EVs and First Responders

[papaof2]

Our local power co-op seems have its toes in the current century - they ran a session of EV safety training for First Responders for them to learn what to and NOT to do at an accident involving an EV.

I'd think the first thing to do to protect everyone is to disconnect the battery (pull the main disconnect, flip the breaker, pull the fuse, whatever) so I'll assume they covered where to find that disconnect and how to get to it (under a cover behind the front seats on some EVs, so you'd have to get the kids and their seats out to even find that disconnect).

That's probably something which should be standardized as to type, placement and means of operation - and something which should require no tools.
Maybe with a sticker on the dash or side windows that has "Type X disconnect" and its location so it can be found quickly?


I saw a video of a "nuts and bolts" mechanic (think tuning a Dodge Challenger) driving a Tesla truck for the first time. He was impressed by its response to the accelerator (the two motor version is rated at about 600HP) but found the electronic dash sadly lacking: "What if it gets damaged Are you just waiting for a tow?"

My thought also.

[gipsy]

The EV craze seems to be dying. It seems they cost more to repair then just junk them.

[papaof2]

I wouldn't mind being in the EV salvage business because you could get a "junked" EV for very little right now and make a small fortune from the few DIY mechanics who want to fix their EVs themselves.
The mechanic who looked over the Cybertruck also looked closely at suspension and brakes and there are NO standard parts which will fit - no aftermarket company is making the regenerative braking system parts for Advance Auto or OReily to sell to the EV DIYer.

[feralferret]

Grandson that works in a Ford factory has one of their hybrid SUVs. It is approaching the end of its battery life. He will definitely NOT be replacing it with another hybrid or an EV. he said the cost of maintaining the brakes and suspension were ridiculous because of the massive weight of the vehicle due to the battery pack weight.

[papaof2]

Some of the things that are NOT mentioned in the EV advertising are the things that will hit you in the wallet. If you have a 454 V8 up front, you have an excellent idea of what it weighs and how much gas it uses. The punchline for jokes about that engine was "it can pass anything but a gas station".
With the short range of some of the early EVs, that just needs a tiny change "it can't pass anything but a gas station - and it might make it to the next charging station".

My opinion at the moment is that people who invest in EVs (EV buyers and investors in EV companies) are about as wise as those who invested in the dot com bust and the derivatives debacle - just following the herd with no research on where the players in that market are likely to end up. As the less favorable 99% of EVs shake out, I think there will be a lot of EVs sold but for very specific market segments. If air pollution is a big deal in an area, the .gov incentives might make it worth getting an EV for city use - but being very aware of when that EV will become expensive to maintain and getting out of it a year before that happens.
Me? I can see having an EV pickup because there's room in the bed for carrying a charger with a useful power output and some fuel. If the charger is a diesel powered generator, I could also carry a useful amount of fuel and "jump start" other EVs at $100 per kWh, minimum of $100. A 240 volt 20KW gen could pump that much power into most EVs as fast as that EV is capable of being charged. If I must buy a new vehicle, it should have some means of paying for itself ;-) At least my configuration avoids having a gas-engine vehicle towing a gasoline-powered generator to provide an EV jump start ;-)


IF the production sodium ion cells actually live up to their hype, they will be lighter than lithium ion cells and provide more power for the same size / weight. As yet, I've not seen an offer on "prototype testing" sodium ion cells that I could afford - $150 shipping for four 18650 cells is not in this retired guy's budget. I have battery cases that will hold the guts of a 12 volt, 7AH AGM battery and if I could fill one with lithium ion cells, another with lithium iron phosphate cells and the third with sodium ion cells, there's a pink kids' Jeep in the basement that I could use for testing. I have a fairly long range 72mHz "land vehicle rated" remote control unit and I would only need a servo with 10kg (maybe 20kg) of turning force to steer that Jeep. I could load the Jeep with whatever weight I wanted to use and test it on flat surface (back driveway), slight grade (road in front of the house) and serious grade (road up from the houses in the cul-de-sac a little way up the road from me. That would allow testing maximum speed at each load with each type battery, maximum distance at a fixed speed on level surface, slight grade and serious grade and eventually how many charge/discharge cycles until loss of appreciable battery capacity. Using the remote control means I could be sitting out under a shade tree and watching for traffic while I did my testing. The battery-under-test would be a plug-in device so I could plug in a charged battery to get the Jeep home if it ran out of power at the wrong place on a hill. That switchover can also be done remotely - I don't plan to use the "gun" feature on the remote control - at least not now ;-)