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An Australian Parliamentary committee has recommended that petrol and diesel cars be phased out in favour of electric vehicles in a report. This is not yet law but shows that the government is serious about reducing the dependency Australia has on oil and reducing greenhouse emissions.
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Australian Plan to Ban Petrol and Diesel Cars
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A Smith & Wesson beats four aces.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Sunday April 07 2019, @03:11PM (5 children)
I also have an old Leaf I got used. 2011, the oldest generally available Leaf. I can confirm it's a fantastic ride. Responsiveness is instantaneous. It's real smooth and quiet. True, the batteries' health is only 9 out of 12, and the range is a paltry 50 miles, depending. I have read, and can confirm, that driving slower makes a big, big difference in range. Even the difference between going 30 mph and 40 mph is very noticeable. If I drive no more than 30mph all the way, and not use the A/C or heat, I have a range of 80 miles. Not fun, but when you need just a little more range, good to know about it.
Yet, the Leaf could be better, and I don't mean the obvious complaints about the batteries. I'm talking about the aerodynamics. What our cars should become are basically pods with wheels, much like the Edison2 [edison2.com] X prize winner. It's frustrating that even with severely limited range, when every little thing matters so much more, manufacturers still ignore the low hanging fruit. No skirts on the rear wheels, like the first edition of the Honda Insight [wikipedia.org]. No drag reducing vortex generators on the trailing edges, like on the Corbin Sparrow and successors [sparrowcar.com]. Side mirrors are another drag. The Leaf has a camera for backing up, why not also for the sides? And, the underside. Still not as smooth as it ought to be. A hypermiler took a Honda Civic and nearly doubled its fuel economy with aerodynamic improvements [aerocivic.com]. He reports a couple of other benefits. The car is quieter, and stays cleaner. If the Leaf had better aero, 30 mph versus 40 mph would not produce nearly as pronounced a difference in the range.
Yet it's not done. Why? For one thing, people think it looks ugly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 07 2019, @03:38PM (1 child)
Except for those of us who are taller than average, or have a family that needs to fit comfortably in their vehicle, or that needs cargo room, or or or.
Consumers are fickle things. Aerodynamics and ergonomics and style and practicality need to be considered when designing a vehicle. The most fuel efficient vehicle may never sell more than a small number of units if it is ugly as sin and/or uncomfortable and/or doesn't meet consumer needs.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Monday April 08 2019, @08:29PM
But cars have shitty aerodynamics. Because they do not do much to the underside. Tried a BMW 330d with aerokit, eats up many more glorified cars in the Autobahn.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Sunday April 07 2019, @07:41PM (2 children)
One thing I do in the winter is pre-heat the car. I tried the scheduling thing but as far as I can tell, it runs the heat off the battery and I would have lower range when leaving. I got a little 1200 watt portable heater like you might put under a desk and just ran it off an extension cord. I start it up about 30 minutes before leaving and when I come back out -- all the frost is gone from the windows (I even have to open the windows a bit to get the temperature down to a comfortable level). With the heated seat and steering wheel, it would make my 25 minute commute totally comfortable without having to use the climate controls. I've noticed that using the AC in the summer is much less of a power drain than using the heat in the winter, plus when the ambient temperature isn't below freezing, I get more juice out of the battery.
At some point though, the battery is going to weaken to the point where I'll have to think about replacement or more interestingly, a DIY piggy back battery pack.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Sunday April 07 2019, @11:29PM (1 child)
Yes, on cold, damp mornings, I've had a minor issue with the windshield fogging up. Fortunately, it takes only about 15 seconds of heat to clear it. Don't have to keep the heat on, and lose 20% of your range.
The piggy back battery idea sounds very interesting. I fear the upcoming summer heat may finish off the aged batteries, and I shall have to do something. And, I very much would like 100 miles of range. Would let me make a number of round trips I can't quite do now.
I thought public charging stations would be the answer to the limited range, but I find them of little use, in part because they are not reliable. They're occupied, or ICEd, or not working, or behind a locked gate, or turned off after business hours. You can't swipe a credit card to pay, like you can at almost every gas pump in existence, no you have to have an account with each different company in the recharging biz, and there are half a dozen of them. Need a smartphone with their apps installed so you can access your accounts and use the charging stations. And they're a long walk from my destination even when some are in the vicinity. Takes me about 20 minutes to walk 1.5 miles. As for ordinary outlets, there are frustratingly few of them on building exteriors. The place I visit has just one outlet, on a lamp post. But, there is a sidewalk between the post and the parking lot, so to use it, I have to create a tripping hazard. Further, all the nearby parking spots are handicapped. Much better to have the range to do a round trip, and avoid all those problems.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Monday April 08 2019, @12:46AM
Yeah -- I've never used a public charging station except at a Nissan dealer (level 2, free) once when I forgot to do a recharge (a full battery will get me home to town to home to town ... it just won't get me back home on the 4th leg).
This is interesting if it comes to the US: a refurb battery pack for $2850: https://electrek.co/2018/03/26/nissan-leaf-battery-pack-replacement-program/ [electrek.co]
Here's a guy with a DIY piggyback: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSqGBPBxfUE [youtube.com]