Electric Vehicles, Tools, & Other Once Fossil Fuel Things

[LFC]

This article is from late 2019 so the cars involved were actually earlier models with some kinks still being ironed out. Still it shows the lasting power and lower maintenance costs associated with electric vehicles. This example is a small fleet that is keeping their Teslas for well beyond the normal 100K turnover point of most traditional fleet vehicles.

Few have driven a Tesla to the point at which the vehicle really starts to show its age. But Tesloop, a shuttle service in Southern California composed of Teslas, was ticking the odometers of its cars well past 300,000 miles with no signs of slowing.

The company’s fleet of seven vehicles—a mix of Model Xs, Model 3s and a Model S—are as of late 2019 among the highest-mileage Teslas in the world. They zip almost daily between Los Angeles, San Diego, and destinations in between. Each of Tesloop’s cars are regularly racking up about 17,000 miles per month (roughly eight times the average for corporate fleet mileage). Many need to fully recharge at least twice each day.

These long days have pushed Tesla’s engineering to the limit, making Tesloop an extreme testbed for the durability of Elon Musk’s cars. Tesloop provided Quartz with five years of maintenance logs, where its vehicles racked up over more than 2.5 million miles, to understand how the electric vehicles (EV) are living up to the promise of cheaper vehicles with unprecedented durability compared to their conventional combustion-engine counterparts.

The results reveal Tesla to be a company still ironing out bugs in its products, but one that pushes the limits of what vehicles can do. “When we first started our company, we predicted the drive train would practically last forever,” Tesloop founder Haydn Sonnad told Quartz. “That’s proven to be relatively true.” He notes that every car except one, a vehicle taken out of service after a collision with a drunk driver, is still running. “The cars have never died of old age,” he added.

It’s difficult to know how representative this data is of Teslas overall, given that Tesloop’s fleet is small, but it likely includes a large share of the highest-mileage Teslas on the road. Several are nearing 500,000 miles. Finding conventional vehicles to compare is virtually impossible since most fleet cars are typically sold off after 100,000 miles.

But the implications could be huge. Every year, corporations and rental car companies add more than 12 million vehicles in Europe and North America to their fleets (pdf). Adding EVs to the mix could see those cars lasting five times longer—costing a fraction of conventional cars over the same period—while feeding a massive new stream of used electric cars into the marketplace. Whether the future of fleets is really electric, however, depends on the data. And that’s still in short supply.

[pnwguy]

The movement to electric vehicles will threaten a lot of existing businesses, from oil change places like Jiffy Lube, to independent automotive shops, to the tens of thousands of fuel/convenience stores. Even our beloved Wawa will have their revenue models challenged.

[LFC]

Apr 23, 2021 17:14:24 GMT pnwguy said:

The movement to electric vehicles will threaten a lot of existing businesses, from oil change places like Jiffy Lube, to independent automotive shops, to the tens of thousands of fuel/convenience stores. Even our beloved Wawa will have their revenue models challenged.

Knowing Wawa and their business acumen I suspect they'll have fast charging stations there well before most places. (Oops. One quick Google search and it turns out I'm years behind on the "prediction.")

Lori Bruce, a spokesperson for Wawa, said the company now has 16 stores with Tesla Superchargers with plans to double that by the end of 2020. Wawa’s newest store planned with Tesla Superchargers is being built on Route 73 in Maple Shade, next to Uno Pizzeria & Grill. Bruce said it’s projected to open by December.

The convenience store chain began opening charging stations in August 2017. The Tesla Supercharger connector is proprietary, so Wawa does not offer charging for other electric vehicles, except at one store outside the Philly region.

[andydp]

Apr 23, 2021 17:14:24 GMT pnwguy said:

The movement to electric vehicles will threaten a lot of existing businesses, from oil change places like Jiffy Lube, to independent automotive shops, to the tens of thousands of fuel/convenience stores. Even our beloved Wawa will have their revenue models challenged.

Another factor: "updating" vehicles will probably be as easy as an overnight software update.  More efficient ways to use battery power, better interfaces.  All those touch screens have a purpose:  you don't need to redesign anything other than the interfaces the networks are already there.    

[pnwguy]

Apr 23, 2021 17:44:34 GMT andydp said:

Apr 23, 2021 17:14:24 GMT pnwguy said:

Another factor: "updating" vehicles will probably be as easy as an overnight software update.  More efficient ways to use battery power, better interfaces.  All those touch screens have a purpose:  you don't need to redesign anything other than the interfaces the networks are already there.    

Yes, it's all software (I work for a software company).  But then again, look at Boeing's issue with the 737 MAX.  

[LFC]

This is good ... I guess. It's a bit scary it's needed in the first place.

General Motors has finally revealed its plan to fix the issue at the center of last year’s Chevy Bolt recall, which the automaker issued in response to a handful of battery pack fires. Affected customers have to bring their Bolts to a dealer so the battery packs can be inspected, and GM says some of the modules that make up the pack may be replaced if any “anomalies” are found. But dealers will also install “advanced onboard diagnostic software” on all of the affected vehicles.

That software, GM says, will be able to “detect potential issues related to changes in battery module performance before problems can develop.” The company says the software will be standard on all new Bolts moving forward.

Following last year’s recall, GM released a software update to dealers that limited the affected Bolts’ full battery capacity to just 90 percent in an effort to prevent fires. The company says dealers have been instructed to remove that limit when customers bring their Bolts in to get the new fix.

While there were only around five reports of fires, the problem with the Bolt’s battery pack was concerning because it uses the same cells from LG Chem that are at the center of a similar problem with Hyundai’s Kona EV. Hyundai recalled the Kona EV earlier this year in South Korea and in the US after more than a dozen reports of fires, and it has since outright canceled the electric SUV in its home market following a drop-off in sales. Hyundai’s recall involved a more dramatic fix, though, as the automaker is replacing entire battery packs for affected customers.

[LFC]

During the Model 3 rollout Tesla was apparently a month from having to declare bankruptcy.

On Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that his electric car company had been about a month away from bankruptcy in recent years when it was still figuring out how to mass produce the Model 3 electric sedan.

In the middle of a discussion about Tesla’s fundraising history, a follower asked, “How close was Tesla from bankruptcy when bringing the Model 3 to mass production?”

Musk replied: “Closest we got was about a month. The Model 3 ramp was extreme stress & pain for a long time — from mid-2017 to mid-2019. Production & logistics hell.”

Musk has often spoken about what he calls the “production and logistics hell” of taking a new electric vehicle into high-volume manufacturing. However, Musk and the company had never disclosed exactly how little runway they had before facing a possible bankruptcy.

[LFC]

This is more battery technology but obviously electric vehicles would be a major industry impacted if this works even close to as well as they say. They're claiming small batteries will be rolled out in less than a year. Fingers crossed.

Range anxiety, recycling and fast-charging fears could all be consigned to electric-vehicle history with a nanotech-driven Australian battery invention.

The graphene aluminum-ion battery cells from the Brisbane-based Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG) are claimed to charge up to 60 times faster than the best lithium-ion cells and hold three time the energy of the best aluminum-based cells.

They are also safer, with no upper Ampere limit to cause spontaneous overheating, more sustainable and easier to recycle, thanks to their stable base materials. Testing also shows the coin-cell validation batteries also last three times longer than lithium-ion versions.

GMG plans to bring graphene aluminum-ion coin cells to market late this year or early next year, with automotive pouch cells planned to roll out in early 2024.

This.

GMG Managing Director Craig Nicol insisted that while his company’s cells were not the only graphene aluminum-ion cells under development, they were easily the strongest, most reliable and fastest charging.

“It charges so fast it’s basically a super capacitor,” Nicol claimed. “It charges an iPhone coin cell in less than 10 seconds.”

The new battery cells are claimed to deliver far more energy density than current lithium-ion batteries, without the cooling, heating or rare-earth problems they face.

“So far there are no temperature problems. Twenty percent of a lithium-ion battery pack (in a vehicle) is to do with cooling them. There is a very high chance that we won’t need that cooling or heating at all,” Nicol claimed.

“It does not overheat and it nicely operates below zero so far in testing.

 

And also this.

“Ninety percent of world lithium production and purchasing is still through China and 10 percent is through Chile.

[AnBr]

What about the lifespan of these cells?

[LFC]

May 15, 2021 14:46:08 GMT AnBr said:

What about the lifespan of these cells?

I'll be interested to hear. I found a few things that seem to say it's been a known problem with this technology though there was a Cornell article on them having overcome it somehow.

[pg]

Hey- I'm pretty arrogant at having gotten into EVs- fairly new adopter- 5 years ago. Mr. discovered that I'd dictated wiring that can take all chargers, and then was determined to try it. No, I don't drive a Tesla-yet. I rock the ugliest car you've ever seen- a BMW i3-EXT. PERFECT urban assault vehicle, in that I can beat anybody off the line- including precious Teslas. Been taken on by a Ferrari or two. I just smile. Shoot, kids, by the time your engine revs I'll be gone and into the lane I want.

Yes- maintenance and updates is all about software. Sometimes, I get slightly irritated with my screen, telling me this thing or that. But not hard to live with. VERY easy, to bypass the gas stations, even easier to wave bye-bye to service stations.

Batteries? There have been some instances with fire, but not my car. YES. I love the braking system- or shall we say non-braking system- lift the foot power up- that powers you as you go.

I like it. In my city (ATX) we have some of the newest models of Tesla- smaller, still sexy but much cheaper- that wander around, showing off. Wouldn't have anything to do with the new Tesla plant being built here, would it HA!

Elon Musk is crazy, but not stupid. Look at the Tesla infrastructure at least West, already in place. Not bad, and more to come.

BIG secret, that Mr. Musk doesn't want you to know-- Teslas aren't so special that they can't be charged at a regular electric charge station. Why else do I see Teslas, at my local markets, charging up at a regular station? He's just busy cornering the market, and selling some BS. Get it at the home- a pad, a wall station? You're branded. That's the way it rolls. But the truth is, I have enough power to take your sweet Tesla on. Why else would a neighbor have asked me if they could charge at my house? LOL. They paid $5, which is much less than it cost me... Love the rich kids!

Technology? It can go wonky, and that can be problematic. Last time I looked at Tesla, they have almost no real plan, except for their fairly thin "road service agreement". Like Google Fiber and all the rest, they talk a big game but are having a hard time backing it up. If mine gets odd- if I get a message that I don't get? BOOM. Push the button. Here they are, ready to save the day.

I don't care. It's like flip phones- remember when it was all the rage? At some point, maybe something else prevails. But for now, this is our near future.

[Bact PhD]

This is timely! We will be expanding the Family Fleet once Dear Son gets his full license this summer. As I’ve been scrolling this last little while, Chem PhD has been investigating the possibility of an electric vehicle, maybe a crossover SUV type (he wants to be able to haul yard tools, saws, and logs between here and a friend’s place in the boonies). Dear Son would then drive Chem PhD’s current ride, a 2013 mid-size sedan.

[LFC]

May 17, 2021 21:47:02 GMT pg said:

Hey- I'm pretty arrogant at having gotten into EVs- fairly new adopter- 5 years ago. Mr. discovered that I'd dictated wiring that can take all chargers, and then was determined to try it. 

We've got a new garage going up. It will be ready to go with a 220V 50A dedicated circuit in the electric panel. I don't know when we'll end up with an electric car but we want to be prepared. Interestingly our township is a bit stuck in the past. They asked (they can't mandate) that we limit our panel to a 60A service because they don't want a commercial business being opened in our garage due to our rural setting. I have no problem with that limit ... PLUS the 50A for an electric car. Time to join the 2020s, gang.

BIG secret, that Mr. Musk doesn't want you to know-- Teslas aren't so special that they can't be charged at a regular electric charge station.

Not really a big secret since they tell you right up front that you can charge a Tesla anywhere, even at 110V, and they sell adapters for just about any EV charging station out there.

They paid $5, which is much less than it cost me... Love the rich kids!

Sounds more like the cheap kids who don't want to pay to charge up at a station and don't want to install sufficient charging at their home. Or unprepared kids with homes that aren't wired to handle the 220V circuit needed for the best charging.

[LFC]

Looks like my EV of choice won't be available for a few years yet.

The first all-electric Lamborghini is on the horizon.

The Italian automaker finally unveiled its electrification plans, which will proceed in two distinct phases over the next decade. By the end of 2024, the company plans to roll out gas-electric hybrid versions of its entire lineup. Following that, Lamborghini will debut its first all-electric model sometime before the end of the decade.

That means plug-in hybrid versions of Aventador, Huracán, and Urus models will be arriving within the next three years, as well as limited production Sián roadsters. And sometime before 2030, Lamborghini will unveil a completely new all-electric fourth model.

Like other sports car companies, Lamborghini has been slow to embrace electric drivetrains, fearful of ostracizing its loyal customers who crave loud V8 and V12 engines and neck-snapping speed. But with emissions regulations tightening around the world and electric motors able to deliver 0–60 mph times that rival some of the fastest gas-powered supercars in the world, Lamborghini finally appears ready to change direction.

“For sure, it’s the torque and the acceleration,” Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said when asked what his customers will find appealing about an electric supercar. “And also to fill the gaps now when you shift the gears and helping you to have a constant curve, which is, in my opinion, the things that they are going to appreciate the most.”

But it’s not just about the driving experience. Competition is heating up, with Ferrari announcing that its first electric model will debut by 2025. Other companies, like Drako, Aston Martin, and Rimac have all been working on electric supercars with varying degrees of success. Lamborghini’s parent company, Volkswagen Group, has said it would spend 16 billion euros ($19 billion) and cease production of new internal combustion engines in favor of shifting toward electric vehicle production.

[LFC]

McLaren is coming out with a new hybrid as well. The battery is "backed up" by a 500hp 3.0L V6. (The battery has just a 19 mile electric-only range.)

[LFC]

A brief look at electric vehicles from the dawn of the automobile age.

If it seems that electric cars are the future of the automobile, the same was true more than a century ago. With automakers planning to meet government laws ending new internal combustion engine production by 2035, this year's Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance—which takes place May 20-23 in Florida—is a reminder that electric cars are far from a new idea.

"The electric carriage has made a good record for speed, and the great ease of control and the absence of noise and odor will commend it to those who are anxious to purchase horseless carriages," wrote Scientific American in 1895. For a while, it was true.

These are the cutting-edge cars that held so much promise, a promise only now reaching fruition.

[pg]

May 18, 2021 13:42:01 GMT LFC said:

May 17, 2021 21:47:02 GMT pg said:

We've got a new garage going up. It will be ready to go with a 220V 50A dedicated circuit in the electric panel. I don't know when we'll end up with an electric car but we want to be prepared. Interestingly our township is a bit stuck in the past. They asked (they can't mandate) that we limit our panel to a 60A service because they don't want a commercial business being opened in our garage due to our rural setting. I have no problem with that limit ... PLUS the 50A for an electric car. Time to join the 2020s, gang. 

Might want to argue your way/see your way into at least 240V. I have enough voltage to easily get into 340V I'm no electrician, but had to look into the future. I live in an urban area with (at the time) strict rules as to how much you could put into a residential wiring plan. 110V is fine, as long as you have a lot of time to charge. Might be changing under my feet, as I speak. So grain of salt.

As far as the rest- I'm talking about marketing, for the Tesla pads/home stations. What Tesla says and what they sell are two entirely different things. 

Cheap kids? Eh? I see $85K+ Tesla owners who are renters. Facepalm, for me. But they are either uninterested in upgrading a property they don't own or their landlords are short-sighted and can't bring themselves to think about upgrading for their own monetary benefit. Almost all new condo/apartment complexes, even older office spaces are equipped, but it's typically limited space and what does one do, if the stations are all taken and you need it now? 

Then you take your chances, with a public charger. Another observation/anecdote: People treat those things very roughly. As such, they often are out-of-whack, out of service. Many won't even use them, even for a cheap monthly subscription. 

Not a perfect system, in any way. 

.

[LFC]

May 18, 2021 20:03:01 GMT pg said:

Might want to argue your way/see your way into at least 240V. I have enough voltage to easily get into 340V I'm no electrician, but had to look into the future.

I'll have a the full 220V coming to my home available. (You might see U.S. voltage referred to as 110/220 or 120/240. It's all the same thing.) I don't think you've got 340V unless you have some crazy kind of charging voltage and you installed a rather exotic piece of electrical equipment.

I live in an urban area with (at the time) strict rules as to how much you could put into a residential wiring plan. 110V is fine, as long as you have a lot of time to charge. Might be changing under my feet, as I speak. So grain of salt.

Using 110V is definitely the slow way to go.

As far as the rest- I'm talking about marketing, for the Tesla pads/home stations. What Tesla says and what they sell are two entirely different things. 

I don't blame Tesla for its approach, at least not at the beginning. They started pushing a network of them when nobody else was really providing the charging stations. That's finally changing but you have to give them credit for pushing the ball forward. I suspect the Tesla-only charging stations will become a thing of the past fairly soon.

I would like to see Tesla and other car companies push for worldwide standards so that all manufacturers could use for free but none of them seem to be all that interested. (Welcome to market solutions. Grrrrr.) The home charging stations are certainly a product that Tesla sells but then I really don't see them behaving any differently than any other car company. A quick search shows that Ford and BMW both sell their own home charging stations as well.

Cheap kids? Eh? I see $85K+ Tesla owners who are renters. Facepalm, for me. But they are either uninterested in upgrading a property they don't own or their landlords are short-sighted and can't bring themselves to think about upgrading for their own monetary benefit. Almost all new condo/apartment complexes, even older office spaces are equipped, but it's typically limited space and what does one do, if the stations are all taken and you need it now?

Somewhere, maybe in something posted here, I read that the worst situation is in cities where so many people park on the street because they don't have garages. That's a shame because the short distances, stop and go driving, and drop in emissions make EVs great for cities. I suspect always needing 20 minutes to charge is going to slow adoption there ... badly.

In the suburbs and rural areas I suspect "Do you have a charging station?" will become an ever increasing questions when people are buying real estate.

[LFC]

I did a little digging on charging. This article summarized it pretty well. You can have a Level 1 or Level 2 charger at home. Level 3 charging requires more voltage and/or amps than just about any residential property can provide.

EVs come in different shapes and sizes with types of charging systems based on charging power measured in kilowatts (kW). AC charging at 120V (Level 1) or 240V (Level 2) ranges from 1.8 to 10 kW. DC fast charging (Level 3) ranges from 50 to 350kW.

Level 1 is the slowest but most readily available, because it describes a standard 120-volt three-prong plug common in modern American homes. Yes, that’s right. You can charge an EV using the same plug with which you charge your phone or laptop. In fact, most EVs come with a standard 120-volt outlet charger.

But slow charging, sometimes called “trickle charging,” using a Level 1 outlet provides only a few miles per hour of charging. It takes 10 hours of charging to get 20-50 miles of range or 40 hours of charging for up to 200 miles. Trickle charging isn’t a barrier to ownership since it’s suitable for top-ups overnight or at work, but it isn’t efficient and is not the preferred method unless you own a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

If you rely on Level 1 charging, you may have to charge nightly or throughout the day at work, depending on your daily driving. It’s like getting gas every day, twice. It can be done, it’s just not convenient. It’s especially difficult if you’re in a multi-family unit like an apartment building or don’t have a dedicated parking spot.

Faster charging comes via a 240-volt Level 2 system. This is typically done at home utilizing the same plug as a clothes dryer or refrigerator requires. Many EV makers provide a portable 240-volt charger with an electric vehicle.

Level 2 charging is exponentially faster than Level 1 charging, providing upwards of 25-30 miles of driving range per hour. That means an 8-hour overnight charge reaps 200 miles or more of driving range.

Level 2 chargers are available for the home or public places. Prices for home charging stations have come down dramatically in the last few years, and now cost only a few hundred dollars plus installation. Before investing in an at-home charger it’s imperative to check with a qualified electrician and your utility company to determine whether your electrical panel can support a charging station. Also look for rebates and incentives for installing a Level 2 charger from local utilities and state governments.

The third type of charging is high-speed or Level 3 charging, which is available in public and commercial spaces including rest stops, shopping malls, and office buildings. Level 3 charging is also called DC Fast Charging (DCFC). This is ultra-rapid charging, with rates of 125 miles of added range in about thirty minutes, or 250 miles in about an hour.

Not all EVs can use Level 3 charging, so research is necessary to find the best EV and the best way to charge it before you make a purchase. Complicating matters, there are three types of DCFC connectors. Nissan and Mitsubishi use CHAdeMO, Tesla has a proprietary connector, and all other car companies use a Combined Charging System (CCS).

[goldenvalley]

May 18, 2021 20:45:30 GMT LFC said:

Somewhere, maybe in something posted here, I read that the worst situation is in cities where so many people park on the street because they don't have garages. That's a shame because the short distances, stop and go driving, and drop in emissions make EVs great for cities. I suspect always needing 20 minutes to charge is going to slow adoption there ... badly.

In the suburbs and rural areas I suspect "Do you have a charging station?" will become an ever increasing questions when people are buying real estate.

The city question makes me realize that, electric or not, cars are a problem in cities.  Mass transit is needed so that the need for cars and parking spaces for cars is reduced.  In CA with the housing shortage some are coming to the conclusion that zoning for cars is part of what prevents adequate and affordable housing from being built.  

In the meantime there is a bill in the CA legislature now requiring landlords to install charging stations in certain sized multi family structures.  The opponents have taken to the airwaves already to announce that this will cost everyone who rents and will increase the prices of absolutely everything anyone would want to buy.  The bill is nowhere near being passed. 

[LFC]

May 19, 2021 16:53:00 GMT goldenvalley said:

In the meantime there is a bill in the CA legislature now requiring landlords to install charging stations in certain sized multi family structures.  The opponents have taken to the airwaves already to announce that this will cost everyone who rents and will increase the prices of absolutely everything anyone would want to buy.  The bill is nowhere near being passed. 

They are correct, it will cost everyone who rents. Why? Despite the fact that a home charging station can be installed for somewhere in the range of $500-$2,000 it's an awesome excuse to raise rents $150/month forever. So rents will go up but only because landlords will be screwing their tenants.

[LFC]

Kia just announced a new EV.

The Kia EV6 is one of the more intriguing electric vehicles to have been announced over the past few months. Like sibling brand Hyundai's Ioniq 5, the EV6 will use a new 800 V electric car platform called E-GMP, which boasts extremely rapid fast charging and a raft of other interesting design details. On Tuesday night, Kia took over Times Square in Manhattan to formally unveil the EV6 in the US, ahead of deliveries scheduled for early 2022.

Hyundai went for a rather retro look for the Ioniq 5. Instead of looking backward, Kia chose to clad the EV6 in a crossover body that's more than a little reminiscent of the Lamborghini Urus. That comparison might get a little more pointed in late 2022 when the EV6 GT arrives—that one will beat the Lamborghini SUV in a drag race, at least to 60 mph.

Kia has announced four different powertrain combinations for the EV6. The entry-level EV6 will come with a 58 kWh battery and a single 167 hp (125 kW) electric motor driving the rear wheels. A second rear-wheel-drive EV6 will be available with a larger 77.4 kWh battery pack and 218 hp (162 kW) from its motor.

Next is an all-wheel-drive EV6 with the larger battery; this has a total output of 313 hp (233 kW), which Kia says should equal a 0-60 time of 5.1 seconds. And finally, there's the EV6 GT, which also uses the larger-capacity battery and a motor for each axle, but this time with a combined 576 hp (430 kW)—Kia estimates this version will reach 60 mph from a standstill in just 3.5 seconds.

Kia says that range estimates will be announced closer to the EV6 arriving at dealers but that it's targeting 300 miles (482 km) "across several configurations."

As we've previously reported, E-GMP uses an 800 V electrical architecture, which, among other benefits, means it should be capable of impressive DC fast-charging speeds, at least when connected to a 350 kW charger. Kia says that you'll be able to add 70 miles (112 km) in just five minutes and that charging from 10 to 80 percent should take 18 minutes, which should put the Kia high on the list of acceptable EVs for people interested in electric road trips. Charging at home on a 40 A circuit will take about seven hours to go from 10 to 100 percent state of charge, thanks to the EV6's 11 kW onboard charger.

More and more it seems like a range of 200 miles is becoming the absolute bottom that will be acceptable for an electric vehicle and 300 miles seems to be the up and coming measuring stick. Tesla is way out in front on that published metric with the top 4 EVs by range but Edmund's did independent testing and disputes that, though with some later caveats. Looking at the list you wonder why MINI even bothered to put out a car with a published range of just 110 miles (Edmund's got 150 out of it). It sounds like it's 5-10 years behind the curve.

[LFC]

Car & Driver did range tests as well and compared them to the EPA numbers. None of the vehicles they tested met the EPA figure. They also explain the huge caveats with actual range.

We don't (yet) control the weather, so the worst-performing examples, including a 2018 Model 3 that only managed 65 percent of its range rating, took place with outside temperatures hovering around freezing. Which brings up another way EVs are different: cold weather affects range dramatically. One of the many reasons for that is that using the heater to warm the cabin—particularly on EVs that have resistive heaters—sucks a lot of juice. In a test with our long-term Model 3 we found that using the heat can increase consumption by as much as 35 percent and kill 60 miles of range, a significant chunk of the Model 3's 310-mile EPA rating.

Also, you should consider our range figures the absolute maximum possible and, as with our 0-to-60-mph times, it will be difficult to achieve them with any regularity. That's because it involves charging the battery all the way to 100 percent, which is not the EV norm. Topping off the last 10–15 percent is when the rate of charging slows considerably, and it also leads to increased degradation in battery capacity over time. For example, Tesla recommends limiting charging to 90 percent for daily use. Even on long-distance trips, the stops are determined more by the charging infrastructure than anything else, and the most expeditious method is to top up the battery just far enough—to maybe 80 or 90 percent, keeping it in the speedy part of the charge-rate curve—to get to the next charger.

Here are their range results:

[LFC]

Ford announces its plans to keep pushing forward on EV investment and manufacturing.

Ford will spend $30 billion on electric vehicles by 2025, and says 40 percent of its global fleet will be all-electric by 2030. The company is working on an all-electric versions of its Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs. And it’s developing two new electric vehicle platforms: one that will power full-size pickup trucks, and one that can easily flex between all- and rear-wheel drive to fit multiple vehicle types.

The company had previously committed $22 billion to EVs and had announced a goal to be all-electric in Europe by 2030.

Ford is also creating a standalone business for its commercial vehicle division called Ford Pro. The company hopes that by offering more dedicated services to these customers, it can build on what is already a dominant position, as it makes up 43 percent of the commercial truck and van market.

[LFC]

Things are less than rosy for a number of the upstart EV companies hoping to get in before the big boys and become the next Tesla.

Electric vehicle startups have raised an absurd amount of money in the last year by merging with special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. That money — billions of dollars, collectively — was supposed to be enough to help each of them start fighting for space in a market dominated by Tesla. But many of these startups are still having trouble getting rolling.

EV startup struggles are not new. Most of the ones focused on passenger vehicles that are still around spent years grappling with the inherent, unavoidable difficulties of automotive manufacturing. Now, though, the bruises of that fight are developing in broad daylight — all while they try to beat deep-pocketed legacy automakers to the punch.

Ohio-based Lordstown Motors raised nearly $700 million when it went public late last year and has backing from America’s largest automaker, General Motors. But it’s spending faster than expected — it lost $125 million in the first quarter — and on Tuesday, the company said it needs more cash in order to hit its goal of making its first 2,200 electric pickup trucks by the end of 2021.

California-based Canoo went public in December and has already replaced its leadership team. The new one has upended the startup’s business model and largely thrown out the projections that were used to raise around $600 million during last year’s merger with a SPAC.

Startups that have announced SPAC mergers but have yet to complete them have run into some trouble, too. Lucid Motors again delayed the release of its luxury electric sedan, the Air, in order to address quality assurance issues raised by its investors. When it does go public, the California startup is looking to add $4.4 billion to the sizable war chest it started building when Saudi Arabia pledged some $1.3 billion in exchange for majority control in 2018.

Another California EV startup working on a luxury electric vehicle, Faraday Future, is set to raise $1 billion when its own SPAC merger is complete. But this week, Faraday Future told investors that it needs to recalculate basically all of the financial projections it made so far in order to follow new guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other startups have had to make similar adjustments.

Nikola Motors hasn't exactly been setting the world on fire either as they continue to try to get past fraud accusations.