The latest on the Bolt
* Testing a just over 200 miles of range
* 55 preproduction models
* $30k after fed tax incentives
* Set to ship end of 2016

Nissan is going to up the LEAF to about 100 miles of range by end of this year and seems to be looking to introduce the next gen in late 2017 with 250 miles of range.

This is the most exciting news story to me though
The founder / inventor of A123 has a new battery startup. This one doesn't focus on really any new battery chemistry, but reexamining the way batteries have been made for 15 years. This is one of those "why didn't I think of it" changes, the tech has been lying around since A123 and proven to work, its just a different application. The result are batteries that can be made much faster, much cheaper, much lighter, and with much less capital equipment cost.

I have a problem keeping an iPhone iPad and laptop charged for daily use...can only imagine the headaches of charging to be able to make my 60 mile commute a day and the 25,000 miles I drive a year.

The current technology has a long way to go before I pay any attention.

(06-30-2015 06:52 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I have a problem keeping an iPhone iPad and laptop charged for daily use...can only imagine the headaches of charging to be able to make my 60 mile commute a day and the 25,000 miles I drive a year.

The current technology has a long way to go before I pay any attention.

There's already a wireless charging kit for the Nissan LEAF and the next gen models will likely come with it built in. I always thought it was a silly feature, but my wife drove my EV for a week, she would definitely need it to drive one full time. With wireless charging you'll pull into your driveway or garage and in a couple hours have a full charge again.

With Pure EV ranges getting this high, I expect plug-in hybrids to have 50+ mile ranges soon too.

How do people with these things drive longer distances for trips, business and vacations more than a couple hours away from the plug?

I have a friend whose wife has a Volt and they love it. She probably only drives 100 miles a week, though. I can do that by lunch depending on where my court appearances are. I drive 8+ hours in a Honda without a stop other than to hit the bathroom on the way to the house in Michigan. I just don't get electric for how many households and individuals travel. Most would need a second car or a rental just to get around regularly on longer excursions. If I lived in the city and hardly left the zip code I would understand. It's just not practical for many yet. Especially when I can get a new car without tax credits with similar features or better for less.

I think they are cool. I will keep an eye on the technology improvements for down the road.

(06-30-2015 06:16 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  How do people with these things drive longer distances for trips, business and vacations more than a couple hours away from the plug?

I have a friend whose wife has a Volt and they love it. She probably only drives 100 miles a week, though. I can do that by lunch depending on where my court appearances are. I drive 8+ hours in a Honda without a stop other than to hit the bathroom on the way to the house in Michigan. I just don't get electric for how many households and individuals travel. Most would need a second car or a rental just to get around regularly on longer excursions. If I lived in the city and hardly left the zip code I would understand. It's just not practical for many yet. Especially when I can get a new car without tax credits with similar features or better for less.

I think they are cool. I will keep an eye on the technology improvements for down the road.

So the Volt is like a Prius with a much larger battery pack. So even if the battery is near empty, you can hop in a Volt and drive as long as there is gas in it. The new one coming out goes 50 miles on electric. So if the owner charges it every night, they could eliminate paying for gas for ~18k miles a year.

Fully battery electrics, like the LEAF and Tesla are another story. The LEAF (which I have) isn't getting you anywhere beyond a radius of your garage. Its fine for me, 100% of my personal miles are in that range. It gets me to the airport (where it can charge) and anywhere around town. For road trips with the family we use my wife's van.

Right now the Tesla is the only pure battery electric you can drive like a gas car. It'll go 3 hours on the interstate and then you charge it for about 30 minutes and drive another 3 hours. The chargers are "free" (built into the cost of the car) and can now get you pretty much anywhere worth going in the US. The chargers are getting faster too, Tesla announced a liquid cooled cable, so that they can go beyond the 120kW they're at today. Today's batteries could charge in ~20 minutes if given enough power, next gen batteries probably ~10 - 15 minutes given the power.