World’s first ‘superfast’ battery offers 400km range from 10 mins charge::Tesla, Toyota and VW supplier CATL says production will begin in 2023

  • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I own exactly one car. If it can’t do everything I need a car to do, it isn’t the right car for me. Me, like many others, don’t buy a car for the 98% of drives, we buy it for the 2% of drives that need to happen.

    Edit: Given there isn’t a train that goes the 2% of places, should I buy one car for 98% of drives and a completely different car for 2% of drives? That hardly seems like a good solution.

    • vithigar@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      I’m with you 100%. The people downvoting you must live in some idealized fantasy land where public transit is effective and rental cars are easily available and affordable.

      Like you, I live in the real world, where public transit is a mess, the rental market is completely overwhelmed, and charging infrastructure is spotty at best. So I went with a plug-in hybrid vehicle when I needed something new after my 11 year old Lancer got rear ended and written off by the insurance company. Enough electric range for all of my daily driving, but also a gas tank for when I need to exercise that 2% of my driving routine and go farther afield.

      It’s been over 500km since I last filled the tank and so far it’s still full.

      • mriguy@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Let me get this out of the way - this is my experience, other people may have very different needs and uses. I’m not saying my needs are your needs, or that your needs are invalid. I have a driveway and we were able to install a charger at our house. I don’t tow trailers full of lumber uphill all day. YMMV.

        Getting an EV really opened my eyes to how many wrong assumptions I had about how much I drive and what the pain points would be. I worried a lot that range would be an issue - we got a Bolt, which has a nominal 259 mile range (on the low side these days), it’s fast charging isn’t super fast, and we live in New England, and park outside, so the battery was cold for the first several months we had the car, but we figured we’d adapt. As it turns out, so far there really haven’t been any pain points, and adaptation has been minimal.

        In the winter on very cold days, when we’re running the heater, our realistic range is about 160 miles on a charge. But it turns out, I don’t drive anywhere near that far on a typical day. It’s more like 30-40 miles a day, sometimes a hundred, which is fine. The charger tops up the car in an hour or two, and could charge it all the way from empty overnight easily. Range is a funny thing - the thought of going to a gas station every 150 miles is offputting, but in reality, it’s the opposite - every morning I have maximum range, and NEVER have to go to the gas station, or a fast charger, which is a benefit I hadn’t considered. Now in the summer the range is substantially over 300 miles, and AC uses WAY less power than the heater, so it’s even less of an issue. In fact, I only charge the car to 80% every day to maximize battery life now because it’s fine (I do charge all the way prior to long trips).

        It also turns out we take fewer long trips than I thought (4 in the 7 months we’ve had the car, 2 in the dead of winter). There was a train that went somewhere near one of the 4 locations, at exorbitant cost. The first, 2 weeks after we got the car, was a little stressful as I learned how to find and use fast chargers, but it really wasn’t a big deal. Especially when I figured out how to warm up the battery first, and not to bother filling up, just charging in the fast part of the curve, and parking at level 2 chargers when possible. On our overnight trips, to place with no level 2 chargers, even the super slow 110v charging was enough to keep us from having to worry about charge.

        So the downsides turned out to not really matter (to me), and the plus sides (full range every morning, essentially silent, no smell, and by far the best performance of any car I’ve ever had) are pretty sweet.

        That said, if I got second car, I’d consider a plugin hybrid - that does seem to take care of most of the 2% cases. The knock on them is that they have pretty low electric range (like 30 miles or so) but it turns out that would be fine the vast majority of the time. I’d just have to remember to get the engine to start once in a while.

        • vithigar@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          I’d just have to remember to get the engine to start once in a while.

          I can’t speak authoritatively about every PHEV, but the one I have at least takes care of that for you and will run the engine at least once every three months or so if your regular driving habits are such that you manage to stay all electric all the time.

          That said, if your driving patterns are such that you can go 3+ months on the 40 mile EV range without ever dipping into the gas tank maybe you don’t need a PHEV.

      • Kerfuffle@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        The people downvoting you must live in some idealized fantasy land where

        I’d guess it’s probably because of the “Me, like many others, don’t buy a car for the 98% of drives, we buy it for the 2%” part which just makes no sense. Now, not being able to handle the 2% might justify the car not being the correct car for that person but realistically, people primarily buy a car for what they’re going to use it for the majority of the time.

    • jmp242@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      Presumably you would rent a special vehicle for the 2% of drives. Of course that’s still inconvenient, and I don’t know where the crossover for others is.

      For an individual there are a lot of factors, and I don’t know all of them because I have never owned an EV or even a Hybrid.

      That said, if I could get rid of stopping at gas stations and oil changes, and have it cost less per mile, those are all plusses for me. But I still weigh it against the still much higher purchase price, and need for electrical work that would probably cost a lot, or 110v charging which would be slower than I’d like.

      I also don’t really want to have a “worse fit to me” next car just to get an EV. I think EVs keep getting closer, but I am still 50/50 if they’ll be there when I’ll need a new car in 5 years.

      • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I hear ya. I’m leaning toward a plug-in hybrid for the car in a few years. Lets me get cheap fillups 98% of the time and still covers the 2%. The gas engine shouldn’t need too much maintenance if it isn’t getting used much. Though, I suppose in a few years when that time comes, I’ll have to see if anything changed.

    • ∟⊔⊤∦∣≶@lemmy.nz
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      1 year ago

      Same. I don’t even want to think about the difficulties in transporting 5 mountain bikes without a car, and then hiring a car at the destination that also has a big enough bike rack.