I think you're right, Ben, but I don't think that plug-in hybrids should
be part of the charter. If someone wants to ask questions or discuss
how to add EV capabilities to an existing vehicle (ICE or hybrid or
whatever), that's fine. But I don't want to see discussions on the
merits of hybrids and how to fine tune them to best performance. I
don't think that helps advance the principles of EVs.
For example, it's one thing to discuss the latest advancements in
battery technology or the functionality of a BMS. It's another thing
to argue over the best balance between ICE performance when augmented
with an electric motor.
My feelings orient towards the lofty vision of a pure EV world where
high electrical energy storage is practical and the standard vehicle is
powered by such storage device and an electric motor. Hybrids and
anything else that relies on a supplementary fuel supply is a
distraction and simply an intermediate solution.
So, yes, let's encourage people to buy or build hybrids and other
intermediary vehicles but let's not change evdl from focusing on the
more distant, abstract goal.
Peri
------ Original Message ------
From: "Ben Goren via EV" <ev@lists.evdl.org>
To: "Lee Hart" <leeah...@earthlink.net>; "Electric Vehicle Discussion
List" <ev@lists.evdl.org>
Sent: 22-Nov-14 10:38:59 AM
Subject: Re: [EVDL] Charter change?
On Nov 22, 2014, at 11:20 AM, Lee Hart via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org>
wrote:
So, how about if the charter restricts it to "vehicles powered by
electric motors and a fuel source *other than* conventional gasoline,
diesel, or other fossil fuels?
In other words, itemize what "fuel sources" the list is NOT for
discussing
Even then, I don't think there should be a "one drop" purity test.
Plugin hybrids are, in many instances, almost exclusively electric
vehicles in practice. I don't think the Volt or the new BMW should be
verboten, especially considering that few owners of those vehicles will
stop at a gas station more than a couple times a year despite driving
them daily.
If the vehicle gets a significant portion of its motive energy from an
external source of electricity, it should be fair game. How the vehicle
stores that energy onboard, and whether or not the vehicle also takes
on energy from non-electric sources, shouldn't matter.
The Honda Insight shouldn't be a suitable vehicle for discussion, but,
if somebody comes here owning an Insight and wants to replace / expand
the battery pack and add a cable to plug it into the wall, we should be
excited to help that person do so, even if the gasoline engine stays
onboard after the modifications. (And, yes, part of the advice should
be to consider ditching the gasoline engine in favor of expanded
electric performance, but, though that's often a good idea, it's not
always the most suitable option.)
Of course, it's easy to imagine a big auto manufacturer creating a
"compliance vehicle" that's a typical non-plugin hybrid with a tiny
battery and the addition of a plug that'll give the vehicle a mile or
three of electric range. I think we'd want to know about those sorts of
vehicles and how to discourage their use; or, alternately, be open to
helping people with modifications to such vehicles to give them
meaningful all-electric ranges.
We all here acknowledge that BEVs aren't yet one-size-fits-all
solutions, and that there are many real-world scenarios where they're
not suitable. What I don't personally understand is why so many
encourage the use of a separate pure-gasoline vehicle to fill those
gaps and discourage the use of a plugin hybrid. Two cars are better
than one...because...why...?
b&
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