[tim60]

Hi Sav

Electric cars have to improve there range for them to be taken seriously in Aus.
Major cities are 700km+ apart and 100km+ for regional cities and then there is Western Australia.


Dave

I thought there was a conspiracy - I never found a car that could be reliably driven from Adelaide to Melbourne on one tank- always needed to fill at Tailem Bend or Ballarat. And the sellers knew it, and price gouged.

[savoche]

[dbs]

I thought there was a conspiracy - I never found a car that could be reliably driven from Adelaide to Melbourne on one tank- always needed to fill at Tailem Bend or Ballarat. And the sellers knew it, and price gouged.

Hi Tim

Yes but that was then , now many ( I think mainly some diesels ) can do it easily.
One of the vehicles for work ( Ford Transit diesel ) has a range of 1,000 kms and that was a 2009 model .
Petrol gouging thats never stopped

Dave

[Racer X 69]

Now he can say it is below his pay grade and therefore below his dignity.

Well there are 12 pay grades, and I only earn one, near the middle so, yeah, some below, some above.

And that is just the Machinists Union scale jobs.

The SPEEA local (engineering and technical workers) have their scales.

I have no idea how many grades management has, but the CEO is getting twenty some million a year.

[Racer X 69]

I thought there was a conspiracy - I never found a car that could be reliably driven from Adelaide to Melbourne on one tank- always needed to fill at Tailem Bend or Ballarat. And the sellers knew it, and price gouged.

I think Ballarat is closed.

I don't think they sell fuel at Ballarat anymore.




But they do have nude dancing burros.

[Racer X 69]

But you can have bacon in other settings too.

Yeah, like for dessert.

[Racer X 69]

A friend of mine worked at a truck stop when he was in high school.
He tried to strike up a conversation with a female truck driver by asking: "How do you like your Peterbilt?"
Use your imagination, I won't post her reply.

Looking out my office window.




Lookin' out over that looooonnnnnggggg Peterbilt hood.

[Racer X 69]

Yes, I know. Here the charging infrastructure is getting good enough for the existing cars to be usable - and we think of 500km as a long distance

A few weeks back Mrs. Racer 2.0 and I drove down to White Salmon, Washington to scout the area as a possible place to move when I retire. We got up and left before the sun came up. It was dark when we got home. After driving around the area in and around White Salmon we crossed the Mighty Columbia River on a rickety steel truss bridge to Oregon, and drove back towards Portland before turning North on I-5. Stopped at the Columbia Inn at Kalama (were Elvis Presley and Jack Benny used to stop in back in the day) and had dinner.

About 800 miles, or 1,287 kms.

Child's play.

[Racer X 69]

Here's another idea for you to try

Make a Reverse Steering Bicycle At Home - YouTube

I did try riding such a bke once. We could call it a frustrating experience

Oh Hell no!!

OK, so how about a swing bike?

You Tube

You Tube

[dbs]

I think Ballarat is closed.

I don't think they sell fuel at Ballarat anymore.




But they do have nude dancing burros.

Whew fortunately that Ballarat is not on our route

[mkgd1]

I think Ballarat is closed.

I don't think they sell fuel at Ballarat anymore.




But they do have nude dancing burros.

I was working in Death Valley NP the winter of 2006/7. At the time I lived in SoCal. I stayed in the park in my RV through the week and drove my jeep home Friday, came back Sunday PM. Whenever I could I stopped at Ballarat to get a cold drink and swap stories with Rocky (George) Novak, the only resident. Quite a character.

[MarkJerling]

I thought there was a conspiracy - I never found a car that could be reliably driven from Adelaide to Melbourne.......

You must be a Holden owner!

[RoxnDox]

OK, so how about a swing bike?

The Swing Bike - YouTube

Mmm, nyet. My sense of self preservation grabbed by sense of adventure by the ear, gave a good twist, and dragged it into a dark closet about 30 seconds into that video. Then locked the door, barricaded it with a table, and stood guard until it was all done.

I can haz bacon, though!

[savoche]

I just returned from a 700 mile/1100 km trip across some of the western Canadian prairies. Saw one EV (Tesla) but it was only about 15 kms outside a city. No idea where his destination was going to be. We drove (I was the driver) the 1100 kms...started at 7;30 am, finished at 8:30 pm. Stopped for gas three times. Took about 5 minutes to top up and then on the road again.

Yes, the use cases for EVs still is far from as general as for DVs (dino fueled vehicles). Long distances on easy-to-drive roads ain't one of them. Here, otoh, if I should go on an 1100 km round trip I would need several good stops along the way anyway so charging wouldn't really add much waiting. There is no way I'd be able to cover that distance (legally) in 13 hours unless I went up and down the few 100 kms of road we have with a 100-110 kph speed limit - which wouldn't really bring me anywhere at all Most country roads have speed limits of 60-90 kph and tend to be narrow and winding.

We've done this trip in January and that trip was a run to try to beat a surprise and looming blizzard (we did) that immobilized vehicles for a couple of days till the heavy snow was plowed. The temps were -33 to -35 . the heater/defroster was on full and our gas engine (DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder, 3.6 liter V6) got very good gas mpg and the distance range wasn't affected by the extreme cold. I don't think an EV would of been able to handle these conditions. And I for one would not want to be stuck out on the side of the road , in the cold with a non functioning EV.

Yep, the cold does reduce range, but I believe most EVs have a heating loop for the batteries to battle that. Of course, snowy roads will further reduce the range, so winter time range will be far shorter than the claims of the manufacturers (which are based on far more favourable conditions, of course).

But for driving in or around the city I'd take an EV over anything else. Every time. Quick, nimble, silent - and they have a simpler construction with fewer parts that can fail. I suspect that even the electronics is simpler on an EV than on a modern DV.

Last year more than 40% of all new cars sold in Norway were fully electric.

[savoche]

A few weeks back Mrs. Racer 2.0 and I drove down to White Salmon, Washington to scout the area as a possible place to move when I retire. We got up and left before the sun came up. It was dark when we got home. After driving around the area in and around White Salmon we crossed the Mighty Columbia River on a rickety steel truss bridge to Oregon, and drove back towards Portland before turning North on I-5. Stopped at the Columbia Inn at Kalama (were Elvis Presley and Jack Benny used to stop in back in the day) and had dinner.

About 800 miles, or 1,287 kms.

Child's play.

I just checked, and going from here to Kirkenes up north would be a bit more than 1.800 kms - or 1,137.731 miles - and take some 22-23 hours of nonestop driving (according to Google). If I go through Sweden and Finland, that is. They generally have faster roads. Sticking to Norway (as going through Sweden isn't an option these days) it would be more like 2,400 kms - or 1,474.514 miles - and 32 hours.

Would I want to try that in an EV? Probably not. But I wouldn't attempt that trip in less than 3-4 days anyway, and stopping 5-7 times for a recharge wouldn't change that. Except, of course, that the distances between charging stations up north probably would require a lot of planning to make it feasible.

Come to think of it, going on a 4,800 km round trip with a "city configured" Zoe could be an, umm, interesting expedition. That thing has a range of just over 200 km per charge (actual range with far from "cheap" driving). Charging stations won't be optimally spaced. It doesn't have quick charging. Yep. Interesting it could be,

Then agein, maybe not