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Comments
Keep it up, it's funny and harmless as long as people realize you're joking half the time
Your lack of knowledge on the subject surprises me.
Picking a Cell Design and Supplier
We started our design by purposely picking a small form factor battery cell. This cell is called the 18650 because of its measurements of 18mm diameter by 65mm length (i.e., just a bit larger than a AA battery).
The Tesla Roadster battery pack is comprised of about 6800 of these 18650 cells, and the entire pack has a mass of about 450kg.
http://www.teslamotors.com/display_data/TeslaRoadsterBatterySystem.pdf
Latest rumor is that it'll arrive in the US in a year.
It should hold a lot of batteries.
The weight is probably more than double.
Your lack of knowledge on the subject surprises me
Incorrect - I am very familiar with these because that's what the Garmin StreetPilot c320 uses, and I've swapped out a few.
Here's a good photo of the two of them side-by-side:
http://img146.imageshack.us/i/aavs18650bh4.jpg/
Much more substantial, and also 3.7v rather than 1.5v, so more than double the voltage also.
Same cells are used in laptop batteries. When you hear about a notebook computer having a 6-cell battery, they mean 6 of these bad boys.
I have a spare if your Tom Tom's dies.
I think that is why Toyota has not yet used them in their hybrids. The LS600h was slated for Lithium batteries and reverted to NiMH just before they were released.
PS
It was Tesla in their advertising that mentioned AA sized batteries. I did not know they were clueless as to what they were selling.
For months, Toyota executives had assured Congress that they had hired the well-known Exponent engineering firm to do an independent investigation.
But House investigators last week said they found what they considered to be indications that Exponent really was hired to bolster Toyota's defense against class-action suits.
Read more: Autonews
I always thought they ran hot, ya, but wouldn't be a risk unless they were in clusters.
I've read that Toyota has been against Li-Ion which is why a pure electric is not in their playbook anytime soon and they are pinning all their efforts on hybrids.
It would be a real tough job eliminating all electronic devices with Lithium batteries. They are used in everything from hearing aids to wheel chairs and cars.
I know Sony had a huge recall of laptop batteries that were catching fire. Why do Li-ion Batteries have a higher rate of catching fire than other types of batteries?
Fast Charging
I don't know if I'd call them bombs, but heat dissipation is perhaps the biggest challenge facing electric cars.
There are multiple cases of spontaneous fires from Li-Ion batteries
Oh yes, I know. Our Dell laptop batteries were recalled a couple of years ago and we had to replace hundreds of them (none of ours failed, however). Very valid concern, and likely the reason why Toyota has been sticking with proven NiMH technology rather than the hotter Li-ion type.
I read that one implementation (I wish I remembered who) had the batteries submerged in a liquid coolant. :surprise:
If I were to buy one for a runabout, it would be parked away from the house plugged into a trickle charger. I would think an automatic fire extinguishing system would be in order. Like we had in telephone offices.
Toyota does not need any burnt down homes right now.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/05/toyota-defends-agai- nst-report-on-older-lexus-es-trouble/1
Given the concerns raised by some customers about this drivability issue, we did not meet the very high customer satisfaction standards we set for ourselves. However, we fully stand behind the engineering and production quality of the vehicle, as well as our after-sale customer service and technical support.
Still the overall tenor of the response is to say the only thing wrong with the cars is they may not drive the way some people would like, but they certainly are safe:
That got me thinking - doesn't the Volt use Li-ion? Yikes.
Here's my idea for battery packs - they should be removeable, just like your cordless drill.
Imagine pulling up to a gas station, and having standard-sized battery packs that you just swap out instantly. It would take less time than filling up your tank with gas once an infrastructure was set up. The gas stations, nay, battery stations, could trickle charge batteries slowly and have them ready to swap out instantly.
I'm sure it would be heavy, complex, and need a new infrastructure, but that's what it will take, IMHO.
Even with a 150-mile range, let's say, you could pull up, slide out the old battery (with assistance given the weight of course), and pop in a new one. The whole process could be done in under a minute, and you could drive another 150 miles. The station could charge the cost of the electricity plus a small fee to cover their costs and a profit.
Think of propane cylinder exchanges - that type of system, only on a large scale.
What do you think? It would solve the fast-charge problem.
It would be tough for one simple reason - the auto industry is really bad about standardizing anything. Standard size batteries would be very tough. I imagine something the size of a fuel tank that slid in from the side, maybe.
I do think that is a totally seperate issue, though.
The early 6 speed automatics (code U660E for car geeks) did have hesitation issues, in Camrys and Avalons also.
Let's say you were driving along in 2nd gear and came up to a speed bump, and let off the gas. In an attempt to maximize fuel economy, it would shift to 3rd. After the bump, you'd get back on the throttle, but it would be in the wrong gear. Waiting for it to down shift, some drivers would apply more throttle, and when it finally did shift back to 2nd, you got a surge.
That's not the same as a pinned throttle in a car going 100mph, far from it.
There was an editorial in Automotive News, I wish I could find it now...
Any how, I guess the thing is that once people hear about UA and they feel anything that feels even familiar, they will think they experienced that problem, even if it's different.
My dad has an Olds Custom Cruiser station wagon and the trans on that thing hesitated like an indecisive politician. Even at a dead stop it would often not pick 1st gear until you hit the throttle, then BAM! You'd almost get wheelspin off the line.
Just the nature of Automatics I guess.
That's one of the times I really appreciate having a manual. :shades:
ROFLMAO
Did anyone expect different from toyota-lexus?
"The contract says that the scope of the services that Exponent is to perform is "engineering consulting services related to class actions filed against Toyota," said Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
""Exponent seems to be working for lawyers," Waxman said at a hearing last week. "Everything they've shown us gives us no sense they've come to any conclusions. We have no sense they're even looking at this issue."
"The president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Jim Lentz, acknowledged possible shortcomings in the study, which has cost the company $3.3 million so far.
""I understand the perception that this is not a very transparent process," he told Waxman's committee."
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
A friend of mine works in a 15 acre food warehouse and I got a tour a while back. They have a couple of dozen fork lift bays - you drive up, release the battery connection, push a button on the machine, and the old battery is grabbed and it slides out and shifts out of the way. Then the gizmo slides the fresh battery in. You basically have to push two buttons, one on your vehicle and one at the charging station. It could be faster than pumping 20 gallons in your tank.
Oh yeah... :shades:
Did you watch that Mythbusters episode? That was epic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnHR4cMXiyM&feature=related
Overheating li-ion batteries would probably melt the casing, but wouldn't be entertaining the way thermite is.
Imagine 10 years from now we look at taking 3 minutes to fill up a gas tank and laugh at how long they take to fill up, while you drive off with a full charge in a minute or so.
No, it's a Forken Swift.
No, really, it is. LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yfQcihsvE0&feature=PlayList&p=4B404F17267FCFD3&p- laynext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=5
I'm still searching...funny thing is Toyota makes electric forklifts. I found tons. If so, and they're hot-swappable, they'd already have the technology.
The video is under 3 minutes, but imagine a battery station which could have the battery at the proper height to begin with, so you'd just have to slide it over.
They swap a massive battery, too. A li-ion could be smaller, and of course it could be trickle-charged slowly and safely by the battery station.
The real problem with electrics is the time it would take for a full charge - 8+ hours in most cases. Under a minute sounds much better.
BRAND CUSTOMER COMMITMENT QUALITY COMMITMENT
Honda 71% 73%
Ford 62 65
Nissan 57 58
Chevrolet 56 56
Toyota 53 52
Hyundai 44 42
Chrysler 36 38
Consumer perception
Out of the thousands of vehicles i have sold, never did one come back with a complaint of unintended acceleration.......thr most believable story i heard was a slow to return pedal, which was caused by a closed in pedal that didnt have anywhere to have the friction created dissipate.
he government owns 75% of General Motors..... C"mon, folks what do you think th govt wants you to buy ? Toyota has been producing safe, high qquality autos for 50 yrs. no company is perfect, but you hsve to look at overall reputation......wea re usy as ever...... thnzk God this hasnt seemed to take any toll on the reputatation of Toyota and thank you to all thr Loyal customers........
It's pretty sad when toyota-lexus folks use that as an excuse for what the toyota folks did wrong to their customers. Note that the ownership is of stock and within a year that stock will be able to be sold to buyers and your government will have no more ownership.
Would you rather have had the company close completely losing all those jobs along with many of its suppliers who also supplied parts to your toyota-lexuses?
> thnzk God this hasnt seemed to take any toll on the reputatation of Toyota
I think you missed the above post about loyalty.
Also I was just reading that sales for toyota-lexus are down. They've exhausted the sales due to huge incentives and to the remaining loyal folks who feel they are buying the advertised product quality.
Now the congress is questioning toyota's sincerity about finding their problem after the hearings. Instead toyota-lexus paid Exponet to try to fight class action suits to help their attorneys!!!! Yup, toyota really cares about finding the flaw. IMHO, they already know.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
not worth the extra 1mpg or so...
They're going after every last tenth of an mpg to meet CAFE standards, though. I'd rather see Direct Injection vs. a transmission that eagerly seeks a too-tall gear, though.
Seems like that Terrain had both? EPA estimates are great but real-world and magazine tests aren't living up to those lofty expectations. I bet owners get impatient and just floor it. To be fair, GM re-programmed the trans in the Lambda crossovers and feedback was positive, so maybe they'll improve the Terrain, too.
Which raises a question. Will changing the programming on a transmission change the fuel economy. Are the automakers optimizing to get the numbers even though it may make the car drive poorly. I know I did not like the 7 speed in the Mercedes GL320 CDI I test drove. My 2008 Nissan 5 speed seems better spaced than my 2007 Toyota Sequoia.
What I heard in the Crossover thread is that real-world mileage did not drop mostly because people no longer had to floor it to get any response.
I think we'll see some lighter materials, DI (direct injection), tall highway gearing, low rolling resistance tires, and even de-contenting (less content, less weight) to improve CAFE numbers.
I like Ford's approach - EcoBoost. Small turbo DI engines doing the job of bigger engines. The clincher: the engines can run on regular octane.
Toyota uses a big V6 with tall gearing. My Sienna tachs 1400 rpm at the speed limit on the highway. Hums along just off idle.
Yeah sure.
Google Toyota sludge and Toyota Tacoma and Tundra frame rust.
City mileage is a different story.
The agency warned owners of 2010 Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan vehicles not to place unsecured floor mats -- made by Ford or anyone else -- on top of the standard, carpeted floor mat in the driver's side foot well.
Toyota is still the RUNAWAY leader in UA..... :P
PS
If you cannot stack mats without hooks, the accelerator pedal is POORLY designed. End of story.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I realize it hurts to have something blamed on your favorite car model, but toyota-lexus does have a track record.
Maybe TRU TV will rerun the serious accidents show that this was on. It was in Cleveland. The driver missed some pedestrians in the lot and pinned one guy between the rear of the car and the building. I'm sorry the taillights looked like the camry jukebox taillight style from the previous generation.
>these older people crashing into buildings drive cars like big old GM and Ford models - more like LeSabre, Delta 88 or Grand Marquis.
Or "big old camry" ????
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
If it had been a case of UA the lady would have been on the news.
You are assUming that the unintended acceleration had been unveiled from the shroud of darkness under which toyota-lexus had managed to keep the true data for so many years.
The only thing certain is that the date was after the previous generation of camrys with the jukebox taillights were being sold. Like the man in Minnesotta or Wisconsin who is prison because his car accelerated and the toyota-lexus problem was not widely known, the lady driving may have been blamed in a similar way. The clip does NOT show her saying she had her foot on the wrong pedal--are toyota-lexus' pedals so similar that people mistake the accelerator for the brake. If so, poor ergonomic design.
Do you know what year in which it occurred?
Pure speculation otherwise.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Show us a link or story, at least.
There have been legit cases of UA but that doesn't mean every crash is UA, the odds are actually very slim.
PS you wrote " just showed a lady" as if this had happened yesterday
The program of crashes was on TRU TV yesterday. They just showed it yesterday. I don't know when it was filmed on the store's various cameras.
I see how you might have thought it was yesterday's news. If it were to happen today, UIA would be considered as a factor by many of the news program writers since toyota's shortcomings have been exposed.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Was that a typo, or are you just seeing Toyota's glass as half-empty?
Big winners so far are Subaru and Mazda, both up 35%.