InsideEVs Podcast episodes

Just watched the Friday, February 25 YouTube live and learned the VW ID.4, EPA metrics came out:

• 34 kWh/100 mi - 2021 VW ID.4 Pro (Small Sport Utility)
• 26 kWh/100 mi - 2022 Tesla Model Y (Small Sport Utility)
• 24 kWh/100 mi - 2021 Tesla Model 3 Std Rng Plus (Midsize Car)

These ID.4 efficiency numbers are unimpressive, -30% = (26 - 34) / 26, compared to a Tesla Model Y.

Bob Wilson

 

Just watched the bonus episode on charging(wasn't able to watch live) I have a question

Is EVGO, or any charging network, working with any other energy companies or convenient stores to install chargers in gas stations? Do not see this as an us vs them. I think it has to be a progression and the energy companies have lots of locations and they are into to supporting the commuter too.

 

Listening to the podcast, EVgo has a clue.

Bob Wilson

 

In Canada Petro Canada has installed chargers at their stations along the Trans Canada highway proving stations from West to East coast. I haven't looked at the map to see how far apart the stations are though.

 

At this point in time, I can drive free (at Petro-Canada) in Canada from coast to coast with my Kona EV. And that is a long, long ways. and these are 350 kW chargers.

 

I've see your posts about driving free with Petro Canada on other threads. Is that specific with your Kona of Hyundai products? I test drove an Ioniq 5 this past Saturday and that put it to the top of my EV shopping list. The Mach-e is in second place now.

 

Is this the best thread for discussion on the weekly podcast? If not, feel free to move my thoughts to the correct location.

I had some thoughts on the range discussion at the beginning of the podcast, about what is the right range?

The answer: It depends. No, seriously, I don't think there is a right answer. I'm a member on the Leaf forum (https://www.mynissanleaf.com/) and there are constant discussions on this, where someone will post their ideal range EV, and then argue tooth and nail that others are wrong. I see this very much along the same lines as how politics have split our nation, and the urban / suburban / rural divides we have in this nation.

I currently have a 2018 Nissan Leaf, which ideally has 150 mile range. True range, with degradation, on the highway is probably about 100 miles, maybe 110. But I don't use it on the highway, my wife and I use it as a third vehicle only around our small city. For that, it works perfect. For that use case it has more range then I'll ever use in a day. We also have a Outback and an F150. Yes, I'm aware that three car household is a perfect example of American excess. Though its likely my son will take the outback as his own in a few years off to college. But I digress...

I'd love to change the truck and the Outback also to EVs, but there simply isn't anything that fits their use cases. I recently posted (on the Leaf forum) an actual trip I JUST did in our Outback, from my house to Mammoth for skiing, and then home in the evening. It is 178 miles each way, and about 6,000 ft NET elevation gain on the way up. My outback required NO refueling on the round trip, which meant I was able to leave at 4 am and be there around 7am to rent my son's gear and get an ideal parking spot. There simply isn't an EV that I can afford that can match this. A tesla model 3 can do the trip, but requires a charging stop on the way home in Bishop. The Ioniq 5 would actually require charging stops in both directions - it can technically make it to the resort, but wouldn't have enough charge to make it back to a charging station. So I would have to leave even earlier, which I don't want to do. There is no charging stations at the lodge. So using an EV in the same way as my Outback would absolutely require compromise, and time. The question is, how much compromise is one willing to accept? That's a different barrier for each person, their finances, and their lifestyle. Lets be honest, most EVs aren't affordable as is - so forget about a 500 mile EV (aka the Lucid).

In other words, for my family, I really would want a 500 mile EV to fully replace (on par with) my Outback. And my truck is even worse - I use the truck to tow a small tent trailer, but I also use it to go hiking & backpacking, and camping all over the west. I took my son camping last year traversing out through the remote areas of CA and then Nevada, ending up at Great Basin NP. Can you get to Great Basin NP in a Tesla? Sure. Can you do it the route I went? No way. There are vast swaths in the West that even a Tesla can't navigate, let alone other EVs. And forget about towing in an EV, for now. Ranges are being cut in half with even a modest trailer. Take a 300 miles range F150 lightning, tow a trailer, and you are at 150. But that's 0-100%. Realistically you won't go above 80% and I don't want to go below 20%, especially if I'm using my f150 to power my camp site. That leaves me with 90 miles of range. That's pitiful. There are parts of Nevada that are several hundred miles from the closest chargers. There are literally parts of Nevada where the closest chargers are further apart than many European countries are large, or states are large in the Eastern side of the US.

So what's the ideal range? It depends on who you are, what you do, and where you live. I constantly see city dwellers telling everyone that EVs already have more range than we need. And those folks are correct - for city dwellers. In fact, for a city dweller, a smaller, shorter range EV is going to be ideal for multiple reasons, such as cost, but also others such as parking. A city dweller's whole household might have one EV, and if they go on vacation, they rent - or they fly and then rent. But you live in a remoter area like I do, where the nearest city is 90 mile drive at 75 mph, and there is barely any charging network.... and the equation drastically changes. And in the West, even if / when charging is plentiful in the future, we have this thing called terrain and wilderness.

I'm not knocking the podcast, I just want people to open up to the fact that everyone's situation is different. Three hundred miles of range is plenty, for many, but for many others even 500 might not be enough. The US is surprisingly empty and vast and rural. We also tend to have 2, 3 vehicles. So it might work for one, but not for the other two. Practically everyone on my street has a trailer of some type. Etc... etc. If we really want EVs to succeed, we can't just tell people what the need, we actually need to meet THEIR needs. That's my two cents.

 

One other area of comment, charging networks, and I'll keep this shorter.

I really think we need charging at work. A lot. Do it with carrots or sticks or whatever works, but each workplace needs to start with 10% of their spaces having at least 3.3 kW chargers, then 25% and later 50%, and so on, of the parking paired with charging.

Why at work? Two reasons. One, it helps solve the issue with people who can't get home charging. If you have a car and use it for work, you have to park at work. And I know right now someone is probably thinking that charging during the day isn't the right way.

Which leads to reason Two, because charging during the day is the future. In CA the PUC is already allowing our utilities to drastically flip around electricity prices. When I first got my Leaf, night power was cheap and daytime power was expensive. Afternoon was the highest cost under my old three tier TOU (Time of Use) plan, but that was fine, as my solar produces through the afternoon, even later in summer. But now SCE has flipped the script on me, and the cheapest power is morning to afternoon, most expensive is evening, and late night is middle priced. The PUC is allowing this because they see solar becoming too plentiful (I think the PUC is way too early making this change, and CA has never had "too much solar", but that is indeed the future...) in CA every new house must have solar, and solar is now the cheapest grid scale power source on the planet. And its always going to be cheaper to use the solar directly than to store and re-use at night. Soaking up the excess solar during the day with EVs is at least part of a sustainable future... at least in areas like mine with tons of sun. How to do that? Lots of charging at work. Whether you pay your workplace, or a charging network, or its a work perk ... lots of work based charging.

 

Yes I agree. There will always be a few people who reject EVS, but for many, I think if you truly meet their needs, they will eventually be won over. I just wanted to caution the one size fits all approach, because it doesn't, and forcing people into a product usually ends badly. Now if we can only get sanity back in the world and drive down costs...

 

We've had a problem with very strong, unskilled EV owners who break the J1772 locking latch. The last time, it jammed the control so the low voltage, resistor 'presence' signal no longer worked. But with a flat screwdriver, I was able to get the control button to move:

The broken latch also disabled the spring but we can gently raise and lower the control. Raised, the low voltage, 'presence' signal works so the car and EVSE can communicate and charge. Lowered, it opens 'presence' so the car and EVSE won't arc the contacts.

I did a 'chat' session with Amazon and today spoke with the 'new face' manager. I explained that the property owner (should have said 'equipment owner') has to initiate the repair action. The key is to work with the local manager to get his powers that be to start ChargePoint fixing the problem.

Bob Wilson

 

Ep.102: F-150 Lightning EPA Range Revealed, Model Y SR+ From Texas and Audi A6 Avant e-tron



@Domenick can you let Martyn and Tom know that SolarEdge has a microgrid interconnection device (not exactly a transfer switch) called the Backup Interface (meter-side version and main panel version). Although Martyn's battery will have 5kW continuous output, his 3.8kW Energy Hub Inverter will be the limit and his EV charging will have to be reduced to under 15A at 250V without having to import from the grid.

As for battery options, there are Gen 3 LG RESU Prime (10kWh and 16kWh NCM) or Solar Edge Energy Bank (10kWh Kokam NCM) with "like-for-like" battery stacking (2 for LG and 3 for SolarEdge per inverter). The battery output can also be increased by stacking or utilizing the Backup Interface "off grid" mode workaround. The premium Energy Hub Inverter (multiple sizes) is required for battery (LG RESU 10H/16H Prime or Energy Bank) + backup interface so Tom might have to upgrade his inverter if he's using the SE7600H-US for his 9kW array.

 

If (when) we go solar, it will be independent of the grid. Too many horror stories about utilities raping early adopters.

Bob Wilson