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Old 01-10-2020, 12:13 AM   #241
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bpjod View Post
Regarding vehicle fires, you realize that every year in the US alone there are more than 171,000 gas vehicles that catch on fire (nearly 500 every day!)? [Source: FEMA Highway Vehicle Fires 2014-2016]

Meanwhile, in electric vehicle land, you can read about every electric vehicle that's ever caught on fire. It's a short read, it won't take you long.

In 2019 alone:

Feb: Hyundai, Kia recall over 500,000 vehicles due to engine fire risk
Feb: Honda Recalling 106,683 Pickups for Catching Fire When Washed
Mar: Audi Recalls Nearly 75,000 Vehicles Due To Fire Risk
Apr: 327K Ford F-Series pickups recalled again for potential fire hazard
Apr: BMW adds 185,000 vehicles to total recall of 925,000 over fire risk
Sep: 494,000 Ram trucks recalled for fire hazard - Detroit Free Press
Oct: FCA Recalling 160K Ram Pickups for Potential Fire Issue
Nov: Fiat Chrysler is recalling over 110,000 vans in North America because cooling fan motors can overheat and cause fires
Nov: Nissan recalls over 450,000 vehicles for risk of fire
Nov: GM recalls 640,000 pickups for fire risk
Nov: More than 500K Ford pickups recalled over post-crash interior fire risk

This was just a quick search. I'm sure there are more.

Frankly I can't figure out why anyone would ever sit down in a vehicle powered by exploding a highly flammable fuel if they were worried about fires, but humans are notoriously poor at assessing risk.

Another important point is the nature of the fires. Electric vehicle fires are typically very slow to start and when they do start, they slowly build up. There's usually plenty of time to escape. Gasoline is far more explosive and can suddenly explode with little to no warning.
Really ? Electric vehicles Not ! Pat
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Old 01-10-2020, 07:04 AM   #242
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In my other neighborhood where I lived for 25 years, mainly 2 car garage homes, there were several fires caused by, not cars, but older refrigerators/freezers used to store overflow food and beer. Once in the garage it seems preventative maintenance such as defrosting or cleaning the coils ends and buildup of debris causes overheating. One house was destroyed....with both vehicles inside.
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Old 01-18-2020, 09:35 AM   #243
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If you have unfinished concrete floors, the concrete itself will spall minute dust particles and ruin your refrigerator.

Most dust in garages is spalled from the concrete itself. This is why I believe in epoxy resin for concrete so much.
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Old 06-20-2020, 11:05 AM   #244
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Cybertruck and 5.0?

I know it's a controversial topic, but personally I love the idea of an electric truck as my tow vehicle. The tesla cybertruck will have both 120 and 240v output so you could literally boondock for weeks with the amount of storage available. Running the air conditioner, going all electric with induction cooking and electric refrigerators would be no problem at all. You would just want to make sure to leave another juice in the tank to get to the nearest supercharger.....

Also I've been having transmission issues with my gmc canyon diesel, the torque converter in particular. I find it super appealing that EVs will be much more reliable with such few moving parts.

All that said, I have a 5.0 fifth wheel, and the only thing keeping me from committing to the cybertruck are those damn walls sloping over the bed....practically makes it impossible to tow a fifth wheel, with an anderson hitch anyway. But maybe the large dimensions will allow it to work, I'll have to wait and see.
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Old 06-23-2020, 10:42 AM   #245
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I know it's a controversial topic, but personally I love the idea of an electric truck as my tow vehicle. The tesla cybertruck will have both 120 and 240v output so you could literally boondock for weeks with the amount of storage available. Running the air conditioner, going all electric with induction cooking and electric refrigerators would be no problem at all. You would just want to make sure to leave another juice in the tank to get to the nearest supercharger.....

Also I've been having transmission issues with my gmc canyon diesel, the torque converter in particular. I find it super appealing that EVs will be much more reliable with such few moving parts.

All that said, I have a 5.0 fifth wheel, and the only thing keeping me from committing to the cybertruck are those damn walls sloping over the bed....practically makes it impossible to tow a fifth wheel, with an anderson hitch anyway. But maybe the large dimensions will allow it to work, I'll have to wait and see.
EV's are the wave of the future and the future is now. I pay a lot of attention to Tesla since I'm invested. For example yesterday Tesla announced that they have over 650,000 preorders for the Cybertruck which is amazing if even half of the customers follow through. Today the news was that Tesla controls 80% of the EV market in the USA. In Q1 during the pandemic Tesla sold 88,000 vehicles in China.

The market capitalization of Tesla is now more than all Big Three American automakers combined. That's hard to wrap oneself around. Kind like the fact that when I was a kid we did practically all our shopping at the Sears in Coral Gables, Fl. If you are over 70 you remember: batteries, tires, sneakers, fall school clothes, sit in Santa Claus's lap -- the whole works. Gone. Poof.

The Cybertruck is a beast with towing capability of over 14,000 pounds and a estimated driving range of 500-plus miles.

I'm not a fan of trucks but I could see myself buying an Tesla EV if it is eventually produced in a form similar to my 4Runner.
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Old 06-23-2020, 12:48 PM   #246
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One concern with the EV truck would be how to recharge when boondocking. Would one be hauling a generating beefy enough to charge it up. There goes the peace n quiet one is looking for.
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Old 06-23-2020, 01:54 PM   #247
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The Cybertruck is a beast with towing capability of over 14,000 pounds and a estimated driving range of 500-plus miles.
Yeah. What's the range while towing 14,000 pounds - or for us Escapers, 5,000 pounds? In the mountains? That remains the unanswered question. We'll see when it comes around. I think EVs are great, but they're still untested in our little part of the world.
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Old 06-23-2020, 02:43 PM   #248
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One concern with the EV truck would be how to recharge when boondocking. Would one be hauling a generating beefy enough to charge it up. There goes the peace n quiet one is looking for.
I'm not getting your drift. If I am boondocking I disconnect the TV from the trailer. My trailer has solar. All the appliances except AC run off of propane. Why would you need to recharge?
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Old 06-23-2020, 03:05 PM   #249
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I'm not getting your drift. If I am boondocking I disconnect the TV from the trailer. My trailer has solar. All the appliances except AC run off of propane. Why would you need to recharge?
The truck would only go so far before needing a recharge. Do I always want to be thinking about only going half way because I need a round trip?
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Old 06-23-2020, 03:08 PM   #250
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The truck would only go so far before needing a recharge. Do I always want to be thinking about only going half way because I need a round trip?

We do that on gas, however a can of gas is easier to transport. Could always camp under the power lines, I suppose.
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Old 06-23-2020, 05:57 PM   #251
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Anyone looking into the Rivian truck?
https://rivian.com/
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Old 06-23-2020, 10:58 PM   #252
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Anyone looking into the Rivian truck?
https://rivian.com/
In the previous 250 posts of this thread, discussion of Rivian started at post #5... so, yes.
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Old 06-24-2020, 07:11 AM   #253
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The truck would only go so far before needing a recharge. Do I always want to be thinking about only going half way because I need a round trip?
Do you always have to think about a round trip when you could stop and either gas up or recharge half-way?
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Old 06-24-2020, 09:25 AM   #254
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Do you always have to think about a round trip when you could stop and either gas up or recharge half-way?
Not always, but when I'm going to SE Oregon, yes, I have to. Gas stations can be far apart, and EV chargers are even farther apart. Range is an important feature in the West.
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Old 06-24-2020, 10:26 AM   #255
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We do that on gas, however a can of gas is easier to transport. Could always camp under the power lines, I suppose.
An article today in Barron's titled: Another Electric Pickup Truck Is Coming. Here’s What You Need to Know.

Just what are they thinking?
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Old 06-24-2020, 10:54 AM   #256
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An article today in Barron's titled: Another Electric Pickup Truck Is Coming. Here’s What You Need to Know.

Just what are they thinking?
The writer of the Barron's article seems relatively clueless - missing that the Lordstown truck was announced long ago and that Nikola has largely been dismissed as a fraud - but has one point right: the sweet spot of commercial use of electric vehicles is in local applications, not long-haul. It always has been, and in some categories electric vehicles have long histories of success. For instance, we never really had them here, but in Britain electric milk floats were common.

Of course, local delivery service is essentially the opposite of towing a travel trailer.
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Old 06-24-2020, 11:31 AM   #257
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The local Airstream dealer is playing with a Model 3. An Escape should also qualify as an aerodynamic design in my opinion. I imagine the experiment has been going quite slowly with the COVID-19 thing going on.

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Old 06-24-2020, 12:19 PM   #258
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The writer of the Barron's article seems relatively clueless - missing that the Lordstown truck was announced long ago and that Nikola has largely been dismissed as a fraud - but has one point right: the sweet spot of commercial use of electric vehicles is in local applications, not long-haul. It always has been, and in some categories electric vehicles have long histories of success. For instance, we never really had them here, but in Britain electric milk floats were common.

Of course, local delivery service is essentially the opposite of towing a travel trailer.
Funny you mention Nikola. I invested in Vecto an acquisition company which did a reverse merger with Nikola several weeks ago (NKLA). I bought in at $10.50 a share and it's now slightly north of $71 a share. I hope all of these investors do not catch on to the fact that Nikola "has been dismissed as a fraud" or I am in a world of hurt. Nikola’s business model is to produce zero-emission Class 8 trucks and provide all-inclusive service and maintenance as well as access to a network of hydrogen fueling stations. The hydrogen fuel cells should provide these Class 8 trucks with an approximate 600 mile range. It all may be 'pie in the sky'. I guess we will find out soon enough. The company's homepage can be seen here. Bearing in mind of course that its the company doing the horn blowing.

Charging stations are quietly popping up everywhere. So I think at some point in the not too distant future assuming one owns an EV they will not be limited to camping under a 750,000 volt transmission line in order to top off the batteries.
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Old 06-24-2020, 03:03 PM   #259
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Funny you mention Nikola. I invested in Vecto an acquisition company which did a reverse merger with Nikola several weeks ago (NKLA). I bought in at $10.50 a share and it's now slightly north of $71 a share. I hope all of these investors do not catch on to the fact that Nikola "has been dismissed as a fraud" or I am in a world of hurt.
Yes, the market valuation of Nikola, which has no production facilities and no technology, is wildly out of whack and shows the gullibility of many investors. As long as investors sell before the whole thing crashes, they'll do okay.

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Nikola’s business model is to produce zero-emission Class 8 trucks and provide all-inclusive service and maintenance as well as access to a network of hydrogen fueling stations.
That's Nikola's proposal. Their business model is straight fraud: when they showed their highway tractor and claimed that it was a functional fuel cell vehicle, it didn't even have either a fuel cell or electric motors installed in it. The hydrogen fuel cell idea replaces the natural gas turbine hybrid design which the company poured millions into before the founder changed his mind. Some involved may genuinely believe it will all work in the end, but companies working on it (Nikola has no expertise itself) are just taking advantage of the flowing cash. It's even worse than a typical well-intentioned "build a better vehicle to save the world" startup.

In the real world, a number of companies including Toyota and Hyundai have built and demonstrated actual fuel-cell trucks (that is, real trucks which haul real loaded trailers down real roads), without needing to raise billions of dollars of capital to do it. There's even a local project in Alberta (AZETEC) building a couple of them to demonstrate the technology in applications specifically suited to this area (heavy Super-B rigs). It can work, but it's just not practical and viable yet... and may never be.

Of course, this is not about battery-electric trucks, which is the subject of this thread.
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Old 06-24-2020, 03:47 PM   #260
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I should have asked your advice before I bought 750 shares.
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