The FORD Lounge

[ArdWrknTrk]

Hybrid is the worst of both worlds IMO.

I know an 82 year old lady who is still sharp as a tack.
She drives a Bolt, because she never goes anywhere but shopping, Dr's and church.
I'd be surprised if Barbara puts on 3,000 MI a year.
She doesn't have to pump gas and she very rarely needs service.
I installed a L2 in her garage about 5 years ago.

You could definitely have an electric car/truck for "around town" but then the fuel would rot in all your other vehicles.  😄

I posted a truck salvage in NC to Matt's 460 thread yesterday.
It's a ways north of Charleston, but if you planned your trip right you could grab parts and swing down.
The last time I went to my SIL's hobby farm it seemed brimming with pickups and medium duty trucks.

[85lebaront2]

Jim, I actually had a hybrid loaner paid for by insurance when T2K-CAR MKI was totaled. Because the Lebaron was considered a "premium car" (humerus in view of it being a K-car in drag). It was a Toyota Prius and not a bad car to drive. I wanted to see how they were as my supervisor had two Prii and loved them.

[BigBrother-84]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Hybrid is the worst of both worlds IMO.

Jim, I mostly agree with you, but not 100%.

I make a distinction with chargeable hybrid.  Like my Chevy Volt, for example.

Until they will find a solution to stock as much autonomy in a battery than in a fuel tank (about what, 400 miles?), the chargeable hybrid enables me to do all my short travels 100% electric, and I can go see my son leaving at 360 miles from here with no stress.
I have full control on the energy source, I can block it on electricity only, or allow fuel consumption.  Average electr+gaz 76mpg since we own the car (engine only would be 48mpg if I never plug the car to charge the battery).

This "far away son" has a hybrid Rav4, no possible charge...  Frustrating, when he needs just short travelling, the fuel engine goes on anyway.  OK, this SUV drinks less gazoline that a 100% fuel engine, but I'll never go this way.

His sister just bought an electric Volvo.  I won't go that way neither.  She has to stop if she goes to visit her brother, no way to do it one shot, not enough autonomy.  And charging what she needs to complete the trip takes at least half an hour, so add it to your trip time.

So, until full electric vehicles will enable 400 miles PLUS a fast charging method, and considering the low cost of electricity here in Quebec, I'm confortable with the chargeable-hybrid solution.

[BigBrother-84]

Weather is crazy here.

This February 27th, Mont-Tremblant, QC:
Sunny 59,5ºF, record breaking.
Should be around 21ºF, for this time of the year.

Tomorrow some rain, will reach a highest 50ºF, at around 4 PM.

Will drop during the night... a little bit.
Minus one, at 08:00 AM, Thursday morning.

Yep.  A little  51ºF drop ahead, for about 16 hours delay.

[Gary Lewis]

Crazy here as well.  A new record high yesterday of 82F, and another record today.  We are under a red flag warning for high fire danger due to the high winds and extremely dry conditions.  And in Texas they are experiencing uncontrolled fires that are likely to wipe out some towns.

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

We are under a red flag warning for high fire danger due to the high winds and extremely dry conditions.

Boy, I prefer a massive temperature drop than your red flag situation, Gary.
Thanks for information.  I got this map on YouTube... Critical red zone very close from Skiatook!




Please be careful.

[Gary Lewis]

Luckily for us the weatherman just said that the front, which is about 90 miles away, has already changed the direction of the fires out west.  The wind has shifted to the north so while we are still in the red, those fires won't get to us.

[ArdWrknTrk]

100°F daily swings are not unheard of in the high deserts...

I am watching what's going on in Texas.

[BigBrother-84]

I was wondering why the automobile industry was abandoning the chargeable-hybrid solution (notably GM, when they ceased Chevy Volt production in 2020).

Well, it seems that the game is not completely over...  GM admits to consider reintroducing some chargeable-hybrid options.

So, who knows, maybe it's not all over for a F-truck with such "chargeable" characteristics, and so with a more long range "mix elect/fuel" autonomy.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Plug- in hybrids are necessarily a thing.
Automakers won't abandon them because the dealers demand that recurring service bay revenue stream.

I, personally, would never want to deal with BOTH a battery+charge controller and electric motors  -AND- a ineffective gas or diesel engine driving an alternator/generator on the go.

When the Prius and Insight first came out a generation ago they were relevant and trailblazing.
Today the Prius is just another consumer appliance.

[essmaker]

[BigBrother-84]

[ArdWrknTrk]

Imagine.
There would be no infrastructure.
No gas stations, tanker trucks, depots or refineries.

There would be no stores with spark plugs, wires and ignition coils. No air filters, oil filters or oil to speak of. No mufflers. No radiators or coolant to eliminate all the wasted heat. No starter motors, fuel tanks or injectors to be had.

People would resent having to travel to a special, smelly, place a few times each week just to keep driving...
Nobody would want them because of astronomical maintenance costs and fuel per mile...

And petroleum exploration would be just as disastrous as it has already proven.
Santa Barbara, the Gulf of Mexico, Prince William Sound, Cadiz, Atlantic Empress, Nowrus...

There would be war.
Like in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and much of the Middle East and North Africa.
Millions dying for the chance to  all over themselves and their environment.

Sounds like utopia to me!

[ArdWrknTrk]

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/02/ford-evs-gain-access-to-tesla-superchargers-starting-today/

[Clutch47]

One of my friends has 3 insights.
He's an odd collector fellow of sorts, and one of those 'hypermiler' enthusiast kinda drivers.
After getting to know him and watching him run his bowtie early 80s 'perpetual oxidation experiment' pickup as I call it.. an 82 1500 Silverado that is rusting very quickly.. I see he enjoys fuel as much as I do but gets amusement from the insight and the electric power.

Apparently those things have ring gear issues where the steel gear connects to the aluminum flywheel. All 3 cars are suffering the same ailment.

Not just simply riveted on or friction fit like a normal flywheel is, these things have splines and some allowable tolerance or some other ingenious idea that turned into their Achilles heel.

He's currently trying to 3D print his own repair idea.

[ArdWrknTrk]

They (Honda) could have solved that with the right coatings on dissimilar metals.
But I assume it's an issue with the heat of the shrink fit.

Honda were pretty innovative with metallurgy.
Like the convolute fiber reinforced cylinder sleeves in their early 80's CVCC engines.

[Clutch47]

He explained it has to do with the regenerative braking/coasting putting more forces through the mainshaft than they anticipated.
 The 'starter' is permanently engaged and the constant back and forth resistance forces take their toll.
   He wants to make the whole part from powdered metal and then balance it, hoping the weight difference will aid in the regenerative power production a few percent above the drain of getting it spinning.

I told him when he gets tired, I'll buy one of his jalopies for a hundred bucks and just run the electric motor with a Honda generator and get better mileage.
  I swear I saw a light bulb illuminate under his straw hat at that exact moment.

[ArdWrknTrk]

But you never will (get better distance per Wh)
Maybe longer range than available with the stock battery, but even though the E-series generators sip fuel they're still not getting better than 35% efficiency.
And then you're converting torque to electricity and back to torque with the attendant losses....

[Clutch47]

At the time those words came out, their intent was to rib on my friend. His straw hat and 6'3" frame folding up origami style to mount/dismount this silver thing he calls transportation needed a little jab.
 I told him with a few smartly applied stripes he might get a Coors light sponsorship.
   I have no experience with electric vehicles or the interest to delve into it. I'll be fine with buying 93 octane until I can't, but I do find the Hyabusa swapped smart cars to be wildly fascinating.
I'd give $2 to see my friend fold up and get in one of those..

[ArdWrknTrk]

K turbo swapped Honda Fit's are a freaking blast too!