Featured Threads Archive
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Volvo outselling Tesla Semi truck by a mile
https://insideevs.com/news/758587/volvo-trucks-sales-tesla-semi/
I hope the Tesla semi isn't be coming like the Toyota fuel cell car, where they promise tens of thousands to be on the road really quickly and then it becomes a goose egg.
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Seems Draining your Lithium Ion Battery is really bad
Scientists make surprising finding that all electric vehicle drivers should hear: 'Has been largely overlooked until now'
South Korean scientists decided to study the process of charge depletion in batteries. Surprising them were the effects of running your battery down to near depletion and found damage to the cathode. The damage is caused by oxygen combining to lithium, forming lithium oxide, at around 3 volts. This then causes the cell to swell when interacting with the electrolyte. This effect seems to be exacerbated in nickel enriched lithium batteries, like NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) or NCA (Nickel Cobalt Aluminum) more so than others, like LMO (Lithium Manganese Oxide) or LFP (LiFePO4 - Lithium iron phosphate).
For those who want details, like me or @bwilson4web here’s the original study:... -
History: annual EV sales
What is that tune? FOUND IT!
Sorcerer's Apprentice - Fantasia | Disney Video
YouTube version:
Bob Wilson -
Federal EV fees
A proposal in the big bill is to start annual federal fees on cars. $200 for EVs, $100 for hybrids, and $20 on all others. The last won't start until 2031, but the rest are immediate.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/04/29/congress/house-transportation-reconciliation-text-gas-tax-00315222
Previous thread on this topic was bloated, so started new.
Death to EV bills | PriusChat -
Automated Vehicle Framework (self driving)
Source: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-unveils-new-automated-vehicle-framework
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy today unveiled the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) new Automated Vehicle (AV) Framework as part of his transportation innovation agenda. The new framework will unleash American ingenuity, maintain key safety standards, and prevent a harmful patchwork of state laws and regulations.
“This Administration understands that we’re in a race with China to out-innovate, and the stakes couldn’t be higher,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy. “As part of DOT's innovation agenda, our new framework will slash red tape and move us closer to a single national standard that spurs innovation and prioritizes safety.”
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Structural batteries; Prius Gen 7?
I'm speculating that the challenge of fitting a battery of sufficient capacity inside a Prius will eventually be met with structural batteries:
Battery improvements have been incremental and small, therefore I think it will be a long time before we see batteries with a similar energy density equivalent to combustible fuels. -
BYD battery and Super E-Power: 1 MW EV charger
Source:
- pulse width modulated heating
- 1 MW peak charging rate
- refrigerant cooling
Bob Wilson -
Buffet buys Tesla for $1T
Wow!
Who saw this coming?
Legendary investor Warren Buffett has announced that Berkshire Hathaway will acquire Tesla for a staggering $1 trillion in cash. The 94-year-old “Oracle of Omaha,” long known for his disinterest in tech stocks and electric vehicles, reportedly contacted Elon Musk directly to make the unprecedented offer.
Full details here:
Warren Buffett Acquires Elon Musk's Tesla for $1 Trillion in Cash | GOBankingRates
Mike -
VW motor review
Source:
My first car was a 1966 VW MicroBus with a 1500 cc, air cooled engine and 6 V battery. Sad to say, the engine overheated when I was over seas and I got to rebuild it in a week. Nothing like taking a broken engine apart, fixing it, and putting it back together again to make you appreciate VW when they do the job right. That is what Munro found with the VW motor.
This VW motor is optimized for power in a small package with strong torque and low noise. It has a very efficient drive train and other than a few 'opps' (my MicroBus also had some,) clearly superior design where it counts. I don't know if they make them in Chattanooga but if not, I won't have to worry about getting one . . . unless some arrived before we taxed ourselves out of the VW market.
My recent 1,140 mi trip in a 2017 BMW i3-REx has demonstrated that absence of Full Self Driving is not a hard requirement. The cost mile of the 2017 BMW i3-REx compares equal to my 2019... -
Prius Prime Traction Battery
Source:
Professor Kelly and Munro do similar things, take cars apart. Munto to calculate the cost of parts and labor to make a car. Kelly does it to teach mechanics how to take it apart and it back in working order.
This 2024 traction battery is much improved over the one in my former, 2017 Prius Prime. Given what I've learned from Munro, it could be designed better but there have been much worse.
- BEST
- Direct thermal management instead of air flow
- Conformal underbody part
- Direct refrigerant for cell cooling
- COULD BE BETTER
- Colocate all possible power electronics with the battery
- Even number of modules so all power terminals on one end
- Cooling from a single spot leads to thermal gradients inside the cells
- Reduce parts count
- BEST
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Munro and new Model Y
Source:
Both of my cars were bought after a Munro review like this and I'm thinking about replacing the 2017 BMW i3-REx. It is still doing what I want and there are more things to learn about the newest Model Y but I had found a 2022 Model Y for what had been a good price. I will take a look at it next week.
This morning, I got a note from the seller and I responded:
Bob Wilson -
New Corolla in 2026 with the revolutionary super-lean-burn engine, possibly 70+ mpg, PHEV version
The new Corolla is arriving as early as in 2026, and it will have the revolutionary Toyota super-lean-burn engine, which will increase the thermal efficiency to near 50%. It could have an EPA fuel economy of as high as 70+ mpg. There will also be a PHEV version. We will see if TSS will be upgraded to 4.0 as well.
2027 Toyota Corolla could launch next year with a plug-in hybrid option | Carscoops -
2026 Toyota CH-R+ EV (and refreshed bZ4X)
Articles:
- World debut of the all-new battery electric Toyota C-HR+
- https://www.motortrend.com/news/2026-toyota-c-hr-plus-ev-first-look-review/
- Toyota gets serious about EVs with new all-electric C-HR+ | Electrifying.com
- https://www.roadandtrack.com/photos/g64163068/new-electric-vehicles-toyota-and-lexus-revealed-europe/
- Toyota debuts two all-new EVs, facelifted BZ4X -...
- World debut of the all-new battery electric Toyota C-HR+
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You are Worrying about the Wrong EV Battery
InsideEVs has an article I know many people will agree with.
https://insideevs.com/news/752720/ev-12-volt-battery-problems/
The 12V battery has shown to be a big issue with Hyundai Ionic 5, Kia EV6, Rivian R1S, and Rivian R1T. The article suggests it may be how engineers are not using the DC-to-DC converter correctly or even fault the DC-to-DC converter itself. I did a quick search on this forum and got 100 posts with 12V battery dead.
I can relate with past experience. All my past Prius suffered from dead 12V batteries within 2 or 3 years, my 2017 Prius Prime's 12V died within the 1st year from a shorted cell. The 12V in my Lexus NX 300h took 5 years before it died but while the article opines it may be the DC-DC converter, I have to disagree, somewhat. It's not the battery location either. The 12V batteries in my 2nd gen Prius and 1st gen Prius Plugin were in the rear, the Prius Prime's was located in... -
Finally a pickup truck I might buy
Source:
It is PHEV like my 2017 BMW i3-REx only much bigger and well designed. I could see me buying one with a camper in the bed.
The specs:
Bob Wilson
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