F150 Lightning
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Krakken (06-06-2021)
#403
Senior Member
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TheArtfulPenguin (05-20-2021)
#404
Senior Member
An issue with the "electric car revolution", that no one really talks about, is the electrical capacity of the typical, American home. I read that if you want the fast charging system, for the Lightning, that also connects to back-feed your home, it requires 100 Amps. Typical family home has a 200A main panel and few will have an extra 100A of spare capacity. May be complete rhetoric but I've read stories that said the US residential power grid is not set-up to handle even 50% of our automobiles being full electric, without major upgrades.
And yeah, we will need nationwide electrical grid improvements, but we have needed those for decades, with or without EVs. The problem with that argument is we won't go nationwide EV in a year, or five years, or maybe 20. It will be gradual, much like our electrical grid improvements and hopefully individual homes moving to more solar solutions as that tech continues to improve and come down in price. When ICE vehicles came around we had to build a nationwide infrastructure of gas stations, transportation, storage, refining, etc. At least with EVs we already have most of the wiring run. We managed to get gas stations every two miles, so unless we as a nation are just incapable of building anything suddenly I think we will figure out EV supply.
Anyway, yeah there will need to be adjustments and upgrades. But they were needed anyway. If anything EVs came along at the best possible time because we are on the edge of a cleaner energy revolution. If we can make EVs part of the calculation as they size out solar/wind farm/offshore wind farm/maybe even next gen nuclear reactor installs, then the issue will work itself out.
#405
The article I read said that the specific system, that Ford intends to sell that allows the truck to "backfeed" your house requires 100A......but I know only enough about electricity to know I don't know enough.
I expect that the future thinkers are already looking at how to retrofit the existing fuel station infrastructure to support EV......would be silly to do otherwise and abandon all that road-adjacent real estate that already exists. The most logical system, I have read about, is where the battery packs become interchangeable, like power tool batteries, and you simply drive into a station that has an automatic system that switches-out the battery in about 5 minutes. Understand these type stations may already exist in Japan. Unless they can get full-charge time down to about 10 minutes, or less, I don't see any other way to support large-scale EV use.
I expect that the future thinkers are already looking at how to retrofit the existing fuel station infrastructure to support EV......would be silly to do otherwise and abandon all that road-adjacent real estate that already exists. The most logical system, I have read about, is where the battery packs become interchangeable, like power tool batteries, and you simply drive into a station that has an automatic system that switches-out the battery in about 5 minutes. Understand these type stations may already exist in Japan. Unless they can get full-charge time down to about 10 minutes, or less, I don't see any other way to support large-scale EV use.
#406
Senior Member
The article I read said that the specific system, that Ford intends to sell that allows the truck to "backfeed" your house requires 100A......but I know only enough about electricity to know I don't know enough.
I expect that the future thinkers are already looking at how to retrofit the existing fuel station infrastructure to support EV......would be silly to do otherwise and abandon all that road-adjacent real estate that already exists. The most logical system, I have read about, is where the battery packs become interchangeable, like power tool batteries, and you simply drive into a station that has an automatic system that switches-out the battery in about 5 minutes. Understand these type stations may already exist in Japan. Unless they can get full-charge time down to about 10 minutes, or less, I don't see any other way to support large-scale EV use.
I expect that the future thinkers are already looking at how to retrofit the existing fuel station infrastructure to support EV......would be silly to do otherwise and abandon all that road-adjacent real estate that already exists. The most logical system, I have read about, is where the battery packs become interchangeable, like power tool batteries, and you simply drive into a station that has an automatic system that switches-out the battery in about 5 minutes. Understand these type stations may already exist in Japan. Unless they can get full-charge time down to about 10 minutes, or less, I don't see any other way to support large-scale EV use.
The quick battery swap is a neat idea, but it faces some big problems. Tesla did a demo of it years ago, was supposed to be the next big thing. But the connections between battery and car in an EV need to be kept solid, you can't have that connection wearing out after 50 battery swaps and it starts arcing, or losing connection and cutting motor power. That would be a fire or accident waiting to happen. I think that's why Tesla backed off that idea.
Doesn't mean it is entirely dead, but it may require a lot of R&D time before it can really be out there. That's all my understanding though, you said it may already be in use somewhere so maybe they are starting to work those problems out.
#407
Quote from the article I read:
"There’s also the complexity of actually feeding the station enough power. Most modern homes are constructed around a 240-volt and 200-amp feed from the power companies. When factoring in 30-amp draws from an air conditioner, drying machine, water heater, and anything else pulling power, there’s not enough juice left to feed the 100-amp circuit required to supply the Charge Station Pro. Older homes may only have 100 amps supplied to the entire service panel. A solution for this is costly: upgrade, or add an additional service line supplied by the power company, which can vary wildly depending on location. Also, a transfer switch will be required to backfill the home’s power supply. Ford has announced a partnership with solar supplier Sunrun to help with installation and home integration, but details have yet to be released."
"There’s also the complexity of actually feeding the station enough power. Most modern homes are constructed around a 240-volt and 200-amp feed from the power companies. When factoring in 30-amp draws from an air conditioner, drying machine, water heater, and anything else pulling power, there’s not enough juice left to feed the 100-amp circuit required to supply the Charge Station Pro. Older homes may only have 100 amps supplied to the entire service panel. A solution for this is costly: upgrade, or add an additional service line supplied by the power company, which can vary wildly depending on location. Also, a transfer switch will be required to backfill the home’s power supply. Ford has announced a partnership with solar supplier Sunrun to help with installation and home integration, but details have yet to be released."
#409
Senior Member
EV's aren't for everyone, and likely won't be for a while. Typical road vacations and long-haul trailer towing won't be practical for quite a while.
But, the courier company of the future, as well as most tradespersons(?), are all ears. Think of the courier/delivery/route company that has a fleet of light/medium duty EV's that park in a building and plug in every night, possibly under an array of solar panels. Think of the money they would save. Or maybe the electrician that MAYBE puts 100 miles on in an average day. His vehicle is used ONLY for his work and doesn't need to be able to drive to Florida nonstop while towing an rv. The biggest markets for ev's is likely going to be more commercial than for home use. The new Ford is the first to really address the commercial side of ev's for general use. Most of what is on the market now is either little speck commuters, or higher end and much more expensive performance type vehicles. Very smart of Ford to get their foot into the market and find a niche.
But, the courier company of the future, as well as most tradespersons(?), are all ears. Think of the courier/delivery/route company that has a fleet of light/medium duty EV's that park in a building and plug in every night, possibly under an array of solar panels. Think of the money they would save. Or maybe the electrician that MAYBE puts 100 miles on in an average day. His vehicle is used ONLY for his work and doesn't need to be able to drive to Florida nonstop while towing an rv. The biggest markets for ev's is likely going to be more commercial than for home use. The new Ford is the first to really address the commercial side of ev's for general use. Most of what is on the market now is either little speck commuters, or higher end and much more expensive performance type vehicles. Very smart of Ford to get their foot into the market and find a niche.
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Krakken (06-06-2021)
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zing99 (06-03-2021)