Electric vehicle discussion

A better ship hull
Researchers at MIT have demonstrated that wedge-shaped vortex generators attached to a ship's hull can reduce drag by up to 7.5%, which reduces overall ship emissions and fuel expenses. The paper, "Net Drag Reduction in High Block Coefficient Ships and Vehicles Using Vortex Generators," was presented at the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers 2025 Maritime Convention in Norfolk, Virginia.

In the news
Modern electric vehicles are transforming the roads with low noise, rapid acceleration and zero exhaust emissions. However, drivers of electric vehicles in the UK will now face a new 3p per mile charge and drivers of hybrid vehicles a 1.5p per mile charge.

For the first time in the U.S., a roadway has wirelessly charged an electric heavy-duty truck driving at highway speeds, demonstrating key technology that could help lower the costs of building electrified highways for all electric vehicles to use.

The lightweight six-propeller aircraft under construction take off vertically and fit into a large car, to create the "Land Aircraft Carrier"—a modular flying vehicle made by Aridge, an arm of Chinese EV maker XPeng.
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Raising A GM EV1 From The Dead

Probably the biggest story in the world of old cars over the past couple of weeks has been the surfacing of a GM EV1 electric car for sale from an auto salvage yard. This was the famous electric ca…
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Range

Bike
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Looking At A Bike Built For The Apocalypse

So-called bug out cars are a rather silly venture that serve little purpose more than snagging your jumper. The odds of a car working well through a nuclear winter are rather minimal. But what abou…
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Announcements are out that Ford is stopping production of the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup and it's being replaced with a range-extender hybrid. Still using the electric drivetrain, just installing a generator into the truck to recharge the batteries. Potentially 900 miles of range!
 
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xumyEf-WRI


Driver assistance feature performance is hard to tell (with all the marketing), especially for Chinese vehicles that the outside world have little access to.

Well here is a pretty damned good test, and the subtitles should be good enough to get what is going on.

Average performance is quite ....bad. Tesla is ahead here, and I can see why investors think they have a moat here.
 
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzvTt2xq8os


In this video, we analyze the collapse of the "inevitability" narrative. We look at why Ford has been forced to take a staggering $19.5 billion write-down, why the European Union is quietly dismantling its own petrol ban, and why—despite billions in subsidies—automakers are still losing $6,000 on every electric vehicle they sell.We examine how the industry confused a political project with consumer demand, leading to a market where the cars are too expensive for the middle class and too unprofitable for the manufacturers.
 
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New non-choices for the consumer

Keeping tabs

Self-drivers

Cold routes
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Sleeping Rough In Alaska With A USPS Cargo Bike

Out of all 49 beautiful US states (plus New Jersey), the one you’d probably least want to camp outside in during the winter is arguably Alaska. If you were to spend a night camping out in the…
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Fun
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Old Windsurfers Become New Electric Surfboards

Windsurfing has experienced a major decline in popularity in the last few decades as the sport’s culture failed to cater to beginners at the same time that experienced riders largely shifted …
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Forest Green said:

This solid-state EV battery is available now and can recharge to full in five minutes​

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After all the trouble every other manufacturer is facing regarding solid state cells, color me skeptical until there is third party verification. These are very bold claims. Having said that, I hope its real! Would be a massive breakthrough.
 
Repeatability and longevity is also a factor not mentioned here. Recharging in 5 minutes followed by a damaged battery is not really comercially relevant.
 
Carpet yanked

Grousing

Bikes
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AC Motor Converted Into DC EBike Powerplant

AC induction motors are everywhere, from ceiling fans to vehicles. They’re reliable, simple, and rugged — but there are some disadvantages. It’s difficult to control the speed wit…
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Dad Makes Kid’s Balance Bike Into Electric Snow Trike Like A Boss

The balance bikes toddlers are rocking these days look like great fun, but not so great in the snow. Rather than see his kid’s favourite toy relegated to shed until spring, [John Boss] added …
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Making A Mountain Bike Data Acquisition System

Professional mountain bike racing is a rather bizarre sport. At the highest level, times between podiums will be less than a second, and countless hours of training and engineering go into those fr…
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alberchico said:
Wow, so I guess we'll soon see Chinese EVs in Canada soon.
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Yep ... but none too surprising. Considering foot-dragging on Canada's EV production targets by both Stellantis and GM Canada, Ottawa had to look elsewhere. The GoC also needs a new narrative for its financial support of battery cell plants.

Stellantis bailed on its (albeit silly) electric muscle car which led to NextStar focusing on power grid storage battery production instead. Ground has already been broken on the federally-subsidised VW St. Thomas Battery Cell Gigafactory ... but that was planned around an integrated North American automotive market. And, of course, the planned Northvolt battery plant outside Montréal tanked before it was even begun.

All that suggests that mooted CA/CN "Joint Venture" plans may include battery plants, not just vehicle assembly in Canada. And, of course, there is idle capacity - Stellantis Brampton and GM's now-infamous Ingersoll CAMI plant. GM starting Silverado production in the US suggests more open space on the Oshawa lines (after all, why would Ottawa continue US-style protectionism for over-sized pickup trucks?).

Interesting times!
 
Apophenia said:
Yep ... but none too surprising. Considering foot-dragging on Canada's EV production targets by both Stellantis and GM Canada, Ottawa had to look elsewhere. The GoC also needs a new narrative for its financial support of battery cell plants.

Stellantis bailed on its (albeit silly) electric muscle car which led to NextStar focusing on power grid storage battery production instead. Ground has already been broken on the federally-subsidised VW St. Thomas Battery Cell Gigafactory ... but that was planned around an integrated North American automotive market. And, of course, the planned Northvolt battery plant outside Montréal tanked before it was even begun.

All that suggests that mooted CA/CN "Joint Venture" plans may include battery plants, not just vehicle assembly in Canada. And, of course, there is idle capacity - Stellantis Brampton and GM's now-infamous Ingersoll CAMI plant. GM starting Silverado production in the US suggests more open space on the Oshawa lines (after all, why would Ottawa continue US-style protectionism for over-sized pickup trucks?).

Interesting times!
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Canada might be returning to a pre-1965 trade status in the auto industry, making Oshawa a very useful source of pickup trucks for Western and rural Canada. Canada is one of the top 3 biggest pickup truck markets in the world, so a Canadian produced Silverado make sense. The old muscle car tooling at Brampton was completely worn out and the dismal sales history of Jeep crossovers killed the retooling plan. Brampton might work as a Canada only assembly site for RAM trucks or other products that can no longer be imported from the USA or Canada.

As far as electric trucks in Canada, you still need ICE to plow snow or have a useful towing range in trucks. A 300 mile F-150 lightning only had a 40-50 mile range when towing at maximum capacity. Trucks are vital tools in most of Canada. Farmers and miners in Alberta can’t work without ICE trucks.
 
alberchico said:
As an American it would be pretty neat to be able to take a trip up to Canada and be able to test drive a Chinese EV and see how they stack up to cars like Tesla, I've heard good things about cars like the Xiaomi SU7

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A flood of Chinese EVs would make Canada’s car market look more like that of post-Sanctions Russia. Basically, too many new brands and dealers selling unmaintainable cars with horrible resale values. EVs already have major reliability and accident repair issues, and aside from Tesla, resale values that are bad enough to make leasing uneconomic. Throw in unscrupulous Chinese manufacturers dumping unsold domestic inventory into export markets and it could be a perfect storm for Canadian consumers.

Moreover, the Canadian car industry has traditionally relied on exporting used cars to the United States. Sometimes zero mile new Canadian market cars are sold as “used” in the United States. Chinese brand EVs can’t legally be sold across the border into America. Moreover, it’s obvious that Canadians driving Chinese EVs into America would have zero support in the event of a breakdown as America won’t ever allow Chinese brand dealers. Enjoy towing that Chinese EV back from Florida. In another couple of years, a Chinese EV might not even be allowed across the border from Canada or Mexico.

If you want to drive an EV, they pretty much all drive the same way regardless of brand. Too heavy to brake or handle very well but they sure can accelerate until the battery runs down… or the driver gets into a single car accident. Teslas are the best of the bunch but are hideously expensive to insure for many good reasons.
 

TinWing said:
Trucks are vital tools in most of Canada. Farmers and miners in Alberta can’t work without ICE trucks.
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The net zero folks don’t understand that, unfortunately.

What is needed is open source, right-to-repair folks in office…simpler vehicles as computer free as you can make them—with the driver using ICE if the main battery doesn’t work or vice versa.

And every gizmo gets its own battery.
Dome light hooked to a small battery hooked to a solar panel.

If junior left the dome light on to read his coloring book—it doesn’t condemn the whole family to freeze to death in the boondocks.

Handcrank radio built into the dash….toggle switches….NASCAR simplicity. No plastic.

Propped up again

Scooter
hackaday.com

The Defunct Scooter Company, And The Default Key

Äike were an Estonian scooter company, which sadly went bust last year. [Rasmus Moorats] has one, and since the app and cloud service the scooter depends on have lost functionality, he decided to r…
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These newer vehicles (ICE, electric, whatever) are of shoddy construction.

If you want to buy an old vehicle—get it from a desert state where salted roads are rare.

A cute project for junior
hackaday.com

Toybox Tractor: Plywood, Lathe Hacks, And 350W Of Fun

When you think of a toy tractor, what probably comes to mind is something with fairly simple lines, maybe the iconic yellow and green, big rear tires, small front ones. Well, that’s exactly w…
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Rover
View: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/dTxGRtjalJE
 
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Apophenia said:
Yes but that was, in part, due to Canada adopting similar protectionist policies regarding US-style pickups (and their SUV spawn).

As for such vehicles being essential in the West, here in BC, many genuine work trucks have skid-plate boxes that are passed down through generations of worn-out pickup-based vehicles. So, it is hard to claim that those increasingly flimsy Silverados (or Rams) represents good value for trades.

In my small rural BC town, I mostly see huge shiny pickups driven by suburbanite retirees over-compensating for something-or-other with their jacked-up 4x4 suspensions and all available bling packages. If that represents a dying culture, I'll shed no tears.
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Canada adopted US-style pickups because North American truck owners prioritize towing capacity over bed payloads. This explains why the typical global Toyota Hilux has a full metric tonne payload but the average American “half ton” has at best a 700kg payload but up to 5 tonnes towing capacity.

A lot of workmen in the United States used to either drive vans like European tradies, or reused toolboxs that mounted directly to the frame on a chassis cab truck - not need for a bed. One Reading toolbox would outlast a half dozen trucks. These days, a skilled tradesman will most likely drive a crew cab, often a luxurious one, and tow his tools in a trailer. That way, you can leave the trailer at a job site and still have a practical family vehicle on the weekend for towing snowmobiles, ATVs, motorcycle trailers, campers and boats. Needless to say, when an electric pickup has less than 50 miles of range at max towing capacity, very few people will switch.

As far as “jacked-up 4x4 suspensions,” fuel economy requirements caused manufacturers to lower the front suspension of the average “half ton” by over 2 inches and add a vulnerable low hanging air dam for aerodynamics. You lose ground clearance for an extra 1 MPG. The consumer response has been to install “front leveling kits” and “suspension lifts.” A lot of those retired suburbanites probably have summer homes in fairly isolated forested areas and BC logging roads are notoriously hard on suspensions. Of course, a lot of people in rural BC work in forestry.

Personally, I drive a pickup like every adult male in my rural region, albeit a very basic work truck with no options, other than the lifted off road suspension. As a young man I got by driving sedans with snow tires but sedans became increasing low slung and impractical due to fuel economy regulations to the extent that a Camry now has the same low ground clearance as a Corvette of yesteryear. Life is just so much easier with a locking 4x4 system and 250mm of ground clearance.
 
Forest Green said:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVqWHAF9sZI


View attachment 799436

.0-100 km/h60-120 km/h0-400m0-400m (speed trap)0-1000m0-1000m (speed trap)
Porsche Taycan Turbo GT2,54s2,24s9,48s240,75 km/h17,44s302,00 km/h
Tesla Model S Plaid2,35s2,22s9,63s234,51 km/h18,11s265,37 km/h
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The real question is which one depreciates faster? Both cars are pretty quick when it comes to that race to the bottom. The Porsche Taycan is easily mistaken for a rebadged Audi e-Tron GT but before you dismiss it as a a cynical rebadge, keep in mind it has a completely different assembly site. Meaning that it essentially is an expensive failure that VW spent way too much time and money developing. They should have gone with a cynical rebadge.

Personally, I’m a bit surprised that Tesla is still producing the Model S or Model X? High end Teslas are literally the cars that time forgot in the wake of the downmarket push with the Models 3 and Y. Essentially, the older, more expensive Teslas are insufficiently differentiated in size, appearance and features from the smaller ones.

In short, both cars are best avoided in favor of a Porsche 911 with a manual transmission. Now there is a car with high resale value. Expensive electric sedans feel like a last decade fad. And don’t get me started on Lucid.
 
In-depth interview with Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYeRv_c5IQA

00:00 Introduction
01:25 Rivian's new affordable "make or break" R2 car
12:23 Rivian's Volkswagen partnership
16:21 Trump's impact on the EV business
26:14 How Rivian is trying to compete with Chinese EVs
34:14 Will Rivian include their carplay functionality?
38:04 The technology behind self-driving vehicles and Rivian's plan
 
With all the controversy about Jaguar's upcoming EV, one can be forgiven for forgetting that Ferrari will soon be launching something very similar - another four-door, four-seat electric GT.

Bonus, we will finally get an Apple car... kind of. The interior's designed by original iPhone designer Jony Ive, as seen in the video below.

www.carscoops.com

Ferrari's Luce EV Has A Glass Key And Buttons That Click Like A Rifle Bolt | Carscoops

Former Apple man Jonny Ive has created a beatiful dashboard with plenty of physical controls for Ferrari's first EV
www.carscoops.com www.carscoops.com

Ferrari Luce EV – pictures | Evo

Images of the Ferrari Luce electric car
www.evo.co.uk www.evo.co.uk

www.carmagazine.co.uk

Ferrari’s EV has name – and a Jony Ive interior that changes EVERYTHING

What we know so far about the new Ferrari Luce – Maranello's first electric car, and one that comes with a Jony Ive-designed interior
www.carmagazine.co.uk

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKoVM8F6nWY

ferrari-ev-with-production-body-spy-photo-3.jpg
 
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Brett Davidson said:
With all the controversy about Jaguar's upcoming EV, one can be forgiven for forgetting that Ferrari will soon be launching something very similar - another four-door, four-seat electric GT.

Bonus, we will finally get an Apple car... kind of. The interior's designed by original iPhone designer Jony Ive, as seen in the video below.

www.carscoops.com

Ferrari's Luce EV Has A Glass Key And Buttons That Click Like A Rifle Bolt | Carscoops

Former Apple man Jonny Ive has created a beatiful dashboard with plenty of physical controls for Ferrari's first EV
www.carscoops.com www.carscoops.com

Ferrari Luce EV – pictures | Evo

Images of the Ferrari Luce electric car
www.evo.co.uk www.evo.co.uk

www.carmagazine.co.uk

Ferrari’s EV has name – and a Jony Ive interior that changes EVERYTHING

What we know so far about the new Ferrari Luce – Maranello's first electric car, and one that comes with a Jony Ive-designed interior
www.carmagazine.co.uk

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKoVM8F6nWY

View attachment 801533
Click to expand...
Yet another undesirable Ferrari that dealers will force new customers to buy before they can actually order the car they actually want. There are far too many 296 V6 models floating around as unwanted used cars, so you can only imagine the catastrophic depreciation of this Ferrari EV. Even the marketing team screwed up by naming it after a Japanese market Mazda.
 
State of play: not popular with sports and hypercars where noise matters, popular with GTs and other types, hybrids have widespread acceptance, it seems.

Lamborghini has just cancelled its pure electric supercar. The article is not clear whether the model has been scrapped entirely or simply to be built in hybrid form as has been rumoured.

www.theguardian.com

Lamborghini pulls plug on plans to launch all-electric supercar

Company will shift focus to hybrids, citing drop-off in EV demand among sports car lovers who ‘miss the noise’
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Winkelmann said sports car lovers had failed to find a “specific emotional connection” with EVs, because they missed the noise of a car with an internal combustion engine.

There are rumours also that Porsche will cancel the pure electric 718 too. Polestar has postponed its proposed 6 roadster/sports car in favour of the 7, an SUV sitting below the already in-production 3. Audi however has reiterated that it will produce the Concept C.



Hybridisation though looks to continue generally.

Lamborghini [...] delivered a record 10,747 cars worldwide in 2025. It reported last month that its results had been buoyed by the “success of the brand’s hybridisation strategy, which has been met with enthusiasm by Lamborghini customers across the globe”.

Grand Tourers are a different class from sports and super, designed for a different experience, so Ferrari and Jaguar are still committed fully to pure electric GTs, as is Rolls Royce, with its Spectre coupé. Rolls Royce and Bentley both have electric SUVs nearing production. RR's seems to be an electrified Cullinan, a monster of a thing, while the Bentley is described as an 'urban SUV,' slightly shorter than the Bentayga specifically to get within size restrictions operating in some cities while still being large and heavy by any other standard.

Lamborgini Lanzador concept, 2023.
 

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