I stand corrected but probably close enough by Freud's perspective.
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Who has or is planning to get an electric car / EV Talk
- Thread starter PracticalMac
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Her lyrics, such as they are, completely miss the point of harm reduction. It is possible to drive and electric car and still eat meat. Better than driving a gas guzzler and also eating meat.
To be fair, her lyrics were from a few decades ago. She has since said she has regretted saying such things.
But more to the point, I think if you go to a typical college campus these days, the ladies prefer Tesla-driving vegans. Just saying...
Outside of the northeast and the I-5 corridor the charging infrastructure is just not there yet. We decided on a plug-in hybrid (Honda Clarity) and it is almost always an electric car for us, we have driven 1600 miles since out last fill-up and our average operating cost is around 3.5 cents/mile.
When we first got our Honda Clarity (PHEV with a 12 kWh battery) using a 120v outlet gave us an output of about 1.15 kW. We installed a 240v charger on a 40A circuit and now out output is just over 7 kW. Where it used to take 11 hours to charge the car now it takes about 1.5 hours.A 110v outlet is a standard outlet. Now 220v might be better. An entire day to charge an EV at home? I think not, not for me that is.
Based on our electricty cost of $0.13/kWh charging the battery when it was run as low as the car's software will let it go a full charge costs about $1.25, that is enough electricity for (under optimum conditions) for about 48 miles of driving. In cold weather that drops to about 36 miles. My daily commute is 34 miles round trip and I can charge at work for free if I get there early enough.
Are you concerned about the fuel in your tank going bad? It starts to breakdown in about 2 weeks…
This is why I wanted to stay away from a plug in hybrid and go full EV. The complexities of a ICE and not enough battery for my daily commute.
I have a Volt Gen 2. It is a plugin hybrid with a 52 mile battery range. It has a maintenance mode that runs if it notices that you haven’t burned the gasoline in a while. It forces it to run on gas. It’s necessary but annoying when it happens because we don’t like to use gas. It takes several weeks before it will trigger. Gas is fine for much longer than 2 weeks in modern, sealed tank vehicles that are not prone to moisture buildup.
I've never had an issue with that and I've had the same fuel in the tank for up to 4 months at a time. The Honda has a pressurized fuel system to prevent the lighter components from evaporating. Also old fuel is not the issue in modern high pressure fuel injection systems that it was with carburetors. My maintenance costs are minimal, one oil change a year and tire rotations.
Gas starts to break down in 2 weeks without adding some form of stabilizer. It is true that most vehicles will not have to worry about fuel that is a month old, they can burn it. The best way is to use a fuel additive designed to stabilize it and keep the tank as close to full as possible. But it does start to break down in as fast as two weeks (key word is start).
If someone is going 1,600 miles since a last fill up and they have a plug-in hybrid, this is not good for the long-term health of the fuel system (bad for the fuel pump and injectors). Clearly the tank is not full, and the fuel in there is been sitting for a long time.
It is bad, and possible worse in modern vehicles as fuel injectors have much tighter tolerances. Because a vehicle is able to burn the fuel in the tank doesn't mean it is good for the vehicle. My suggestion from your driving habits is to add either stabilizer and/or seafoam to each tank. It either will do nothing, or it will help reduce fuel breakdown, either way it is cheap insurance.
Carburetors do get varnish build up in the bowl and in the jets, these are much easier to clean than fuel injectors, which require specialty tools. I can easily bench clean with carb cleaner and a brass wire. I definitely wouldn't want to have to deal with fuel pumps going bad (especially on vehicles with pumps integrated into the tank).
I ride motorcycles and have always maintained a 3rd vehicle (since I moved to my 2 Teslas, this is the first time in 20 years that I haven't had a 3rd car with just my wife and I as drivers). My motorcycle is on a stand every NY winter, and this year with a young one, I have had my bike on a stand since last year. I put stabilizer in the tank before fueling up (to help mix it) then drive it around so that fuel is in the lines then park it.
My wife’s car gets filled up about 2-3 times a year. Never had any issues with the fuel going off. Just going up!
At least for Volts (can't speak to other plug in hybrids) you get a month or so of no gas usage before the car runs EMM then I think a year before it runs FMM. EMM will run for like 10 minutes while you drive, FMM runs until it burns through all the old gas.
I am not saying anyone is just going to have a catastrophic fuel system failure. It is just not good for the system, and over time, there will be more varnish buildup. Diesel is much more stable over time than gas, but also will breakdown over time.
Just a heads up if you have fuel sitting in your tank for extended periods of time. 4+ months of sitting in a tank isn't ideal especially without adding treatment.
With the increase of hybrid vehicles having batteries for plug in, I expect to see more fuel issues over time, unless fuel system cleaning is part of the service schedule (and I mean real cleaning, not just an in-tank cleaning additive).
EDIT: Also note, here in the US we have ethanol added to our fuel. This is a big part of the problem for fuel sitting.
EDIT2: I am all for getting more and more efficiency out of fuel, I think it is great that there are hybrids, and even better that there are plug-in hybrids to extend ranges even further. I just would like to hear more about how we are changing fuel so the shelf life is longer to match how much longer unused fuel sits in these way more efficient vehicles.
Just a heads up if you have fuel sitting in your tank for extended periods of time. 4+ months of sitting in a tank isn't ideal especially without adding treatment.
With the increase of hybrid vehicles having batteries for plug in, I expect to see more fuel issues over time, unless fuel system cleaning is part of the service schedule (and I mean real cleaning, not just an in-tank cleaning additive).
EDIT: Also note, here in the US we have ethanol added to our fuel. This is a big part of the problem for fuel sitting.
EDIT2: I am all for getting more and more efficiency out of fuel, I think it is great that there are hybrids, and even better that there are plug-in hybrids to extend ranges even further. I just would like to hear more about how we are changing fuel so the shelf life is longer to match how much longer unused fuel sits in these way more efficient vehicles.
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Well, I had a Prius Prine for over 5 years and Toyotas stance is to replace the fuel after 12 months. Over at priuschat many have gone for far more than 1800 miles on 1 tank.
Don’t know where you get your data from, but it’s not a concern in real life.
I’m pretty sure modern fuels come with the necessary additives to prevent a breakdown of substance, especially in just 2 weeks. A lot of people would be in a spot of bother after returning to an airport car park after their summer holidays if it were an issue these days.
Certainly in the UK. Mrs AFB fuel sits around for months in her fuel tank. Has in her last 3 cars. Never had any problems with any of them.
from my 2017 Prius Prime owner's manual:
Notice about fuel
●For plug-in hybrid vehicles, fuel may remain in the tank for a long time and undergo changes in quality depending on the how the vehicle is used. Refuel at least 5.3 gal.(20 L, 4.4 Imp.gal.) of fuel every 12 months (refuel a total of at least 5.3 gal. [20 L, 4.4 Imp.gal.] over a 12-month period), as this may affect components of the fuel system or the gasoline engine.
●If the vehicle has not been refueled for a certain amount of time and it is possible that the quality of the fuel remaining in the tank has changed, “No new fuel has been added recently. Please refuel” is displayed on the multi- information display when the power switch is turned to ON mode. If the message is displayed, refuel the vehicle immediately.
I just traded my 2019 BMW REX i3 in with only ~9K miles. It still had 1/3 of a tank (originally 2.5 Gal. premium fuel) left. Gas only used for maintenance mode - no problems loved the car. No fuel problems ever encountered.
Nooooo! Should have kept it. I loved my i3. I didn’t want a REX though. They stopped selling them over here when they introduced the larger battery.
I‘m going by Chevrolet’s schedule. Same with the oil changes. They keep track of how much the engine is used and I do oil changes when the oil use gets to 80%.
I park one of my vehicles for winter with a tank-full, and six months later I reinstall the battery, start the car, and drive-away. All you have to do is to add a fuel stabilizer such as Stabile, SeaFoam, Lucas, and so on, and then run the engine for a few minutes to allow the stabilized fuel reach the injectors. I park the lawn tractor add a fuel stabilizer to the fuel in the tank, and also to the fuel in the push mower. The Styhl chainsaws and trimmers I usually pour the gasoline out of the tank, add a fuel stabilizer, then start and let them "run dry" (let the engines run until they stop). Otherwise, I fill the tanks with pre-stabilized fuel, and store them for a period of 8-10 months.
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