Electric Vehicles, Tools, & Other Once Fossil Fuel Things

[pnwguy]

Apr 12, 2022 14:46:53 GMT LFC said:

It seems that many EV companies really are staying at the high end for now.

On Tuesday, Lucid Motors added a new version of its electric sedan to its lineup. It's called the Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance, and at the not-inconsiderable price of $179,000 it slots above the already superlative-laden $139,000 Lucid Air Grand Touring, offering a lot more power, albeit at the cost of about 13 percent of its range.

I guess that's pretty much the model Tesla followed as well with less expensive, and likely lower margin, models coming later.

Lucid has pegged the Air Grand Touring Performance back slightly, so as not to eclipse the Air Dream Edition Performance (the 1,111 hp version). But only slightly. Therefore the twin-motor Air Grand Touring Performance generates a combined 1,050 hp (783 kW), which will propel the ultra-slippery sedan to 60 mph from a standstill in 2.5 seconds.

You do give up some range compared to the Grand Touring—70 miles (112 km) in fact—but it still has an EPA range of 446 miles (717 km) on a single charge.

However, fans of Lucid from the early days will be disappointed that the planned single-motor $60,000 entry-level version will now cost at least $80,000. Production of that car was meant to begin this year, but perhaps 2024 is more likely.

Of course, Henry Ford took the approach of making affordable vehicles fairly early with the Model T, to grab market share and help provide the demand for infrastructure.  

[goldenvalley]

Apr 12, 2022 14:46:53 GMT LFC said:

It seems that many EV companies really are staying at the high end for now.

On Tuesday, Lucid Motors added a new version of its electric sedan to its lineup. It's called the Lucid Air Grand Touring Performance, and at the not-inconsiderable price of $179,000 it slots above the already superlative-laden $139,000 Lucid Air Grand Touring, offering a lot more power, albeit at the cost of about 13 percent of its range.

I guess that's pretty much the model Tesla followed as well with less expensive, and likely lower margin, models coming later.

Lucid has pegged the Air Grand Touring Performance back slightly, so as not to eclipse the Air Dream Edition Performance (the 1,111 hp version). But only slightly. Therefore the twin-motor Air Grand Touring Performance generates a combined 1,050 hp (783 kW), which will propel the ultra-slippery sedan to 60 mph from a standstill in 2.5 seconds.

You do give up some range compared to the Grand Touring—70 miles (112 km) in fact—but it still has an EPA range of 446 miles (717 km) on a single charge.

However, fans of Lucid from the early days will be disappointed that the planned single-motor $60,000 entry-level version will now cost at least $80,000. Production of that car was meant to begin this year, but perhaps 2024 is more likely.

I guess they're trying for an efficient return on investment by selling fewer cars at higher prices.  We'll never wean people off of gas powered vehicles if EVs are just the play things of the well off.  

[AnBr]

Apr 12, 2022 15:07:59 GMT goldenvalley said:

I guess they're trying for an efficient return on investment by selling fewer cars at higher prices.  We'll never wean people off of gas powered vehicles if EVs are just the play things of the well off.  

This is something that I have been thinking about. Somehow we need to put EVs in the hands of those with very modest means if we want to stop the use of fossil fuels. Waiting for the normal progression from new to used to affordable for working poor will take too long, especially if EVs have a longer usable lifespan. Of course good mass transit could help, but try and get that passed by today's government on all levels.

[goldenvalley]

Apr 12, 2022 22:55:20 GMT AnBr said:

Apr 12, 2022 15:07:59 GMT goldenvalley said:

I guess they're trying for an efficient return on investment by selling fewer cars at higher prices.  We'll never wean people off of gas powered vehicles if EVs are just the play things of the well off.  

 Of course good mass transit could help, but try and get that passed by today's government on all levels.

And to get people to use it.  Americans, except for those in the densely urban areas, will not want to leave their cars in the garage.  They are too accustomed to getting and going whenever they want.  Consulting subway/train/trolley/bus schedules and having to walk from a stop to their ultimate destination will be seen as a hassle and a restriction on their FREEDOM!   

My #2 kid lived in Europe for a brief time, in urban areas.  Having a car was far more expensive and troublesome than taking the trolley or underground (or bike in one city). Now he complains about the lack of adequate mass transit in the US.

[Bact PhD]

Apr 12, 2022 23:04:01 GMT goldenvalley said:

Apr 12, 2022 22:55:20 GMT AnBr said:

 Of course good mass transit could help, but try and get that passed by today's government on all levels.

And to get people to use it.  Americans, except for those in the densely urban areas, will not want to leave their cars in the garage.  They are too accustomed to getting and going whenever they want.  Consulting subway/train/trolley/bus schedules and having to walk from a stop to their ultimate destination will be seen as a hassle and a restriction on their FREEDOM!   

My #2 kid lived in Europe for a brief time, in urban areas.  Having a car was far more expensive and troublesome than taking the trolley or underground (or bike in one city). Now he complains about the lack of adequate mass transit in the US.

One of my peeves about the lack of mass transit is the lack of realistic options for intermediate-distance travel (200-450 miles). Outside of the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak service genuinely SUCKS in terms of scheduling (yes, Dear Daughter & I have both used it in this manner, so my opinion is based on first-hand experience). Greyhound is way too S-L-O-W to be useful to many folks. Short flights on "puddle jumpers" tend to be expensive, not necessarily convenient, and may not be any better in terms of the CO₂ output.

Interestingly, though, there are some "niche" operators in this arena. When I first moved to my current city (a college town) in the mid-'90s, there were two companies that provided convenient and direct bus service from here to Miami, including a handful of intermediate stops between (I believe) Port St. Lucie and the terminus in the southern part of Miami-Dade County. There were several convenient departure times from here on Friday afternoon/evening and corresponding departure times from Miami on Sunday afternoon/evening. Both companies seemed to have robust ridership while providing what seemed to be decent service (and keeping a couple of hundred cars off the Turnpike most weekends!). Had I been childless when I moved here, I might well have taken advantage of the service for the occasional trip to see the family, rather than putting the wear and tear on myself and the car! I haven't made but 1 or 2 trips to South FL in the last 9 years, so I haven't seen the buses, and had to Google whether either operator was still in business. At least one of them is; I can't recall the name of the other one.

[LFC]

Interesting way to store energy created by solar during the day.

Heat-driven photovoltaic device hits 40 percent efficiency
Efficient device is meant to extract electricity from extremely high temperatures.

As installing renewable generating sources continues to set annual records, we're reaching the point where storing the power they generate becomes essential. Proper storage can provide a way to cover temporary drops in production due to changing weather and can potentially offer a way to use power at times when renewable sources aren't producing at all.

So far, attention has focused on batteries as a storage technology that already works and on hydrogen as a technology that could work. But both options have problems with scaling to meet our needs. And there's one technology that's already in use that might be more flexible: heat. Heat created from concentrated solar power already allows solar plants to keep producing long after the Sun sets (some plants can generate around the clock). And we already know how to produce and store heat efficiently.

Now, researchers from the National Renewable Energy Lab and MIT have improved a technology for using the stored heat to produce electricity: a photovoltaic device that's sensitive to infrared wavelengths. They show that its efficiency is competitive with that of steam boilers, and it avoids the use of moving parts and water that might otherwise be scarce.

[LFC]

Hey,  andydp. Time to set aside a bit of cash. I'm pretty sure this came up before but now it's official.

On Monday, General Motors President Mark Reuss used LinkedIn to confirm one of the worst-kept secrets in Detroit: There will be a hybrid Chevrolet Corvette on sale next year. Reuss also said a fully battery electric Corvette is in the pipeline, although he did not give a firm date for that version.

A hybrid Corvette has been a possibility for a while now—Chevrolet trademarked the name "Corvette E-Ray" back in 2015, while the current mid-engined Corvette was still in the early stages of its development.

Just moving the engine from in front of the driver to behind the seats was a big change for the Corvette corrals of the world, and adding an electrified option at launch might have been a bit too much. A hybrid version is logical, though; going beyond the Z06's 670 hp (500 kW) while remaining manageable for drivers who aren't professional racing drivers means adding all-wheel drive.

There's even a convenient place to put the hybrid batteries: the tunnel running down the Corvette's aluminum frame between the driver and passenger, which has always seemed otherwise out of place in a mid-engined car.

The article has this link from earlier (obviously before Biden was president) but updated last April.

Earlier this month, before the country knew who former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate would be, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee punningly tweeted about his “vetting process.” He was talking, of course, about his classic 1967 Chevrolet ‘Vette.

As much as the Veep likes his ‘Vette, his 327 small block V8, four-on-the-floor manual transmission roadster is a relic of the past. Which is why Biden said he wants to drive an electric Corvette.

“I believe we can own the 21st-century market again by moving to electric vehicles,” he says in the video. “And by the way, they tell me—and I’m looking forward, if it’s true, to driving one—that they’re making an electric Corvette that can go 200 miles an hour.”

You know politicians: always playing fast and loose with the facts. Obviously, there’s no such thing as an electric Corvette that goes 200 mph. In fact, it goes 212 mph. (Well, 211.8 mph, to be precise.) It is a world record for electric vehicles.

Chevy doesn't build it which doesn't shock me. I think they've got a ton of catching up and they aren't necessarily known for their ability to spin up on things.

Chevy doesn’t build the car. It was created in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Rockville, Maryland by Genovation Cars, Inc. Genovation is a 12-year-old EV startup that aims to build an EV the hard way: by developing their own high-performance battery-electric technology. They call their $750,000, 800-horsepower electric ‘Vette the Genovation GXE.

[andydp]

Apr 25, 2022 16:53:49 GMT LFC said:

Hey,  andydp . Time to set aside a bit of cash. I'm pretty sure this came up before but now it's official.

Rumors are flying hot and heavy: 2023.

Meanwhile in the land of reality: new tires, State Inspection, four wheel alignment, oil change.  Estimated cost: about $ 2k.  (<< This is about $500 less than my brand new 1971 spitfire cost me in 1972: $2,500)   My usual inspection and oil change cost about $ 120.

[LFC]

Apr 25, 2022 17:59:01 GMT andydp said:

Meanwhile in the land of reality: new tires, State Inspection, four wheel alignment, oil change.  Estimated cost: about $ 2k.  (<< This is about $500 less than my brand new 1971 spitfire cost me in 1972: $2,500)   My usual inspection and oil change cost about $ 120.

If they don't seriously limit the top-end then I can't imagine what a set of tires would cost. I know I've seen a couple of articles on super cars in the past with tires going for up to $5,000 apiece. Plus screeching out in an EV and rocketing towards 200mph for a mile or so must take off a lot of tread.

[LFC]

An ammonia powered tractor? It actually makes sense since ammonia is used for fertilizer so the delivery infrastructure already exists for American farms.

The world's first ammonia-powered zero-emissions tractor successfully completed its first demonstration run at the Advanced Energy Center at Stony Brook University in New York last week. The midsized John Deere tractor had its diesel engine replaced with an "ammonia to power" system developed by a startup called Amogy. The system converts the energy-dense chemical into hydrogen, which then powers a 100 kW hydrogen fuel cell.

Although most EV coverage is devoted to consumer-oriented passenger cars and light trucks, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles represent more than a quarter of US vehicle emissions and are important targets for decarbonization. The low-energy density of batteries and their long charging times make fuel cells an attractive zero-emissions solution, and we've looked at the potential uses for hydrogen fuel cells in trains, trucking, and mining in the past.

But even the greenest hydrogen still isn't very energy-dense, and outside of California, there's little hydrogen infrastructure to rely upon.

Anhydrous ammonia, on the other hand, is widely used in farming as a fertilizer. It's not the most pleasant chemical in the world to work with, but given its energy density, people have looked at it as a potential fuel for farm equipment. In the past that has meant combustion engines that burn a mix of ammonia and diesel, which emits less carbon dioxide than a purely diesel-powered tractor, but still emits some of the pollutant.

Amogy's system can power the tractor for several hours on a 60-gallon tank of ammonia. But it's not used directly in the fuel cell; instead, the ammonia is cracked in a reactor to make hydrogen on-demand, which is then used to power the fuel cell. While there are inefficiencies in the system, Amogy says that the higher energy density of ammonia in the first place means you can easily carry enough fuel to compensate, coming out ahead of a normal hydrogen fuel cell in terms of both energy and power density.

[LFC]

Another article popped up on the shift to EVs being used by automakers as an excuse to shift the dealer model.

Few Americans enjoyed the car-buying process even before supply chain chaos, and the chip shortage led dealerships to mark up inventory by thousands of dollars. But buying a Ford electric vehicle might be a lot less painful in the future, if Ford CEO Jim Farley gets his way. On Wednesday, Farley said that he wants the company's EVs to be sold online-only, with no dealer markups or other price negotiations, according to the Detroit Free Press.

"We've got to go to non-negotiated price. We've got to go to 100 percent online. There's no inventory (at dealerships), it goes directly to the customer. And 100 percent remote pickup and delivery," Farley said while speaking at a conference in New York.

One of Tesla's most popular innovations was to eschew traditional dealerships and sell its products directly to customers. But traditional manufacturers like Ford are usually prohibited from selling their products directly to customers, a legacy of fears over vertical integration written into state laws during the early 20th century. As such, Ford's franchised dealers will almost certainly still have a role to play.

The move away from dealerships carrying extensive inventories of cars should save Ford money; the company says that its current distribution model adds around $2,000 in extra costs per car compared to Tesla. A third of that cost is tied up in inventory, and another third is spent on advertising.

"Our model is messed up. We spend $600 or $700 on the vehicle to promote it, and we spend nothing post-warranty on the customer experience. The problem is, on a parts business, which historically has been very profitable, we only get, maybe, only 10 or 20 percent of the customers come back to us," he said.

[LFC]

Polestar is supposedly going to be delivering relatively soon.

Polestar has released the first image of its next production electric vehicle. It's called the Polestar 3, and it's the brand's first offering in the highly competitive SUV market.

"Polestar 3 is the SUV for the electric age. Our design identity evolves with this high-end large luxury EV, with a strong, individual brand character. With this car, we bring the 'sport' back to the SUV, staying true to our performance roots," says Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO. "This is a major milestone for our company, one that boosts our growth trajectory and takes us into our next phase."

The Polestar 3 is the first EV in that next phase and will be followed in 2023 by the Polestar 4 (a smaller SUV coupe) and the flagship Polestar 5 in 2024.

We can expect more technical specs on the Polestar 3 when it officially goes on sale in October. For now, Polestar says to expect a battery with enough capacity for a WLTP range of 600 km (372 miles), which should be sufficient for an EPA range estimate of well over 300 miles. We also know it will be a dual-motor powertrain and probably one with plenty of acceleration. And in January, Ars Review Editor Ron Amadeo had an early look at the Polestar 3's Android Automotive interface.

[andydp]

Jun 2, 2022 20:07:20 GMT LFC said:

Another article popped up on the shift to EVs being used by automakers as an excuse to shift the dealer model.

"Our model is messed up. We spend $600 or $700 on the vehicle to promote it, and we spend nothing post-warranty on the customer experience. The problem is, on a parts business, which historically has been very profitable, we only get, maybe, only 10 or 20 percent of the customers come back to us," he said.

Because... You rip people off to make up any shortfall from sales of the vehicle.

My Sonata was up for the 50K mile checkup.  The selling dealer quoted me $500 for: an oil change, filter change and fuel additive.  The rest of the service was all check, inspect, etc.  There were only THREE things that actually cost money.  The rest is what a competent service station would do as a matter of course during an oil change. 

The mechanic we go to quoted me about $40 the other Sonata dealer quoted the cost of the oil change and filter install.  

[LFC]

A company named Solid Power is pushing towards a pilot plant for solid state car batteries.

Solid Power, a Colorado-based battery developer, moved one step closer to producing solid-state batteries for electric vehicles on Monday. The company has completed an automated "EV cell pilot line" with the capacity to make around 15,000 cells per year, which will be used first by Solid Power and then by its OEM partners for testing.

"The installation of this EV cell pilot line will allow us to produce EV-scale cells suitable for initiating the formal automotive qualification process. Over the coming quarters, we will work to bring the EV cell pilot line up to its full operational capability and look forward to delivering EV-scale all-solid-state cells to our partners later this year," said Solid Power CEO Doug Campbell.

Solid-state batteries differ from the lithium-ion batteries currently used in EVs in that they replace the liquid electrolyte with a solid layer between the anode and cathode. It's an attractive technology for multiple reasons: Solid-state cells should have a higher energy density, they should be able to charge more quickly, and they should be safer, as they're nonflammable (which should further reduce the pack density and weight, as it will need less-robust protection).

It's one of those technologies that to a very casual observer is perennially five years away, but in Europe there are already operational Mercedes-Benz eCitaro buses with solid-state packs.

The tech is taking a little longer to get ready for passenger EVs, but it does appear to be maturing. Solid Power is one of the leading solid-state battery developers, having been established in 2012. Its approach is to use a sulfur-based solid electrolyte and an anode that's very high in silicon—more than 50 percent, according to Solid Power.

[LFC]

Volkswagen is starting to build a new huge battery factory. It sounds like they're thinking ahead by implementing standardization of both future factories and battery format.

Volkswagen Group announced on Thursday that it is consolidating its battery development and production in a new project called Mission SalzGiga. The name refers to Salzgitter in Germany, where VW has built more than 63 million internal combustion engines—it has now broken ground on a massive new battery factory at the site, the first of six planned for Europe. Each plant should be able to accommodate an annual production capacity of 40 GWh, sufficient to power 500,000 electric vehicles.

To that end, the company has set up a new Salzgitter-based business unit called PowerCo that will cover all of the automaker's global battery activities. VW says it will require more than $20.4 billion (20 billion euros) in investment between now and 2030 but with an equal potential in revenue, plus the addition of 20,000 new jobs.

"In building our first in-house cell factory, we are consistently implementing our technology roadmap," said Thomas Schmall, VW board member in charge of technology. "PowerCo will become a global battery player. The company's major strength will be vertical integration from raw materials and the cell right through to recycling. In future, we will handle all the relevant activities in-house and will gain a strategic competitive advantage in the race to take the lead in e-mobility."

Cell production is scheduled to begin at the Salzgitter factory in 2025, and VW says it has already retrained 1,000 employees from making engines. It says the battery factory will add another 5,000 jobs over the next few years.

VW wants to scale up rapidly, so it has standardized the design of the battery factories, which will use green electricity to operate, incorporating the ability to move to closed-loop recycling once the supply of old EV batteries makes that possible. The Salzgitter site will also have facilities for battery research and development in addition to large-scale production and recycling.

The automaker is also moving to a standardized cell format, a prismatic cell first announced in 2021. Although the cell's size and shape are fixed, it has been designed to allow flexibility in terms of cell chemistries, and VW says that 80 percent of its EVs will adopt the unified prismatic cell.

[pnwguy]

One of the smart thinks Musk did with Tesla when they began was take over a very large building that had been the NUMMI auto plant in Fremont, CA, a joint venture between Toyota and GM.  The infrastructure for overhead cranes, material flow, supply truck docks, steel panel stamping, rail sidings, finished product parking space, and so on are fairly specific to auto makers.  I imagine a lot of these other EV catch up firms were starting from scratch, which takes a lot of time from both supply logistics and permitting cycles. 

At least the established auto-makers have good infrastructure and supply logistics in place, except for the battery suppliers. 

[LFC]

Electric vehicles are pushing further into professional racing.

Nicolas Goubert is the executive director of the FIM MotoE World Cup, a racing series that only features electric motorcycles. “Motorsports have to [promote] up-to-date technologies,” Goubert told The Daily Beast.

Goubert believes that spurring and showcasing technological change is one of racing’s core missions and a crucial part of its appeal. The history of the sport helps bear this out: As early as the early 20th century, Harley-Davidson—arguably the most famous motorcycle brand in the world—honed and promoted its engines through on- and off-road races. In 2011, amid rising global concern about the environmental and economic costs of fossil fuels, Formula E established the first all-electric single-seater car racing championship. More than a decade later, global electric car sales have grown from 43,000 units per year to an eye-popping 6.6 million. Formula E has grown into a worldwide entertainment brand, reaching over 316 million viewers in 2021 and netting $92 million in profit despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inspired by Formula E, MotoE was launched in 2019 as an all-electric motorcycle racing series. MotoE’s first season featured just four events. It now hosts six events throughout the year, with two races every weekend.

Goubert attributes MotoE’s rapid growth partly to its technology. Weight can limit a motorcycle’s performance, and the electric powertrains—the group of components starting with the motor that pushes motorcycles forward— in MotoE’s bikes initially were so hefty that they restricted the series’ races to six laps. In the four seasons since MotoE’s founding, MotoE bikes have shed about 33 pounds in weight, allowing them now to race for eight laps at speeds of up to 168 mph—comparable to Moto3 gas-powered motorcycles.

The races are fiercely competitive. MotoE’s last race at TT Circuit Assen featured 16 riders. The difference between the first and last place finishers? Less than six seconds.

This was interesting.

Also, since they have fewer moving parts, the electric powertrains featured in MotoE bikes are far more reliable than combustion engines. Mechanical failures are common occurrences in racing series featuring gas-powered motorcycles. Not only do they make for disappointing viewing, they also create a safety risk to riders. Since MotoE’s founding, not a single motorcycle has experienced a major mechanical failure during a race.

[LFC]

Electric race cars are going up in HP. Apparently having rules keep pace with technology advances is a challenge.

The rapid development of road-going EVs has been a problem for Formula E, which revealed the Gen3 car at the end of April. As with the previous car, its looks are somewhat polarizing, but most everyone will be on board with the big power increase, from the old car's 250 kW (335 hp) up to 350 kW (469 hp). It has also been on a diet, losing 143 kg compared to the Gen2 car and will now tip the scales at 760 kg—just less than a current F1 car and just more than a current IndyCar.

Balancing how open the rules should be for technology development with a need to keep costs in check is a tricky tightrope to walk, and both Audi and BMW departed the sport after a few years, saying there was little else for them to learn that they could apply to their road cars. The flip side is that budgets are reasonable enough to attract a team like McLaren.

"You can sell sponsorship, and it's going to wipe its own face and any other development budget. How much are the manufacturers willing to spend on particular areas of development? We've tried to isolate "what do we think is going to make the difference for manufacturers?" Because you're right, the auto industry is moving so quickly, consumers' perceptions are moving so quickly. You know, how do we make sure we're staying at the cutting edge? And candidly, we haven't been last few years, right? And that's something that we really need to move into," Reigle explained.

[LFC]

Electric hydrofoil passenger ferries are in the works in Europe.

Three feet above the waves, the Candela P-12 sprints across Lake Mälaren near Stockholm, Sweden. With only its hydrofoils cutting through the water, the boat leaves virtually no wake, noise, or emissions—a sea change from the hulking diesel-powered ferries that currently haul commuters through the archipelago that makes up the Swedish capital.

So far, it's a water-bound fantasy: While Swedish startup Candela is already manufacturing leisure versions of its electric flying boats, the P-12 hasn't yet been built. Candela CEO Gustav Hasselskog says the boat is in the "design for manufacturing stage" ahead of a November launch that will be followed by a trial next year. The aim is to have the flying ferry form a part of Stockholm's public transport fleet.

Cutting carbon emissions from ferries is a priority for a city surrounded by water. The city's existing fleet of 60 ferries emits 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, making up 8 percent of total shipping emissions in Sweden—and they're spewing that air pollution in cities, raising public health concerns. "Shipping has to stop using fossil fuel, fast," says Simon Bullock, a researcher at the University of Manchester's Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. "For short journeys, electric ships can be a big part of the solution."

On that point Sweden is ahead of the curve, with Stockholm working toward emissions-free ferries by 2025. Electric ferries have previously been trialed in the Swedish capital, with local authorities testing another model from Green City Ferries alongside the flying P-12. Norway uses electric passenger ferries to tour its fjords, Belfast in Northern Ireland is trialing a similar "flying" style boat, and a project at the University of Plymouth in the UK is converting diesel ferries to electric. That's good news given that ferries, most of which are powered by diesel, are a major environmental headache: EU data shows ferries represent 3 percent of all vessels but make up 10 percent of carbon emissions, while more than 95 percent of US ferries are powered by diesel.

The hydrofoils help make up for the drag that can be caused by having heavy batteries.

The problem with powering any form of transport with electricity is it requires heavy batteries. That's a particular problem for boats, as they suffer drag in the water. To address this Candela uses hydrofoils, legs that extend down into the water and act like wings, propelling the boat up into the air as it picks up speed like an aircraft during takeoff. "In harbor the foils are fully retracted, so they're protected," Hasselskog says. "But then you lower the foils and hit the throttle and off it goes. The control system takes care of the entire takeoff sequence, it's like an airplane."

Hydrofoil boats aren't new, but electric power and automated controls are. The carbon-fiber Candela P-12 will have twin propulsion systems powered by 180-kWh batteries, letting it run three hours before requiring charging. At 12 meters in length and 4.5 meters across, the 8.5 metric ton boat will carry 30 seated passengers.

A superfast flying boat sounds like a surefire way to lose your breakfast on the morning commute, but the Candela has sensors that feed into an automated control system to adjust the height and roll and pitch up to 100 times a second to ensure a smooth ride regardless of the weather. "Through the control system we can cut out any vertical movements of the boat," Hasselskog says, which is what tends to cause seasickness. "So far nobody has gotten seasick on our boats."

All of that means the Candela P-12, when built, should use less energy per passenger than a hybrid electric bus, go faster than a car, and bring down fuel and maintenance costs by 40 percent. And as it glides above the water it's less disruptive to the local environment both above and beneath the water.

[LFC]

BMW continues to move EV models down in price into the more semi-luxury market.

As a late Gen Xer, I grew up in an era when BMW's cars were pretty easy to understand based solely on their model names. A 325i was a 3 Series with a 2.5 L engine, for example; a 540i was a 5 Series with a 4.0 L engine, and so on. BMW left that common-sense naming approach in the dust quite some time before it set a goal to have sold 2 million plugins by 2025, but even the new nomenclature gives some clues about where a new model fits in the range.

For example, the newly announced i4 eDrive35 is the company's new entry-level EV sedan, slotting in underneath the i4 eDrive40 and the i4 M50.

With a starting price of $51,400, the new i4 configuration undercuts the existing eDrive40 by $4,500. It also uses a single synchronous electric motor driving the rear wheels, although in the eDrive35, it has been derated to 281 hp (207 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm). That's still sufficient to endow the i4 eDrive35 with a sub-6-second 0–60 time, and there's a decent chance this might actually be the best driver's car from the range.

I suspect the real savings come from the smaller lithium-ion battery pack between the i4 eDrive35's axles. The pack now has a useable capacity of 66 kWh (70.2 kWh gross), compared to more than 80 useable kWh in the more expensive i4 versions. Fewer kilowatt-hours mean a shorter range, although BMW says the i4 eDrive35 should have an EPA range of 260 miles (418 km), and a fast-charge at up to 180 kW will restore the battery from 10 to 80 percent in 32 minutes.

Other than slightly less power and range, the new entry-level i4 comes with the same standard equipment as the more expensive eDrive40 version. BMW says US deliveries should begin in the first quarter of 2023.

[LFC]

The NRC announced that they will be issuing approval for a small nuclear generator design. The goal is to manufacture the entire unit and ship it to its destination rather than needing a custom build every time.

On Friday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced that it would be issuing a certification to a new nuclear reactor design, making it just the seventh that has been approved for use in the US. But in some ways, it's a first: The design, from a company called NuScale, is a small modular reactor that can be constructed at a central facility and then moved to the site where it will be operated.

The move was expected after the design received an OK during its final safety evaluation in 2020.

Small modular reactors have been promoted as avoiding many of the problems that have made large nuclear plants exceedingly expensive to build. They're small enough that they can be assembled on a factory floor and then shipped to the site where they will operate, eliminating many of the challenges of custom on-site construction. In addition, they're structured in a way to allow passive safety, where no operator actions are necessary to shut the reactor down if problems occur.

Once complete, the certification is published in the Federal Register, allowing the design to be used in the US. Friday's announcement says that the NRC is all set to take the publication step.

The NRC will still have to weigh in on the sites where any of these reactors are deployed. Currently, one such site is in the works: a project called the Carbon Free Power Project, which will be situated at Idaho National Lab. That's expected to be operational in 2030 but has been facing some financial uncertainty. Utilities that might use the power produced there have grown hesitant to commit money to the project.

[LFC]

Dodge is dropping two big muscle cars and is pushing towards EVs.

The U.S.-based carmaker Dodge has announced that the company will discontinue its gas-powered Challenger and Charger models in 2023 as it plans to transition to electric vehicles.

The first electric vehicle of the Dodge brand will be a plug-in hybrid compact utility vehicle (CUV) called the Hornet, as stated in a press release. The Hornet is going to be Dodge’s new entry-level vehicle, with a cost of less than $30,000.

[AnBr]

What is the lowest price on any new EV that you have seen?

[LFC]

Aug 17, 2022 22:06:12 GMT AnBr said:

What is the lowest price on any new EV that you have seen?

There's been a lot of announcements and such but any that I would consider "usable", i.e. with a range over 200 miles, are running at least $35K. Here's an article showing the Chevy Bolt at about $27,000. Of course I've never remotely considered buying a GM product.

[LFC]

Here's the next muscle car from Dodge. It's electric and they found a way to have it make noise and kinda' be able to justify it. That just feels a bit pathetic (OK, more than a bit pathetic) but you have to give your customers what they want.

Meet the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT: an EV That'll Kick a Hellcat's Ass
You'll hear Dodge's first-ever electric muscle car coming a mile away.

Muscle car aficionados take heart: the future of electric cars from Dodge is mean, menacing, and loud. Proof: The Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept which teases the production electric muscle car coming in 2024 amid promises it will beat all the performance metrics Dodge has laid down to date.

Yes, the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT is powered by batteries and electric motors, but air still swooshes through chambers and pipes for a rumble very similar to the roar of a Hemi Hellcat V-8 in today's Dodge Chargers and Challengers. It is only when the electric Charger is being turned off that the final whirr reminds you it is a battery-electric car. And no melted jellybean shape here—the car is sleek, powerful, and true to Dodge muscle car DNA.

The Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept has been imbued with the looks and sounds that should appeal to the muscle car brotherhood customer base. The concept is Dodge's vision of its replacement for the internal combustion engine muscle cars that will soon go out of production. The last Dodge Chargers and Dodge Challengers will roll off the line at the Brampton, Ontario, plant in December 2023. Here's what it sounds like, from the live reveal on YouTube:

Dodge brand CEO Tim Kuniskis says Dodge needed its own unique pathway to the EV age; the small brand would get lost if it tried to do things the same way as bigger players. To stand out and hold its own, Dodge needed to show electrification can still shock people.

The Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Concept is designed to impress and appease its loyal customer base, many of whom are fundamentally opposed to EVs and all they stand for. So, Dodge created an e-muscle car that looks mean and roars as loud as the Hellcats with supercharged Hemi V-8s that it will replace. "We believe we need the sound and experience," says Kuniskis. That is why the car has a multispeed transmission and an exhaust note, so the driver can feel and hear the crack of the exhaust while shifting.