Would you have an electric car if you had the money for a new car and were in the market for one?

[Pirahna]

Harry seems to like the new Renault 5.

[Dodgy69]

I read somewhere that honda Ebike's are working with some battery company on the battery swap idea. On trail somewhere. I presume they gave up the swap idea with cars.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Harry seems to like the new Renault 5.

I really like these, i was all set to get Mrs D one. She doesn't want a new car she actually has to take care or / worry about though. But she does like it.

There are a few trucks which do the swap idea now.

The trouble with cars and bikes is that the battery is such an integrated part of the vehicle. Not just the physical shape of it, but more and more with the cooling systems and electronics. Its pretty hard to standardise multiple high and low voltage connectors, coolant loops etc AND gaurantee the very high level of "I'm sure its plugged in" required.

OEMs are also racing to have the best batteries because range and cost is such a selling point ATM, so they don't want to standardise - they all want to be the best.

Trucks on the other hand can cope with just a big heavy rectangular box. Plus it's way easier to standardise stuff and maybe make it a bit ugly in commercial applications where there are no emotions involved.

[Horse]

I read somewhere that honda Ebike's are working with some battery company on the battery swap idea. On trail somewhere. I presume they gave up the swap idea with cars.

Several scooter (sit on, not standing) manufacturers are liaising on swappable batteries.

@The Spin Doctor have you covered this on Elevenses?

[Horse]

There are a few trucks which do the swap idea now.

The trouble with cars and bikes is that the battery is such an integrated part of the vehicle. Not just the physical shape of it, but more and more with the cooling systems and electronics. Its pretty hard to standardise multiple high and low voltage connectors, coolant loops etc AND gaurantee the very high level of "I'm sure its plugged in" required.

Trucks on the other hand can cope with just a big heavy rectangular box. Plus it's way easier to standardise stuff and maybe make it a bit ugly in commercial applications where there are no emotions involved.

An aside

Company I worked for had a whizzo idea: use swappable hard drives so that staff (in places like the BBC or Sky News) working shifts around the clock could use any PC in the building without any network issues.

Except that connectors were typically rated for 1000 insertions. Three staff a day ... connectors potentially failing within a year, on very powerful, but expensive, PCs.

[Rockburner]

I read somewhere that honda Ebike's are working with some battery company on the battery swap idea. On trail somewhere. I presume they gave up the swap idea with cars.

Several scooter (sit on, not standing) manufacturers are liaising on swappable batteries.

@The Spin Doctor have you covered this on Elevenses?

IIRC there's a few cities in China that have this infrastructure all up and running already (presumably in trial?)

[Taipan]

There are a few trucks which do the swap idea now.

The trouble with cars and bikes is that the battery is such an integrated part of the vehicle. Not just the physical shape of it, but more and more with the cooling systems and electronics. Its pretty hard to standardise multiple high and low voltage connectors, coolant loops etc AND gaurantee the very high level of "I'm sure its plugged in" required.

Trucks on the other hand can cope with just a big heavy rectangular box. Plus it's way easier to standardise stuff and maybe make it a bit ugly in commercial applications where there are no emotions involved.

An aside

Company I worked for had a whizzo idea: use swappable hard drives so that staff (in places like the BBC or Sky News) working shifts around the clock could use any PC in the building without any network issues.

Except that connectors were typically rated for 1000 insertions. Three staff a day ... connectors potentially failing within a year, on very powerful, but expensive, PCs.

Isn't that what roaming profiles are for?

[Taipan]

Harry seems to like the new Renault 5.

I really like these, i was all set to get Mrs D one. She doesn't want a new car she actually has to take care or / worry about though. But she does like it.

There are a few trucks which do the swap idea now.

The trouble with cars and bikes is that the battery is such an integrated part of the vehicle. Not just the physical shape of it, but more and more with the cooling systems and electronics. Its pretty hard to standardise multiple high and low voltage connectors, coolant loops etc AND gaurantee the very high level of "I'm sure its plugged in" required.

OEMs are also racing to have the best batteries because range and cost is such a selling point ATM, so they don't want to standardise - they all want to be the best.

Trucks on the other hand can cope with just a big heavy rectangular box. Plus it's way easier to standardise stuff and maybe make it a bit ugly in commercial applications where there are no emotions involved.

Are the charging connectors standardised? Watching the video of guy with the Tesla truck in the uk it seemed he struggled to find the right connector to fit the charging station? So I wondered if there was fast and slow charger adaptor?

[Dodgy69]

We charge various vehicles at work. Leafs are slow charge only, so need home or work charging facility imo.

Tesla, Polestar and most others have fast charge, so doable on the move. My biggest concern would be availability of working chargers up and down the country.

A 45 min fast charge will get you plenty more miles in fairness.

[Mr. Dazzle]

A 45 min fast charge will get you plenty more miles in fairness.

In the new generation of stuff which is hitting the market now a 45 min fast charge will fill you up twice over

Are the charging connectors standardised? Watching the video of guy with the Tesla truck in the uk it seemed he struggled to find the right connector to fit the charging station? So I wondered if there was fast and slow charger adaptor?

They're standardised within regions (like DVDs!).

There's still a bit of a Betamax/VHS thing going on to continue the analogy, but it's generally settled down now. Here in the UK CCS Type 2 is the one you see nearly everywhere. Every EV I've seen in this country has the one on the bottom right, so it can accept various kinds of AC and DC.

[Horse]

An aside

Company I worked for had a whizzo idea: use swappable hard drives so that staff (in places like the BBC or Sky News) working shifts around the clock could use any PC in the building without any network issues.

Except that connectors were typically rated for 1000 insertions. Three staff a day ... connectors potentially failing within a year, on very powerful, but expensive, PCs.

Isn't that what roaming profiles are for?

Might be now, this was 20+ years ago, editing HD video.

I've made it sound as if they didn't know what they were doing, but actually the company was responsible for many innovations which changed the TV, film and print industries.

[Dodgy69]

Going by the pic, top right is slow charge only and bottom right allows for fast charge.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Top 'circle' one is AC and low power only, it's what you use at home and older/smaller public charging points.

Bottom 'tow pins' one is DC and anything up to 350kW at present (that's what the newest generation of cars can do, so you're looking at adding nearly 20 miles for every minute plugged in). "They" are already working on putting 600kW through that architecture.

You only plug one in at a time, but in practice chargers often have both on the same connector and one them is just plastic 'blanks' inside the plug - sorta like the plastic earth pin on some appliances. The circle one also contains the comms lines for the charger<->car interface AFAIK though.

Lots of cars have twin 'filler caps' so you only uncover the socket you want to use, but as above many charging points have a plug which goes into both and just ignores one. Or it's like this Mini, where you can uncover just the AC one for home use, but you have to uncover both to plug in the super high power DC.

[ZRX61]

A 45 min fast charge will get you plenty more miles in fairness.

If my truck could take the amount of diesel I could pump in 45 minutes, I could drive to the East coast. Just checked the map, if I left home with a full tank, I'd have to stop for fuel three more times to be East of Atlanta.

[ZRX61]

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – The lithium-ion batteries in a 2025 Tesla Model Y complicated first responders’ efforts to save a person involved in a fiery electrical vehicle crash, officials in Torrance announced Wednesday.

The single-vehicle collision, according to a news release from the Torrance Police Department, occurred Jan. 28 at around 10:15 p.m. at the intersection of Madrona Avenue and Plaza Del Amo.

At the scene, police found the Tesla fully engulfed in flames after the motorist, traveling southbound on Madrona Avenue, for unknown reasons swerved to the right and collided with a traffic signal pole.

“Officers made valiant efforts to gain access to the vehicle,” the release noted. “However, due to the intensity of the flames and heat, they were unable to rescue the occupant.”

Crews with the Torrance Fire Department also responded to the scene and attempted to extinguish the blaze.

“Their efforts were complicated by challenges associated with the vehicle’s lithium-ion batteries,” police said.

[Count Steer]

Single vehicle collision? Car goes boom? Flames? V topical.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c4gwpkj21pzo

[Horse]

Single vehicle collision? Car goes boom? Flames? V topical.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c4gwpkj21pzo

No need to crash for it to risk fire, just drive

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-64471386

Still, wait until all the battery haters start asking for petrol-powered phones

[Count Steer]

Single vehicle collision? Car goes boom? Flames? V topical.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c4gwpkj21pzo

No need to crash for it to risk fire, just drive

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-64471386

Still, wait until all the battery haters start asking for petrol-powered phones

[The Spin Doctor]

@The Spin Doctor have you covered this on Elevenses?

Regularly Taiwan has a significant battery swap network and has had for some years. Stations are going in, in Japan. And there's a trial going ahead in Stockholm.

Honda are planning a big e-bike factory in India to open in 2028.

[Count Steer]

Austin 7 Arrow anyone? Some chap got the rights to the Austin name 10 years ago (for £170!) and is making electric ones (for £31k!).

Skinny tyres, 60mph, 100 mile range, no roof but what a great toy.

I'd have one.


https://theconversation.com/the-austin- ... 20industry