Sphere478 wrote on 2024-07-12, 04:23:

Thinking about getting a Silverado EV work truck. One of the 24 module ones with like 400+ miles range.

How long does it take to charge so you get a 400+ mile range?

Update on the Kia coil catastrophe, in case you thought I left you hanging...

Thursday... problem happened AM, by PM had determined that any decent shop in the area had bookings several days to two weeks out. Also many of the trade part suppliers seemed to have 5 day lead on 3G Rio front strut and coil assemblies. I didn't want to be screwing around all next week... Found a local supplier with a left side in stock, which was the broke one, and had own warehouse that had right side which they could have by Fri... ohhhhkay... 4 bolts and done right?... ima do it... so late Thursday grab the "left" side, figure if I only get the left on I can at least crawl around at 50kph/30mph to other suppliers... had to carry the damn thing home from 5 blocks away. pant pant phew... get the left side of car up in the evening, wheel off, start dissassembly, ummm shit... there's a right side part in this left side box... work paused until early next morning, get on the phone... cancel right side part, that's what I got here, can you get left side??? so yeah, they could for 2:30 friday.... damn are my guts churning with all the many ways things could screw up still... having just had demonstration of the general amount of competence in the world, they made it right though...

So Friday, beast-ish mode time... started by putting the right side up too, coz that was the part I had, so might be able to get on while waiting for the other, went suspiciously well until the strut to knuckle bolts.... it's always the strut to knuckle bolts.... Verily did I anoint them the appointed three times with the oil of Wenceslas Domini two score, stucketh like fucketh remained they. So I was pinging the hammer off the bolt ends, had them turning just about with the impact wrench, which had got the nuts off fairly easy. Took a break, hit up google, had a bit of a panic because first time I'm hearing of it, some Fords come with SPLINED bolts you are NOT MEANT to turn, but after damn near having a heart attack that I might have reamed out my knuckle holes oversize, I was able to confirm that Kia didn't do this. Then read through all the usual suggestions, like just taking the torch to it (and costing yourself a brake job and new knuckle too with how this one is) I find a suggestion of putting the nut on the end, and a socket on it, and hitting that...

Getting back to it, I was sorta skeptical that that was any help, but after trying it a couple of half hearted taps, I realised it was more like a dead blow and the hammer wasn't pinging back off it like off the end of the bolt, and was also a much easier target to hit, so I could really wind up on it. So got those bastards moving with that technique and the BFH of smiting (+5lb) after numerous whacks each, I was moving them a mm at a time but they were moving! Yay, bolts out... strut assemblies out, yasssss.

So now I gotta hoof all the way over to the parts store again to pick up the righter left side, because the wrong left was right and I needed a left instead of the right I got for a left, and left the right and got it right in the end with the left.... anyway.... I ended up with one for each side thank the stars. Back with that and I have a horrible heat headache, so late lunch and an hour cooldown. It had got real sunny with high humidity and no breeze... I should have taken time to rig a shade.

Anyway, plug on with it and putting the new ones in was pretty straightforward, some joggling around to get the holes lined up, hose some antirust crap up the strut towers while they're empty. Main problem now is heat, reinstall would have been half hour a side I think apart from I had to keep diving for the shade and wisps of breeze along side of house. Anyway, got it all buttoned up by 8pm everything torqued to spec. First drive.... okay that's a little worrying, getting some creaks and groans... but all the balljoints, tierod ends, and endlinks seemed tight, but I had displace the control arms high and low and manipulated the sway bar a bit to get things in line, so rubber parts a bit out of normal seating.... it'll settle I told myself hopefully... and hope was warranted, because it settled in after a few blocks looping around and quieted down. So came back to the driveway and checked the alignment wasn't too badly out... and you know what, my 2x4s and tape measure say it's spot on (not my first DIY alignment rodeo btw and I have had some horrible "pro" alignments that ate tires in a month.)

So bright and early Sat morning, road trip, 150 miles total to fleamarket and back... she did it beautifully, hit lots of road surfaces, various speeds and it was flawless. In fact on the way back there was an instant slowdown on highway where we had to brake hard. If that spring had held on 3 more days, knowing after it broke it pulled to the side badly, then midday Sat, it would have broke under that heavy braking and swerved us into the next lane of traffic.... luck is capricious... it was bad luck it broke, but good luck it broke when it did.

Anyway, car = fine, me = knackered and still achy, wallet = $500CDN lighter. (There are cheaper strut assemblies for this car, but got made in USA Monroe QuickStruts)

Nothing like working on a car to stop you bitching about things like "what do you mean I have to remove the HDD to get to the RAM" or other poorly designed computers.
only it doesn't, I just bitch about both!

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-07-14, 15:10:

Sphere478 wrote on 2024-07-12, 04:23:

Thinking about getting a Silverado EV work truck. One of the 24 module ones with like 400+ miles range.

How long does it take to charge so you get a 400+ mile range?

I mean basically will be ready to go in garage every morning.

On road trips it charges at 350kw/hour and the pack is 200kw usually reality works out a little slower than that. But yeah, charging at probably around 400 miles per hour.

You won’t need that many usually, usually you just pick up enough to get to where you are going and hit a slow charger there while you do other stuff.

Translation, cheaper than gas, and not too much slower to get there on a road trip.

When at home, with my solar, free gas. 😀

The price however of the vehicle. (Any vehicle right now for that matter, gas or electric is just nutty)

On my bolt I hit and exceeded ROI in gas savings. With a 80k investment, eh. That’s a little tougher. Might wait a while see if I can grab one used.

Keepin' it retro with my 1992 DUO Topaz and Explorer. Been driving a Topaz for almost 20 years.

Heh Topaz SVT, that your joke or did you manage to get a Contour SVT motor in it or something?

Earlier this century, I had to drive it's brother, a Tempo for way longer than I wanted to, barely fit my legs in it. 2.3 Hardly Satisfactory Combustion 4 banger and the auto, drank gas like it had 150hp but accelerated like it had 50. Also needed to clean the MAF monthly 'coz it liked to oil it up.

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-07-16, 02:42:

Heh Topaz SVT, that your joke or did you manage to get a Contour SVT motor in it or something?

It does have the 3.0V6(vulcan, programmed) and makes 200HP/220lb/ft. Has a few other chassis-stiffening mods. Parallelogram'd one of these around corners, so I learned the weaknesses, 🤣 Surprisingly, gets 32mpg easily (if driven easy) and 15 with it's ass-kicked. Doesn't even need to be driven hard, either, as it weighs only 2050-ish lbs. with me in it. V6 tosses it around like a matchbox.

Oof. I've had many 2.3s, that motor is garbage. Definitely no guts OR fuel economy. It's easy to pop a V6 in, takes around 4-6 hours. My engine currently has been in 3 cars now, including this one. This car (and my white one) used to get raced a lot, in the good 'ol days. Just a daily now.

Someone asked a while back about EV road trips.

I have a late-2023 Model 3 and drove Brisbane to Canberra and back, on the coastal road via Sydney. ~1200km (~750mi) each way.

Australia has adopted CCS-2/Mennekes as the industry standard charging connector. The exceptions are some Japanese vehicles with ChaDeMo. Yep, even Teslas sold in RHD markets use CCS-2. This standardisation means charging sites are abundant and heavily-used, hence well maintained. Some are even government-subsidised, and provide the electricity at the wholesale rate per kWh.

That in mind, I can report that it was a very pleasant experience.

The cost of electricity for the entire trip (including activities in Canberra) was $196 AUD, with two adults, their luggage, a trunk full of computers, and running the cabin+seat heating pretty hard most of the way.

Today's average unleaded fuel cost in my area is $1.92 per litre. For that much money, I could buy about 100L, perhaps one-and-a-half tanks of fuel for my old car. This puts me well in front of all but the most fuel-sipping 2-door hybrids, and lightyears in front of my old 6-cyl 4L tank, in terms of $ per km travelled.

I don't have any of the enhanced self-driving features, but even the basic autopilot made the journey much more relaxing.

The Model 3 itself has a stiff "sporty" suspension profile, but the trip was still very smooth and comfortable. My partner slept for a good portion of the driving! 😁

SquallStrife wrote on 2024-07-18, 05:04:

Today's average unleaded fuel cost in my area is $1.92 per litre. For that much money, I could buy about 100L, perhaps one-and-a-half tanks of fuel for my old car. This puts me well in front of all but the most fuel-sipping 2-door hybrids, and lightyears in front of my old 6-cyl 4L tank, in terms of $ per km travelled.

A very informative narration especially for people like me who don't own an EV and are curious to learn about them, thanks!

Translating the numbers into something I know, it seems that to match the cost of $196 (or 100L) for 2400km it would take a car with a consumption of 4.2L/100km. I understand that this comparison depends on the price of both gas and electricity, but yeah for your area and prices it's very good. Closer to modern economical hybrids that I thought, but nowhere near older and more thirsty engines.

The Kia stuck it's snout in my wallet again... picked up a bad stone chip on the windshield, it was outside the drivers FOV, but looked like it could spread, especially if water and freezing temps got involved. Local place was able to fill it though for only $80, and have to look really hard to find it now, so hopefully I won't have to worry about it again.

Major Jackyl wrote on 2024-07-16, 22:05:

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-07-16, 02:42:

Heh Topaz SVT, that your joke or did you manage to get a Contour SVT motor in it or something?

It does have the 3.0V6(vulcan, programmed) and makes 200HP/220lb/ft. Has a few other chassis-stiffening mods. Parallelogram'd one of these around corners, so I learned the weaknesses, 🤣 Surprisingly, gets 32mpg easily (if driven easy) and 15 with it's ass-kicked. Doesn't even need to be driven hard, either, as it weighs only 2050-ish lbs. with me in it. V6 tosses it around like a matchbox.

Awesome, I would like to find out more about that, 200HP from a Vulcan while improving gas mileage suddenly makes vulcan Rangers a lot more interesting to me, or Taurus wagons. I realize you have to be light footed to benefit, but am familiar with how removing inefficiencies benefit both power and economy.

konc wrote on 2024-07-18, 08:24:

SquallStrife wrote on 2024-07-18, 05:04:

Today's average unleaded fuel cost in my area is $1.92 per litre. For that much money, I could buy about 100L, perhaps one-and-a-half tanks of fuel for my old car. This puts me well in front of all but the most fuel-sipping 2-door hybrids, and lightyears in front of my old 6-cyl 4L tank, in terms of $ per km travelled.

A very informative narration especially for people like me who don't own an EV and are curious to learn about them, thanks!

Translating the numbers into something I know, it seems that to match the cost of $196 (or 100L) for 2400km it would take a car with a consumption of 4.2L/100km. I understand that this comparison depends on the price of both gas and electricity, but yeah for your area and prices it's very good. Closer to modern economical hybrids that I thought, but nowhere near older and more thirsty engines.

When I go on road trips I find a lot of free chargers usually if I am not in a hurry.

The first and last charge is always free at home on solar also.

I’ve gone on a few road trips in the 7,500-9,500 mile range on one of them I went 7,500 or so miles only on free chargers in a row. I hit all three usa coasts on that free run. I believe I may have documented it here? or on the bolt forum? It was a few years back now.

konc wrote on 2024-07-18, 08:24:

SquallStrife wrote on 2024-07-18, 05:04:

Today's average unleaded fuel cost in my area is $1.92 per litre. For that much money, I could buy about 100L, perhaps one-and-a-half tanks of fuel for my old car. This puts me well in front of all but the most fuel-sipping 2-door hybrids, and lightyears in front of my old 6-cyl 4L tank, in terms of $ per km travelled.

A very informative narration especially for people like me who don't own an EV and are curious to learn about them, thanks!

Translating the numbers into something I know, it seems that to match the cost of $196 (or 100L) for 2400km it would take a car with a consumption of 4.2L/100km. I understand that this comparison depends on the price of both gas and electricity, but yeah for your area and prices it's very good. Closer to modern economical hybrids that I thought, but nowhere near older and more thirsty engines.

56MPG in a modern car isnt impossible.
My 6 series BMW gets around the 42-45MPG on my drive to work, so on a long drive like that I would be expecting much closer to 50.
And thats a big car with a 3L twin turbo diesel engine with Efficient Dynamics.

ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-07-30, 23:02:

56MPG in a modern car isnt impossible. My 6 series BMW gets around the 42-45MPG on my drive to work, so on a long drive like tha […]
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konc wrote on 2024-07-18, 08:24:

SquallStrife wrote on 2024-07-18, 05:04:

Today's average unleaded fuel cost in my area is $1.92 per litre. For that much money, I could buy about 100L, perhaps one-and-a-half tanks of fuel for my old car. This puts me well in front of all but the most fuel-sipping 2-door hybrids, and lightyears in front of my old 6-cyl 4L tank, in terms of $ per km travelled.

A very informative narration especially for people like me who don't own an EV and are curious to learn about them, thanks!

Translating the numbers into something I know, it seems that to match the cost of $196 (or 100L) for 2400km it would take a car with a consumption of 4.2L/100km. I understand that this comparison depends on the price of both gas and electricity, but yeah for your area and prices it's very good. Closer to modern economical hybrids that I thought, but nowhere near older and more thirsty engines.

56MPG in a modern car isnt impossible.
My 6 series BMW gets around the 42-45MPG on my drive to work, so on a long drive like that I would be expecting much closer to 50.
And thats a big car with a 3L twin turbo diesel engine with Efficient Dynamics.

Agree, I also wrote that EVs are very close to modern hybrids. Closer that I thought apparently. And if the fuel is diesel (cheaper in many places) and not petrol, the cost is probably matched. Of course all these depend on electricity and fuel prices in different parts of the world and the ability to have free charges etc, but I believe they give a good general idea for those who didn't have any like me.

Worth mentioning that I chose charging locations based on convenience, not price. Basically I did a lot of charging at Tesla Superchargers, the most expensive option, relatively speaking.

If I was more careful about where to stop, as Sphere suggests, that price-per-km-travelled could have been a fair bit better.

Not too many free charging opportunities here, but there are multiple competing charging networks, which is a good thing!

I drive a boring Civic. I don't think it's worth having a nice car where I live, but it does feel severely lacking in power and the factory stereo sounds so bad that I consider it unusable (I'd rather listen to phone or laptop speakers).

I need to get new tires on it before the fall tire rush. I'm really dreading that after last time (with four-year-old Uniroyal tires that never wore noticeably, but the rubber got so hard that they had dangerously low traction). I had multiple shops turn me down based on tread depth or reluctantly offer to sell me the same garbage tires (even when they were new, they performed horribly in the rain, but they weren't bad in snow). I had to go to Walmart, and that guy was excited about being able to resell the old ones. Now those are approaching six years old (by the date code - they were actually purchased about five and a half years ago).

Way back, around here, it was Sears you wanted to get your tires from, then they closed the tire shop and the stores not long after. Then Costco was good for a bit, when they actually had deals and had the Kirkland tires made by major brands. Now it's like 5% off MRSP, and first off, nobody is pricing at MRSP anyway, and buy 4 only pay for 3 deals beat them hollow. AND they only carry the most expensive lines. So I went to using Walmart late noughts onward.... and they had some decent rebranded Kumhos, but those went away, and in this region the Walmart auto centers went away too a few years ago. So my last set of tires, I got from a main dealer shop when they had a special.

However, there is that "the only honest and competent full service auto shop in 25 mile radius" who are always booked up for 2 weeks, but they never had good tires lines "in". I have gone there a couple of times for a barely worn used tire for a fair price. But hoorayyyyy!!! they are now a certified installer for Black Circles (Canadian Tire Rack more or less), so I can browse and order decent tires, decent price, have them delivered there and fitted there. Anyway, that might be a good option for you, trusted local installer that an online retailer works with.

As the first post on this page talks about a Silverado, i feel the need to post what I drive, which is quite the opposite... xD

A 2023 Honda SH350

And in case you are wondering, yes you can carry a CRT (although it was only a 15") with it. I wouldn't do it again though.

The frame of my trusty Giant hybrid bike developed a major crack around the crank area recently. I got 11 good years out of it and we did a lot of miles together, but I was still a little surprised that the frame went like that - I only commute on it, never offroad.

I told myself that the replacement needed to be well researched, but of course I just walked into a store and impulse purchased the one that tickled my fancy. The first thing the sales guy showed me was just another bog standard commuter, reliable but boring as hell. I'm sick of dirty chains and the occasional missed gear that the traditional derailer setup gives you, so I asked what they had in a belt drive. It's mainly just e-bikes that have a belt and I've always sworn I'd never ride one of those - riding my bike is my main form of exercise. But he talked me into test riding one and it was a lot of fun... so I bought it.

It's a single speed - you use the power function to compensate up hills instead of gears. The motor is in the rear hub and isn't particularly powerful, and it also stops helping at 25KM/h (the local regulation) so I still need to put in some effort to get up big hills and maintain the speed I like on the flats.

Time will tell but for now I'm enjoying it and actually looking forward to the days I go into the office (just for the commute).

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-08-01, 11:42:

Anyway, that might be a good option for you, trusted local installer that an online retailer works with.

That might work. They're going to have a hard time telling me that I don't need new tires when the new ones are already waiting.

The other problem is choosing what to buy.

badmojo wrote on 2024-08-03, 22:55:

he talked me into test riding one and it was a lot of fun... so I bought it.

Nice one!!

It's cool that these are getting so popular.