Electric car thread

[red750]

The next thing could be Indian vehicles. The Mahindra XUV400 is an electric SUV similar to a Nissan Xtrail which sells in India for the equivalent of $28,900 to $35,433 Australian when converted, depending on model. Mahindra and Tata ICE vehicles have been on sale in Australia for some tome.

[red750]

 

[red750]

MG drops their price below $35,000.

 

https://au.yahoo.com/finance/news/electric-car-drops-below-35000-as-aussie-ev-competition-heats-up-against-tesla-and-byd-012433875.html

[old man emu]

But wait! There's more! With every purchase of a set of steak knives, we'll throw in an EV at no extra cost!

[red750]

Re the earlier comments about the Smart car....

 

[kgwilson]

MG have a lifetime warranty on its EV batteries in China & Thailand & have just announced a 10 year warranty on all of its cars in Australia including EV batteries but with a 250,000 km maximum which is 25,000km a year, much more than most people drive. The China lifetime warranty is limited to 30,000 km per year. When I bought my MG4 it came with a 7 year unlimited km warranty on car & battery.

 

Despite all the wrong headlines rabbiting on about EV sales slumps and EV owners returning to petrol power, by the end of last year there were 40 million on the road world wide, with around 14 million new sales which was a 23% increase on the year before. Current sales are on track for around 10% increase in 2024 with world wide sales of around 17 million. The percentage increase is still well ahead of ICE percentages most of which fell and continue to fall in 2024.

 

https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2024/trends-in-electric-cars

[old man emu]

What is a Lifetime Warranty?

There is no true definition of ‘”lifetime” since every company gets to decide what kind of life they cover and how long that actually lasts. This in turn can lead to assumptions, confusion and a warranty that benefits the company more than the customer. When this warranty applies is also up to the company. So your expectations on the coverage that you think they provide, may not be the reality of what their “lifetime warranty” actually offers.

 

My Dad had this to say about warranties, "Made by the maker. Used by the user. Guaranteed to wear until it wears out".

[spacesailor]

One English engine maker did a lifetime warranty. 

It put it out of existence. 

Someting like ( Trojan ) diesel engine .

Then there was a German two stroke twin cylinder oil injected engine 500 & 600 Lloyd Alexander . By Borgward. 

The engine looks remarkably like a ' Rotax '

spacesailor

Edited August 4 by spacesailor
Image added

[nomadpete]

Sorry Spacey, the Lloyd Hartnett was a air cooled four stroke, with hemi combustion chambers and needle roller bearings. More like a modern motorcycle engine.

 

It was an interesting car. I had a couple when I wore a younger man's clothes.

Edited August 4 by nomadpete

[kgwilson]

2 hours ago, old man emu said:

What is a Lifetime Warranty?

There is no true definition of ‘”lifetime” since every company gets to decide what kind of life they cover and how long that actually lasts. This in turn can lead to assumptions, confusion and a warranty that benefits the company more than the customer. When this warranty applies is also up to the company. So your expectations on the coverage that you think they provide, may not be the reality of what their “lifetime warranty” actually offers.

 

My Dad had this to say about warranties, "Made by the maker. Used by the user. Guaranteed to wear until it wears out".

A lifetime warranty is determined by the list of conditions in the fine print. The headline gets the public interest as that is what it is designed to do & increase sales. The reality usually ends up being disappointing. I bought my last car in 2012 & it had a 5 year warranty with an extra 5 years on the mechanical components but there were heaps of conditions and individual bits that were excluded it was completely confusing. Luckily nothing went wrong in the 10 years.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Just came across a 3 part series and this debrief of a couple who took their model Y Tesla across Australia and back. The infrastructure is expanding and seems they had little problem finding electricity but it did require some forward planning 

 

[onetrack]

A local EV club held an EV car show only a year or two after the Tesla appeared for sale here, it must have been 8 or 9 years ago. One woman there, who was a diehard EV promoter, and who owned a Tesla, told us she and her partner had already done Perth-Sydney and return in the Tesla. 

 

I did a road trip from Echuca (Vic) to Perth in May this year, and I passed several Tesla's on the Nullarbor, a couple even passed me! (I was in a small truck).

 

Edited August 5 by onetrack

[spacesailor]

My brothers " Lloyd Alexander "  wagon .

Was a German made two-stroke .

Cast-iron crankcase with an alloy head .

Separate oil injection .

He had the full set of, sedan , wagon , sport car and van .

spacesailor

 

[facthunter]

When ICE cars first came out there wasn't enough gas stations either. ICE sales are falling according to the latest figures. Hybrids are leading but I don't think They are the answer..  A Slick sales man can convince people that they are, but it combines the worst aspects of both. Nev

[red750]

I'm compiling a library of EV charging locations, starting with the Evie stations, as most cars, including BYD can use them. Many BYD cars are not compatible with Tesla stations. Here are a couple of interesting maps. Note: These maps do not include Tesla or Chargefox , or any of the other brands.

 

The area from Melbourne to Brisbane is fairly well covered. To see all stations, and zoom in for details including pricing click here.

 

 

Most of Victoria is well covered, particularly the metro area.

 

 

There is reasonable coverage from the Gold Coast to the Sunshine Coast.

 

 

However, there are only 4 stations in WA.

 

 

The number represents the available plugs at each station, available at the time of viewing. This changes as cars plug in. Most stations have 4 plugs, ie can charge 4 cars. Rates appear to range from 54c per kWh to 73c per kWh.

 

 

[old man emu]

What stands out glaringly on the diagram with the map of the whole country is the absence of any charging stations on the Newell Highway, which is a very popular route between Melbourne and S-E Queensland. As Red says, he's only showing one company's sites. There are two NRMA chargers in Gilgandra and a few in Dubbo. 

 

Perhaps when completed, you won't be able to see the map for the markers.

[facthunter]

Victoria probably has as much as the rest all put together. Prices will only get cheaper for  electric power and more expensive for Fossil fuel IF we are 1/2 smart.  Nev

[spacesailor]

Surly ! The price of petrol & diesel will drop, as soon as the lack of IC vehicles make a glut of unsold fuel .

Whenever there's a surplus of any commodity,  the price comes down .

spacesailor

[octave]

15 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

Whenever there's a surplus of any commodity,  the price comes down .

The complicating factor is production.  Oil producers manipulate the price by how much they choose to produce.   

[red750]

Chargefox have more stations, particularly in WA and Tas, some of them free. Go to the map here, where you can zoom in and out for details near you. It appears you need an app on your phone for each brand. You log in to the app to start and stop charging, and to pay.Click on a station for details including price. (On the map link above, not these maps.)

 

 

 

[spacesailor]

Not in Australia. 

Out petrol now comes from Singapore by tanker. 

spacesailor

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, red750 said:

You log in to the app to start and stop charging, and to pay.

That has been a bit of a problem when the phone connectivity fails as it can and does happen. I suppose that the power suppliers do some testing to see that phones work. And how many times did your teenage kids excuse not answering your calls to their mobiles, or not calling you to let you know they were OK, by saying their phone was out of charge?

 

Out my way there are 24 hour self-serve fuel pumps that you insert your plastic to get the pump running, then insert again afterwards to pay. One of the aviation fuel distributors has something similar on a few locations, but it cost heaps for the supplier to install the payment system, so they want a lot of fuel sales to make it worthwhile.

 

 

[octave]

2 hours ago, spacesailor said:

Not in Australia. 

Out petrol now comes from Singapore by tanker. 

spacesailor

A substantial part of the price of petrol is the price of crude oil.   This is affected by natural supply and demand but also manipulation by OPEC"

 

"Fluctuations in Mogas 95 and Gasoil are mainly determined by crude oil prices, which are linked to OPEC geopolitics and exchange rates, since the commodity is purchased in US dollars. It’s quite complex."

 

 

Why do petrol prices keep going up, and how is it decided?

 

 

 

 

 

[octave]

HOW DOES OPEC INFLUENCE GLOBAL OIL PRICES?

OPEC says its member states' exports account for about 49% of global crude exports. OPEC estimates that its member countries hold about 80% of the world's proven oil reserves.

Because of its large market share, the decisions OPEC makes can affect global oil prices. Its members meet regularly to decide how much oil to sell on global markets.

As a result, when they lower supply in response to falling demand, oil prices tend to rise. Prices tend to fall when the group decides to supply more oil to the market.

The OPEC+ group is currently cutting output by 5.86 million bpd, equal to about 5.7% of global demand.

The cuts include 3.66 million bpd by OPEC+ members to the end of 2024. A further 2.2 million bpd of voluntary cuts by some members expire at the end of June.

[nomadpete]

9 hours ago, spacesailor said:

My brothers " Lloyd Alexander "  wagon .

Was a German made two-stroke .

Cast-iron crankcase with an alloy head .

Separate oil injection .

He had the full set of, sedan , wagon , sport car and van .

spacesailor

 

Aaah. The aussie version had a different motor!

I had a couple of sedans the same as your picture (they had a poor swing half axle rear suspension) and a waggon which had much better rear suspension.  It even had a way to convert it to a camper.

I think none in Australia had two stroke motors.