Electric Car in your future?

[RCW]

Not a pro or con, but my SIL is obviously interested in Radian trucks. What surprised me was the curb weight of the truck. Something like 7,000 lbs. or so.

I wondered what kind of payload a light duty truck might have, or what the suspension, brakes and tires are needed for a truck pushing 10k pounds?

Honestly, wasn’t interested enough myself to look it up….

 

[TheOldHokie]

Not a pro or con, but my SIL is obviously interested in Radian trucks. What surprised me was the curb weight of the truck. Something like 7,000 lbs. or so.

I wonder what kind of payload a light duty truck might have. Honestly, not interested enough myself to look it up….

I was interested so I did - according to Wikipedia:

R1T has a max GVWR of 8,532 lb (3,870 kg) at maximum payload of 1,700 lb (770 kg

As such it will be classed as a heavy duty truck.

Dan

 

[jimh406]

There aren't any EVs that can do what my F450 can do. They also don't have the range required if you live where there isn't many charging stations.

Some states have a lot of charging stations, but if you look it up, you'll find that Montana, SD, ND, Idaho, and Wyoming have about 1000 combined in spite of the amount of area. That's not even close to be workable for many people.

Also, the initial cost to buy one is extreme especially considering the limitations.

 

[Oil pan 4]

I can make my own electricity a lot easier than I can make my own gasoline.

Actually it would save more gas if in stead of 5% of electric vehicles being sold we had a large portion of hybrid cars being sold. The US could be exporting gasoline but the federal government decided to pick electric cars to be the winner.
An electric car might save 400 gallons of gas per year.
If an electric car battery was used to make hybrid cars at least 30 hybrid cars could be made with that much battery. Hybrids can save 50 to 100 gallons of gas per vehicle per year.
No one has to worry about range or "who's going to pay road taxes" or mu powa grid.

 

[jimh406]

An electric car might save 400 gallons of gas per year.
If an electric car battery was used to make hybrid cars at least 30 hybrid cars could be made with that much battery. Hybrids can save 50 to 100 gallons of gas per vehicle per year.
No one has to worry about range or "who's going to pay road taxes" or mu powa grid.

I agree that more focus should be put on hybrid cars/trucks.

 

[DaveFromMi]

I agree that more focus should be put on hybrid cars/trucks.

Also agreed, but TPTB have determined that we travel too much.

 

[armylifer]

When I talked with my neighbor that bought a hybrid Jeep Wrangler about operating costs, he mentioned that if he parks it with a 100% charge and does not drive it for a few days that the percent of charge will be around 80% the next time he uses it. To me, it does not make any sense at all to have energy you already paid for just disappear because you did not use it. If I fill the tank on my car or truck and park it for a week or any length of time, the next time that I use it I still have a full tank of fuel left. No energy loss just by sitting unused.

 

[DustyRusty]

The same thing happens with my wifes 2005 PT Cruiser. If she doesn't drive it for a week it will still start, but if it sits for 2 weeks, the battery is too low to start. It is because the electronics in the car are always drawing power. The same thing happens with an electric car, the electronics are always drawing power. We have a Spectrum cable box in the home, and if you disconnect it from the outlet, it takes about 5 minutes to power back up and reload the channel information. It is also always drawing power. The same with the television set, computer, and who knows what else. Today almost everything electric will have some parasitic drain on power. The only time that our electric meter stops spinning is when the utility has a power outage.

 

[lynnmor]

I often wondered how much power is lost over time. The example given about the Wrangler seems to be extreme and that amount of waste would be much more than just parasitic losses. There must be some loss over time and the manufacturers as well as the government agencies owe it to the people to post the figure, they sure post the MPG on the windows.

 

[armylifer]

I often wondered how much power is lost over time. The example given about the Wrangler seems to be extreme and that amount of waste would be much more than just parasitic losses. There must be some loss over time and the manufacturers as well as the government agencies owe it to the people to post the figure, they sure post the MPG on the windows.

I cannot opine why the power loss but I can say that they do not drive much. The car sits sometimes more than a week without being driven. In any case, I agree with you that we should be informed how much power is lost over time. With all the computers that are in vehicles these days it seems to me that we should be able to turn off unnecessary systems to mitigate parasitic power loss.

 

[GeoHorn]

Sooo….I wonder how an EV will do here in Texas summers when I go inside for 10 minutes and leave the truck running so the AC keeps the interior cool (either for my return or for whomever is sitting in the car waiting)….. ??

 

[Daferris]

In the case of my Volt I have left it in plugged at a airport for 10 days in the dead of winter and had the exact same range in miles when I got back that I had when I left. I suspect that that jeep has an electrical issue...

 

[William1]

The same thing happens with my wifes 2005 PT Cruiser. If she doesn't drive it for a week it will still start, but if it sits for 2 weeks, the battery is too low to start. It is because the electronics in the car are always drawing power. The same thing happens with an electric car, the electronics are always drawing power. We have a Spectrum cable box in the home, and if you disconnect it from the outlet, it takes about 5 minutes to power back up and reload the channel information. It is also always drawing power. The same with the television set, computer, and who knows what else. Today almost everything electric will have some parasitic drain on power. The only time that our electric meter stops spinning is when the utility has a power outage.

My truck is only driven 3,000 miles a year. I have to keep it on a maintainer or the battery goes dead. Wife's car, most of her trips are short and the car can sit for a week, so it too, has to be on a maintainer. Both because of parasitic draw.

 

[Fordtech86]

100% charge and does not drive it for a few days that the percent of charge will be around 80% the next time he uses it. To me, it does not make any sense at all to have energy you already paid for just disappear because you did not use it.

Disclaimer: I know nothing of the jeep in question.

Its likely more of a programming/strategy reason that it displays the charge percentage like that. The high voltage battery/circuits are disconnected by multiple disconnects which run off the 12 volt side of the system. Normal parasitic draws are on the 12 volt battery not the high voltage battery (but failures can happen that keep the high voltage system “on” when the vehicle is off). And too be honest, when it comes to issues like this, it’s a chuck n duck diag approach better hope it’s under warranty

 

[Oil pan 4]

When I talked with my neighbor that bought a hybrid Jeep Wrangler about operating costs, he mentioned that if he parks it with a 100% charge and does not drive it for a few days that the percent of charge will be around 80% the next time he uses it. To me, it does not make any sense at all to have energy you already paid for just disappear because you did not use it. If I fill the tank on my car or truck and park it for a week or any length of time, the next time that I use it I still have a full tank of fuel left. No energy loss just by sitting unused.

We have left our car for 2 weeks and it was with in 1 or 2% from when we parked it, but I followed recommend storage instructions and made sure to leave it at about 1/2 charge.
Leaving them fully charged for days at a time is not good for the battery. It may have built in code to power up some of the systems to run the battery down to 80%. If they read the owners manual they would probably see something in there about not leaving it fully charged for days at a time. Running the battery down to 80% could potentially save a lot of batteries from people who don't read the owners manual.

 

[Oil pan 4]

Sooo….I wonder how an EV will do here in Texas summers when I go inside for 10 minutes and leave the truck running so the AC keeps the interior cool (either for my return or for whomever is sitting in the car waiting)….. ??

Ours does great I leave it on with the A/C when we go into the store, lock the door, car is never hot.
Electric car and most hybrids use a very efficient electric driven air conditioner, it will draw up to 2,000 watts to cool down and usually less than 500 to maintain the interior temperature. Less if it's inthe shade.

 

[Russell King]

I wonder if there is some battery maintenance system that drains the battery after some idle time.

I have a drone that has rechargeable batteries and it will drain the battery intentionally from full charge to some odd percentage (86 or 68?) so battery life is supposed to be lengthened.

 

[GeoHorn]

I wonder if there is some battery maintenance system that drains the battery after some idle time.

I have a drone that has rechargeable batteries and it will drain the battery intentionally from full charge to some odd percentage (86 or 68?) so battery life is supposed to be lengthened.

Some battery-types benefit from deep-cycling… some do not. (Ni-Cd benefits from deep-cycling)

 

[Willabe]

When I talked with my neighbor that bought a hybrid Jeep Wrangler about operating costs, he mentioned that if he parks it with a 100% charge and does not drive it for a few days that the percent of charge will be around 80% the next time he uses it. To me, it does not make any sense at all to have energy you already paid for just disappear because you did not use it. If I fill the tank on my car or truck and park it for a week or any length of time, the next time that I use it I still have a full tank of fuel left. No energy loss just by sitting unused.

If it is a 2021 wrangler, there have been lots of issues reported with the charging system. Not sure if they were resolved with later models. On the flip side, depending on driving style and conditions, EVs and HEVs benefit from regenerative braking, which is essentially free mpg.

 

[jimh406]

EVs and HEVs benefit from regenerative braking, which is essentially free mpg.

It’s free mileage for everyone when braking is engaged.