Infiniti switching to electric and hybrid by 2021
 

Electric cars are here. This is why we haven't seen the replacement for the Z34.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...ds/1038293001/

Ugg, guess I will keeping my Z for a long long time.

Nothing new, there was an article a while back about Nissan switching to all electric too.

I can't drive to and from work in an all Electric. Nissan, I have a pocket full of KMA for ya.

That’s....shocking. Yea!!!!

Have we not already seen that hybrids and all electric vehicles can be pretty damn quick?

This move to electric concerns me, not from the cars not being fast, or fun to drive, but how will enough electricity will be created to power these. I live in apartment, and I have not looked into it, not sure how I would charge my electric car. I do rent a garage and it has an 120v outlet.

The other item, how are these cars to be junk, what about re-sale value. Are the electric cars today, the old technology of tomorrow. Think of your phone and how fast does that change. What about the batteries, is it more harmful to the environment to create them, then the benefits of all electric cars. Yes technology does advance, but at what cost.

Its great to say that this going to happen and look at us, BUT can it be supported.

danegrey,
That's an excellent point. When I was shopping earlier last year I came across prior years' Nissan Leafs. $10k flat. And that was with a perfect battery. So yes, the turnover of the cars and more to the point, the batteries, needs to be addressed.

There is also an issue WRT power distribution in the US for an electrical car revolution. I can't find it ATM, but I recall a study by an engineering society that said billions would have to be invested in electrical transformers to be able to provide the kind of power required should everyone be charging their cars overnight.

For about $1500 you can get a 220V pedestal installed at your home. The Leaf and other electric cars generally come with a 110V adapter you can take with you.

I see two configurations being used in the near term: 1) ICE engine and supplemental electrical motors, with power generated by braking (so no electric only running unless you've put power in the battery) instead of plugging in 2) a small ICE that switches on and runs at optimal RPM to drive an electrical generator and electrical motors for all wheel power (the same model as the diesel-electric locomotives use).

Another issue that must be resolved is the charging plugs. There is the Tesla standard, the Chinese standard, the Japanese standard and the US-European standard. They need to get that down to one. Multiple incompatible charging networks is just stupid.

One of my employees has a new Chevy "Volt" which is option 2 above. I gather it only has like 60 miles of range on straight battery, but it's really designed like a locomotive in that the VVL 4-banger in it runs a genset that in-turn runs the wheels. The battery is just to store any excess power from braking or the genset providing more than required motive power.

There's some story about the EPA not really knowing how to rate the gas mileage of the thing because it's not a normal EV or hybrid, but they eventually settled on like 98mpg.

As for a "car", it's typical Chevy fare; nothing to write home about... But I do like the fact you can use it as a genset for your house if the power goes out. :)

Electrics and hybrid cars have many issues with them including what you mentioned.

First almost all hybrids fundamentally work wrong. They use a gasoline engine to charge the battery and a complex gear box to deliver power. The correct way is to have a diesel charge the battery and the electric motor drive the car. It weights a bit more but you have a more efficient more reliable and more powerful car. The reason why it's not done is diesel in the US has an image problem of being dirty less fueling ability.

The other fundamental problem of all electric cars is that batteries are horrible. Lithium batteries are better but still are not great for hi demand needs and have fire risks unlike other batteries. The fire issue can be reduced enough to make them as safe as a tank of gas but it's an issue the won't completely go away and as you add more batteries for more power the larger the concern is. Next batteries suck at charging you cannot charge them remotely close to the rate you can fill your tank and there is nothing coming in the future to fix that. Next their life span, yes I see sales saying they last 10 years only losing 20%~ of their initial capacity. But that comes with the caveat of never rapid charging, never quickly discharging, never getting too hot, and never getting too cold. Finally they can't work for millions of people in urban areas, and/or people who need to drive more in one day then a single charge can provide, and the massive infrastructure change needed to get everyone else on board.

So what to do? Can't keep fossil fuel cars for ever. So there are 2 ways both need massive infrastructure change but don't make everyday cars worse in any way. Fuel cell cars, yes they have fire issues but so do gasoline tanks and lithium power packs. Production of hydrocarbon fuels through nuclear power and carbon capture. I don't see any other option that doesn't make cars worse then they are currently.

genset

Check this video out
https://youtu.be/ns_0UTOc6X4

He is somewhat full of himself but he really does know his stuff and this video explains why electric cars cannot and will not «*save the planet*»


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Former Navy, sorry. :D

Makes me wonder how much my low mileage 370 would be worth, returned it to stock, if this happens

The only thing more offensive then the Gen1 Volt drive train is the Gen2 Volt drive train. Who the hell uses a chain to deliver power to the driveshaft besides bikes. The volt runs nothing like a locomotive because all motors are directly connected through gears or chains to the driveshaft. The volt was supposed to work like a train but it was scraped because a variable frequency drive was too difficult for their engineers to figure out, Tesla did. So instead everything goes through a massive gearbox unlike a train where they use electronics to adjust the power to the electric motors that power the wheels.
FFS they downgraded to iron magnet DC motors.