The future of ICE auto's is emerging sorry off BMW topic

[88bmwjeff]

Some time age I saw a video and the person speaking claims in a few years, at least in the big cities, most people will not even own a car. For one reason real estate is too expensive to park one. You will get up in the morning and hop into a Uber for your ride to work. He figured there will be many companies like Uber with fleets of vehicles.

I noticed a shift in zoning laws in the big cities in the San Francisco Bay Area from minimum parking requirements to maximum parking requirements. Those in charge are hoping to get people out of their cars into public transit. And, use a carsharing service (e.g. Zipcar) for the few times when a car is needed. I've seem a parking requirement for a minimum number of parking spaces for a carsharing services in newer apartment buildings. The main thought is to have an impact on traffic.

[jgoertz]

ISE magazine (magazine for members of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers) has a great article on the problem of getting the power grid "clean" and the problems that cleaning the grid will cause. I tried to link to the article on-line, but you must be a member of IISE to access the article. If you can find a friend who is an industrial/systems engineer and a member of IISE.org, ask him/her for a copy of the article. In short, the article correctly states that the nation's grid must be fully converted to "green" carbon-free renewable fuels to generate power (and gives examples of how this might be attained) before even considering weaning the country from fossil fuels. If this isn't done first, then the country will only be shifting the problem from the end-user (ICE vehicles) to the power companies.

[nyfty]

At Great Falls I met a young family from the Denver area. Father and Mother, two young girls and a dog. Dad rides but they drove their Tesla so the whole family could attend. I asked them how that worked out, Mom immediately responded that she planned the trip so they could recharge....the car. I asked how long it took but didn't get a firm answer. I can only guess how much time was spent in planning the route. And recharging the car.

[vtbob]

ISE magazine (magazine for members of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers) has a great article on the problem of getting the power grid "clean" and the problems that cleaning the grid will cause. I tried to link to the article on-line, but you must be a member of IISE to access the article. If you can find a friend who is an industrial/systems engineer and a member of IISE.org, ask him/her for a copy of the article. In short, the article correctly states that the nation's grid must be fully converted to "green" carbon-free renewable fuels to generate power (and gives examples of how this might be attained) before even considering weaning the country from fossil fuels. If this isn't done first, then the country will only be shifting the problem from the end-user (ICE vehicles) to the power companies.

This is an excellent point.

Our electrical system is legacy tied to the "tree like" concept of large power plants distributing power out like branches to large areas of users. When we had the Black Outs we learned that this centralized concept could fail and take down large populations of users all at once. This forced the establishment industry to build , some what reluctantly because of the expense, some redundancy in paths so they could reroute power in an emergency.

Now technology is rapidly changing, there are many more power producers, from those of us who have home solar panel, to small solar and wind farms, small digesters make fuel/power scaling to the large renewables like wind / solar / hydro. Also to this mix we have "peak load plants" that can come on line to supply power usual expensive, in time of high energy consumption. The complexity of the grid has and will need to change more. It needs to become a "mesh" or distributed power / switch grid.This is a very expensive but necessary change. Some areas are embracing the future and working toward this. The recent power disaster in Texas last winter document areas that are more reluctant to make these changes.

Getting back to electric cars, our power company is forecasting that electric cars them selves when plugged in can become part of the distribute emergency power back up, just like the Tesla Power Wall which they subsides the home owners purchase now for that reason.

Technology is enabling change, the question is if the government, and the politics that drive government respond in a timely fashion or cling to status quo and the well known ways to profit from that?

Change is always hard, resistance to change is much easier.

[PoorUB]

Yes, N. D. is farm country!

I was hired out to drive grain truck for the neighboring farms at 6 years old! I started driving for my dad and the neighbors noticed and asked if I could help drive for them too. I couldn't push in the clutch and see over the dash at the same time so I had to make sure where the truck was headed for the first few yards!

I remember at about 7 or 8 years old, driving our loaded grain truck home about two miles on country roads. I got home and backed the truck up to the grain auger. I wasn't strong enough to simply pull start the engine on the auger, but I found I could climb up on one of the tires, grab the rope in both hands and jump off and start it. I was unloading the truck when dad showed with the combine up a few minutes later. Then my mom realized I was out there by myself and my dad got a butt chewing! Early on my dad had showed me to avoid the auger. He dropped a pop can into it and I got to watch it get chewed up and he said imagine that was your fingers or toes!

I remember one winter, dad worked on the railroad so he was gone. My sister and I went out to start the tractor and haul hay out to the cattle. It had stormed so I ended up moving a bunch of snow with the tractor and loader. We got the cattle fed and I cleared snow out of the driveway and yard. My dad came home a couple hours later and was happy the snow was cleared. Mom chewed him out for that too. Again I was maybe 7 or 8 years old.

Funny how times change. We did all that growing up and never thought about it. My daughter never pushed a lawn mower until she was married and they had their own home, at 31 years old!

[PoorUB]

Now technology is rapidly changing, there are many more power producers, from those of us who have home solar panel, to small solar and wind farms, small digesters make fuel/power scaling to the large renewables like wind / solar / hydro.

Some European countries, if you build a new home it will have photovoltaic panels on the roof. I saw pictures of a newer development and every home had panels on the roof. This helps with peak power times, and batteries will get you through the night. Very little reliance on utilities, other than the days with bad weather.

It is just a matter of time before it happens here.

[drneo66]

At Great Falls I met a young family from the Denver area. Father and Mother, two young girls and a dog. Dad rides but they drove their Tesla so the whole family could attend. I asked them how that worked out, Mom immediately responded that she planned the trip so they could recharge....the car. I asked how long it took but didn't get a firm answer. I can only guess how much time was spent in planning the route. And recharging the car.

Took me about 20 seconds to plan the route

8 stops were needed over the 1,050 mile trip and (depending on the model), about 2 hours and 25 minutes were spent charging. I'm betting that's less time than needed with 2 small children and a dog

[PGlaves]

"Mercedes-Benz will shift its focus entirely to electric vehicles in 2025 and be prepared to sell nothing but electric cars by 2030, the company said Thursday, adding a caveat that the transition depends on “market conditions.”

Mercedes thus joined a growing list of companies including General Motors, Stellantis and Renault that have declared their intention to hasten the demise of internal combustion engines in favor of battery-powered vehicles with no tailpipe emissions."

See: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/22/b...-vehicles.html

and,

https://electrek.co/2021/07/22/merce...-electric-car/

And then there is the UK:

"If you thought this electric vehicle trend was a passing fad, it looks like the United Kingdom disagrees and is looking to phase out gas burners of all types by 2040, with no new gas-powered motorcycles available for sale after 2035 ..."

See: https://advrider.com/uk-issues-2040-...ent=07_23_2021

They seem to be a bit ahead of Forum curmudgeons.

[Omega Man]

I’m not real interested in “trendy” decisions
OM

[Visian]

I’m not real interested in “trendy” decisions
OM

I hope we can be making a big move toward alternative fuel vehicles by those trendy dates, but I will be really interested to see how they will move large volumes of goods across medium and large distances (he says after slogging east in his RV trailering a motorcycle and two e-bikes on I90 in South Dakota, battling with over-the-road trucks).

[Visian]

Took me about 20 seconds to plan the route

8 stops were needed over the 1,050 mile trip and (depending on the model), about 2 hours and 25 minutes were spent charging. I'm betting that's less time than needed with 2 small children and a dog

I have just spent the last month traveling/riding all over the area in that route, but rarely on the interstate. I did not see one Level 2 charge station the entire time. fwiw, I saw maybe 10 Teslas the entire time. Mostly the sedan, one SUV. Dang, those things look nice.

It sure as hell is nice the Tesla has a route planning tool like this, I think that outfit is gonna win.

Can’t wait to see an electric Sprinter!

[Omega Man]

Chebby Bolt is doing well…… best to park it outside though.

I like the Sprinter. Repair costs and rust kept me from buying one.
OM

[Visian]

I like the Sprinter. Repair costs and rust kept me from buying one.
OM

My old 2006 Sprinter T1N was remarkably rust-free, although this model is notorious for rust if driven in road salt.

When I bought it in 2014, I had what little rust there was retouched and then repainted.



However, this is going to be given to my son to support my grandson's MX racing.... I need to travel with a moto and I don't want problems in remote places. Plus, now I live up a mountain and need AWD. So....I replaced the Sprinter with this:

[Omega Man]

Mercedes? Bluetec diesel? 4X4? Sweet. Hope you have good luck with it.
OM

[weschmann]

I would think electric tow vehicles that pull RVs would be a viable alternative, if they can get a range of 400 miles or so pulling a rig, as every RV campground is already wired for 30/50 amp electric. Maybe incorporate a battery into the RV to extend the range of the tow vehicle and charge every night at the camp sight. Of course, RV sites will increase in cost for the electric charge, but that will happen everywhere. I can see a whole new RV camping model sprouting up next to the highways and biways. Just a matter of imagination, and quite possibly a cultural change in how we move around. Or maybe a gaser and an electric sitting in the driveway. After all, the two car or more per family is a well established process. If we eliminated just half the gasers on the roads we would all start to see the benefits of better air quality.