The Canadian Electric Vehicle thread

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Black Star

Honda CEO just announced the IMMEDIATE SHUTDOWN of their entire EV company, leaving all carmakers in disbelief! Why? Because CEO Toshihiro Mibe is AGAINST EVs and doesn’t want to rush into electrification. He believes that there is still a long way to go for internal combustion engines, and political leaders shouldn't force expensive EVs on the middle class! In a shocking turn of events, automakers like Ford, and General Motors have also followed Honda, and are now going to STOP producing electric vehicles!

Weird, you'd think that Honda would have something on their Canadian website that didn't say "The 2024 Prologue will be the first-ever all-electric SUV from Honda. And the first of 30 EV models Honda intends to launch worldwide by 2030."

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Black Star

Honda CEO just announced the IMMEDIATE SHUTDOWN of their entire EV company, leaving all carmakers in disbelief! Why? Because CEO Toshihiro Mibe is AGAINST EVs and doesn’t want to rush into electrification. He believes that there is still a long way to go for internal combustion engines, and political leaders shouldn't force expensive EVs on the middle class! In a shocking turn of events, automakers like Ford, and General Motors have also followed Honda, and are now going to STOP producing electric vehicles!

https://youtu.be/sXT9adtcCRw?si=WOkXTF5u-4CHjKyC

https://youtu.be/L6w1Ms1VWxM?si=uJikdSHGfOBTSwl5

Fake news.

Honda and GM are scrapping their joint effort, presumably because GM is changing things to compensate for their UAW woes, which is not in Honda's best interests.

TOKYO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Honda Motor (7267.T) and General Motors (GM) (GM.N) are scrapping a plan to jointly develop affordable electric vehicles (EVs), the companies said on Wednesday, just a year after they agreed to work together in a $5 billion effort to try to beat Tesla (TSLA.O) in sales.

The decision underscores GM's strategic shift to slow the launch of several EV models to focus on profitability, as it grapples with the rising cost of United Auto Workers strikes, which surged to $200 million a week this month.

But Honda stopping its EV program? Not so much.

Honda said there was no change in its plan to sell only electrified vehicles by 2040.

Source

[whatnext]

I always knew Elon Musk was a business genius. yet one more reason not to buy a Tesla.

IBM and EU pull ads from Elon Musk's X as concerns about antisemitism fuel backlash
Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press

Advertisers are fleeing social media platform X over concerns about their ads showing up next to pro-Nazi content and hate speech on the site in general, with billionaire owner Elon Musk inflaming tensions with his own tweets endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

IBM said this week that it stopped advertising on X after a report said its ads were appearing alongside material praising Nazis — a fresh setback as the platform formerly known as Twitter tries to win back big brands and their ad dollars, X's main source of revenue.

The liberal advocacy group Media Matters said in a report Thursday that ads from Apple, Oracle, NBCUniversal's Bravo network and Comcast also were placed next to antisemitic material on X....

....Musk sparked outcry this week with his own tweets responding to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism. “You have said the actual truth,” Musk tweeted in a reply Wednesday.

Musk has faced accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on the platform since purchasing it last year, and the content on X has gained increased scrutiny since the war between Israel and Hamas began....(bold mine)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ibm-and-...lash-1.2000143

[Wigs]

Bloomberg


https://electrek.co/2023/11/17/hyund...ong-ev-demand/

[SpongeG]

Cybertruck isn’t even out yet, and it already has a knockoff: meet Robotruck

Jameson Dow | Nov 16 2023
Electrek




You may be eagerly waiting for the much-delayed Tesla Cybertruck, but while you wait, we found something at the LA Auto Show that might satiate you: meet the Robotruck from a new startup called Aitekx.

We hadn’t heard of Aitekx before, which has a small booth in the West hall of the Auto Show. In recognition of the hot tech buzzword of the year, the company says that its name represents its focus on the AI mobility future – AI + Tech + X. And it just unveiled its upcoming vehicle, which it calls Robotruck (yes, really), and says that it plans to have it out in 2025.

...

https://electrek.co/2023/11/16/cyber...eet-robotruck/

[SpongeG]

I've been wanting to get one this past year but have put it off for a bit, there is so much news that new battery tech, etc are coming very soon that it makes me want to wait, maybe others are feeling the same. Also it seems government incentives have a large effect on the sales, in BC we get quite a good deal only behind Quebec.

US electric vehicle sales to hit record this year, but still lag behind China and Germany

https://apnews.com/article/automaker...f5675af4b6056b

[urbandreamer]

There's a new Chevrolet Blazer EV at Forbes in Kitchener-Waterloo. It looks ok but where's the sub $30k model?

[theman23]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

There's a new Chevrolet Blazer EV at Forbes in Kitchener-Waterloo. It looks ok but where's the sub $30k model?

You’re thinking of the Equinox and it’s unlikely to be that price in the USA due to GMs recent labour troubles, and certainly won’t be that cheap in Canada.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I don't have some hydrogen fetish nor do I have any stocks or monetary benefits from hydrogen. My next car {which won't be for a while as I have 2019} won't be hydrogen or battery but rather a hybrid so neither makes any difference to me.

That's a great choice. 3,474 hybrids, per 100,000 sold, caught fire as a result of an accident. Only 25 EVs per 100,000 caught fire in similar circumstances. 1,530 gas vehicles caught fire, so hybrids are twice as likely to catch fire in an accident as gas powered vehicles. EVs are easily the safest vehicles on the road in terms of vehicle fires.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Changing City

EVs are easily the safest vehicles on the road in terms of vehicle fires.

Until they catch fire, then all bets are off (thermal runaway).

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Until they catch fire, then all bets are off (thermal runaway).

Yeah, this is a big talking point. Fortunately they don't turn into bombs like propane or natural gas vehicles.

Bottom line is that all types of vehicles have caught on fire, and while batteries burn differently, there's nothing to suggest they are much worse than any other vehicle fire.

If they caused more fatalities per incident, we'd have heard about it non stop for a decade now.

Lithium batteries are literally everywhere in modern society. We seem to be doing ok.

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Yeah, this is a big talking point. Fortunately they don't turn into bombs like propane or natural gas vehicles.

Bottom line is that all types of vehicles have caught on fire, and while batteries burn differently, there's nothing to suggest they are much worse than any other vehicle fire.

If they caused more fatalities per incident, we'd have heard about it non stop for a decade now.

Lithium batteries are literally everywhere in modern society. We seem to be doing ok.

I just gave this a quick google and it appears there are differences in battery vs. gasoline fires... ie. battery car fires burn at 1000 degrees f hotter than gasoline car fires burn. I won't re-type all the info here but wanted to point out that there's googleable info for anyone interested.

[urbandreamer]

Originally Posted by theman23

You’re thinking of the Equinox and it’s unlikely to be that price in the USA due to GMs recent labour troubles, and certainly won’t be that cheap in Canada.

Nope. It's the Blazer EV.

[WarrenC12]

The Cybertruck has landed in Tesla stores to take a peak at. Here in Langley there were massive lineups yesterday for it.

Rumour is the first models will be higher end trims and start at $90k USD. We'll know for sure this week.

[whatnext]

I prefer not to enrich an antisemitic douchebag with an EV purchase.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

The Cybertruck has landed in Tesla stores to take a peak at. Here in Langley there were massive lineups yesterday for it.

Interesting. They are opening a Tesla store at CF Champlain here in Moncton in a couple of months. I wonder if they'll have a cybertruck on display here?

I would never in a million years actually buy one, but it would be interesting to see what they look like.

They have a BMW i5 in the display room at BMW Moncton. I was looking it over the other day when I had my car in for service. It looks a lot like my BMW 550 M class, and is pretty luxurious. It was listed at about $108,000. Pricey, but, less than I had expected for a car of this quality.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Interesting. They are opening a Tesla store at CF Champlain here in Moncton in a couple of months. I wonder if they'll have a cybertruck on display here?

I would never in a million years actually buy one, but it would be interesting to see what they look like.

They have a BMW i5 in the display room at BMW Moncton. I was looking it over the other day when I had my car in for service. It looks a lot like my BMW 550 M class, and is pretty luxurious. It was listed at about $108,000. Pricey, but, less than I had expected for a car of this quality.

There's something kind of ungainly the way the new 5 series sits on its wheels. Maybe because they've had to raise up the body to accommodate the i5's batteries. I vastly prefer the look of the last series, plus it didn't have all the ridiculous screens and you could actually control things with knobs and switches.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I prefer not to enrich an antisemitic douchebag with an EV purchase.

I guess not all racists think alike.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Yeah, this is a big talking point. Fortunately they don't turn into bombs like propane or natural gas vehicles.

Bottom line is that all types of vehicles have caught on fire, and while batteries burn differently, there's nothing to suggest they are much worse than any other vehicle fire.

If they caused more fatalities per incident, we'd have heard about it non stop for a decade now.

Lithium batteries are literally everywhere in modern society. We seem to be doing ok.

Actually, they are much worse once they catch on fire (which is why I posted it).

There's lots of info out there, and I often find the info intended for firefighters to be the most informative.

Here's just one article, but there are many:
https://www.firerescue1.com/electric...4UedqIpVqc1k2/

A high-voltage battery is made up of many cells packed tightly together inside a watertight, fire-resistant box. When a single cell fails, it is essentially a small explosive that produces a tremendous amount of gas and heat (1,200 degrees F) in tenths of a second. The failure is an exothermic chemical reaction that does not require oxygen from the atmosphere to sustain itself. The heat released from each individual cell is transferred to the neighboring cells, which causes them to fail as well.

Once a battery cell fails, it is impossible to extinguish the failed cell as the chemical reaction inside the cell happens far too quickly. The only way to stop a thermal runaway is by directly cooling the cells involved to ensure that the failed cell does not cause the cells around it to also fail.

The article then explains some firefighting techniques that have been tried but don't work well, at all, or cause other dangers.

The truth of the matter is there is no simple solution or tool to stop a thermal runaway in an EV’s high-voltage battery. Directly cooling the battery cells is the best method, however the manufacturers do not give first responders direct access to the inside of the battery box. Trying to cool the battery cells from the outside will only extend a crew’s time on scene.

If the battery box is intact and there are no exposures, the best solution is to simply wait for the battery to burn itself out, then extinguish the remaining class A fire.

I've read other recommendations whereby after the fire has been extinguished, the vehicle has to be left outside in a lot without anything else around for a period of time because it can ignite on its own again. Not ideal, to say the least.

That said, companies are working on the thermal runaway problem, and I'm sure it will be solved at some point. It just hasn't been yet, so I don't see any need to gloss over it. New technologies take time to perfect, which is one reason why I don't tend to be an early adopter.

[ssiguy]

Ford and GM are very much putting the breaks on their EV development but not due to the technology itself but simple math.........they are losing a fortune on them. Ford has laid off 700 workers at it's EV Ford 150 Michigan plant because they are not selling and has put the breaks on $12 billion of it's previous $15 billion EV development plans. GM is cutting back production on several of it's plants as well. Both are finding EVs sitting at their dealerships and even with large discounts, can't get rid of them.

This is why all 3 of the big US automakers are pleading with Washington to stops it's 60% zero emissions quota by 2030. They can make them and potentially even sell them but the more they sell the closer the come to insolvency because they lose a fortune on each EV they sell and Ford loses a whopping $36k every time they sell an EV. Toyota stated just this past month that it expects EV sales to be a bit player of it's global sales by 2030 and is putting relatively little into it's development and Honda is also shrinking it's BEV budget and plans. VW is going broke with it's EV production. All this while hydrogen development funds are getting increased by all the major automakers.

All the grand ideas around everyone going EV was based upon a false assumption......people will buy at any price.