Cont: Electric Vehicles II

[Filippo Lippi]

Recent posts = "Survivorship bias." Roads will be a lot safer when everyone slows down and takes proper breaks.

I used to regularly drive too far, too fast and, often, really tired. I was a ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ idiot. A very lucky one.

 

[Filippo Lippi]

5 mph over the limit is dangerously illegal?

It depends

 

[Dabop]

5 mph over the limit is dangerously illegal?

5mph is 8kph- not dangerous (except to your wallet), and do it 6 times in three years at the wrong time of year- like right now- to your drivers licence...

$287 per offence caught (make a habit of it on a long trip, and you could lose your licence by the end of it with both instantaneous speed cameras, car mounted cameras and 'total time between points cameras all checking you... especially with double demerits applying on the holidays- so get done 6 times in 3 years total, and thats a mandatory automatic 3 month licence suspension...

 

[Filippo Lippi]

5mph is 8kph- not dangerous

Tell that to the pedestrian

 

[arthwollipot]

5 mph over the limit is dangerously illegal?

I specified in this country ie, Australia. And yes. For the reasons I went into. The rest of the traffic around you is mostly keeping to the speed limit (110kph on freeways) so going 145kph is dangerous. Off the freeways you're going to be encountering wildlife. See that cute guy in Dabop's avatar? He will appear out of absolutely nowhere and throw himself at your car. It's literally happened to me (fortunately it was one of the little eastern grey ones and not one of the big reds you get in the outback). These days I try to rarely drive on anything but major roads at dusk because of the risk of kangaroo strike.

Here's a fun fact about kangaroos: they can move in literally any direction with no preparation. They can be facing in one direction and leap in exactly the opposite direction with no warning about which way they're going to go. If you're doing highway speeds and you see a kangaroo just standing there in the middle of the road in front of you, which is something they do, you don't know which way it's going to move. There's no room to stop at this speed. Do you go to the left of it or to the right of it? Sometimes you just have to pick a direction and hope. This has happened to me too.

Also, I remain convinced that a significant percentage of single-car accidents outside cities in Australia are caused when the driver pulls down the sun visor and a bloody great big huntsman spider drops into their lap. If you're doing 145kph when that happens, you're ◊◊◊◊◊◊. This has not yet happened to me.

 

[EHocking]

5mph is 8kph- not dangerous (except to your wallet), and do it 6 times in three years at the wrong time of year- like right now- to your drivers licence...

Ack, and to be stuck (for what seems) hours behind some wanker in the overtaking lane who won’t do even 1kph over the speed limit to get past a car for fear of a ticket, is probably even more dangerous by just getting in the way.

Especially true when the Australian speedometer standards state that “a speedo must show your speed as accurate or slightly faster, never slower, with a legal tolerance of up to 10% plus 4 km/h over your actual speed” .
So a speedo “speed” of 110kph might only be 99kph anyway.

$287 per offence caught (make a habit of it on a long trip, and you could lose your licence by the end of it with both instantaneous speed cameras, car mounted cameras and 'total time between points cameras all checking you... especially with double demerits applying on the holidays- so get done 6 times in 3 years total, and thats a mandatory automatic 3 month licence suspension...

My speedo shows a speed 5kph higher than actual, usually within the 3kph tolerance of the seeding laws.

 

[Rolfe]

Recent posts = "Survivorship bias." Roads will be a lot safer when everyone slows down and takes proper breaks.

I used to regularly drive too far, too fast and, often, really tired. I was a ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ idiot. A very lucky one.

I resemble that remark.

 

[Rolfe]

The problem has always been the stops. As I have said, from putting on the turn signal to exit the freeway, to resetting the cruise control back on the highway takes us less than 15 minutes. This includes finding the gas station, filling up, potty breaks, and hitting the drive through for bad food.

How long does this take in an EV? Can you be choosey, like we are, and only stop at charging stations with adjacent quick food restaurants that are clearly visible from the road, with easy egress and ingress?

The charging stations are all visible from the highway because they show on your satnav on your screen. Pretty much all of them are located beside fast-food outlets.

If you are driving all day and all your stops are like that, rushing to get fuel and to the toilet and grabbing food to be eaten with one hand while driving, out again in 15 minutes, you're a danger to yourself and to others. It's also miserable. And I have done it, so don't start.

In an EV you eat the food during the stop. You wind down, you kick back and relax for a little while, and you're a lot better for it.

I've been seeing reports of newly developed EVs that will charge in 5-8 minutes. This makes me sad. Why do people want this? We'll be right back to standing with your car while it fills up, then moving it to another parking space to go in to eat. And lunatics will still be able to travel all day with no rest.

It sounds as if you're completely besotted by the obsolete heap of inefficiency you're driving though. There's always one.

 

[zooterkin]

I specified in this country ie, Australia. And yes. For the reasons I went into. The rest of the traffic around you is mostly keeping to the speed limit (110kph on freeways) so going 145kph is dangerous.

I think you missed the fact that Cobra's examples were all 5mph over the prevailing limit, so it would be 118kph on an Australian freeway.

 

[Dabop]

I think you missed the fact that Dabop's examples were all 5mph over the prevailing limit, so it would be 118kph on an Australian freeway.

Um no- his 145kph is dangerous (and well into 'lose your licence on the spot, and call a taxi- cause your cars going to be in the impound yard for the next month!!!)
The less than 10kph over penalties I quoted is less of a fine- but still points off your licence- get 6 fines in 3 years at the wrong time and you will still lose your licence automatically (as soon as you get to that magic 12 points- you are stuffed- your licence is gone for the next three months....end of story...)

And there is nothing you can do to stop it (apart from not speeding lol)- as soon as the fine enters the system, and it clocks your points to 12- your licence cancellation is automatic....

 

[steenkh]

I have a question about EVs and winter. I got a Renault Scenic E-TECH this summer, it I believe that it should be able to charge with 120kw. However, the only charging stations I have been using are one with 22kw and 50kw. I have just been on a longer trip to Germany, and in order to save time, I charged at charging stations with 290kw and 400kw, but my car never charged faster than 50kwh. Could this be because of the cold (4-10˚C) or is it just something I can expect always?

 

[Rolfe]

I have a question about EVs and winter. I got a Renault Scenic E-TECH this summer, it I believe that it should be able to charge with 120kw. However, the only charging stations I have been using are one with 22kw and 50kw. I have just been on a longer trip to Germany, and in order to save time, I charged at charging stations with 290kw and 400kw, but my car never charged faster than 50kwh. Could this be because of the cold (4-10˚C) or is it just something I can expect always?

It may be that you were charging when the battery was already at a relatively high state of charge. The fastest charging will happen between about 10% and about 50% and after that the speed gradually tails off. Otherwise there may have been an issue with the charger, though that seems unlikely if it happened more than once.

My car is supposed to max out at 86 kw. I've not seen that but I do see the high 70s often. If you're only getting 50 kw into a car rated to charge at 120 kw, when the SoC is under 50%, something is wrong, either with the charger or with the car.

By the way, are you able to pre-heat your battery half an hour before arriving at a charger? If you can, try that.

 

[Rolfe]

Um no- his 145kph is dangerous (and well into 'lose your licence on the spot, and call a taxi- cause your cars going to be in the impound yard for the next month!!!)
The less than 10kph over penalties I quoted is less of a fine- but still points off your licence- get 6 fines in 3 years at the wrong time and you will still lose your licence automatically (as soon as you get to that magic 12 points- you are stuffed- your licence is gone for the next three months....end of story...)

And there is nothing you can do to stop it (apart from not speeding lol)- as soon as the fine enters the system, and it clocks your points to 12- your licence cancellation is automatic....

Our motorway speed limit is 70 mph, which is 112 kph. I regularly set my ACC to 75 mph (120 kph) because you don't get nicked for that, sometimes even to 79 mph (126 kph) because again I'm not going to be nicked for that. Plenty people still pass me even then.

I agree that 145 kph (90 mph) is excessive though. Although I did once get nicked for doing 94 mph, in my mis-spent youth. But I was definitely going too fast. (I have done 120 mph - 192 kph - in Germany, and so was everyone else, but it was slightly scary).

 

[zooterkin]

Um no- his 145kph is dangerous (and well into 'lose your licence on the spot, and call a taxi- cause your cars going to be in the impound yard for the next month!!!)
The less than 10kph over penalties I quoted is less of a fine- but still points off your licence- get 6 fines in 3 years at the wrong time and you will still lose your licence automatically (as soon as you get to that magic 12 points- you are stuffed- your licence is gone for the next three months....end of story...)

And there is nothing you can do to stop it (apart from not speeding lol)- as soon as the fine enters the system, and it clocks your points to 12- your licence cancellation is automatic....

I meant Cobra, not you, apologies, and edited before you replied.

5mph, indicated, over the speed limit is unlikely to attract any penalty except where a strict limit is being applied. Whether the actual speed is dangerous is a separate issue. Just pointing out that Cobra was not advocating excessive speeding at any point, which I think arth missed a couple of times.

To be clear, the 145kph was where the limit was 85mph.

 

[Dabop]

I meant Cobra, not you, apologies, and edited before you replied.

5mph, indicated, over the speed limit is unlikely to attract any penalty except where a strict limit is being applied. Whether the actual speed is dangerous is a separate issue. Just pointing out that Cobra was not advocating excessive speeding at any point, which I think arth missed a couple of times.

To be clear, the 145kph was where the limit was 85mph.

Still over $300 here for the less than 10kph over fine, plus one penalty point except in public holiday times/ long weekends/school holidays when double demerits apply- fine remains the same but lose twice the points....

 

[acbytesla]

5mph is 8kph- not dangerous (except to your wallet), and do it 6 times in three years at the wrong time of year- like right now- to your drivers licence...

$287 per offence caught (make a habit of it on a long trip, and you could lose your licence by the end of it with both instantaneous speed cameras, car mounted cameras and 'total time between points cameras all checking you... especially with double demerits applying on the holidays- so get done 6 times in 3 years total, and thats a mandatory automatic 3 month licence suspension...

You're getting pulled over and written up for going 5 over? Not likely to get pulled over in the US for 5 over. Maybe 10, but never 5.

 

[zooterkin]

You're getting pulled over and written up for going 5 over? Not likely to get pulled over in the US for 5 over. Maybe 10, but never 5.

And, not to belabour the point too much, I'm assuming that's an indicated 5mph over, which is likely to be less than 5 in reality.

 

[acbytesla]

And, not to belabour the point too much, I'm assuming that's an indicated 5mph over, which is likely to be less than 5 in reality.

Precisely. On longer freeway trips, I will set the cruise control at around 5 over. And still get passed often.

 

[Rolfe]

My speedometer is bang on accurate.

 

[bruto]

There is an old saying, "Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?"

The engine was built by Tom Lucas at FE Specialties (FE engines are notoriously finnicky and should only be built by experts). When asked how much horsepower I wanted, I immediately said about 550. He was spot on, making 538 bhp.

I never intended for the Cobra to be an 'EV killer'. There will always be someone with a faster car - I just wanted to build something that would be fun to drive. I really don't care if some trust fund man child bought a faster car - my Cobra will always mean more to me than his store bought performance will mean to him.

Realistically, the plaid is twice as heavy and has about twice the horsepower and torque as the Cobra. Take away the traction issues of a standing start and my Cobra may not be quicker, but it will not be embarrassed by it.

The version I heard (pre EV obviously) was "the only substitute for cubic inches is rectangular dollars."