General > General Technical Chat

DeLorean DMC-12 w/ 1200 miles

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angrybird:

--- Quote from: edy on March 05, 2020, 09:50:57 pm ---
--- Quote from: angrybird on March 05, 2020, 09:29:16 pm ---You can't drive to the grandparents on the other side of the state...  You can't do most of the things that I do with my cars...  Until this changes, these battery powered cars are good for the metro areas only!

--- End quote ---

Surely there must be a way to throw a diesel-powered generator on the bed of that Cybertruck and use it to range-extend the vehicle. I have no idea what the efficiency of that would be but perhaps someone with gas-generator experience knows how much charging can be done per volume of fuel, and what size generator you would need to keep up with the current drawn from the battery. In a pinch, you would never be out of juice... no more range anxiety. And when you can charge up from the grid you do that.

I'm guessing running the Tesla (or DeLorean) on the fuel-powered electric generator wouldn't be as efficient as directly driving a car on fuel. Then again, you would be charging up batteries with it so whether you are moving or standing still, that generator will always be going towards charging you up which can allow you to use that energy later (again assuming you pick a generator with an output greater than you are consuming as you drive the vehicle).

Any back-of-the-envelope calculations by someone who knows the output of a generator and the fuel used per kWh of electricity produced? Apparently Tesla batteries have somewhere between 60-100 kWh capacity. I'm looking at a 2200 Watt generator on Amazon and it says something like this:

Truepower technology provides clean, stable power ideal for sensitive electronics, tools and appliances while the 1.2 gallon fuel tank allows 10.75 hours of run time at 25-Percent load.

So does that mean 25% load on a 2200 W generator is 550 W? So it could deliver 550W for 10.75 h on a 1.2 gallon fuel tank? How does this translate to trying to charge a Tesla? Apparently it can take up to 4 full days to charge up a Tesla fully on 120V outlet.

--- End quote ---

The Tesla 120V outlet assumes a 20A outlet, so you can get up to 2400W RMS out of the circuit.  Running a generator that long would take the equivalent of a couple tanks of fuel for a normal car.... It's just never going to be a workable solution.  This is why EV's will never be a viable option for a majority of the USA due to how rural it is, but it is a great solution for the cities.  I had been hoping that we would see a truly rugged offroad vehicle with a hybrid drivetrain, but unfortunately the EPA regulations have driven the automotive industry down the drain and all incentive for true innovation is gone - It's all regulatory compliance nowadays.  This is why they are now considering pushing everything to a subscription based model (i.e. you no longer own your car) in order to preserve profitability and reduce liability because they can control the lifespan of each vehicle and force it to be returned immediately when a regulatory violation is discovered.  It's a shame.

james_s:
This has been hashed out lendlessly already. Electric cars are commuter vehicles primarily, there are vast numbers of people who use a car to commute to and from the office and drive around town. For longer trips they either use a second car which most families in the USA have already, or they rent something just like I rent a truck once or twice a year when I need to move something big. If you don't commute or don't have a place to park and plug in at night then an EV is not for you. Likewise if you are a tradesman with a pile of tools and materials you need to haul to jobsites a compact sedan or hatchback s not suitable, that doesn't mean they are not suitable for many other people or that it wouldn't make sense to own one in addition to your work truck.

angrybird:
Also not good if you need a vehicle to drive more than X miles in Y time (due to the charge time) whether Y be 1 day or 3 days; A no0go if you have any concern about being able to drive anywhere or getting stranded anywhere if the power goes out due to storms, etc;  The list goes on.  EV's use case is in large metropolitan areas, where their use is restricted within those areas, and those areas have power generation abilities to charge them no matter what.  Hybrids are the way to go for the USA but unfortunately the EV dementia continues!

james_s:
Hybrids and EVs are not mutually exclusive.

Fun fact, I once got stranded at home with my conventional gasoline powered car because a freak storm knocked down multiple high tension transmission lines into the region. None of the gas stations in town had power to operate the gas pumps so there were no stations within range of the fuel I had in the tank who could sell me fuel. Thankfully I had nowhere to go.

Millions upon millions of people commute to a job less than 30 miles a day and live in multiple car households, these are the people at whom electric cars are targeted and there is still a HUGE untapped market. Nobody with any sense is saying that EVs will replace all cars. Like pickup trucks they are vehicles built for a specific purpose, they're not a one size fits all replacement. If an EV won't meet your own needs you simply don't buy one, easy as that. If it meets the needs of someone else then what's the problem?

NiHaoMike:

--- Quote from: james_s on March 06, 2020, 02:25:44 am ---Fun fact, I once got stranded at home with my conventional gasoline powered car because a freak storm knocked down multiple high tension transmission lines into the region. None of the gas stations in town had power to operate the gas pumps so there were no stations within range of the fuel I had in the tank who could sell me fuel. Thankfully I had nowhere to go.

--- End quote ---
And that's why a plug in hybrid is the best for those who want to be prepared.

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