The battery as the new frontier

[Ryeman]

https://electrek.co/2018/08/27/tesla-fake-nhtsa-complaints-tactic-detractors/

[Ootohere]

 

[Ryeman]

Dyson’s plans -

http://europe.autonews.com/article/20180830/ANE/180839998/dyson-moves-ahead-on-ev-plan-with-uk-test-center?cciid=email-ane-daily

[Ryeman]

More on Dyson’s plans - airfield as test track 

https://electrek.co/2018/08/30/dyson-converting-airfield-electric-car-rd-hub-test-track/

[lol-lol]

8 hours ago, Ryeman said:

More on Dyson’s plans - airfield as test track 

https://electrek.co/2018/08/30/dyson-converting-airfield-electric-car-rd-hub-test-track/

 

What are the chances of him actually putting manufacturing in the UK I wonder.  The Dyson products are made in Malaysia and he has a long affinity with that country.  Design and warehousing in the UK for his current products is that going to happen to his car ideas unless UK government gives him tens of millions of assistance much like Nissan is getting to stay in Washington up North ?   

[Ryeman]

27 minutes ago, lol-lol said:

 

What are the chances of him actually putting manufacturing in the UK I wonder.  The Dyson products are made in Malaysia and he has a long affinity with that country.  Design and warehousing in the UK for his current products is that going to happen to his car ideas unless UK government gives him tens of millions of assistance much like Nissan is getting to stay in Washington up North ?   

Melbourne has become a design centre but product will actually take place in Thailand or some other offshore low wage location.

I guess Britain might attain the status of a low wage economy eventually.......and Trump is doing his best for to achieve similar.

[Ryeman]

18 miles per minute charge rate -

http://www.autonews.com/article/20180830/OEM05/308309942/the-race-to-recharge-evs-in-less-than-10-minutes?cciid=email-autonews-daily

[Ryeman]

Europe expansion -

http://europe.autonews.com/article/20180901/ANE/180839979/vw-renault-china-battery-giant-catl-speed-growth-of-europes-e-plant?cciid=email-autonews-blast

[Ryeman]

Graphene moves out of the lab -

https://www.rdmag.com/news/2018/09/graphene-flagship-heads-toward-new-stage-1

[Ryeman]

On 05/09/2018 at 08:35, Ryeman said:

Graphene moves out of the lab -

https://www.rdmag.com/news/2018/09/graphene-flagship-heads-toward-new-stage-1

 

.....and a Use Guide -

https://www.rdmag.com/news/2018/09/standards-group-issues-graphene-use-guidance

[MikeHig]

Flicking through What Car in the newsagent, their reliability survey caught my eye. Initially I was just curious to see where Skoda came (well up the table). Then I noticed that Tesla came plumb last in the list of approx 30 manufacturers for cars up to 4 years old. The metric was - I think - the percentage of each manufacturer's cars which had not had a fault in the past 12 months.

Tesla scored 57%. The next worst was Land Rover with 76%. Skoda came 7th with 96%.

Given that a major USP of electric cars is their relative simplicity and few moving parts, this result surprised me - especially as Tesla is a premium brand. As they are not exactly common over here, this was probably a small sample size which could easily be distorted by a few "lemons".

How does this result compare with experience elsewhere?

[Ootohere]

People have to respond to Reliability Surveys and Briskoda has a large number of Skoda Owners and if you post asking who responds to Surveys there are never many on here say they did.

As to Dealers & Warranty Claims, if they say 'They all do that & not covered by warranty' then not much actions are being carried out.

MG's came high up Reliability Surveys and Owner Satisfaction, there were not many MG owners, where there MG Salespeople sitting with time to do Surveys?

 

Amazing how Skoda, VW, SEAT & Audi are not sitting next to each other in surveys about reliability.

More amazing how Audi, Porsche or Bentley can be so low on the lists of reliability.

 

Edited 11 September, 2018 by Offski

[lol-lol]

Survey does not say how many miles owners are doing so mile for mile figures can be quite different ie i would expect a BMW owner to do more miles than many other brands.  Also higher expectations and more complex machinery like a 4x4 Land Rover.

[PetrolDave]

1 hour ago, MikeHig said:

Tesla scored 57%.

 

Given that a major USP of electric cars is their relative simplicity and few moving parts, this result surprised me - especially as Tesla is a premium brand. As they are not exactly common over here, this was probably a small sample size which could easily be distorted by a few "lemons".

Tesla make a point of offering OTA software updates, both to fix bugs and add new features.

 

If these updates count as "faults" or"problems" under the terms of this survey that could explain Tesla's poor rating?

[Ootohere]

Nothing to see, move along, just snagging faults.

Then all is well.

 

 

Edited 11 September, 2018 by Offski

[Ryeman]

If there was money to be made, someone would do a qualitative survey to actually weed out actual failures from the surprises and disappointments etc.  My understanding is that the JD seems to be simply a ‘happiness’ index  (?)

[Ryeman]

In the reliability stakes, I see Audi as the development brand (business write off)  VW as the consolidation brand (trendy middle class) , and Skoda as the older proven brand (value for money).

I wouldn’t expect to see Audi and Skoda grouped together.

I would expect computer glitches with Tesla .

[Ryeman]

Hmmm.......unsprung weight issues perhaps -

https://electrek.co/2018/09/11/rmk-electric-motorcycle-without-hub/

[Ootohere]

Ryeman,  SEAT used to be the try it out on paying customers first and then later use the old stuff from the parts bins as Audi / VW gets the 'New proven technology', 

Skoda gets what ever.

 

But Audi became let VW take the blame, and no way were Porsche / Audi involved in anyway with the cheating or fraudulent behaviour.

They had their own management, they were on the VW Group Board, all Engineers and all had no idea that VW Cheated or that their Vehicles they signed off cheated.

They were so innocent and ignorant that now the Porsche / Audi bosses can be put in charge.  Well for a while until the obvious dawns on the regulators.

 

All that Audi new technology, gleaned from Endurance Racing, New Materials, Diesel Hybrids etc, New Factories and Engine / Motor plants built in South America and Hungary 

for 'Cheapness' and then the sh!t hits the fan. 

 

Matthias Mueller, does he keep a travel bag packed incase he is not going to be home for a day or 2 or maybe a few years?

 

 

 

Edited 12 September, 2018 by Offski

[Ryeman]

Yep, I forgot Manuel’s car.

[Odin1123]

 

Seems Audi did not get away with it.

[MikeHig]

Found the What Car survey online.

Here's what it actually said:

<<  Least reliable: Tesla Model S - 50.9%

What went wrong? Bodywork 30%; Non-engine electrics 19%; Interior trim 7%; Suspension 7%; Air-con 4%; Battery 4%; Brakes 4%; Exterior lights 4%; Sat-nav 4%; Steering 4%; Wheels/tyres 4%

Although the Tesla Model S's electric powertrain is proving reliable, the same can’t be said of its electrical systems or bodywork. Issues reported by owners included bent seat frames, broken door handles and parking sensor failures. Just over half of the cars were out of action for at least a week and some fixes cost more than £1500.  >>

 

Sounds like the issues are mostly build quality.

The survey is based on 18,000 reponses. As it covers 31 brands, many with dozens of models, I suspect the sample size for some may be very small. It would be more professional to give the number of responses in each case. The string of items with a "4%" result above suggests there were only a few responses.

[wyx087]

This is what I had been saying pages ago: large batteries (like those in EV) can actually help the grid:

https://electrek.co/2018/09/12/bmw-electric-car-owners-i3-into-cash-cow-controllable-load-technology/

 

That is just a trial delaying charging by up to 1 hour. Imagine a future where charging can be centrally controlled in millisecond periods. You set the length of time plugged in and amount of charge you demand. The longer time you set, the cheaper price because the central grid controller has more leeway.

 

I'd set it 12 hours, 6pm to 6am from me getting home to me getting up in the morning. But my 60 miles commute only needs 2.5 hours of 7kW charging.

[Kandy]

Meanwhile in the real world, and sooner than anticipated, in the next quarter, global oil demand will pass 100 million barrels per day for the first time ever!

 

New renewable installations (solar/wind) are not even covering the increasing global primary energy demand, scraping 4%, and already making electricity prohibitively expensive - hence green policy has hit the buffers in Germany and Australia.

 

And 'evil' Trump's USA, thanks to fracking gas, is the only major emitter reducing its CO2 emissions, whilst 'climate leader' China's, and most of the rest of the world's emissions, are accelerating away.

 

And TESLA still hasn't made a year end profit!

 

Somehow I think the future is not what this thread's main contributors think it will be.

[Ootohere]

?

What are they saying about that global demand and it being for passenger cars, how much is the increased use in ICE vehicles or is it the manufacturing of them?  

 

Good that there are choices. 

 

Edited 13 September, 2018 by Offski