Status
You're currently viewing only phoenix_rizzen's posts. Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

phoenix_rizzen

Ars Praefectus
4,914
Subscriptor
It's even more egregious if you know that literally every supercharger in Europe now works with all brands.
Europe standardised on CCS2 before SuperChargers were installed. Every DCFC in Europe is CCS2 (maybe there's some ChAdeMo?). Regardless of who installed it, runs it, etc. Thus, all cars could charge at all chargers.
 

phoenix_rizzen

Ars Praefectus
4,914
Subscriptor
Are there really no Minivan EVs besides the id.buzz? I'm just idly looking and can't see any other options out there that allow for transporting a family of 5 + dog while still allowing the ability to haul things from time to time.
Kia has an EV minivan in the prototype stage. Hopefully it will be here in 2026 or 2027.

Ford and Mercedes have EV vans but they aren't (yet?) available in passenger configurations.

Unfortunately, it looks like Canoo won't make it to mass production of their van. :(

The Hyundai Ioniq 9 and Kia EV9 are 7-passenger EVs that can tow small trailers.
 

phoenix_rizzen

Ars Praefectus
4,914
Subscriptor
Eh this is mixing a lot of different limitations.

Older, lower capacity cars like a Bolt and Niro cannot charge as fast, but that has not much to do with the voltage. Yes they accept ~400V as input, but the pack itself limits power to a low level.

Then there are 400V cars that accept up to 3-500A, for 120-200 kW of total power. These are common and include all Tesla's (ex that new model that has almost no sales / is barely a rounding error in delivery count), VW MEB based cars, etc etc. The new 2025 Model Y LR is 250 kW peak, 124 kW average, 10-80% in 27 minutes on a 250 kW V3 supercharger.

There are 800V cars in the wild, mostly Kia and Hyundai, but also some Volkswagen Group Premium Platform Electric, Audi and Porsche. These can use 800V x moderate amps to reach a higher total speed. But most chargers installed, like Tesla superchargers up to V3 (250 kW), are all 400V. V4 finally adds 800V / 325 kW but it's just a bit faster than before, not a huge difference and not like doubling the voltage doubles the speed.


The 800V Kia EV6 SR charges from 10 to 80% in 18 minutes on 800V, 22 minutes on 400V / 150 kW, that's not really a huge deal. More important is the battery itself - the battery can sustain the high 150 kW rate for almost the full charge. Slower cars at the ~30 minute mark for 10-80% can only handle 100 kW of average power, like the Enyaq LR, 10-80%, 114 kW, 28 minutes.


To summarize, there are three groups of cars

1. Slower, older models that cannot fully utilize a pretty standard 150 kW plug.
2. Default group that can charge up to 150/250 kW but usually hang around 100-120 kW average, for top up in 24-30 minutes.
3. Fast charging cars that can use a higher power connection up to 300 kW for a charge in ~18 minutes, but if and only if on a 300 kW / 800V connection and no second car plugged into the stall.
And then there's the non-Tesla chargers out there that go all the way to 11 ... er ... 400 kW. Just to poke fun at the Tesla SuperChargers that still can't go above 325 kW ... 9 years after Musk mocked 350 kW as "for toys". :)
 

phoenix_rizzen

Ars Praefectus
4,914
Subscriptor
EV4 looks nice, especially as a hatch. Doubt I'd want to upgrade from the Niro any time soon, even if it came to the US.

I'm a little confused why Kia is putting out more 400V cars. Are they significantly cheaper to build than the 800V ones? The recharge time advantage of 800V is pretty significant. They must be cheaper.
Less internal electronics required to make a 400V architecture work with existing DCFC setups. 400V vehicles just pull power from the EVSE and dump it into the battery pack (essentially). 800V vehicles have to either split the pack in two and charge them in parallel at 400V each or do voltage changes internally or various other things leading to slower/lower-power charging on existing DCFC (Ioniq 5 was limited to around 125 kW on Supercharger v3, for example). Most 250-350 kW chargers are 200-500V setups.

400V architecture is simpler, thus less expensive.

800V architecture is more future-proof for when 400+ kW chargers using 800-1000 V setups are more common.
 
Last edited:

phoenix_rizzen

Ars Praefectus
4,914
Subscriptor
Too little - it didn't slow the car down sufficiently. Felt like regen on my Niro set to 'low'. I told my mom she was being too finnicky, then I drove it as was "WTF" as I quickly hit the brake.
That's weird. We test drove a 2022 or maybe 2023 Ioniq 5 and I found even the lowest regen settings to be too much. It's a very weird sensation to take your foot off the accelerator and suddenly feel your body lurch forward as the regen kicks in. Took most of the drive to get used to each level of regen. Was very useful for going down hills, to control the speed. Not something I'd want to use in stop-n-go traffic. though.

Maybe after a year of driving it would be different. Maybe it's all relative to what you're used to?
 

phoenix_rizzen

Ars Praefectus
4,914
Subscriptor
Yeah... you cannot possibly draw that conclusion from one person's experience. From a quick Google, those miles were mostly recorded in Santa Cruz, which is about as hospitable an environment as one can conceive for Li+ battery operation.

Now do Phoenix or Fairbanks.
Except it's not a single experience. There's ride-sharing Tesla's, Ioniq's, Mach-e's and more with 100,000, 200,000, 300,000, 400,000+ miles on the odometer out there, with 75%+ battery capacity remaining. There's Model S/X batteries out there approaching 15+ years of age with 80%+ battery capacity remaining. Every other month or so there's another report of a high-mileage EV with little battery degredation, or an old EV with little battery degredation. It's just not something to worry about anymore (with a few exceptions, like the air-cooled Leaf).

Yes, there will always be exceptions and early-battery-death events. Just as there's always going to be transmissions that fail in the first 2 years (like our Hyundai Elantra, replaced under warranty, no issues in the years since) or engines that fail prematurely or differentials that fail during the warranty period. We don't worry about early-death-events for ICE vehicles anymore; why should we worry about early-death-events for EVs? Isn't that why we have warranties?
 

phoenix_rizzen

Ars Praefectus
4,914
Subscriptor
I used to prefer driving stick. But honestly, modern automatics are responsive enough to remove the need. That’s doubly true for electrics. Instant response.
Modern automatics that include a manual shift mode are great. I love getting on the highway, seeing cruise control, then manually shifting for going up/down hills. :) I find our Elantra shifts too aggressively up and down on hills killing fuel efficiency. It's also fun to put it into Sport mode and manually shift while driving in the city. :)

Using the regen-level paddles on an EV is similar, although it's really only useful when going downhill or slowing down for lights.
 

phoenix_rizzen

Ars Praefectus
4,914
Subscriptor
Can only speak for our local Hyundai dealership but I've found they're great for things covered under warranty (replaced the transmission at less than 30,000 km - no issues with it since), but an absolute scam for any other mechanical work. We stopped taking our Elantra to the dealership shortly after the warranty ran out and we realised how expensive every little repair was going to be (just shy of $2000 for diagnostic work trying to figure out why the check engine light is on, and wanting to keep it overnight for another $2000; no thank you!).

There's 3 local shops we go to, depending on who has an opening, and the repair costs are much more reasonable. They're also willing to forgo charges if the repair doesn't stick "Take it home, drive it for a few days, let us know if things are still good, then come in to settle up" is a common occurrence. Twice they didn't charge for diagnostics, and once they didn't charge for a 3-hour session that didn't fix the issue.
 

phoenix_rizzen

Ars Praefectus
4,914
Subscriptor
This is kinda off-topic, but does Google Maps not display lane guidance when used through Car Play? I'm used to it just telling me what lane(s) I need to be in for subsequent steps, no "rough idea" needed.
Google Maps does display lane guidance and has for several years now. It's shown in the graphic above the "turn in X m" notice where it shows the different lanes, which ones turn/go straight, and highlights the one you need to be in. Whether it's running on the phone or displayed on the car screen via CarPlay/AA.

And, if you press anywhere on the green square that shows the lane guidance, it will bring up a list of all the turns coming up, so the passenger can look ahead to see what's coming (or the driver can do it while stopped at a light/side of the road).

Projecting the screen via CarPlay/AA doesn't change that.

But, Google Maps only shows the next turn. OP mentioned that Tesla nav shows the next 2 turns.
 
Status
You're currently viewing only phoenix_rizzen's posts. Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.