Hope the link works.
Have seen some posts about getting an EV as a rental car, and thought this might be of interest, especially for those who do not have an EV and might end up with one as a rental.
Highlights:
Most cars do not reach their 'rated' range under 'cold' or 'mild' conditions.
Tesla range is the most overstated
-8 Celsius is cold?
As a five year owner of an EV, there are a whole bunch other factors than just temperature affecting battery life, Biggest factor is how you drive. Your can go much further at 50 mph than at 70 mph on the freeway. I can go almost forever on city streets because of regenerative braking. My experience with Tesla is that their forecast driving range in the vehicle is very accurate.
The "rated" range is more inline with the gov't mileage for gasoline engines. Estimate at best and general more related to marketing.
Yes Allan, minus eight degrees is cold. Go out in it wearing shorts and a T-shirt for 30 minutes and tell me if it's cold or not.. The basic problem is the that current generation of batteries are basically crap.
1) They lose up to 40% of their capacity when it gets really cold.
2) They lose 10 - 20% of their capacity when it gets really hot. You will lose a lot more mileage if you are in someplace like Phoenix and turn on the A/C to avoid dying in a solar powered oven where temperatures quickly get to well over 120 deg. F.
3) Every time you fast charge one of them, you lose an increment of battery life.
4) There already are some ferry companies in Europe that will not carry EV's and hybrids due to the fire hazard.
Neat product huh. Electric cars need to happen but solid state batteries and a vastly improved charging infrastructure must happen first.
You all might be interested in this Washington Post article about the cost of gas vs. electricity with regards to regular cars vs. EVs.
Is it cheaper to refuel your EV battery or gas tank? We did the math in all 50 states. (no paywall)
Yes Allan, minus eight degrees is cold. Go out in it wearing shorts
and a T-shirt for 30 minutes and tell me if it's cold or not.. The
basic problem is the that current generation of batteries are
basically crap.
I don't even bother zipping up my jacket at -8 and I do wear shorts at that temperature if I'm just going back and forth to the gym; no use bundling up to walk through a parking lot. But to stay on track, I have to wonder if anyone in their right mind would rent an EV for a long distance winter trip in a cold climate if -8 is when the vehicles see drastic reductions in efficiency. Most highways I drive on are 110kph (68mph). A lot of work needs to be done before an EV will be a safe choice in situations other than urban driving, especially if you're in unfamiliar territory.
There already are some ferry companies in Europe that will not carry EV's and hybrids due to the fire hazard.
The P&O Pioneer (and its soon to enter service sister ship) all electric ferry between Dover, England and Calais, France has many EV chargers on the car deck in 3 different flavours, so clearly they aren't concerned. Not only to have the EVs on board but also to charge them. The ship has no propellers or rudders but has 4 360 degree individually turnable jet pods (1 at each corner) so no need for bow thrusters, propellers or rudders. It is designed to recharge during dock time at either end but because neither Dover nor Calais has the required infrastructure yet uses a diesel engine to charge the ship's batteries for the moment. When they can plug in at both sides they will remove the diesel engine and put in more batteries for a faster turnaround.
The ships I was on this week, Stena Britannica and Stena Hollandica, which go between Hook of Holland, Netherlands and Harwich, England, have a spot on the reservation to indicate type of fuel - petrol/diesel/full EV/Hybrid - but they are by no means excluded.
Irv, which ferry companies ban them?
Depends on where you're traveling. There was a recent story about a family in the desert southwest who ran out of electricity due to several issues. One is the range was not accurate; next was difficulty finding charging stations in more rural areas, and when they did find one it was often either not in service or there was a long line of cars waiting for a charge.
No, thank you. When charging stations and time to charge are as convenient as gas stations, fine, but that is not the reality now. Also, yes, the range is under ideal circumstances.
If you're traveling close to urban and built-up areas EV is probably fine.
My Sonata hybrid gets almost 700 miles on a tank of gas in any conditions. When EV's are as good I'll look into it.
