With just a few script changes, I'd agree with her. There's a bunch of reasons to yell "How dare you?" at the U.N.
Her passion is genuine. Her abusers are evil. Some of them believe. But others? The ones that buy $45 million beach front property after they tell you the oceans are rising? They know better.
Posted on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 - 10:38 am:
Tesla update:
I'm driving my Jetta today. The summer tires that came on the car will crack if exposed to freezing temperatures. (Non-performance versions come with all seasons.) It's supposed to be back in the 70s next week. I live in Houston. I put up with summer so that I don't have to put up with winter. This 30 degree crap is not fair.
My average watt hours per mile is right around 260. That means that I use about a quarter of a kilowatt hour per mile. I pay 11 cents per kWh. I have no idea what the efficiency of the power transfer from AC to DC and then to the motors are (the front motor's power has to be converted back into AC -three phase - so that's an additional inefficiency). I have a hunch it's pretty damned efficient, though, as there is very little heat generated in the process. The batteries are so efficient at giving up power that, if you are using the navigation system to reach a supercharger, the car will run the motor in an inefficient mode in order to heat the battery to the optimal charge temperature, thereby reducing the amount of time it takes to charge. So once again, I have no idea how much it costs to drive, but it isn't much.
The latest software update (Monday evening) adds a new regenerative braking option. By default, the car regens when you let off the accelerator, hauling it down to about 3 MPH fairly quickly, then rolls until you apply the brakes or the car stops due to friction, rolling resistance, or a hill. The new option will automatically apply the brakes instead of rolling. In this mode, the only time you would need to use the brake pedal is in an emergency stop scenario. I haven't tried it yet. See note about tires, above.
The aforementioned software update added 5% power. That puts it within 4 or 5 hp of 500. 0-60 has been reduced to 3.1 seconds.
Still enjoying the car a bunch (when I can drive it). I think I'm going to continue to use the summer tires until they wear out, and drive another vehicle when it's cold. Next tires will be Michelin Pilot 3 A/S+. I don't track this car, so I don't need the traction that the 4S tires offer.
Posted on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 - 12:08 pm:
Just drive with the brake on all the time and you will never run the battery down!
Saw a model S yesterday in the snow. I noticed the snow was melting off the glass roof just about as well as the rear glass with the defroster. Seems like a lot of energy loss there in winter driver. I would think it would take a fair amount of AC energy to keep cool on a hot sunny day too. Maybe it's not really that significant, but I'm just surprised to see that sort of inefficiency built into this sort of car.
Posted on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 - 01:08 pm:
Gas cars generate a ton of waste heat. It’s easy to put some of it to use. Electric cars, not so much. The motors do generate some heat, and, in the model 3 at least, that heat is recovered for cabin heating. But the primary way of heating the cab is resistive. Burns a lot of power. The recommendation is to rely on the seat heaters as much as you can. Using heat does reduce range, but it is instant. My Jetta is just starting to produce heat when I arrive at work. May as well not bother. So electric heat has its positives and negatives (haha). Running the AC uses about 4 miles of range per hour of driving. Not bad, all things considered. I have a 300 mile range and use about 10. I can easily run the heat if I need to.
Posted on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 - 01:10 pm:
Sorry about that. Deleted post to remove duplicate word and to highlight my little joke. Sometimes I can be fairly obtuse in my humor. At least someone gets me.
Posted on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 - 01:16 pm:
I should also remind folks that running AC in a gas car reduces gas mileage too. Although I don’t seem to notice it in my Jetta (diesel). The thing has so much torque that I don’t think it feels the additional load. Could be perception.
Posted on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 - 01:38 pm:
Just drive with the brake on all the time and you will never run the battery down!
I know how to fix that...if anyone knows how to file patents, we can be rich.
My diesel Grand Cherokee has both electric and coolant-heat - electric for startup conditions, that transfers over to the coolant system once the engine reaches operating temps. That vehicle also has automatic climate control, and it gets BETTER fuel mileage running the ATC (Auto Temp Control), than it does with the system turned off.
I don't understand it either...but I hand-calculate my mileage, so I know the gauge is correct.
Posted on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 - 03:41 pm:
“ would take a fair amount of AC energy to keep cool on a hot sunny day too”
The glass roof on the model 3 has an IR reflective layer. Only a tiny amount of heat makes it through. Even in the summer in Houston, I forget there’s a glass roof. I just don’t feel any heat from it.
My Dad's Prius Prime ( haven't bought gas, yet ) has a brake mode on the shifter. Basically R-(up)-D-(down)-(down right)-B. With a Park button.
I drove my parents to his Dr. visit Wed, and used Brake ( regen ) all the way down from the roof of the parking garage. Dad set the eco settings to cheapskate and forbid me to mess with it.
It gives you your report card for each leg when you hit the power button after you park. It has complained the HVAC is set too low of high. ( we've gone from 80+f to 13f. )
I would love to steal the drive train and put it in my Caravan. The battery can go in place of the rear seat. So I'm going to look at the Toyota minivan next time I'm near the dealer.
@ 187,400 miles on the Caravan, maybe I'll see if the Sienna Hybrid is a "new cash for clunkers" choice. I'm not in a hurry, it runs fine.
Hoot, AC on with Windows closed gets better mileage than AC off with them open. ( on most modern cars. Maybe Not with a '66 Biscane ) Mythbusters did an episode.
The aerodynamic drag difference is greater than the engine load losses.
They also found that on a pickup truck with no bed cover or cap, that lowered tailgate or a replacement net got worse mileage than tailgate up. The trapped bed vortice streamlines the flow off the cab. Counter intuitive until you see the graphics.
In the old days they wanted a miracle before Sainting someone. I don't think a free yacht qualifies for Greta. ( although having a billionaire loan me his for free would be a miracle in my case )
IIRC, Venice is sinking because they draw fresh water out of a layer below it. That's what I learned in High school before the Ice Age Is Coming Climate Scare. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.
For my entire life, Venice has been sinking.
Ditto, every encyclopedia ( remember those? ) I ever saw said the same thing about New Orleans. Basically, Mardi Gras, above ground tombs because of the water table, below sea level, famous battles, doomed when the levees fail inevitably when the next hurricane hits, etc.
That was cool & romantic when I was a kid. Romantic & tourist trap for centuries.
Ditto Venice. Canals, sinking, famous artists, doomed, romantic tourist trap for centuries.
Venice. The first buildings, constructed to hide in when the neighboring civilization came marauding, sank into the swamp. So they built more. Insert Python skit here. What exists today are heavy granite and brick buildings sitting on wooden pylons. They’re sinking into the swamp. Have been for centuries. But shhhh - don’t tell the kiddies. We’re trying to scare them into socialism and the deindustrialization of the West.
“ found that on a pickup truck with no bed cover or cap“
Yeah, basically the bubble of swirling air that the bed is "carrying" is a higher pressure than that of the air flowing over the roof, meaning the slipstream air going over the roof simply rides along the top of the air bubble, and there is less void area behind the truck for the air to fill in when the truck leaves.
I've run my Cummins all 3 ways - open bed, tonneau, and more recently, with a full cap. The difference is - as noted on mythbusters - minimal, but it is there.
One of the trailers for Ford vs. Ferrari shows the Shelby crew taping yarn on the Ford GT. Tuft testing let's you more easily visualize the flow, and is an invaluable tool for aircraft etc. design.
Lot of videos showing tuft testing out there. When the strings all point aft, you've got smooth, attached flow. As the air separates and starts to backwash it's nicely obvious. A smoke bomb in the truck bed ( safely secured so it doesn't get blown around ) also will show the bubble visually.
A rounded trailing end will shed a Von Karmen vortex street. A high drag issue, and the alternating vortices can shove the back of the plane/car/truck/etc. back and forth with a lot of force. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kármán_vortex_street
A sharp pointy trailing edge will let the air get back together behind the object smoothly, low drag. See most airplane wings.
But. It is a pain to deal with a long tapered rear end on a vehicle. Fragile and the extra length are issues. Enter the Kamm back. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kammback
The ideas basically is to have a stable bubble, ( like on a pickup truck ) that the air treats much like a solid object.
Like a lot of things, these ideas are only obvious after you see the results in a wind tunnel or in motion with smoke trails, etc.
It's not that surprising that there's nobody in Austria ( Germany ) that can recycle a wrecked Tesla. They've been ruled, partly, by a Left Green KGB sponsored cabal dedicated to exploiting the people, using the environment as a weapon against industry, for a long time.
Germany is the perfect storm of Green insanity.
To go back to the pre-green roots you have to remember this is a country that went Socialist in the 1930s, has a cultural tradition of highly regulated life ( perfect for the Holy State Worship Cults ) and citizen obedience to the letter of the law, and meticulous attention to detail. see Note 1
This is a country that shut down it's nuclear plants after the disaster at Fukushima Japan. Because of A Tsunami. Obviously a grave threat in Germany.
And invested heavily in solar power. In a cloudy land. And Wind. This meant they pollute more than before. However actually solving problems isn't the point of being politically Green, it's political power and enriching your friends ( who donate to your campaign ) at the expense of the people.
That part has worked wonders. Angela has been in power longer than anyone in Europe. Win win.
Note 1. Meticulous attention to detail, but sometimes blindness to the big picture.
In politics this means the best documentation in the world on mass murder by the State. Careful record keeping on food expenses, fuel consumed, and how many grams of gold extracted from the victims. All completely legal and according to regulation. Morality? But it's The Law! Passed in the Legislature! ( my lefty teachers in High School loved to point out that Hitler did everything legally, passing laws for everything he did. But Washington was a treasonous outlaw. True! And established the essential American Character. The Gasden Flag is supposed to trigger you! )
In engineering I'll defer to my buddy the School Bus mechanic. The Mercedes diesel engines run perfectly. And the part that always breaks is buried under every accessory and wire and pipe and cover. Requiring hours to disassemble, replace and rebuild. The American engines run darn good. And the part that always breaks is easily accessible, comes off with four bolts, and can be replaced in 15 minutes.