Tesla

[In2ition]

I heard that there is a chip shortage right now and it's affecting new cars available for sale at the dealerships. This is causing a ripple effect and the resale car prices are up 40+%. Has anyone else noticed this?

I haven't been in the market for a new car for awhile, so I haven't been to the dealership. I have driven by the Ford dealership, hoping to see the new Bronco's, but have yet to see them and the lot seems a bit sparse, but that's just my anecdotal experience.

[AmareIsGod]

Not sure specific to the Bolt and Volt but I know with the Tesla, they recommend charging between 80 and 90% regularly. We set it to 85% max. When you go on longer range trips, you can bump it up to 95%. With the day to day driving we do, which is limited to 20-30 miles at a time, that's perfectly fine. Also, you should never let the battery drop to 0%. 100% and 0% are both bad for these types of batteries. What part of the temp fix is your wife objecting to? Does she want to continue charging to 100% regularly?

[Nodack]

She doesn’t want to loose any range. On the good side LG has started making batteries again and in October they are supposed to start replacing the batteries and give a new 8 year 100,000 warranty on the replacement batteries.

I have no idea about the Volt side and how long my car is going to sit at the dealer grave yard. I would hope they give a little priority to the deceased cars first.

[pickle]

There was a Tesla fire in Shanghai with the charging programming, and I'm pretty sure that figures into why they are recommending a lower state of charge (SOC) limit for you guys.

The chip shortage is very very real.

Battery technology is nowhere near perfect... maybe don't park electric cars inside your garages unless it's dead of winter.

[Indy]

There was a Tesla fire in Shanghai with the charging programming, and I'm pretty sure that figures into why they are recommending a lower state of charge (SOC) limit for you guys.

The chip shortage is very very real.

Battery technology is nowhere near perfect... maybe don't park electric cars inside your garages unless it's dead of winter.

Yeah, you cannot put out a lithium ion battery fire. You have to let it burn itself out. I have seen it first hand and it gets really bad.

[Indy]

I heard that there is a chip shortage right now and it's affecting new cars available for sale at the dealerships. This is causing a ripple effect and the resale car prices are up 40+%. Has anyone else noticed this?

I haven't been in the market for a new car for awhile, so I haven't been to the dealership. I have driven by the Ford dealership, hoping to see the new Bronco's, but have yet to see them and the lot seems a bit sparse, but that's just my anecdotal experience.

Yes. My truck is nearly 5 years old and I could sell it right now for about 75-80% of what I paid for it new. It is pretty low mileage, which is a part of that good resale. But mostly it is the chip shortage. If I could get by without a vehicle for the next 6 months, I would absolutely sell high.

[Nodack]

I read where GM was shutting down ALL production of cars except for the Camaro and I think one other car because of the chip shortage. Covid has done a number on supplies of everything across the board right now.

I know GM was buying back Chevy Bolts from owners who were freaked out by the recall details and possible fires since there are no batteries in stock, They don’t even make Volts anymore and my battery module is on back order for an indefinite period of time it seems. Maybe they would buy my car back from me since it seems it could be in their dealer graveyard for quite some time. I will call them again on Monday and see what’s up.

I know there is a huge employee shortage in a lot of sectors and yet I still see young healthy looking people on street corners begging for money.

[AmareIsGod]

She doesn’t want to loose any range. On the good side LG has started making batteries again and in October they are supposed to start replacing the batteries and give a new 8 year 100,000 warranty on the replacement batteries.

I have no idea about the Volt side and how long my car is going to sit at the dealer grave yard. I would hope they give a little priority to the deceased cars first.

I'm telling you, battery longevity suffers charging 100% regularity. Just for the sake of looking at the dash and seeing 100% when she gets in the care doesn't make much sense unless she's literally maxing out 250 miles of driving every single trip or day. I'm not sure what the whole "doesn't want to lose any range" if it means the battery will degrade at a faster pace to get 250 miles of range when she goes to use it vs 230 miles.

[Nodack]

That whole don’t charge to 100% was never mentioned by anyone at GM as a standard thing you should do. They only told us there was a defect and a recall and that to avoid a possible fire owners should only charge to 80% until they find a fix or replace the battery. I get what you are saying. My point is GM doesn’t say anything about only charging healthy batteries to 80% anywhere outside the recall as far as I know.

After reading about the recall I found there is a setting that will only charge to 80% that you can set. I might have to go stealth and just turn it on on my wife’s car and hope she doesn’t notice.

[AmareIsGod]

That whole don’t charge to 100% was never mentioned by anyone at GM as a standard thing you should do. They only told us there was a defect and a recall and that to avoid a possible fire owners should only charge to 80% until they find a fix or replace the battery. I get what you are saying. My point is GM doesn’t say anything about only charging healthy batteries to 80% anywhere outside the recall as far as I know.

After reading about the recall I found there is a setting that will only charge to 80% that you can set. I might have to go stealth and just turn it on on my wife’s car and hope she doesn’t notice.

Lol. You sneaky SOB! I know they don't call out that 100% not being a smart regular thing to do so why should people do it. Then again, they don't call that out and they are having battery recall issues where the numbers for other EVs (Tesla and Mustang Mach E) with battery recall issues is less and they don't recommend regularly charging to 100%. It's just kind of interesting.

[Nodack]

In the Bolt case they say it is a defect and is limited to a certain number of Bolts, not all of them. I don’t know if the other Bolts have that problem

Car makers advertise a certain range to entice buyers. They don’t advertise the 80% number, they advertise the 100% number and that 100% number probably is based on perfect conditions like driving a steady slow mph. I know from experience in my Volt that driving a steady 75mph on the freeway drains the battery a lot faster than rush hour stop and go or city driving.

[Nodack]

Tesla owners can now request ‘Full Self-Driving’, prompting criticism from regulators and safety advocates
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/other/t ... ar-AAONcOv
SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla began letting owners request its “Full Self-Driving” software early Saturday, opening up for wide release its most advanced driver-assistance suite and signaling that thousands of drivers will soon be on the road with the unregulated and largely untested features.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk had said owners would be able to request this weekend the upgraded suite of advanced driver-assistance features, which Tesla says is a beta, although they wouldn’t receive the capabilities right away.

Owners will have to agree to let Tesla monitor their driving behavior through the company insurance calculator. Tesla issued a detailed guide specifying the criteria under which drivers would be graded. If their driving is deemed to be “good” over a seven-day period, Musk said on Twitter, “beta access will be granted.”

[Indy]

beta software is a great idea for cars, especially for self-driving features...

[AmareIsGod]

Hopefully I can be on the road with beta testers. That makes me feel safe.

[Superbone]

Yeah, one of my co-workers said this weekend that he was signing up for the beta. Hey, at least it's not an alpha. You've got to get those pesky crash bugs figured out one way or another.

[Indy]

Yeah, one of my co-workers said this weekend that he was signing up for the beta. Hey, at least it's not an alpha. You've got to get those pesky crash bugs figured out one way or another.

Based on the people I know that worked for him directly, I wouldn't be surprised if this really is more of an alpha.

[AmareIsGod]

In the Bolt case they say it is a defect and is limited to a certain number of Bolts, not all of them. I don’t know if the other Bolts have that problem

Car makers advertise a certain range to entice buyers. They don’t advertise the 80% number, they advertise the 100% number and that 100% number probably is based on perfect conditions like driving a steady slow mph. I know from experience in my Volt that driving a steady 75mph on the freeway drains the battery a lot faster than rush hour stop and go or city driving.

Definitely. When we're going at a high speed on the freeway, our range is reduced. I actually changed my range from miles remaining to % remaining to remove some of the range anxiety I was feeling on longer trips. Thankfully the navigator looks at your remaining range + destination to plug charging stops in automatically into your route. I like that part.

And they definitely don't advertise the recommended normal charging (80-90%) range. They advertise the 100%. And like I said, I've also read that it's okay to charge 95-100% on those occasions when you have a long trip. It's the day to day charging that we keep at about 85%. Again, we're driving 20-30 miles at a time. Why am I going to put that kind of stress of a 100% charge on my battery every single day just so my display shows 260 miles of range before I drive a few miles to Home Depot or my parents place to visit? I'm sure you're well aware that lithium-ion batteries have 'x' number of cycles in them. Take your cellphone, for example. If you charge it 100% every single night, it loses its max capacity more quickly than if you were to charge it to 90% nightly. Going 100% is a full cycle that you've used.

I know this is for phones but it's the exact same battery technology.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/victoriavoulou ... one-to-100

The thing is, Li-ion batteries don’t really need to be charged to 100% — especially since that stresses the battery. Comparatively, it is actually worse to let your phone die than it is to charge it to 100%. However, it’s better to let the battery partially discharge and charge throughout the day as needed. It reduces stress and alleviates the natural aging of your battery. Of course, the tradeoff is not utilizing the full potential of the battery, which has finite cycles anyhow.

[Nodack]

Ford to bolster electric vehicle production in multi-billion dollar push
https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium- ... n-in-multi

Ford Motor Company announced plans on Monday to bolster its electric vehicle footprint in the U.S. by investing billions in three new battery plants and a pickup truck factory — generating 11,000 jobs across Tennessee and Kentucky.


“This is a transformative moment where Ford will lead America’s transition to electric vehicles and usher in a new era of clean, carbon-neutral manufacturing,” said Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford. “With this investment and a spirit of innovation, we can achieve goals once thought mutually exclusive – protect our planet, build great electric vehicles Americans will love and contribute to our nation’s prosperity.”

[Nodack]

Automakers' problems are much worse than we thought

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/28/business ... index.html

Industry experts say automakers are having trouble getting all manner of parts and raw materials for a variety of reasons, including Covid-related plant shutdowns by suppliers, logistical problems involving shortages of ships, shipping containers and truck drivers, and difficulty that some suppliers are having filling jobs.
That's making the cost of the current supply chain crisis much larger than earlier estimates, leading to much higher costs for automakers and car buyers as well.

"It's not just the chip shortage. Just about every industry ... is dealing with some kind of supply chain issue," said Cindy Jaudon, regional president for the Americas at IFS, a global enterprise software company. "Our ports are extremely full. Paint manufacturers are struggling with titanium dioxide. They layer on top of each other."
And there is little relief in sight.

"There really are no shock absorbers left in the industry right now when it comes to production or obtaining material," said Dan Hearsch, a managing director at AlixPartners. "Virtually any shortage or production interruption in any part of the world affects companies around the globe, and the impacts are now amplified due to all the other shortages. "

[Indy]

Ford to bolster electric vehicle production in multi-billion dollar push
https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium- ... n-in-multi

Ford Motor Company announced plans on Monday to bolster its electric vehicle footprint in the U.S. by investing billions in three new battery plants and a pickup truck factory — generating 11,000 jobs across Tennessee and Kentucky.


“This is a transformative moment where Ford will lead America’s transition to electric vehicles and usher in a new era of clean, carbon-neutral manufacturing,” said Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford. “With this investment and a spirit of innovation, we can achieve goals once thought mutually exclusive – protect our planet, build great electric vehicles Americans will love and contribute to our nation’s prosperity.”

I have never owned a Ford, but it will likely be my first electric vehicle