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Electric vehicles

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Energy Storage

Last Post by JulianC 5 years ago

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Mars

(@editor)

Illustrious Member Admin

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 4549

Topic starter 09/03/2021 11:02 pm [#16]

I have a sustainability question about electric vehicles. How long do the batteries last in these cars, and how much less CO2 are they emitting than diesel or petrol cars?

I know very little about them – on average, how large are their batteries, and how much power is required to charge them from empty to full (approximately)?

Does anyone here have an EV?

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Duncan Mac

(@duncan-mac)

Trusted Member Contributor

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 33

10/03/2021 11:54 am

Huge subject Mars and as usual no simple answer. More and more models are coming to the market and the cost is coming close to party with ICE cars. a typical range at the moment is about 250miles in real terms though the market leader Tesla has model way in excess of 300 miles. The co2 is really a question of where you get your electricity from the car does not emit CO2 but the electricity may have when generated.

The bigger question really is time to recharge. Manufactures are working on system which will fully charge in 20 minutes but this a bit away at the moment and in can only be done at Charging points. I believe home charging is currently limited to &kW draw from the grid and you may need 3 Phase electrify. At the moment, especially in Scotland other than the Central belt, home charging is the only real solution as charging points are quite scarce. Although this improves every year.

The big manufactures are stuck with huge engine plants all over the world and they are pushing Hy-brid so they can extend the life of these plants but if we want a green future this is a con. Its just a wee engine producing electricity from diesel or Petrol.

EV have far fewer moving parts and require less maintenance as a result, which could be a problem for local garages unless they can diversify in some way.

Battery life is a question of thrown at EV supports but all I've seen is that they maintain their effectiveness way beyond expectation and I believe there are companies recycling EV batteries into land battery storage units. Tesla study shows that their batteries are at least 95% after 10 years and these are obviously ten year old batteries. the technology is moving forward at pace. Suffice to say some batteries are outliving the Cars.

Studies have shown that even with the extra initial cost the whole life cost of EVs is less than ICE Cars.

I don't own an EV at this time but its in my short to medium plan.

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Derek M

(@derek-m)

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Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 4425

10/03/2021 3:14 pm

To answer your question Mars, from video's I have watched recently, the main limiting factor on battery life is the number of charge/discharge cycles.

If my memory serves me correctly, the charging rate is limited by the battery electrodes, which get hot during the charging cycle.

Other important factors are the energy density, size and weight, which would limit the range of an EV car.

There is a great deal of development at the moment in the field of battery design.

You may find this of interest:-

https://www.pocket-lint.com/gadgets/news/130380-future-batteries-coming-soon-charge-in-seconds-last-months-and-power-over-the-air

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Kev M

(@kev-m)

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Posts: 1276

10/03/2021 3:57 pm

A typical EV that gets you 200 miles is about 60kWh. I think a really interesting concept is how these huge batteries can be utilised when they're not actually moving.

I had a PHEV so not a 'real' EV (max E range about 25 miles). But even that had a 9.9kWh battery.

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Mars

(@editor)

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Posts: 4549

Topic starter 10/03/2021 5:11 pm

Thanks @kev-m. 200 mile range is really good. Impressive. I've seen that people are now using their EVs as batteries for their electric house demands.

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JulianC

(@julianc)

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Posts: 336

30/03/2021 12:52 pm

I think battery size / range is just another measure / choice when selecting an EV. Just like ICE performance and price. Else we would all be driving around in Ferraris.

We have a Mini Countryman PHEV Cooper SE, which has a battery range of only 20 miles. But given our short journey's, and recharging at home, gets well over 100 mpg.

And I have a Honda e. A pure EV. This is a fantastic, joyful car. Max range is 125 miles, but in winter this drops to 100 miles. But I don't need the range. I determined that 95% of my journeys were under 50 miles. And the Honda can rapid charge to 80% in 1/2hr

Daikin Altherma 3H HT 12kWh ASHP with Mixergy h/w cylinder; 4kW solar PV with Solic 200 electric diverter; Honda e and Volvo EX30 Ultra Twin Performance electric vehicles with Myenergi Zappi mk1 & Ohme chargers

👍

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JulianC

(@julianc)

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Posts: 336

11/05/2021 4:18 pm

Photo of my lovely Honda e

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Phil3822

(@phil3822)

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Posts: 38

11/05/2021 8:23 pm

Nice, where are the wing mirrors? I have an Kia E Niro but that looks nice.

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JulianC

(@julianc)

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Posts: 336

11/05/2021 8:31 pm

Camera mirrors. Work really well. Car full of tech, but like all EVs, v easy to drive. Joyful

How are you finding the E-Niro? I had a deposit on the EV6, but got that back. Ioniq 5 deposit still on - to replace my wife’s Mini Countyman PHEV

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Mars

(@editor)

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Topic starter 11/05/2021 9:07 pm

We are going to consider an EV in the months ahead, but we need to ditch the 4x4 we have as it's simply not practical for our lifestyle. I'm not a huge car guy, and wanted to know if there are any decent EV pick up trucks. Any suggestions?

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JulianC

(@julianc)

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Posts: 336

11/05/2021 9:10 pm

I’m not sure there are yet - many due in America, not sure they are coming to UK.

What about an electric van? Or the MG6 is an electric estate car, for a very reasonable price from MG

👍

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Phil3822

(@phil3822)

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Posts: 38

11/05/2021 9:29 pm

The E Niro is nice indeed, crammed with all the tech. Reasonable size and comfortable. Boot not great size but adequate. Performance very effective and fun. Handles well for an SUV. Comfortable average 250 miles.
Pick up trucks are on the way, the Isuzu has a nice one due out but none are cheap. My Niro was £34k. Happy enough with that.

👍

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