Tesla Cybertuck - Can we take another thread?

pianotuna wrote:

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:
17% of the US population lives in either apartments or condos, making the whole "charge at home" thing a little tougher.

So, who will pay for an appropriate number of charging stations at these locations when (and if) the demand for EV's skyrockets?

If they live north of 43 they may have electric services already. We have to be able to plug in block heaters.

If you're speaking of the 43rd parallel, not a lot of the US population currently lives north of it, and I really doubt that we'll ever see a strong migration to that area :C

Also, block heaters have been around a long, long time, and aren't they just 110 or 120v? (asked the Florida boy).

BobsYourUncle wrote:
Let's suppose ICE vehicles are gone and it's all EV.
I'm sure we have all been in a situation where there is a major issue on the road, a bad wreck, a weather problem, whatever. The highway is closed for many hours while they address the situation, perhaps even overnight or longer. And its January. You and everyone else is sitting there trying to stay warm and you have a 3 mile lineup of EVs with dead batteries....
How good are the heaters in an EV, and how much power do they draw?
How do you rescue hundreds of motorists and clear a highway full of dead battery vehicles?

Hi Bob,

They use heat pumps. I suspect the EV would fare far better than the ICE in such a context. Heat seaters are resistance based but draw little energy. Mine draw about 50 watts.

It would be interesting to know how B.C. solved the issues of all the ice cars that were trapped by mud slides before and behind them.

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:
17% of the US population lives in either apartments or condos, making the whole "charge at home" thing a little tougher.

So, who will pay for an appropriate number of charging stations at these locations when (and if) the demand for EV's skyrockets?

If they live north of 43 they may have electric services already. We have to be able to plug in block heaters.

BobsYourUncle wrote:
I read a thought provoking jab at EVs this morning, something I never considered. Not trying to stir anything up, but out of lack of knowledge, it makes me wonder.

Let's suppose ICE vehicles are gone and it's all EV.
I'm sure we have all been in a situation where there is a major issue on the road, a bad wreck, a weather problem, whatever. The highway is closed for many hours while they address the situation, perhaps even overnight or longer. And its January. You and everyone else is sitting there trying to stay warm and you have a 3 mile lineup of EVs with dead batteries....
How good are the heaters in an EV, and how much power do they draw?
How do you rescue hundreds of motorists and clear a highway full of dead battery vehicles?

Maybe the solution is simple and I don't see it...

More likely to run out of fuel idling your ICE vehicle.

With an EV the idle draw to run the computer is nothing in comparison. EV might even be more comfortable in extreme conditions as the systems do not rely on a minimum rpm for cooling or minimum engine energy for heat.

Either way there will always be someone very low on fuel or out with a nearly depleted battery. Battery might be more likely to be full due to top off daily vs weekly when the tank is low.

EV will not create any CO issues.

The one photo I have seen of the cybertruck is a real ugly PO* and doesn't even look like a truck. I will gladly pass.

Reisender wrote:

BobsYourUncle wrote:
I read a thought provoking jab at EVs this morning, something I never considered. Not trying to stir anything up, but out of lack of knowledge, it makes me wonder.

Let's suppose ICE vehicles are gone and it's all EV.
I'm sure we have all been in a situation where there is a major issue on the road, a bad wreck, a weather problem, whatever. The highway is closed for many hours while they address the situation, perhaps even overnight or longer. And its January. You and everyone else is sitting there trying to stay warm and you have a 3 mile lineup of EVs with dead batteries....
How good are the heaters in an EV, and how much power do they draw?
How do you rescue hundreds of motorists and clear a highway full of dead battery vehicles?

Maybe the solution is simple and I don't see it...

In that kind of situation an EV is a pretty good place to be. AN EV heater keeping a car warm draws less than a KW. A typical EV has a 60 to 100 kWh battery. You could sit there warm and cosy for days with no problem. The upcoming half ton EV’s have batteries between 140 to 200 kWh. You could probably stay warm and comfortable for a week in those. Same in summer with AC. Doesn’t take much to keep a warm car warm or a cool car cool.

Agree with Reisander on this one- A pickup with a 25 gallon tank uses about 1/4 gallon per hour idling and an EV with a 100 kwh battery will draw about 1 kw to keep the car warm. Either way, with a full tank or battery you have heat for 100 hours. Takes a whole lot more heat energy to move a car down the road than it does to heat it. It's easier to use a gas can to get an empty ICE vehicle going than getting a dead EV going, but they tell car drivers to be mindful of their fuel level before heading over a pass. EV drivers will need to do the same. But a 4-6 hour pass closure should not be an issue.

Reisender wrote:

BobsYourUncle wrote:
I read a thought provoking jab at EVs this morning, something I never considered. Not trying to stir anything up, but out of lack of knowledge, it makes me wonder.

Let's suppose ICE vehicles are gone and it's all EV.
I'm sure we have all been in a situation where there is a major issue on the road, a bad wreck, a weather problem, whatever. The highway is closed for many hours while they address the situation, perhaps even overnight or longer. And its January. You and everyone else is sitting there trying to stay warm and you have a 3 mile lineup of EVs with dead batteries....
How good are the heaters in an EV, and how much power do they draw?
How do you rescue hundreds of motorists and clear a highway full of dead battery vehicles?

Maybe the solution is simple and I don't see it...

In that kind of situation an EV is a pretty good place to be. AN EV heater keeping a car warm draws less than a KW. A typical EV has a 60 to 100 kWh battery. You could sit there warm and cosy for days with no problem. The upcoming half ton EV’s have batteries between 140 to 200 kWh. You could probably stay warm and comfortable for a week in those. Same in summer with AC. Doesn’t take much to keep a warm car warm or a cool car cool.

Of course you're presupposing the car is fully charged, and I would predict that not everyone will be traveling with completely charged batteries. :)

We doing the whole thing backwards, instead of converting the cars, we should build Fischer-Tropsch plants to covert excess solar/wind to make liquid fuels that can be carbon neutral if atmospheric carbon dioxide is used as the carbon source. Germany ran WWII on these fuels and South Africa defied sanctions and still uses the process today. Granted these used coal for the carbon, but the US Navy is working on using seawater and air, along with the electricity from the nuclear teakettles,to make jet fuel. After all, what runs out first, when you are running max effort airstrikes? The jet fuel silly. The Germans are also running a pilot process, and jets have flown on these fuels. Fischer-Tropsch

This solves three problems. 1. It can pull Carbon Dioxide from the air, so it is carbon neutral. 2. It stores wind and solar for future use, say in a combined cycle power plant. 3. It can provide fuel for cars and trucks, and it just blends into the existing infrastructure. No billions to spend on distribution everywhere. Just plants that make the products, crewed by chemical workers. Don't forget we have to replace 276 million cars and trucks with EVs in the USA alone. My way is quicker.

alboy wrote:
A friends tesla got caught outside of Abbotsford BC BETWEEN 2 mudslides for 24 hours a few weeks ago,ran out of juice and was put on a flatbed .Others shared fuel.

Yep. Could happen. Just like a gas car depends on what the battery’s charge is to start with. One of our neighbours got stuck on the hope Princeton highway for a day or so. He had no issues. Just put it in camp mode. Our experience with camp mode is it uses about 8 to 12 percent every 12 hours depending on conditions. A tesla won’t let you run it under 20 percent if you are using camp mode. Works pretty well. Anyway, we’ve been driving EV’s for almost 7 years. In our experience sitting in traffic doesn’t use much power. Shouldn’t be a problem.

A friends tesla got caught outside of Abbotsford BC BETWEEN 2 mudslides for 24 hours a few weeks ago,ran out of juice and was put on a flatbed .Others shared fuel.