Update on Mach-E launch progress from engineering friends in Mexico

[ChasingCoral]

The funny thing is the big oil companies for the last 10 years are investing in tech and hard stock. They know their days are numbered.

The unfortunate thing is many big oil companies, including Exxon Mobile and Chevron are still pumping money into disinformation campaigns and buying of politicians, lying and cheating to maintain sales.

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[dbsb3233]

The funny thing is the big oil companies for the last 10 years are investing in tech and hard stock. They know their days are numbered.

The days are numbered for SOME of them. The industry will be around for a long time still (many decades if not centuries), but it'll shrink. Which means consolidation. Weaker players will go bankrupt and/or get acquired by the stronger ones.

Frankly, the same thing will probably happen a decade from now in the auto industry, as robotaxis start to displace a significant share of personal car ownership. But just like the oil industry, it'll only partially shrink. Neither will go away, but they'll see 10%... then 20%... then 30% shrinkage.

 

[BlueMach]

The unfortunate thing is many big oil companies, including Exxon Mobile and Chevron are still pumping money into disinformation campaigns and buying of politicians, lying and cheating to maintain sales.

Pushing the cult of hydrogen too, while neglecting to mention that the hydrogen they want to sell is a byproduct of fracking.

 

[jlauro]

I may be wrong, but in the video I watched, I thought they were referring to -10C, not -10F. That would be 14F.

Oh, your right. I was thinking -10F. I double checked, and he did say -10C to -20C, and the operating temperature starts at -40C (or -40F, the one point they are the same), so I think you could try to charge at -40c/f outside, but you would have to wait for it to warm the battery before it actually started charging which would add to the charge time.

 

[trutolife27]

Oh, your right. I was thinking -10F. I double checked, and he did say -10C to -20C, and the operating temperature starts at -40C (or -40F, the one point they are the same), so I think you could try to charge at -40c/f outside, but you would have to wait for it to warm the battery before it actually started charging which would add to the charge time.

yes and cold weather will affect your regan also.

 

[bluestarct]

In a pinch you could just stop at any Taco Bell. Now that's a real gas station!

In California you need to stop at Del Taco. They have fries to go with the tacos.

I miss their breakfast burritos.

 

[ARK]

LOL, LOL. Do you consider Los Angeles to be one of those not-so-well-off places? J/K.

While it is not well known, there are numerous LNG and CNG stations in the LA area.

Only reason I know it to be true is because I own stock in a major supplier, Clean Energy Fuels.

The vehicles using it are definitely not "jerry-rigged". Here in Las Vegas I drove a CNG powered Chevy pickup, when I worked.

Over 20 years ago.

No offense, but I just thought that was funny. Real "gas stations" below.

I see buses powered by natural gas all the time in LA, I had no idea so many public stations were available. I actually had this article from Green Car Reports in mind and was thinking more as a percentage of the total auto market for any given country/region. Looks like Armenia is the highest with close to about 77% of all cars there running on natural gas as of six years ago.

From what I have seen over there the cars are actually jerry-rigged where someone has placed a CNG tank in the trunk and some random mechanic has modified a gas or diesel engine to run on CNG as opposed to the manufacturer modified vehicles sold as operating on natural gas from the get-go.

 

[ARK]

It'll just come down to what and when better replacements come along, like it does for anything. Demand for oil will shrink some as gasoline demand shrinks due to EVs. Roughly 40% of crude oil goes to making gasoline. The rest to other things.

When we find a better replacement for jet fuel, that will gradually get displaced to. When we find a better replacement for asphalt, that will get gradually displaced. And so on. It's not really a matter of momentum, it's simply a matter of when a better replacement occurs. And that's on it's own timeframe, independent of the fact that batteries finally improved enough to make small/medium motor vehicles competitive.

I agree and this is just like with smartphones and tablets. They reduced the PC market substantially, but didn't and won't replace personal computers completely. At the end of the day, no one wants to type out an essay or work on an Excel spreadsheet on their iPhone, even if 80% of the stuff they previously did on PCs (check email, browse the web, waste their lives on social media) can be done just as effectively on mobile devices.

 

[zhackwyatt]

Speaking of environmental impacts / efficiency.... Can anyone answer this question?

I'll be keeping my Mach-E outside all the time. And maybe drive only 2-3 times per week because commute doesn't seem like its coming back anytime soon.
But, if I keep it plugged in during the coldest part of winter (< 32 deg F), won't the battery management system be constantly working to warm the battery into the 30-40 deg range? Or no, it doesn't work like that and will only warm the battery to get ready for a drive or necessary charging?

Still probably come out ahead overall vs. ICE, but it does erode the environmental advantages because my current ICE car can sit for any amount of time without using resources.

I don't know what the Mach-E does, but typically cold has a temporary negative impact on a battery (i.e., the capacity should be back to normal in summertime). So it may not do anything except before a set departure time.

Heat on the other hand...well that can permanetly damage a battery. Living in Phoenix that's my concern and I hope it keeps it within parameters while its plugged-in. In fact I hope it does when its not plugged-in as well as I have no place to plug-in while at work.

 

[mattbostonmache]

At least have a peaceful holiday season? Mom diagnosed with cancer in her brain on Christmas Eve.

My thoughts are with your mom and you. Sending healing thoughts. Hugs.

 

[OttawaGuy]

So noob question


Let's say I have a MME sitting in-25c for a full night and I want to leave on the morning


Do I need to warm the battery before launching or is it good to go whenever say such low temps?

Mind you my MME will be sleeping in the garage plugged, but at work at the end of the day it will be in the cold

 

[BlueMach]

So noob question


Let's say I have a MME sitting in-25c for a full night and I want to leave on the morning


Do I need to warm the battery before launching or is it good to go whenever say such low temps?

Mind you my MME will be sleeping in the garage plugged, but at work at the end of the day it will be in the cold

I doubt the Mach-E will refuse to drive in that scenario, but I'm sure it'd prefer some warning before driving away. I'm not sure if we know yet whether turning on the cabin heat in the Mach-E when it is off-plug will start conditioning the batteries too.

 

[JamieGeek]

So noob question


Let's say I have a MME sitting in-25c for a full night and I want to leave on the morning


Do I need to warm the battery before launching or is it good to go whenever say such low temps?

Mind you my MME will be sleeping in the garage plugged, but at work at the end of the day it will be in the cold

You program in "go" times (I don't think that is what they are calling them in the Mach-E but it does include this feature).

It supports two times a day that you can program in: "I want to leave for work at 7am and make it 'warm'". The car will then automatically warm itself up and be ready to leave at 7am. Since the car is plugged in this warming up uses electricity from the wall instead of the battery.

If you have the ER battery and your commute isn't that long you could also set up the after work go time: "I want to leave for home at 4:30pm, set to 'warm'". (If you leave at different times of the day you can always use the app to remote start the car to warm it up.)

Since its an EV you can leave the garage closed...no fumes

The Focus Electric had this feature (was called "go time" for the Focus). I had it setup so that the cabin would be 80F at 7am every weekday morning. It was awesome. If it happened to be sitting outside with a fresh snowfall on it the 80F cabin would melt all the snow off of it.

The really cool thing about this is that you set it up once and it does it every day. You don't have to remember...its just toasty warm getting in the car in the morning.

(Of course in the Summer I'd switch it up so the A/C is on instead.)

 

[JamieGeek]

Check out the 2 minute mark in this video for a description of the features I discuss in the prior post:

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