Posted on 01/16/2018 5:06:27 PM PST by Armen Hareyan
CES 2018 has come to an end but the hype it has created in the world of electric cars is just starting to spread.
One of the most anticipated unveilings of this week was the debut of the new Fisker EMotion, a 4 door luxury sedan with 400 mile range and the exotic suicide butterfly doors. It is Henrik Fisker’s second go at creating an electric car after his first company Fisker Automotive has gone out of business only a couple of years after the debut of the Fisker Karma. In my interview with Mr. Fisker he has explained to me that this time around things are different simply because Fisker, Inc., the name of his new company, does not have to go into this alone.
It now has help of many suppliers and partners to create the architecture and the tech for the car. As a matter of fact, Fisker did not have its own booth at this year’s CES, but instead hosted its beautiful concept at Quanergy Systems’ booth, the maker of its lidar. Reservations are accepted now at Fisker’s website and the car is promised to be in production in 2019. Below you can see two videos from my channel E for Electric.
Even though most of the hype went to Fisker before the start of the CES, the most surprising and impressive unveiling belonged to Byton, a Chinese-based company with offices in Europe and the US. The company is only 3 years old but it has a great financial backing and solid executive core with good industry experience. The 2-door compact SUV that Byton has unveiled was full of the latest tech that we have not seen in any other concept car before.
(Excerpt) Read more at torquenews.com ...
There will probably need to be some kind of big breakthrough in battery technology before I will buy one. Hybrids might be around for a while.
No. At this time hybrids are the furthest tech I would even consider. If you have to tow anything, no, ever.
No. The recent cold weather put ev limitations on full display.
Without the range and quick fill of an ICE vehicle, no electric for me.
Only if they’re planning to make larger ones at the mass-market levels. It’d have to be Challenger-sized (with similar expense/range to gas-powered models) before I’d bite.
Until then, I’ll just be looking for whomever hasn’t dropped the V6 out of their mass-market/non-luxury car lineup.
If you live in one of the major Progressive Ghettos (aka sh!tholes) you may survive with a limited range electric car except in the Winter up North. For those that wear those “anus hats” (sometimes mistakenly called vagina hats) most Progressives will want to wish electric cars on their peasant comrades as long as they can keep their favorite un-compliant non-PC gasoline transportation.
I’m going to need an electric SUV, like a Wrangler, with good ground clearance but won’t turn over.
No. Not because I don't think this is where things may be heading, but because I've always wanted an Italian sports car (or at least a ‘sporty car’), and this might be my next purchase (nothing too extravagant - maybe an Alfa Romeo Giulia or Quadrafoglio). It's not a practical purchase, but I don't spend money on very many things, and live fairly frugally, and this is just one of those things I'd like to experience. Haven't decided yet though.
The recharge time, AND the availabilit of recharge stations are key limiting factors.
You simply CANNOT take the family on a trip beyond battery range, unless you can stop every XXX miles and recharge for 4 hours. (full electric car)
I own a plug-in hybrid, and love it ... but it CAN run on gas when the battery is drained. Getting 50+ MPG overall is REALLY nice.
2015 Ford Fusion Energi.
I’m a gadget guy, so I test drove a Bolt. I have a weekend house 112 miles away, so it’d be fine for that. But, I take a lot of long road trips and the charge time problem just can’t compete with a gasoline fill-up.
Also, people have been fooling themselves into believing that batteries will last similarly long as a gasoline drivetrain. This is simply false. Also, the fact that your range decreases with battery age in conjunction with the slow charge time problem makes it a non-starter for me. When I can buy one used for 7-8k the economics might make sense for certain applications.
Electric cars need to go 1,000km, minimal, before they are really useful beyond commuter cars. As long as they can’t do that, road trips are out and hydrocarbons are the only viable solution.
That requires big changes in how energy can be stored.
I love my electric bike. A company that makes electric bikes, called Sondors, is raising money to sell cheap electric cars. They are shooting for a three-wheeler (regulated like a motor cycle, but doesn’t need a motor cycle license to drive), to be delivered in 2019, for $10,000.
https://electrek.co/2017/12/01/sondors-3-wheel-10000-dollar-ev/
So if there was a nice very low cost option, I might add an extra to my household. I still want a regular car for road trips though.
Nope. I’d like to have an electric for a commuter car around town. But the tech isn’t there yet, nor arecthe economics.
Also given the arrogance of so many enviros, giving up my hydrocarbon belchers will be real tough.
If I were to buy a car today, I would have to think seriously about the possibility. I have a car good enough for trips, and could use an electric for all routine day to day use.The other possibility would be to use CNG for the purpose . . . just for grins. Our gasoline bill just isn’t that big a consideration.
When they make batteries that can still deliver 90% of their initial performance after 15 years of heavy use, I’d consider a hybrid. But if they are going to be like Apple and degrade performance to facilitate sales, I’ll pass.
EVs will not be practical for long-range trips.
ICE vehicles, with gasoline, can be refueled in 5 minutes or less. When EVs have comparable times for “refueling”, they will have become competitive with ICE vehicles. But, to be truly competitive, their prices will have to come down, including the price of the replacement batteries which only have a usable life of about 6-10 years, depending on make and quality.
However, there is a way for EVs to compete with ICE cars when it comes to “refueling” time. Too bad Tesla gave up on the technology some time ago. But the technology would have required that battery swaps/replacements occur in about 5 minutes, or thereabouts. With that kind of technology, batteries would not be owned, and batteries would be available and fully charged just about anywhere one finds gasoline stations right now. So, one would just drive into a “swap” station, get the battery replaced with fully charge one, and VOILA!, back on the road again. BTW, with not having to own the battery, the EV would be much more affordable, just like ICE cars, because the battery of EVs is the most expensive part of the car.
At the North American Auto Show one of the chief executives finally said what they all say behind closed doors. The only reason they are pushing the electrics is to satisfy the government dictates. The people don’t want them they can’t be built and sold at a profit. It’s just the government distorting the market and holding a gun to carmakers heads. If Trump doesn’t roll back Obongo’s last minute standards it’s going to get much, much worse.
Swapping batteries would require a football field size warehouse to store all the batteries, which would make a trip to refuel a trip to the industrial part of town. It’s not practical in that sense, when the average service station takes a third that space and can easily fit in most neighbourhoods.
The pickup in the article sounds like a real loser. Gasoline powered but also a battery with an 80 mile range (if not carrying any load).
Terrific.
/s
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