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G. David Felt

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Everything posted by G. David Felt

  1. G. David Felt
    One has to wonder if they could do this in Japan, how many other auto's are improperly tested or rated elsewhere especially in 3rd world markets where bribes / pay offs are common to take advantage of the market.
  2. G. David Felt
    @ocnblu This is for you!
  3. G. David Felt
    Back in October 2017 Toshiba announced their new SCiB lithium-ion battery packs with 200 miles recharging in 6 mins and 400 miles in 12 minutes coming to an EV in 2019. Toshiba is on track to have their new auto battery packs in EVs starting in 2019. Toshiba has now moved forward with their 2nd generation SCiB battery pack using a new titanium niobium oxide composite anode TiNb2O7 (TNO) which allows Toshiba to go from a 177 Wh in their current producing SCiB batteries to a 350 Wh battery pack still charging to 90% in less than 6 minutes. The benefits of the TNO anode is that you get high-density, long life over a long cycle-life, and high volumetric capacity. What this means is Cobalt is gone, child labor is gone and we now have moved from a 200 mile battery back charging in 6 minutes to a 353 mile battery pack in 6 minutes in the same form factor as the current generation 1 SCiB battery. If you then use their double battery pack that is currently a 400 mile battery pack in 12 min of charging you have a 706 mile battery pack in the same small footprint charging up to 90% full in 12 min. The days of Asian countries shipping in oil to produce gas is coming to a close it would seem. The next 10-20 years are going to be evolutionary in the auto industry. Toshiba Press Release Green Car Congress story ScienceDirect Info
  4. G. David Felt
    Gotta love EV owners plates:
  5. G. David Felt
    This is great to see it racing around the track but it is funny that they try to hide what this EV is by putting fake exhaust tips on the back.
  6. G. David Felt
    BYD has opened up the world's largest battery plant in the world with production at 24GWh of battery production and will ramp as demand needs to 60 GWh of production by 2020. The plant is the size of 140 football fields and is open in China's lithium rich province of Qinghai. This is BYD's 3rd battery plant and biggest to date but also could be the map for an equal size plant that they are looking to open in Europe to supply Europe's battery needs. BYD is backed by legendary investor Warren Buffett. Currently starting capacity of battery packs for the auto industry is that by 2019 they will be able to produce enough to support 1.2 million EVs. To quote the CEO of BYD: “Electrification is a done deal as several countries have announced a deadline for the sale of internal combustion engine cars to end. Electric vehicles are on the cusp of another boom,” said BYD President and Chairman Wang Chuanfu. Bloomberg reports BYD has immediately surpassed Tesla, yet Musk has responded that their Gigafactory will be producing 35GWh of battery packs by the end of 2018 and the second Gigafactory is being built in China for the local market. BYD has stated that this factory will reach 48 GWh of production by the end of 2019 with 60GWh of production in 2020 as markets demand. Another Chinese company CATL is building a 24 GWh battery factory to be completed in 2020 which will allow CATL to have 88 GWh of battery production by the end of 2020. The battle is on as the Chinese government has chosen to consolidate their bloated auto industry with a few established world leading auto component and automakers urging incentives to automakers to move forward sooner rather than later with higher density / longer range battery packs aiming to flip the auto industry in a 10yr time span to 100% electric from ICE. BYD News Release Bloomberg Story
  7. G. David Felt
    Commitment is an understatement. Toyota and GM was committed to the Pontiac Vibe / Toyota Matrix and that still ended. Tradewar is going to play hell with this types of partnerships especially as companies look to adjust based on consumer preference. An example of the Future for everyone is that in the first full month of having an complete EV plug-in auto line, BYD of China sold 16,278 of their Yaun compact CUV., 45% increase over this time last year and up from 3 months straight of 13,000+ sales of their whole product line. BYD delivered in 2017 108,000 plug-in hybrids. First half of 2018 BYD has sold 71,000 EV auto's, they are expecting over 100,000 to be sold in the second half. BYD Story
  8. G. David Felt
    Italian VOLT founders Nicola Colombo and Valerio Fumagalli rode over 7,600 miles from Changhai to Milan and decided they could make a better electric bike. One that had serious Italian flare, style and WOW factor. Wow factor comes from the powertrain that packs a punch: Battery is a 15.1 kWh good for 125 miles of range Motor produces 94 hp and 153 lb-ft of torque 0 to 62 mph is blistering 4.6 seconds Top is 112 mph Cost is a Chevy Volt style of $38,000 but includes your customization and pre-orders are being accepted at $250 down. Deliveries will commence next year in the beginning of 2019. If your into Italian Flare, this bike might be for you. Italian Volt web site
  9. G. David Felt
    Taking a look at the mid year of 2018, here is the numbers and where they stand for recalls, usually this list is published by Alphabetical numbers, yet I choose to grab it and sort by lowest to highest which I think gives a much better view of who is improving in quality compared to last year. As we stand for this year, we have the bulk numbers as follows: Here are the recalls broken down by brand from lowest to highest. Manufacturer Number of Cars Recalled YTD Same Period Last Year Year over Year % Porsche Cars North America, Inc. 308 91,585 -100% Nissan North America, Inc. 102,925 680,012 -85% Maserati North America, Inc. 9,106 53,551 -83% BMW of North America, LLC 147,327 511,965 -71% Hyundai Motor America 722,015 2,199,504 -67% Honda (American Honda Motor Co.) 979,041 2,479,771 -61% Mazda Motor Corp. 347,485 720,543 -52% Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. 309,845 522,268 -41% General Motors LLC 1,189,660 1,520,789 -22% Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. 798,443 1,020,546 -22% Subaru of America, Inc. 229,538 244,471 -6% Toyota Motor Corporation 890,687 908,380 -2% Kia Motors America 642,754 618,343 4% Ford Motor Company 2,024,349 1,539,203 32% Tesla, Inc. 88,267 34,706 154% JAGUAR CARS LTD 38,880 13,100 197% LAND ROVER 28,471 8,916 219% Chrysler (FCA US LLC) 6,348,099 1,830,344 247% Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. 8,883 791 1023% Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. 543,819 37,638 1345% iseecars recall dashboard
  10. G. David Felt
    Seems a 20% increase in Bolt production is happening due to increased demand. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1117615_gm-increases-chevy-bolt-ev-production-to-ease-supply-constraints
  11. G. David Felt
    Seems Germany and China have come to a free trade agreement. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-china/with-raft-of-deals-china-and-germany-swear-to-keep-trade-free-idUSKBN1JZ0VM Now if only the US would work for this rather than tariffs.
  12. G. David Felt
    @Drew Dowdell @balthazar I totally agree, I am just reporting what the computer told me for Daily city driving. I honestly was shocked that running awd locally on the auto was no better than what I get on my AWD SS in city driving. Very weird for sure.
  13. G. David Felt
    That was the biggest surprise to me, I always reset everything so that I can have current my driving stats and not compiled of me and others. the local driving was a disappointment.
  14. G. David Felt
    Glad you enjoyed my write up on the XT5, I have to totally agree with you that they need a V model of the XT5.
  15. G. David Felt
    Makes sense to keep the Chinese at bay and not allow them to just rip off the US and other countries.
  16. G. David Felt
    For those that like tech like me, check out these more detailed info on 48 volt mild-hybrids and who is using them. https://www.idtechex.com/research/reports/48v-mild-hybrid-vehicles-2018-2028-000600.asp For Diesel lovers, here is Delphi's 48 volt mild-hybrid answer to get Diesels clean and een higher mpg. https://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/05/48-volt-mild-hybrids-a-possible-cure-for-diesel-emissions-cheats/ Honda Civic Delphi 48v mild-hybrid diesel. To quote the 2nd listed story above: Mary Gustanski, Delphi's VP of engineering and project management, told Ars that mild hybrids can offer about 70 percent of the benefit of a more traditional hybrid (with regard to fuel efficiency and CO2 reduction) but at 30 percent of the cost. The company has been developing the system with a 1.6L turbodiesel Honda Civic, which also has an electric turbocharger for added efficiency. On average, the car is about 10 percent more efficient than a conventional Civic turbodiesel, although we're told that the gains can be as much as 35 percent at some parts of the rev range. FYI just in case some are wondering about the 12 volt versus 48 volt systems and why one would not just go all 48 volt. The answer lies in that currently cooling fans and pumps are available in 48 but AC is still belt driven and those that are electric are 12 volt only. Delphi does have a 48 volt AC electric compressor coming.
  17. G. David Felt
    Gonna have to dig into why so many are going 48V mild-hybrid systems. I have to question why this particular voltage system compared to other options. So, I stopped writting and did a little research and Boom, here is some interesting info: With 48-volt stop-start: The starter is replaced with a beefier 48-volt device called a motor generator unit(MGU), belt alternator starter, or belt-driven starter generator. A 48-volt lithium-ion battery pack, typically in the trunk. A DC-to-DC converter. https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/247889-cars-moving-48-volt-electrical-systems Per the story, we are looking at a standard that was built to allow the key component companies to supply a superior system. Per the story listed above: Bosch, Continental, Delphi, and Valeo are among the key components makers working to provide 48-volt systems to automakers. As I have mentioned before in other threads, an electric turbo pretty much removes all lag. The Audi system uses a real turbo on the ICE for higher speeds and better performance and yet at lower speeds and from a stop uses an e-Turbo to have instant torque. The e-Charger as Audi calls it removes those noticeable tenths of a second for spin up to 100,000 to 200,000 RPM to be instant in the e-Charger much like all electric motors, instant torque and performance. HISTORY: mid 90's the auto industry attempted to do this with a 42 volt system. Yet due to technology and other issues, it was not ready for prime time. Quoting the story: Now, says Jason Schwanke, senior systems engineer at Bosch, “The main focus is improving the emissions and fuel economy of the vehicle. 48-volt is a system to augment the combustion engine, reduce fuel consumption, reduce [diesel] particulate emissions, and improve the driver experience by increasing the responsiveness of the vehicle.” Schwanke envisions a second iteration of cars that go beyond a smallish belt-drive motor generator. Rather than 2 kilowatts, it could be 10, 15, or 20 kilowatts. “Decouple the combustion system [from the motor generator],” he says, “you can do some advanced features you can’t do from a belt system … things like going through a parking lot [on electric power] or low-speed urban driving.” In other words, while 48 volts is a step up from 12 volts, it’s also a step down in cost from 300-volt-plus systems in traditional hybrids. End result is that the 48 volt system gets you close to everything you need in a full traditional hybrid system with out all the added cost of the 300 volt system.
  18. G. David Felt
    Nope did not go over our heads, Beetle is not selling in huge volumes and is a perfect ev auto for inner city driving. Should do just fine as a sales volume ev.
  19. G. David Felt
    Halo product does NOT have to be a coupe. Coupe style has been overkill by the auto industry. There are clearly airflow attributes to the front and back that would be done for a skateboard ev auto. Those could be specific air inlets for cooling / cabin fresh air.
  20. G. David Felt
    Ready Player One is a great movie from this year. Yea, so tired of everyone getting tatted up.
  21. G. David Felt
    Reviewing all the pictures, one thing is clear to me, this is an Ev\Hybrid concept at the worst, actual new auto at the best. I have to say that while it does go away from the arts n science, I do like it very much.
  22. G. David Felt
    Totally agree, a blog from a Tesla owner stated the following which I believe to be true: This may come to the dismay of “gearheads”, but electric drive trains spell the end of tinkering in the garage the same way that transistors mostly did away with the TV repairman. https://www.quora.com/Does-a-Tesla-car-have-very-minimal-maintenance-costs
  23. G. David Felt
    Plus bring back the original Frunk
  24. G. David Felt
    This totally makes sense and would be the first actual rational approach from Dictator Potus45.
  25. G. David Felt
    Like all shifts that have drastic affect on an industry, alternative fuel is now with computers showing much better ways to power an auto. Change is hard, but in the end I still call everyone here a friend and an enjoyable debating auto enthusiast. These debates is what drives us to view things in a new light. Wishing you all the best with learning new skills.
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