Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle? | Page 59 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle?

The open hatch to the inside of the tent idea is great - when the AC is running on the Volt it's very quiet and it would definitely keep the tent cool for sleeping...and even plugged into a regular 110v outlet it would maintain the battery. Heck, even unplugged you could probably still run the AC on battery alone for 8-12 hours - it's very efficient.
 
PrivatePilot said:
The open hatch to the inside of the tent idea is great - when the AC is running on the Volt it's very quiet and it would definitely keep the tent cool for sleeping...and even plugged into a regular 110v outlet it would maintain the battery. Heck, even unplugged you could probably still run the AC on battery alone for 8-12 hours - it's very efficient.
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Would(could) it start the ice as the battery ran down and gas you?
 
GreyGhost said:
Would(could) it start the ice as the battery ran down and gas you?
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Well, yes, it could...if the battery depletes to that point.

In this application I'd definately want to leave it plugged in, that's for sure, but even the portable EVSE, likely only on the 8 Amp setting at that, would probably keep up with the AC load. On the 12A charge setting, no issues at all - and most decent campsites have no problems supplying 12A at the post.
 
Hmm interesting thread. I didn't go through all 50 odd pages. Not sure how much Hybrid chatter there has been in here.

Anyway I own a Toyota Camry Hybrid. Great car, one of best car's I have owned in terms of fit finish mechanical quality etc.
I've always wanted something better on fuel and which did something for the environment. Not sure if the latter part has been covered here. I feel better doing something then destroying our planet. No tree hugger but let's face it we are disturbing things enough.

The car itself gets pretty much the fuel mileage it is rated for. It's not underrated like you typically would find. Of course this all depends how you drive it which matters a little more with Hybrids. Putting it into electric mode does help, and as a Hybrid driver at times this becomes a bit of a game challenge to see if you can do it. Makes driving a little more fun at times. It also makes sense not to have the gas engine running when you are sitting at a red, or stuck inching along on the 401. Downtown driving is the best mostly all electric. I call that stealth mode, the car barely makes any noise. I'll be surprised other time when I don't pay it much attention and I would think it was in gas mode but it is in electric.

The car is a bit of a compromise and somewhat a gimmick at other times. I have been driving more highway routes and well that really impacts fuel consumption which has increased, not a whole lot but some. In winter there is not much benefit.
In summer things are totally different, I can cruse around for a couple days with 1/16 in the tank. The weak parts are lack of real electric accelerating power forcing you into gas mode. The need for larger batteries. Those times stuck on the 401 I can deplete the batteries a couples of times in one trip.

When I got the car I noticed a $20 drop a week in my gas spending.
 
$20/week adds up ... I'm still running on the same tank of gas I filled up back in January with. I'm at half a tank now but damn, I could almost go a full year on the same tank.
 
LBV said:
$20/week adds up ... I'm still running on the same tank of gas I filled up back in January with. I'm at half a tank now but damn, I could almost go a full year on the same tank.
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Make sure you are running ethanol free gas. Fancy injection systems and old ethanol filled fuels are not friends. I would try to run a tank through at least every 3 months or so to avoid expensive future problems.
 
GreyGhost said:
Make sure you are running ethanol free gas. Fancy injection systems and old ethanol filled fuels are not friends. I would try to run a tank through at least every 3 months or so to avoid expensive future problems.
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Common practice to add seafoam/stabilizer for volt owners?
 
I'm not sure who's got ethanol-free premium gas to be honest?? Shell as I recall?

The Volt will run the engine periodically and it's supposed to use it up within a year but I don't know ... I might let it go that long if I can.

Ever since I bought my Mustang last summer I've been taking it when long journey's are called for ... much more fun on the highway or twisties ... but that's meant the Volt hasn't needed it's engine in some time.
 
Sorry guys, haven't been around much, been on the scoot since Sunday. 4000KM down, 600 more to go tomorrow before home tomorrow.

Anyhow, re ethanol gas, the engineers thought of that - the Volt has a special vacuum system that keeps the fuel tank under a fairly strong vacuum and accordingly negates much of the phase separation issues that is the underlying issue with Ethanol gasolines. There's a specific fueling process that the car follows that depletes this vacuum beforehand - I'll take photos and share more in the coming days.
 
Esso premium is no longer ethanol free. At this point, Canadian Tire premium, Costco premium, and Shell premium are the only ethanol free options. Esso used to be, but about 2 or 3 years ago they started adding ethanol to their premium as well.

Anyhow, FWIW we use Costco premium in our Volt, so we are ethanol free, but due to the vacuum system it's not really a huge issue regardless - what exaserbates phase separation is the exchange of air in and out of the tank as part of the daily heat/cool cycle - cool nights, sunny hot days. Traditional fuel tanks "breathe" in and out and at night humid cool air is drawn into the tank and phase separation occurs....which with fuel left sitting for long periods (which is the main reason you should avoid ethanol fuels in small engines like lawnmowers, snowblowers, weed eaters etc which are traditionally left sitting for long periods with the same fuel) causes phase separation.

For cars that use a lot of fuel regularly it's not really an issue as the fuel doesn't sit long enough to generate any amount of water volume, but for something like a Volt where the same fuel can be in the tank for a year before the computer determines some of all of it MUST be used (a cycled called "Fuel Maintenance Mode") the vacuum system helps eliminate a lot of the issue as the tank doesn't breathe like a traditional cars fuel system.
 
I would just add .... I would not fill up to the max, if you use very little fuel and rather stop by to take more gas once in two months or so. But sounds like GM handles it pretty well.
 
mxs said:
I would just add .... I would not fill up to the max, if you use very little fuel and rather stop by to take more gas once in two months or so. But sounds like GM handles it pretty well.
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Lots of people that don't use the ICE regularly on the Volt do carry very little fuel, but most do it for weight savings - which IMHO probably has little to no effect overall on electric range, honestly. Arguably, carrying less than a full tank of fuel is *worse* for phase separation/ethanol issues as it allows more space for air to flow in and out of the tank - on a normal car (or motorcycle, etc) at least. This is the reason when you read about proper small engine storage the either recommend leaving the fuel tank completely full - the less air in there the less the tank "breathes", and then less surface area left open for rust to start to form as well.
 
That makes sense, but there's amount to take to "force" you take some fresh gas regularly, like 1 x 2 months. It's not going to separate much in that time.

But, as you said, it's not an issue on the Volt much anyway.
 
Much info

I took a regular walk to the corner to see the outcome of another crash. I live near one of the more crash prone intersections in TO.

Had a chat with one of the fire fighters there doing clean up and discussed the risks of electrical explosions. He indicated they have no set procedure for dealing with EV's. The jaws of life could be jaws of death. I'm sure there is a procedure but he wasn't aware of it other than a main disconnect supposedly in the trunk (Possibly under all the household junk and groceries)

Re the smart car, the only real advantage is parking space. Simply shortening a Yaris or Accent by a few feet would achieve the same results but IMO the tradeoff isn't worth the end result. Comedian Ron James commented "Why do they call it a smart car when you look so dumb driving it?"

Employers resisting paying for electrical usage at work:

My accountant figures they lose an hour per day per employee due to employee net surfing so the hydro costs just become another perk like free coffee and internet. That is if the usage is minimal but if we all go EV and the employer has to put in megabucks of wiring and upgrades it's a new ball game.

Re the condo lady getting her circuit disconnected:

I don't know if the board was being narrow minded or forward thinking. If she had approached the board and they agreed to allow her to plug in it could have been treated as a one off experiment to study future considerations. An unfavourable result could have been covered to minimize costs to everyone if things didn't work out.

If they allow Mrs. Jones to plug in how do they say no to Mr. Smith and a few hundred others.

Again this is a northern climate issue due to winter temperatures so more related to Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary etc.

The block heater, even if on its own 15 amp breaker and drawing 4-5 amps still leads back to a panel and building transformer that has to carry the load. One vehicle drawing an extra 6-7 amps wouldn't cause much of a problem but some garages here have over 400 cars. That could put an extra 200 Kw load on the building transformer and the general hydro network. At what point does the straw break the camels back?

Also the block heaters only get used in the winter but Ev's use power all year. Some load capacities are seasonally shared because one doesn't tend to run electric snow melting and electric outdoor pool heat at the same time.
 
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nobbie48 said:
Had a chat with one of the fire fighters there doing clean up and discussed the risks of electrical explosions. He indicated they have no set procedure for dealing with EV's. The jaws of life could be jaws of death. I'm sure there is a procedure but he wasn't aware of it other than a main disconnect supposedly in the trunk (Possibly under all the household junk and groceries)
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Interesting. My wifes old focus had a button in the passenger foot well that had to be pressed after a crash to reconnect the fuel pump. You would think EV's would have an automatic disconnect very close to the pack that tripped with a substantial crash and required a manual reset. Preferably with some sort of deployed marker. I am thinking quite a few green led's throughout the car to provide light and let everyone know the pack was disconnected (although first responders would still have to be careful if the crash was heavy enough that the pack sustained physical damage). It's pretty damned simple to add, it would just cost a bit as what are EV's pulling now for amperage, IIRC hundreds so it would be a big disconnect. If the motor controller was located close enough to the pack, it could probably also serve as a disconnect.

Even residential solar installations are now including a disconnect located close to the panels so firefighters can easily find it and kill all sources of power to the building for their safety. It is crazy that first responders need to find a manual internal disconnect inside cars.
 
nobbie48 said:
Had a chat with one of the fire fighters there doing clean up and discussed the risks of electrical explosions. He indicated they have no set procedure for dealing with EV's. The jaws of life could be jaws of death. I'm sure there is a procedure but he wasn't aware of it other than a main disconnect supposedly in the trunk (Possibly under all the household junk and groceries)

.
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Then he's just a plain dummy, and I hope to hell he won't be the one responding to my emergency.

there are all kinds of published guides for first responders to deal with electric vehicle crashes. its up to him to educate himself as the professional he purports to be rather than claim "I'm sure there is a procedure somewhere" and his jaws of death. SMH.


https://www.tesla.com/en_CA/firstresponders

http://www.ncdoi.com/OSFM/RPD/PT/Documents/Coursework/EV_SafetyTraining/EV EFG Classroom Edition.pdf
 
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GreyGhost said:
Interesting. My wifes old focus had a button in the passenger foot well that had to be pressed after a crash to reconnect the fuel pump. You would think EV's would have an automatic disconnect very close to the pack that tripped with a substantial crash and required a manual reset. Preferably with some sort of deployed marker. I am thinking quite a few green led's throughout the car to provide light and let everyone know the pack was disconnected (although first responders would still have to be careful if the crash was heavy enough that the pack sustained physical damage). It's pretty damned simple to add, it would just cost a bit as what are EV's pulling now for amperage, IIRC hundreds so it would be a big disconnect. If the motor controller was located close enough to the pack, it could probably also serve as a disconnect.

Even residential solar installations are now including a disconnect located close to the panels so firefighters can easily find it and kill all sources of power to the building for their safety. It is crazy that first responders need to find a manual internal disconnect inside cars.
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It's in the arm rest on the Volt.

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread...oadable-materials-from-Chevrolet#/topics/7621

Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk
 
SunnY S said:
Then he's just a plain dummy, and I hope to hell he won't be the one responding to my emergency.

there are all kinds of published guides for first responders to deal with electric vehicle crashes. its up to him to educate himself as the professional he purports to be rather than claim "I'm sure there is a procedure somewhere" and his jaws of death. SMH.


https://www.tesla.com/en_CA/firstresponders

http://www.ncdoi.com/OSFM/RPD/PT/Documents/Coursework/EV_SafetyTraining/EV EFG Classroom Edition.pdf
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I agree the fire fighter should know better.

It's good that tesla has that website but it's a huge fail. Htf is an average firefighter supposed to know which of the 4 model S emergency responder guides applies to the wreck in front of them? Then once you pick one of the 28 page brochures, there are helpful instructions like cut here (in the right side of the frunk) unless it is a newer model then cut there (in the left rear side door) (a newer model? wtf, this is like a lottery breaking into compartments to see if you can find the disconnect). That's unacceptably complicated for people trying to save lives. That website should have a single picture on the page for each model showing the location of the disconnect. If Tesla wants to move the disconnect, it needs to happen upon model change, not tons of running changes. Musk at his finest again.

EDIT:
It looks like too many teslas were surviving crashes so the change was implemented to destroy more cars. You cut wires on the older cars, on the newer cars you plunge a saw 6" through the unibody below the C pillar.
 
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