/charging.html

Also, I just received notification of the new rules regarding charging stations at home from Technical Safety BC. Not as simple as throwing in a 220 volt outlet. Now requires some pretty fancy and expensive equipment. I've read it three times and still haven't figured out how I'd quote one of these systems, and apparently I have to take a course on them before I can even pull a permit.

https://www.technicalsafetybc.ca/al...in-electric-vehicle-energy-management-systems

moyiesledhead said:

Here's some info about charging you need to think about.

https://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/electric-vehicles/charging.html

Also, I just received notification of the new rules regarding charging stations at home from Technical Safety BC. Not as simple as throwing in a 220 volt outlet. Now requires some pretty fancy and expensive equipment. I've read it three times and still haven't figured out how I'd quote one of these systems, and apparently I have to take a course on them before I can even pull a permit.

https://www.technicalsafetybc.ca/al...in-electric-vehicle-energy-management-systems

Click to expand...

This is something that many people are concerned about, it's bad enough when most people go home turn the tv on and start cooking pulling lots of power from the grid, now add charging an electric car at the same time to the scenario. I can see chargers being enabled so the utility company can restrict charging at certain times of day for grid stability.

moyiesledhead said:

Here's some info about charging you need to think about.

https://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/electric-vehicles/charging.html

Also, I just received notification of the new rules regarding charging stations at home from Technical Safety BC. Not as simple as throwing in a 220 volt outlet. Now requires some pretty fancy and expensive equipment. I've read it three times and still haven't figured out how I'd quote one of these systems, and apparently I have to take a course on them before I can even pull a permit.

https://www.technicalsafetybc.ca/al...in-electric-vehicle-energy-management-systems

Click to expand...

Interesting info thanks. Need to research these EVEMS systems more, but I'm assuming the variance and complexity is not required for a fully rated vehicle charging branch circuit? The EVEMS systems would control branch circuit current and allow the consumer to install an "undersized" but much more practical 20A or 30A circuit to supply a 60A tesla charging apparatus for example?

Or is BC actually requiring EVEMS with code variance etc for vehicle charging stations? Thats not the way I was reading it at first glance.

ABMax24 said:

This is something that many people are concerned about, it's bad enough when most people go home turn the tv on and start cooking pulling lots of power from the grid, now add charging an electric car at the same time to the scenario. I can see chargers being enabled so the utility company can restrict charging at certain times of day for grid stability.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what the new code requirement for "Electric vehicle energy management systems" is all about. Hell, BC Hydro was on the radio today talking about strain on the grid from fancy Christmas light displays. Imagine what it'll be like when we're all trying to charge electric vehicles at the same time.

Stg2Suby said:

Or is BC actually requiring EVEMS with code variance etc for vehicle charging stations? Thats not the way I was reading it at first glance.

Click to expand...

I was typing while you were. lol Yup, the way I read it it's now a requirement. The variance is to address the conflict between section 8 and 86 until the 2018 code is adopted. I need to talk to the inspector about it though. It reads pretty complicated.

Yeah very interesting. I'd argue that adding loads to my panel/service up to the full supply capacity is my business and BCH doesn't need to know if I'm heating 3 hot tubs or an EV station.

Stg2Suby said:

Yeah very interesting. I'd argue that adding loads to my panel/service up to the full supply capacity is my business and BCH doesn't need to know if I'm heating 3 hot tubs or an EV station.

Click to expand...

LOL! Ya, I've never had much luck arguing with an electrical inspector.

moyiesledhead said:

LOL! Ya, I've never had much luck arguing with an electrical inspector.

Click to expand...

Haha yes, if it is indeed a code requirement then I wouldn't argue with the inspector. It's a big impact if true, speaks to the impact EV charging will have on the grid. Good stuff thanks for sharing it.

The only electric vehicles that are cool are for pleasuring a woman...

Does electric vehicle charging somehow get around the two tier rate we have in B.C.? We go into the second tier quite frequently in the winter without charging up a car. Tier two is 50% higher than tier one. If all your charging is at the tier two rate...well that’s going to add up.

moyiesledhead said:

That's exactly what the new code requirement for "Electric vehicle energy management systems" is all about. Hell, BC Hydro was on the radio today talking about strain on the grid from fancy Christmas light displays. Imagine what it'll be like when we're all trying to charge electric vehicles at the same time.

Click to expand...

And yet people are saying we don’t need site c. Idiots that don’t think about the future or about where the extra electricity needed to charge said electric vehicles comes from.

Stg2Suby said:

Yeah very interesting. I'd argue that adding loads to my panel/service up to the full supply capacity is my business and BCH doesn't need to know if I'm heating 3 hot tubs or an EV station.

Click to expand...

3 hot tubs and 10 lights ya mean lol

Today the wife and i are going for a ride with Current Taxi in Kelowna. I got them rented for couple hours, taking a drive from Kelowna to Vernon and back, just for the fun of it. One of the owners of Current will be driving so i plan on asking plenty of question's.
https://www.facebook.com/currenttaxi/

FernieHawk said:

Does electric vehicle charging somehow get around the two tier rate we have in B.C.? We go into the second tier quite frequently in the winter without charging up a car. Tier two is 50% higher than tier one. If all your charging is at the tier two rate...well that’s going to add up.

Click to expand...

No it will not, but the good news is BChydro... has had team power smart for years now, and they supply graphs to show you where you are using the most amount of power and tips how to reduce you bill. Basically no electric heaters, less deep freezes wash the dishes by hand and dry your clothes on the line and your bill will be 70 dollars for 2 months. 50 amps at 220volts will for sure put you in the tier 2.

I'm obsessed with electric vehicles right now. They are so much better than ICE vehicles. The two vehicles I have experience with are the 2017 chevy volt (18kwh battery) and a 2018 Tesla model S 100D.

The volt is a great transition vehicle for someone who wants to try electric but is concerned about charging or wants to do long road trips without stopping to charge. The summer range is about 80-90km and the winter range is more like 45-50km. The engine will run when it's below a certain temperature so you will still burn fuel even with a full charge (the 2019 model fixed this). I drive this car nearly every day to commute and use about 13kWh to drive 80km. The power is smooth and instant, easily will spin the tiny tires on the front. There is a regen paddle on the steering wheel which gives you additional braking and puts power back into the battery. Running around town I'm sure you could get 100km of city stop and go driving on a single charge. Electric cars seem to do the worst on the highway with the additional wind resistance and high speeds. With fuel and charge you are at about 600km of total range. If I was doing a 200km one way trip to the city I would force it to run the engine on the highway and then switch to electric for all the slower stop and go city driving. It's a small car, the back seat is not the biggest. The body work on the front end isn't the greatest for plowing through snow drifts. Charge time at 120volts is about 9 hours from empty. Level 2 charger (240volt/3.6kw) takes about 4.5 hours. If you can charge on both ends it works out really nicely. There also seems to be a lot of these for a great price in Ontario kijiji. They were however just discontinued this past week. In 28000km I have burned less than 280L of gas and done one oil change.

Tesla Model S 100D
This car is basically the closest thing I've experienced to a roller coaster. The instant torque makes merging and passing vehicles way too much fun. With 540km of rated range and an extensive supercharger network across north america, this is something you can actually take on a long trip. Autopilot makes driving through the worst traffic completely stress free. Switching lanes is automatic too, just have to signal and it will do the rest. The navigation and interface make it feel like you're driving an iPad on wheels. I could go on and on about how amazing this car is but I won't.

The volt is probably the best bang for the buck hybrid vehicle. A great transition vehicle with very few drawbacks.
The Tesla is pretty pricey but is on a completely different level.