-OT pih trucks & suvs-
% Following the evdl member voted charter, pih is considered an
Off-Topic,
so lets try to round up pih discussions quicker, ending them sooner
than EV
discussions %
IMO, there are now plenty of sedan EVs on the market, and larger EVs
coming
including the Soul and the env200 van. And there are lots of newswire
noise
of 200mi range EVs.
But when I go to local markets to do my shopping, I see large/huge
trucks
ice that are driven around as their daily vehicle which likely has
low mpg.
Low mpg not only means more pollution but it is emptying out the
family's
income to feed the pump (BO gets the profits).
Not to only profile the Latino populous, but many of the vehicle they
drive
a large puffy fairly new truck or suv ice. He uses them for not only
work
but to bring the whole family to do shopping. And I also see Mom
using her
large suv ice to carry the kids and all the many other items in the
back she
feels is needed (strollers, baby-bags, food, +lots of other junk).
While Latinos may be the majority of the huge truck and suv ice
drivers I
see locally, they are the only ones. There is a sizable portion of
drivers
that like to make one vehicle have multiple uses (work, family,
show-their-income-status, +more).
But these are the same vehicles that can drain his business' assets
each
time he fills the tank. After losing my Blazer EV (in the wrong place
at the
wrong time), I had been rarely driving the used sedan ice I got until
a I
find a production EV that fits my needs (God gave me a big body). I
have
been driving it more recently since resolving my heart issues by
routinely
going to the VA hospital (20mi round-trip).
But where I come to the pump, I see the poor soul that has dropped
$80+ to
fill their tank for the day. Whereas, I can get by on 1 gallon a
week. That
is a big ouch, taking a large bite out the families income.
So, what is this large truck or suv ice market (what is the buyer
seeking to
purchase, etc.), and how have automakers approached making and
selling pih
versions. Automakers would have an incentive as the more pih they
sell, the
more ice model profits they can make.
So what is it that large vehicle drivers described want from their
purchase.
The people I am talking to, are going by what they see their friends
and
neighbors driving: large puffy full sized pick-up trucks.
These are not small nor light ice vehicles. All too often I see the
driver's
difficulty in getting out of a parking space because of its width,
length,
and larger turning radius. I liken their desire to have a large
vehicle to
wanting to have one of the biggest stallions around so they can feel
like
they are running with the Big Dogs.
But that heavy vehicle is more than just a handful to get around in
or try
to park (hence why some of those drivers intentionally take two
spaces so
the other guy does not dig their doors, etc.).
Those large vehicle designs were originally designed for heavy work
loads
where efficiency was not a top priority. Even though their drivers
may not
actually use these large heavy vehicles to their fullest
capabilities, they
like them and want them. What I see is these vehicles are not for
hauling
rocks, bricks or other items that scratch of ding up their vehicles.
But
light bulky items: bags of landscape trimmings, furniture/take-away
junk,
light loads of lumber, etc. These vehicles are not being used in this
area
that much by the aforementioned group to haul boats, or other tow
items.
So, my thinking is what is automakers made a model that looked as
large and
threatening, but was lighter and more efficient. The vehicle would
still
have the cargo carrying capacity to carry the (above) lighter items,
but may
not be optimal for carrying rocks or towing a 5-wheel RV.
Next, to make the mpge go up, I am not talk a hybrid, but a
plug-in-hybrid
(pih) design to where the driver can plug in and get some of their
miles as
electric.
To ease the price of these large pih, perhaps different pack capacity
options could be offered. Personally, the prius pih with only a 11mi
range
seems ridiculous as most people in this area drive at least 40 miles
a day.
But perhaps as transitioning vehicle, because of the lower cost of a
smaller
pack might entice 1st time large vehicle buyers to choose a pih.
Later,
after they see that they save a lot of money by not using their ice
as much,
their next purchase might be with a larger pack.
Another point is buyers of these puffy large vehicles usually are not
apt
renters, but own or rent a house. So, charging off their own
electricity
would be possible. But like other pih buyers, keeping the EVSE
purchase and
installation cost down would be important.
Much has changed since the 1st days of selling production plugins.
Now
buyers can get a pih and buy a portable 3kW EVSE separately for
~$400:
http://www.myelectriccarforums.com/clippercreek-launches-a-level-2-evse-that-costs-less-than-400/
These can operate just fine of existing dryer outlets found in the
garage.
Or installing a 6-20 outlet is not that costly.
This goes back to what size pack will recharge overnight using a 3kW
EVSE.
And as we know, the 24kW Leaf pack will do that just fine. While it
is true
that the Volt has a pack half that size, the extra power demand from
a large
vehicle's inefficiencies will need a larger pack for the same Volt
range
(~30mi). Thus the cheaper pack option would be same as the Volts
(~12kW),
and a more costly pack option for a longer e-range would be a 24kW
pack.
While the pih truck or suv would have a j1772 port, in the beginning
new pih
truck or suv driver may not use public EVSE at first. But if the
vehicle's
design fit in a standard EV space (not too wide or long), they give
it try
later.
Another option to keep the costs down, would be offer a choice of
what size
ice. In the news-items I listed below in mentioned a large V8. When
perhaps
a smaller V6 ice would work fine for their driving needs. But a V8
ice
option should be available if the buyer wants to show-off that their
vehicle
has more hp (something that is well established as a need in their
minds
when really it is likely not that necessary and waste$).
In the beginning, a serial pih design (unlike the Prius) would be
cheaper to
produce. But once that pih truck & suv market is developed, a
parallel pih
design would be more efficient, though likely offered on higher cost
pih
models.
Listed below are items I have found. A couple mention VIA's attempts
but the
price of those pih are just too high. Instead of VIA, a major
automakers
needs to step up and offer this. At first it make be business fleets
that
are the first buyers once the vehicle if offered. Later, there needs
to be a
serious ad campaign to the buyers of those large vehicle (in Spanish
on
Latin media channels as well). I feel this has not been done, and
automakers
should embrace this, as they would have an untapped pih market to
satisfy
their CARB credit requirements.
At this point at the beginning of attempting to transition buyers in
this
market to a truck or suv EV would likely be too expensive for them to
consider, and many of them still think if it does not have an ice it
is not
a 'real' vehicle to drive. So, I do not feel there is a need for a
large
truck or suv EV discussion targeting that market at this time. I am
mainly
talking about pih because it would be the easiest at this time for
those
large truck or suv buyers to get their head-around.
-Your corrections, comment, ideas requested
[dated]
http://evobsession.com/dream-on-the-chevy-watt-plug-in-hybrid-pickup/
Dream On: The Chevy Watt Plug-In Hybrid Pickup
June 27th, 2014
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/06/plug-in-hybrid-trucks-from-via-motors-vtrux-and-alt-e-technologies-promise-big-fuel-savings/index.htm
Plug-in hybrid trucks promise big fuel savings
We get behind the wheels of Via Motors VTrux and Alt-e Technologies
one-ton
truck
June 09, 2014
http://avt.inel.gov/pdf/phev/ChryslerRamJanuary2014All.pdf
Chrysler RAM PHEV Fleet - Phase 2
Feb 5, 2014 - Chrysler RAM PHEV Fleet - Phase 2. All Fleets. Number
of
vehicles: 23. Date range of data received: 1/1/2014 to 1/31/2014 ...
...
http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/07/f17/arravt067_vss_bazzi_2014_o.pdf
Phase I/II - U.S. Department of Energy – Ram 1500 PHEV
June 20, 2014 ...
Project Start Date: September 2009
Project End Date: December 2014
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/10/via-motors-vtrux-plug-in-hybrid-trucks-coming-soon/index.htm
Plug-in hybrid trucks coming soon
All the juice you need for the job-site, plus 40-mile electric range
October 10, 2013
http://www.allpar.com/model/ram/electric-PHEV.html
Electric Ram history: 2002-2008
[Apr 23, 2012]
http://www.autotrader.com/research/article/car-news/117314/hybrid-trucks-on-the-way.jsp
Hybrid Trucks On the Way
Nick Chambers [2011/08/08]
[image
http://images.autotrader.com/cms/content/articles/news/2011/08-aug/117314.jpg
(Ram 1500 PHEV)
] ...
While it might seem that an electric pickup would fall prey to many
sacrifices that could reduce its usefulness, the RAM 1500 plug-in
hybrids
aren't toned down - in fact they offer some extended functionality
that the
conventional versions don't.
The base of the Ram 1500 PHEV's powertrain is a 5.7-liter HEMI V8
coupled to
a hybrid transmission. For improved fuel economy, the vehicle can
shut down
up to four cylinders at highway speeds and disconnect the front axle
of the
four-wheel-drive transmission when not in use. An electric motor
connected
to a 12.9 kilowatt-hour battery pack located underneath the rear
bench
provides the ability to drive as an all-electric pickup truck for a
relatively short distance, at which point the vehicle will turn into
a
conventional hybrid.
The extended functionality comes in the form of a 240-volt, 30-amp
outlet
and a 120-volt, 20-amp outlet, both located in the rear box. The
vehicle has
the ability to provide up to 6.6 kilowatts of power, which means that
even a
heavy duty table saw with a 240 volt connection could be run in the
field
from the battery of the truck without any extra modification.
Although Chrysler isn't giving out any specifics on how much their
Ram 1500
PHEV's could improve fuel economy just yet, ALTe, a startup based in
Michigan that has developed a PHEV powertrain that can be installed
in
existing Ford F150s, thinks the impact could be significant.
ALTe says their technology can increase the fuel economy of an F150
by as
much as 200 percent - meaning that if an existing V8 F150 returns an
average
of 13-14 mpg, a converted one could return as much as 39-42 mpg. The
company
claims that adding their conversion kit results in no loss to cargo
capacity, horsepower or towing capability compared with the original
V8
engine.
ALTe's plug-in hybrid system differs from Chrysler's in that the
engine in
the F150s is not connected to the wheels in any way. Instead, in a
configuration known as a serial hybrid, an efficient four-cylinder
engine
runs a generator that provides power to a 20 kilowatt-hour battery
pack. The
battery itself stores enough energy from a wall outlet for the
vehicle to
drive up to 30 miles on a full charge before the engine needs to turn
on to
extend the range another 270 miles ...
[2014 AutoTrader.com]
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...
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100202135300AAAeDg6
BECOUSE WE LIKE BIG Fnnnnn CARS YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT ?
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