Tacoma -vs Ranger 2019 sales figures...it aint pretty

All true, but most people don’t care about towing, especially on Tacoma World. I doubt more than 10% of fellas here ever use their hitch receiver for more than a bike rack mount.

 

Most certainly, but you are talking about something that is improving by leaps and bounds every year. 5 years ago we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. The subject is dynamic. Every month brings changes, improvements, and more acceptance.

It’s kinda, truthfully, super stupid to compare any EV presently available to a presently available gas car or truck.

 

I mean isn't it possible that EVs encourage innovation in ICE vehicles and they find some ways to close the performance gaps that currently exist?

 

Possibly, but the truth is in that Doug Demarco EV towing video. When it comes right down to it, energy efficiency is the only thing that really matters long term. Wasted energy will always be wasted energy and EV vehicles are already way beyond anything an ICE will ever achieve in terms of efficiency. It will never make sense to waste energy when there is a viable alternative.

 

Not likely. Ice engines are ice engines, and we've been perfecting them for decades, to the point where we're trying to squeeze out more power and mpg at the cost of ever increasing complexity.


Electric, on the other hand. Electric motors are already badass for vehicle applications. And battery tech is only going to get denser and cheaper, and are really easy to retrofit.

As far as the grid goes, nobody has mentioned the other side of it. Assuming the communications and controls get there, having many megawatt hours worth of batteries plugged in when people aren't driving will be useful for grid stabilization. Make the controls smart and you can comfortably match the load to the supply.


Fun side activity:. Look at the Texas ERCOT page on a hot summer day. Many times this last summer I saw it hit within a megawatt or so of peak capacity. No blackouts. It's all in how they manage it and the contracts they have in place with major consumers to shut down during peaks.

 

Like, Pikes Peak is never going back to gas. The lead at Pikes is so great now with EV and just getting larger, that it would take a miracle for gasoline to take it back. 1/4” mile drag is also about to fall to EV.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kAJaGAMWjHM

 

I'm all onboard this EV train, but man, I really miss the sound of an ICE racecar. Electric racing does almost nothing for me.

 

Less fun for the crowd, but it's a whole new world for the drivers.

 

Yep, Formula E just isn’t the same at all for me.

 

No doubt, but damn, can we pipe in some sound, even like a 68 beetle or something? Hell i'd settle for my 2 cylinder diesel tractor.

 

May as well go buy a ranger then, they do that.

 

Ok, so I redid the math. The figures come from EIA.gov. Sorry I'm doing this on my phone so I don't feel like providing links or getting too in depth.

In 2018, the US consumed 142.86 billion gallons of gas. I'm going to assume all of this went into vehicles for this exercise.

In 2018, the US consumed 4.178 billion MWh.

I'm also assuming an ICE engine is 20% efficient at turning gas into usable energy. This is probably on the low end.

There are 33.7 kwh in a gallon of gas.

So...

142.86 x 33.7 x .2 = 962.876 billion kwh

That's the energy equivalent produced by the gasoline consumed in ice engines.

.9629 MWh/ 4.178 MWh = 23%

So very roughly, ignoring tons of variables it would take 23% of our grids consumed energy to replace gas. Looking at this again I think this is a very low estimate. It assumes electric vehicles are 100% efficient and there are no losses in transmission. In reality, the true percentage could be double of this.

Still, this isn't happening overnight and there can be advantages to the grid in having millions of big ass batteries plugged in to potentially draw from.

I also wonder if it is feasible to produce the number of batteries required. I have no idea about that aspect.

 

I don't doubt it. A lot needs to happen and I'm sure many areas will be slow to adopt electric. Especially rural areas.

 

One of the technologies that was approved in the recent changes to our provincial electrical code here in B.C. was to allow EVs to be a source of energy feeding the grid. As backwards as it may seem, there are schemes where the fully charged parked cars charge the cars needing quick charging, reducing demand on the grid at peak hours. The fact they permitted this, in what is a very strict and slow to change entity (The CSA Canadian Electrical Code - w. BC Amendments) shows how much the demand for this change is putting pressure from the bottom up.

The developers and utilities are saying to the provincial inspectors: “if we are going to meet both the organic demand and the mandated car-charger build-out, we need every tool available”. The car chargers already have all this technology for importing/exporting/and sharing power, but we have been limited in what we are allowed to use of it. No more.

 

1000Hp 1800ft-lbs or torque 1968 mustang EV.

0-60 in 1.79 seconds (street legal)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q7vTCK9ywBA

 

What’s the cost? I have no idea, is it realistic or is this just something proving that it can be done?

 

I think what you'll eventually see is a "buy-back" program similar to cash for clunkers to get rid of the ICE cars.

While diesel is used by most heavy equipment, its use in passenger vehicles is diminishing in no small part due to VW hi-jinks as well as improvements in gasoline vehicle efficiency.

You can bet that some city will ban ICE vehicles except for commercial use (I would expect it in China first, though some places in the US would leap on this idea in a heartbeat also)

Hey, they banned 32oz gutbuster sodas!

And then when that city turns into Xanadu overnight after banishing the filthy ICE dragons, it will be the holy grail for other cities to aspire to.

 

I may be wrong here, but that's a ~2001 Sierra 2500HD right? If so, the max tow rating is 10,500lbs (or less depending on configuration). The max tow rating on the Cybertruck is 14,000lbs.

The difference is you can go way further without filling up when towing that. It's a noteworthy difference, but technically the Cybertruck could out-tow your truck regardless.

Tat's just for now.

In 2008 when the original Tesla Roadster came out, it had a 57kWh battery.
In 2015, they were able to fit a 75kWh battery within the same space, due to greater energy density.
In 2019, they are able to put a 100kWh battery within that same space.
In 2021, they expect to be able to put a 200kWh battery in the place of the 100kWh space + ~40% to the height (equal to ~140kWh).

Essentially a 57kWh battery in 2008 is to be the same size as a 140kWh battery in about a year and a half. That's a huge improvement in not that long of a span.

For now, a 200kWh Cybertruck isn't really enough to tow a 14,000lb trailer for longer than about an hour. That's not long enough. In about 10-20yrs though, that same battery might be a much much higher capacity, and will eventually be convenient enough for heavy truck use.

It reminds me a little of this:

 

This seems a little shitty. I'm equating this to me filling up at the gas pump and a government guy saying "hold up, you got to give this gallon back to us so we can use it for something else."

How do they decide how much to siphon off you parked charging car? Do they know when you are coming back for it so they can top it off again?

Seems similar to the electric company wanting control of your thermostat and promising to never raise it over 2 degrees more than you have it set for.

 

Yeah I want it on the outside though.
Like an adult ice cream truck lol.