Reverse-engineering Ford's E-Transit Custom (EV van) for Australia | Auto Expert John Cadogan

[@davidbrayshaw3529]

I don't think that many Aussie "tradies" will struggle to keep charge in their batteries. I can just about guarantee that at every job they turn up to, it will be the apprentice's first job of the day to plug the van in to the customer's power supply. And at the end of the job, the invoice will still have a call out fee on it, kms. travelled at 78 cents per kilometre + time for both the apprentice and the "tradie" at the full hourly rate. I can't see too many 3 phase chargers getting fitted to any "tradie" garages anytime soon.

[@SurmaSampo]

I am not paying for travel if they are charging thier vehicle off my outlet. Doing so will end up in a bill from me at the rate of my "premium" electrons.

[@davidbrayshaw3529]

@@SurmaSampo Just make sure that your electrons are ADR compliant and fall within specification. If those tradies see a spare proton or neutron in their battery, they're not going to be happy.

[@jeffreylangford962]

@@davidbrayshaw3529 And don't forget to use they correct pronouns😂

[@SurmaSampo]

@@davidbrayshaw3529 Disclaimer: Premium residential electrons not assured to be compatible with commercial protonium. Seek advice if a qualified neutron specialist before connecting commercial vehicles to domestic supply. The is meesage brought to you by the Atomic Distribution Regulator.

[@stevegraham3817]

Not every job site has power, well not until us sparkies get there 4 weeks into the project.

[@andrewthompsonuk1]

Electric vans are common here in the UK. They are used for deliveries, never seen a tradesperson with one. If it can hold the charge to do a day's work then it's better than bothering with a diesel engine.

[@planespeaking]

This new transit has a good range and would be a more than adequate replacement for me. It also has the benefit of a high wattage inverter to power corded tools.

[@macgibbon]

I'm liking the recent concentration on EVs, badmouthing the rubbish but talking up the positives. Most others seem to focus on one or the other.

[@MrTaxiRob]

John is also an EV owner, he's not biased

[@macgibbon]

@@MrTaxiRob Yep, I know. He had the same EV that my father has, helped him get in touch with Hyundai when he had a bit of an issue a while back.

[@sahhull]

Im a mobile detailer in the UK. Last year I hired a Nissan EV van for a month. I gave the thing back after 2 weeks because I was having to cancel appointments and loosing money. I cannot charge at home so even if I bought one. I'd be reliant on public charging (Its expensive, more expensive than my diesel van that burns 25p worth of diesel per mile). The EV van allegedly had a 200 mile range. On a typical day. I drive 150miles per day. Except. Once I'd loaded the van for work inc the water tank. I was getting 50 miles from a charge. I had to charge the thing 3 times per day! Thats around 4 hours wasted per day!. My average day with the EV: Take missus to work. She comes home on the bus. Charge the van... Yawn. Do 1st job... Drive to the charge point, wait in a 3 or 4 deep queue and eventually charge the van. Cancel 2nd job because of the charging issue. Charge the van so its ready for taking the missus to work. If we did any socialising, shopping etc... I'd need to visit the charger again before turning in for the night or we wouldnt have enough juice to take the missus to work in the morning. Charging the van isnt just the time charging the thing. Theres the time to drive to the charge point (not many around here). Waiting for a charger to be available if someone is already there. I have been 5 deep in a queue. I really despair for the future. EV's are not good enough. The range is too short and the charge time too long. public charging facilities are sketchy at best. I live in a city of 320,000 people. My nearest public charge point is 8 miles away, there is just 2 points. The next charge points are a further 15 miles away across the city. I hate card payments. I have lost so many credit cards... I leave it at home, Im not good with cards.. I can buy diesel with cash... I like cash, I know where I am with cash.

[@gingernutpreacher]

I have to say I would not consider a EV in the UK with out home charging. Do you have to pay the full 2 month's rental?

[@demuskumarius]

I doubt EV's will ever be capable of replacing your use case unless they're powered by something like nuclear. It's all the same problems from 100 years ago and they will never get worked out because science. EV's are prefect for the suburbs and have many uses in cities but your use case needs a different technology and I fear we will not focus on that until it becomes the general public's problem.

[@philmenzies2477]

Appreciate your pain. But, 2nd paragraph. "I cannot charge at home" WTF would you buy one? Not really the manufacturer/dealer/supplier fault you didnt do your homework.

[@zoltrix7779]

You expected an EV to be pratical even though you cannot charge it at home? I mean, seriously, how can anyone take you seriously. The Nissan van is also a very short range 1st gen product. So in a nutshel, you are just full of shit.

[@javic1979]

@@philmenzies2477 most likely it was left in the street, lots of houses in the uk have no driveway parking

[@kpp8349]

As a tradie I have to say that does resemble me. There are tools in my Ute I use maybe once every 1 or 2 months but I when I do need to use I can’t afford to drive 40 mins home to get and 40 minutes back to the site. Also every time I look at the currier spec for what electric vehicles can do when translated to a proper work Ute I wouldn’t even get halfway through a day on a full charge especially cause I’m in a regional area and 80% of my driving is 100km/h on a motorway and how the F would I get the vehicle into the garage and most modern houses would have the same problem

[@Low760]

The transit is not as tall as a ranger though.

[@kpp8349]

@@Low760 I should have mentioned I need to have roof racks for ladders

[@ScottMurrayBestFamilyCars]

@@kpp8349 Hyundai Staria Load. You're welcome.

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

@@kpp8349 If you can't get your present van with ladders in your garage...what's the beef? Run the charge cord outside to where the van is parked now....

[@mondotv4216]

@@kpp8349 You realise you can mount a charger outside? They are (mostly) IP55 rated. You don’t need to get your vehicle into the garage. Mind you, if your doing 100’s of kilometres a day then an EV might not be for you. I would say if you’re constantly doing 200kms or more a day then the eTransit isn’t right for you. Regional EV driving is still goung to be a challenge while charging infrastructure is built out. If you’re doing 100 - 180kms a day you could make it work. Need 3 phase power though and be diligent about plugging in and charging overnight.

[@chrisjeanneret5091]

There is a series of videos from a plumber in Missouri with an eTransit. He seems to be getting ~120 miles / 200 km per day. He has also run it down flat deliberately, and done a tug of war with an ICE van in his fleet. If he has a warranty claim down the road that should be an interesting conversation.

[@TheBrewjo]

I'm going to be optimistic on a niche use for the e-Trans, it would make a awesome wheelchair taxi for a private company or NDIS support service.

[@marks-0-0]

I can't tell if hes for or against the ETC. Hes just explaining the limits of the van.... If the van doesn't suit your needs don't buy it simple. He talks about how batteries and related tech is not improving although they actually are with LFP batteries but he can't explain to us how the internal combustion enginel is improving each year because its not. ICE technology is at at dead end and are very inefficient.

[@caby9311]

Thats what I need a wh ch ev would be great. Petrol and breackdown bills are a lot.

[@michaelzerk]

At 14:50 did you say “in fairness to Ford”? Amazing - never thought I’d hear you say that in any context.

[@gill7087]

As I understand it, loaded weight isn’t the main limiting issue with EV,s in regard to range, it is rolling resistance, friction and particularly wind resistance. An EV at rest does not use any fuel like a ICE vehicle does at idle and as the EV accelerates it’s increasing speed gives the vehicle a potential that is relevant to regenerative braking that an ICE vehicle does not. It is why ICE vehicles are more efficient on the highway and EV,s are better in stop start traffic. EV,s also have the same torque potential right down to zero speed whereas an ICE vehicle under load has to rev the vehicle through each gear in turn to maintain the torque required for example to take off from traffic lights and then go up a hill. Each gear is different torque until the revs match the required speed and each speed needs different throttle settings in a different gear for each load. This is why I suggest Johns ball park figures are likely wrong as he is making assumptions that are probably more relevant to ICE vehicles and this is born out by a number of tests I have seen on UTube where EV,s are loaded to maximum capacity but it does not make the range figures change as much as was expected. The real problem with the EV load carrying vehicles seems to be towing trailers or caravans with a high wind resistance on the highway. Towing a similar weight to a large caravan but with a aerodynamic load seems to make a lot less difference as it does with IICE vehicles but the penalty at slower speeds doesn’t seem so great on EV,s at slower speeds such as in urban areas. . It makes sense when you consider that depending on the drag coefficient of a vehicle, that if a vehicle travelling at 60km/h doubles their speed will have about 4 times the wind resistance at the higher speed and for example a standard 4 door Ute is using about 40% of its power to overcome wind resistance at highway speeds depending on the vehicles power and drag of course. Bottom line, I’m a bit dubious about some of Johns conclusions regarding the ratio of weight to range and I would be surprised if the extra weight of the van would significantly effect range, especially as that weight has a potential via the extra inertia which will return power via regenerative braking and the way torque works with electric motors. Further, while I’m not a tradesman myself these days (although I was many years ago) my brother owns a business as do my nephews who are builders and they mostly drive to a site, stay there all day and drive home. So their vehicles if EV would need only about a half charge and usually much less. A job more than maybe a hundred km/s away is an overnight stay rather than a commute and while my brother does the odd interstate trip, I can’t help thinking that in the very near future there will be enough charging points to make this not an issue as fast chargers enroute are used while taking a lunch break and home chargers (or at work) are able to get the van charged up overnight. The other real advantage I can see with the EV is the sheer amount of space they seem to provide and the on site power that they can provide on site is becoming the norm rather than the exception. I neither need nor want a Van these days as I am essentially a farmer but if someone brought something like a smaller version of a Ford Lightning to Australia I would certainly consider it. The last thing to consider is that as fuel prices go up, anyone can put a PV on their roof and charge their EV. No one can buy a refinery and make their own diesel.

[@ecchioni]

Yes it does. Your AC/heater are running off the battery. And the battery has its own cooling system which needs to be engaged constantly otherwise your vehicle will nicely explode. So unlike the ICE vehicles the electric ones are burning fuel even when not in use.

[@gill7087]

@@ecchioni Well done, ignore the main argument and concentrate on semantics. 🙄 Okay, Yes, if the AC and or heater is on in an EV and depending on ambient temperature eg. a blizzard, and you are a Tesla model X it will draw power and in about 3 days or so sitting at a traffic light it will run out of power. If the ambient temp is 20C it might go for a couple of weeks. An idling ICE powered vehicle will run out in about 3 days also, regardless of weather. The cooling, heating system in EV,s is again dependent on ambient temp. Having said that, the coolant system draws about the same as a car hi fi system. The pre warmer can use more power but that is not dependent on where the vehicle is ie at traffic lights. Bottom line, the HVAC systems of ICE and EV,s pretty well cancel each other out in terms of vehicle performance in really cold and really hot days. Otherwise the EV,s are well in front. Before you say it, night time needs lights and turning a corner need indicators so there is also power there. I have no idea how long it takes to flatten and EV battery with indicators on.

[@soundman6645]

YES a very big issue with commercial vehicles IS the wind resistance, as is the rolling resistance as the vehicle loads up. ALL of the electric passenger vehicles run low rolling resistance, very low profile tyres that are prone to damage in places where delivery drivers and tradies go. AND a box van has to ve pretty square at the front otherwise a lot of load space is lost due to attempts at making it pointy.

[@mondotv4216]

@@ecchioni I name you the over-simplification king! The cooling system only needs to cool the battery while it’s in use and for maybe 10 minutes after you stop. You know, kind of like an ICE vehicle when the electric fans stay on when you stop to cool the engine down. Plus the cooling and heating system only uses a fraction of the energy needed to push the vehicle down the road. And there’s usually plenty of energy left in the traction battery to run power tools, charge batteries etc.

[@mondotv4216]

@@soundman6645 Sweeping generalisations. Tradies vehicles won’t have low profile tyres unless they want them. LRR tyres have nothing to do with robustness and a lot of EVs don’t use them. The Model 3 has Michelin Pilot Sport 4’s - widely regarded as one of the best tyres on the market and certainly not LRR. The F150 Lightning has - you guessed it - truck tyres. I think you think RR is all about tyres - it’s not. Rolling resistance also refers to wind resistance and that’s directly related to drag coefficient which is way more important than friction between the tyres and the road.

[@ianmoone2359]

Out of curiosity JC what mill are you running? Would like to see a video of it if you don’t mind? Noticed the soft blow hammer and work hold downs on the wall & have been trying to spot your mill in any of your vids without success. A link to the swarf collector would also be handy, as I’ve just bought a 70 years old (1952) Bridgeport series 1 J head mill myself, and always keen to learn from others. 👍👍👍🇦🇺

[@RandomActsofGibberish]

Hey John, you have forgotten the pick-up section of the courier run. Sure, some couriers do a drop run only, but most will also pick up at the same time. Having worked around couriers for many years, a good many get back to the depot with full loads, and depending the run, may come back with more than which they departed the depot. There is a slight flaw in your assumptions.

[@soundman6645]

The way couriers work has changed and does vary. Back when courier depots where in near city industrial estates, it was common for a courier to do a pick up run in the morning, after having taken the van home after their afternoon delivery run. with lunch at the depot while they reload, IF they stop for lunch some of these guys where doing two runs a day in high demand areas. These days, a lot of transport depots are away from the city and thus drivers run bigger vehicles and deliver and pick up at the same time, only going to the depot morning and evening and spending up to 10 hours on the road, lunch breaks at the roadside under a tree IF they stop at all. AND the vehicle will be at least part loaded all day... possibly near full. Yeh this whole range and recharge thing is a real problem.

[@Cloxxki]

Run the AC all shift. Do many deliveries. How many km will be left? Depends on the kind of route and weather of course.

[@russcattell955i]

Or a climate unlike the Knee of Sid. Snow, rain, fog, using headlights, fog lights, wipers, heaters (cab, mirrors, seat and rear windows) eek !

[@samboelliott1]

Sunday night content! Thanks John. 👍👍

[@Tore_Lund]

I think you need to add at least 10% to the charging consumption. The 11kW is the charger output not its draw from the wall socket. It takes more like 87.12kWh to fill it up, so it uses 229Wh/km. WLTP measures consumption from the wall, so charger efficiency is included, they also include some cargo mass and AC use. However the Ford figures presume 100% charger efficiency. However WLTP has a section of 130kM/h driving, something unlikely to be a significant part of the usage pattern in real life.

[@mazdaman1286]

As I understand the charging, the batteries have to be brought to the "optimum temperature " to initiate the correct charging conditions, so in Australia the cooling system would be running and in Northern Europe the heating system, all of which would impact the charge time. A friend of mine in the UK works for the British Gas Board and they have been given electric Van's. He says they are an utter disaster and the cancel so many appointments its unbelievable. He even worries about getting home sometimes.

[@franciscoshi1968]

The reason for 11kw is cost cutting. You get 7kw from single phase. 240v x30A = 7.2kw. Now if you get the same charger, up the voltage rating of the components a bit and now connect it across 2 phases you now have 415v x 30A = 12.45kw. So they are not using a 3ph charger. All they have done is use a single phase charger and connect it across two phases instead of a single phase and neutral. It has nothing to do with cooling. To get 22kw you need to add another 2 single phase sets of hardware. So it is just a cost cutting exercise.

[@kensmith5694]

A fair chunk of the power needed to go down the road is pushing the air out of the way. This means it is not really accurate to scale the range simply from the weight. It also means that the range gets a lot shorter when the speed gets higher. Someone doing a lot of in town driving will see a greater range but also will see more effect from the weight.

[@kadmow]

Also, regen is nearly insignificant (re energy use) on an open road trip, while it is really significant in urban driving.

[@planespeaking]

Range is okay and actually the CdA is fairly impressive

[@kensmith5694]

@@planespeaking Please explain "CdA". Remember my comment was a year ago and there has been much water under the bridge in the last 11 months. In some ways, a little tiny electric van with good range would be a good fit for my needs. It could be just a little bigger than my hatchback in serve really well. Ground clearance needs to be good too.

[@planespeaking]

@@kensmith5694 coefficient of drag. It's a lot bigger than a hatchback. Renault make a an e van in mid size. This new 2024 ford is a good van though, if a little expensive.

[@kensmith5694]

@@planespeaking I agree that a van tends to have more drag. For me, a little more drag could be OK if the van offered some uses that the hatchback is a bit marginal for. On my current car, I can get an 8 foot 2x4 between the hatch and the dashboard. I could do two but 3 would mean strapping them on the roof.

[@kc510]

This seems perfect for me. I can charge at home and typically drive 100-150 miles a day. The Transit I currently have is, far and away, the worst car I’ve commuted in. It feels like every part of it was made to be disposable. I’d rather not get gas every 3 days.

[@Danger_mouse]

100 miles is 162km, so depending on which usage case you are, E-transit may not have enough range.

[@marshmower]

Your battery will develop a hatred for you and short out in 3 months.

[@marshmower]

The batteries aren't there yet. You need a big gas tank. But that's dangerous.....

[@johnnie5wreckingyard]

do you really think that a new ford tragic is gonna be any better ?

[@orlandoberry4031]

Given the power usage drop of most battery tools, I’d suspect that the 380k range will be a 280k range after the first year. Or real world - 141ks will be down to 85ks

[@tomnewham1269]

Power tool batteries are treated differently than car batteries. Tool batteries tend to get fully discharged which reduces longevity. Car batteries when being charged slow the charging rate when the battery gets to 80%, again as it conserves battery life.

[@orlandoberry4031]

@@tomnewham1269 - Nissan ev owners might disagree.

[@colincameron6263]

Good summary of what folk can expect in the real world. EV commercials will suit perfectly some applications and be terrible for others. The more people like you give real world facts, away from the shiny brochure the better.

[@chrishewitt1165]

They all sound like a great idea except for the charging issues you point out regularly.

[@mcduck5]

And the unsustainable upfront cost

[@tjroelsma]

The charging issues combined with the limited range due to the present battery technology are still the biggest problems with EV's. Even in our densely populated European countries a lot of people who were very enthusiastic about their new EV's, are actually selling them and going back to Hybrid or even ICE vehicles, because of range anxiety. You see: the problem is that even in densely populated countries there is still a significant lack of useful public chargers. The keyword here being useful. It's all well and fine if a small town can boast having 6 public chargers, but if 2 of those are in use by people who simply use them as convenient every day parking spots that can also charge their vehicles and 1 or 2 are out of commission or refusing to complete the handshake protocol needed to start charging, something that's more common than you'd initially would think, that leaves only 2 chargers for people on the move. And those will probably be occupied by cars whose drivers are in the same spot as you, having drained their battery, so you're left waiting until they've recharged their vehicles to the point that they feel safe to drive on. EV manufacturers carefully omit this piece of vital information to potential buyers, because that would probably mean a no-sale. Then there's the problem of Tesla being Tesla and only distribute chargers that will exclusively charge Tesla's. So even if your country can show figures that cite an impressive amount of public chargers potentially being available to you, the afore mentioned problems will significantly reduce that number actually being available in real life situations. And lastly there's the problem that John has mentioned many times before as well: EV's don't do so well towing heavy loads. It dramatically slashes their range from reasonably usable to laughably short.

[@chrishewitt1165]

@@tjroelsma yep. There are 2 chargers in my town

[@markusdammasch9108]

You've also got to allow for the fact that the battery will lose some capacity over the years of ownership meaning a subsequent additional reduction in range... that's got to be allowed for when deciding if a vehicle will have sufficient range

[@dcvariousvids8082]

F-150 Lightning with the 99kWh pack has 11.3kW charging; and with the 135kWh pack as 19.2kW charging. Whether the charging cables that are supplied with the respective vehicle are capable of handle the load, I do not know. I say that, because for example, the first Kona EV had a 7.2kW onboard charger but the Type-2 cable was only rated for 3.2kW.

[@javic1979]

fast chargers have cooled cables. the utes cooling system runs while charging as well

[@dcvariousvids8082]

@@javic1979 - Ah I see my mistake. I was referring to the Type-2 cables that Ford supply with their vehicles.

[@kozmaz87]

I may be wrong and I know it is just semantics, but I think the thermal management of the charging circuitry inside the car that needs improvement and not the inverter. The inverter is needed to drive the car. The internal battery charger does the opposite, it takes the AC from the "charger" on the wall(that is simply an outlet and a switch afaik) and turns it into DC for the batteries. When DC fast chargers are implemented this is the system they are bypassing on the car and they have a big box somewhere where the actual AC/DC conversion happens nearby and the car's battery pack is directly connected to the DC power coming through that massive cable.

[@chriskennedy7534]

As a professional hoarder / tradie wannabe I love slipping into my trannie Lwb, midroof VO returns mid 8L/100km That's better than all the cars I've owned Keep the facts coming jc , haven't spotted the fishnet stocking for a while, did Cletus pinch em

[@easy4steve]

Hello John great video , question , so to change this up at home , whats the cost of installing a charger , and whats the on going cost of charging the van ? i would want to be a lot cheaper surely , whats the price of life and replacement of batteries ?? ill stay petrol , cheers

[@petewatson9866]

The van is already released here in uk, it does approximately 130miles and has less payload

[@robg6485]

More Ming Moles please John!

[@dazaspc]

Charging question The batteries in the current ev's at the moment charge at the max rate only for aprox 80 ~90% capacity then have the charge rate reduced for the final top up to prevent thermal runaway. Have you taken this into account?

[@ScottMurrayBestFamilyCars]

Of all the electric vans on sale today, in Australia, the E-Tansit is absolutely one of them.

[@tba3900]

Transit roof has a fairly large area, why don’t they cover the roof in solar to gain some extra range or reduce auxiliary electric load demand. Cue the aftermarket accessory companies.

[@lc1966]

Maybe a good deal for inner city delivery drivers yet I doubt an option for vehicles moving refrigerated goods.

[@javic1979]

refrigerated vans use heaps of energy in warm weather. i drove a milk delivery truck and 35 deg day the cooler used more diesel than the truck. iv driven a smaller van that run off the A/C pump and it was better but the fans require power as well

[@lc1966]

@@javic1979 I'm not surprised... I couldn't imagine seeing an all electric refrigerated van or truck.

[@markeden767]

If these next gen batteries are NMC cathode chemistry then the range is 80% of the WLTP thats because those batteries are designed to be charged from 10-90% If you over or under charge will dramatically increase battery wear Make sure you get an LFP battery which can be and must be regularly charged from 0 to 100%

[@bradkark]

In a previous job we were doing deliveries on set runs for each week day. Every day was different but because deliveries were close together 4 out of 5 days were only about 60k’s a day. The 5th day we serviced a few “outlying” customers but even that was less than 150k’s. I have no idea if this is typical but I wouldn’t be surprised if many use cases would fit this amount of range.

[@7wingsaseagles89]

As an American I don't know much about the Australian market and what their contractors drive around in. As an American I'll explain what we typically do however I have converted the numbers to metric so they are easier to understand given that we are on the English system for measurements and weights. One day out of curiosity I was working at a facility that had a scale so I asked if I could weigh my vehicle and they said go ahead that's fine. The vehicle that I was driving is a Ford Econoline van full size with a V8 in it. The weight of that vehicle is 3,020 kg that is fully equipped with the shelving tools and a ladder rack and ladders and myself. This is not include materials that I would normally carry for a job. Depending on circumstances the amount of equipment I have to carry could increase the weight to 3170 kg if I have another person and additional material. The vast majority of contractors are typically like myself I am in the telecommunications industry so my vehicle tends to be lighter than many others because my tools typically are not as heavy as other trades. Is not uncommon to see the vast majority of work vehicles 680 kg to 907 kg weights this is cargo capacity. The maximum tank capacity of this vehicle is 133 liter A typical fill up for this vehicle which includes gasoline typically 109 liters in 5 minutes. Economy is about 6 km to one liter of fuel. Which means this vehicle has a range of over 654 km. What people in government and even the automakers fail to understand is truly how much weight is carried in a contractors vehicle. We all know electric vehicles are heavier this will just increase their weight even more. Where I live we are spread out we typically travel expressways to get where we need to go it is not uncommon to travel 40 minutes to get a particular place at well over 100 to 112 kilometers an hour. Seldom do we sit in traffic typically when you get on the expressways they are free and open to drive. When you give an employee an electric vehicle you're paying them to charge that vehicle up.If it's not the employees vehicle why are they going to use their electric at their house to charge it up. Which means they are going to go to a charging station and you are going to have to pay them to sit there and charge the vehicle. Hope as the employer that employee doesn't have to wait in line hoping that they can find a charging station because if they can't and the vehicle needs towed you're paying for their time and to have the vehicle towed. Unfortunately battery technology is not here yet if I hire employees and give them company vehicles I would rather pay them to spend 5 minutes at the gas pump knowing that they will be able to go over 600 km then put them in an electric vehicle. When I hire telecommunications technicians and hiring them for that skill set I am not hiring them to try to figure out they're charging schedule and what station to charge at without a line. This is why the process of them running a company vehicle needs to be as simple as possible in something they're familiar with. Otherwise it's going to cost myself as the employer.

[@lc1966]

Hearing about the price of replacing a vehicles batteries was frightening... I'd love to know what the cost of disposal is along with what happens to the batteries themselves.

[@kensmith5694]

Companies are getting recycling of the batteries to be a thing now. The material in them is worth a lot of money so there is motivation to recycle. This means that the dead battery still has a value.

[@chrisbraid2907]

The packs are totally recyclable and worth something at the end of your cycle with it, unless you choose to store Solar power on it at home … either way it’s not a total waste and it’s an opportunity to upgrade to newer more energy dense batteries … it’s actually quite a long life battery …

[@jsdavison2502]

Hi LC, I've heard that too, but I can't work it out. They apparently cost a lot to replace and in the same sentence they say they are going into landfill. Surely some smart bugger will work out how to repair or reuse a battery that is worth so much. Sounds like someone is making up some BS.

[@kadmow]

@@jsdavison2502 -"significant numbers of people" go on about the amazing recycling being done (Lithium Batteries a s well as solar panels ), not sure any of it is economically viable, or if it is any more than a Billionaire's fantasy / folly ?? - or what waste stream is on the other side. (The naysayers emphasise toxic waste -of renewables, forgetting the current energy sources are pretty much purely made up of toxins.)

[@MiniLuv-1984]

That's a good analysis - thanks mate. I'm not so sure there is a direct relationship between weight and kWh (or litres for an ICE) used. A friend of mine with a ICE transit has an increase in fuel consumption when the van is loaded heavily but only by about a 10% hit. If I used your assumption, he'd be looking at a 30% hit between empty and full.

[@nerd1000ify]

It depends a lot on circumstances. If you do lots of km on the highway on fairly level ground the weight should not make much difference. If you do lots of stop-start driving in traffic it will make a massive difference to an ICE car, and less of a difference to an EV.

[@MiniLuv-1984]

@@nerd1000ify Exactly. It depends on whether wind resistance (high speeds) or accelerating constantly (stop /start) is the main power draw.

[@spinnymathingy3149]

Can’t wait for the cost benefit analysis on the E-Tranny. I’m the mentioned service guy repairing 15 stoves a day and will be after a new van I’ve 3 years or so

[@gregbailey45]

You should be able to get your hands on a Cybertruck by then. Just wait.

[@spinnymathingy3149]

@@gregbailey45 hahaha, that’d make a great service vehicle, hopefully they eventually become available, recently almost all orders worldwide have been canceled,

[@johnt7696]

My son delivers parcels for oz post and says he does under 50 klm a day so perfect for that.

[@coweatsman]

The perpetual machine. What a little beauty. Still going after all these years. Runs on endless supplies of hallucinium.

[@letsseeif]

yep. an 'hallucination' machine.

[@captaccordion]

Thanks for the interesting sums John. Could I pick your brain on another usage mode? Let's say that the courier van which you've calculated as having a realistic range of 150km around town is asked to make a delivery to a country town. What realistic range might it get at 110kph on the Hume Hwy?

[@TheKnobCalledTone.]

Are you planning on doing a piece on BYD and their EVs? Their Australian distributor keeps going from bad to worse. The latest I've read is that they're planning on giving BYD owners points for every kilometre they drive (there's an article at CarExpert about it). Encouraging people to drive _more_ doesn't seem all that green to me, even if the vehicles are EVs.

[@ScottMurrayBestFamilyCars]

Whose Line is it Anyway?: Where everything's made up and the points don't matter.

[@MikkiDuda]

I don’t think people will drive more because of those points. Their value should cover the electricity cost and rest of car related costs. The same way you don’t just fly 2000km on a Sunday morning for the points Qantas gives you…

[@tomnewham1269]

What is BYD?

[@MikkiDuda]

@@tomnewham1269, a Chinese EV manufacturer. They build and sold more EVs than Tesla in 2022.

[@charliewalker1137]

Builders and associated Tradies would be hooking up to the "builders power" on site, which the site owner then has to pay. We got power bills for our new house build while it was under construction, was a bit of a shock (sorry just had to). Being a Sheepshagger now in residence I know back in the old homeland Builders power is not charged until completion.

[@southerncross1941]

Bring back steam technology; you can recharge the boiler at DP Creek ( providing there is water) and recharge combustion source using exchange gas from Bunnings. That will not take 7 hours.

[@andylane7142]

Also not trying to appeal to the nuts IMHO was a great move.Going to keep saying this for a while but I looove the new John character. Knowledgeable, quick minded and open to changing his mind when he lives with the thing he was dead against.

[@Low760]

He hasn't really tried to appeal for a few years?

[@andylane7142]

@@Low760 Has it really been that long? I got tired of it and didn’t come back for a long time. What a shame. I used to get frustrated because I knew he was a smart guy and could make great content but couldn’t get past the character he thought would make him most appealing.

[@tigertiger1699]

Excellent vid.. making shit real since a while now👍

[@Techo1329]

308 Holden 1 Tonner on dual fuel...look cool, sound cool, drive 1000 kms with a trailer, full refuel in 10 minutes from most servo's in Straya.

[@simonmanners4108]

Five EVs isn’t many. You would think by 2024 Ford could give us a couple of hundred…

[@iffracem]

I think John was alluding to 5 different models, not individual vehicles.

[@simonmanners4108]

@@iffracem omg it came so quick lol… I wasn’t expecting an answer like this. Caught one hook line and sinker lol…

[@8700s14]

Boom-tish

[@rogersmith7396]

I had a nice decompile after I got up this morning. All good.

[@taxus750]

It won't be perfect but I give Ford credit for giving the e-van a go. The Toyo e-HiAce isn't even on the cards.

[@richardsullivan2862]

What ever happened to super capacitors if you have a bunch of capacitors charging and discharging wouldn't that create an alternating current as your rolling down the road?

[@gregbailey45]

Wow. Time to go back to school...

[@_bodgie]

My understanding is one of the major limitations of EV charging is the battery charge acceptance rate. If it is low, you can throw as much inverter/charger at it as you like. However, you'll still only be able to charge as fast as what the battery will accept.

[@nerd1000ify]

Most Li-Ion batteries can handle a charge rate of at least 1C, i.e. a 100 kW.h battery can charge at 100 kW. This should get you to 80% or so in an hour, the charge rate does slow down towards the end when the charger goes to constant voltage mode rather than constant current.

[@_bodgie]

@@nerd1000ify But then you have heat you need to manage, another challenge.

[@34Media]

I'm looking at the normal van with extra seats, and i was interested when they announced these were coming. But as im fly in fly out and van would be sitting at airport i figured he batteries would be flat by time i got back unless i had a solar panel on roof constantly trickle charging while away.

[@ianknight4333]

You note that the hyundai goes further due to it's better aerodynamics. And then you go on assuming range goes up linearly with mass? It might towing a trailer because as well as mass you add wind resistance. Check out the mpg per tonne for ICE semi trailers. Much better than a one tonne hatch back ICE. The frontal area to mass ratio is much better on a semi. I suspect the loaded e van will not be far behind the unloaded for range. Once up to speed and rolling the mass just flexes the tyres a little more. Theoretically stop start should be not too bad with regenerative braking - more mv^2 in but more mv^2 back.

[@pinzvidz]

Hey John, while we're on the subject of EVs and Ford, and considering you've been doing a couple of reviews lately in various EV/PHEVs, will you be doing a review of the Escape PHEV, now it's finally released in Shitsville? I test drove one on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised. I've been driving various hybrids for many years, but this Escape is on a different level in terms of refinement and drive-ability, and the fit and finish is top-notch too. I've still got to test drive the new-gen Outlander PHEV yet, but I think I'm already sold on the Escape. Although the Outlander PHEV has three variants, the Escape PHEV is only available in the ST-Line grade and compares somewhat closely to the Exceed. The big thing here is the Ford is $10K cheaper than the Mits.

[@graantmnz]

we drove the escape PHEV , and my wife liked it too ...but with 6 months wait for one ( maybe more here in NZ ) ...and then weighing everything up - extra cost ( over 20k more ) warranty, battery life, risk of battery fire, higher insurance cost ( parked in the garage)... etc etc we bought a new Kia petrol ...one must really consider all the pro's and cons of phev ..we .didnt drive an outlander as it was too big for our requirements, but the Cross PHEV was uninspiring...

[@mondotv4216]

@@graantmnz the new 2023 Outlander is much better than the old one. 20kWh battery and more powerful drive train. Chasing Cars was very impressed.

[@graemeswatman9578]

The swarf wand has my attention!

[@pjotrsavitski]

Sorry for a possibly dumb question John, but what if the EV would use multiple batteries virtually combined into one that have separate charging plugs, which means a shorter charge time because each charged battery has a smaller capacity that is then used by the vehicle. I do understand that it would raise more challenged, but it could be tolerable for a special purpose vehicles.

[@kensmith5694]

Someone has done that with an electric bus design. Instead of a new charger standard, they put in more than one charging connector.

[@kadmow]

@@kensmith5694 - yes a charge port for every 50 kWh "unit" means you can have several (single phase) 5-8kW charge points for the vehicle rather than a single 3-ph 24+kW - however, provided the "architecture is done correctly" there is no difference in battery cell use / abuse - ie, just because there is an 800V (or whatever) Voltage - Battery stack, doesn't mean the whole "pile" needs to be charged "in series" - 240V (phase to neutral) could be used as ~340V DC to charge a series connected 103 cells eliminating any DC-DC conversion (losses) - this is possible even if the power unit is supplied at 680VDC. (series to parallel variable switching architecture - the long series of cells (100 plus) is another reason why relatively low capacity cells may be more optimal for EVs, providing significant parallel redundancy, ie if one cell "blows" it may only reduce stack capacity by 5%, say if there are thousands of cylindrical cells in the battery, versus only 200 large capacity pouch or "prismatic" cells - thereby providing zero redundancy.).

[@pandkgraham]

An issue that has not been spoken about in great detail is "repair of an EV"..when looking on another KZbin Channel, they took the front boot liner out of the F150 Lightening..and really it was an eye opener. I would hate to get even a 10kph hit to the front or side impact of that F150..even have a coolant leak..the time and $$$$ to fix it..with all those sensors..dual cooling systems and all those high voltage cables..talk about a mobile nightmare! Then the fun begins. A/. Getting the parts..B/. Finding a panel beater who would even contemplate the job...which means until "private enterprise" start ramping up to undertake EV repairs..you could generally say the EV Vehicle Dealers would be the place to go for repairs. So there would be smiles and doing high fives in their repair department when an EV vehicle comes in for repair or service. Then there is the "barriers to entry" EV manufacturers would create within the EV repair market, not forgetting the "John Deer" effect that manufactures have with 3rd party repairers at present.yeh..I give it miss...

[@snookums01]

I've seen a KZbin vid where a Tesla owner was having intermittent power issues and then it just went dark on him. The answer was "rats". Rats had gotten into the chassis and made their home in the lining. Chewed up all the power leads, leaving the main power bus to last. Cost him a motsa.

[@upsidedown4155]

UK BT Openreach purchased a load of these, they got the small battery versions (the driver said there was a option for a larger capacity but the fleet managers know best), a staff member told me they use the ev van to go to another engineer's house who has a diesel van and rides along with them, as in rural wales they simply can not do the range etc required to cover the distance required, so effectively caused more pollution as they have ordered vehicles that the staff simply can not use and will just incur costs while they dont get used and the consumer picks up the bill in there phone bill

[@psinclairjr]

Have our Aussie friends seen what California has done. All EVs by 2035. 6 days later, held a Press Conference telling residents not to charge their EVs in the evening, then warned of electric shortages causing brown/blackouts. This while closing power plants nuclear, coal, and gas, it would be funny if it wasn't so sad

[@fwqkaw]

Pollies with 1st class PPE degs. but low marks in Piss Up In A Brewery Systems Analysis.

[@siraff4461]

Just a couple of things missing here. In the winter wet roads mean rolling resistance is a fair bit more and heater use will use a lot more - I'm not sure if this has a heat pump or not but if not its going to be a decent chunk of power per hour since a van has a large surface area to get rid of that heat again. Similar for the a/c in summer but if its a resistive heater you're really going to notice. Then there is degradation - if you're keeping this thing longer term you have to allow for the loss of range that brings. It may be small, it may be larger but that's to be seen. Lastly and most important is your usage. Weight has a decent impact but speed has a lot more impact when you're talking about a van. If you're sitting at 120k+ all day this isn't going to be getting anywhere near those figures. I tried a vivaro electric a short while back and after about 5 miles of small roads then 55 miles of motorway at 70mph (112k) on the cruise control it was giving a low battery warning. Granted thats only 50kWh but its also lighter and only had me, a few snacks and a wheelchair in it. That was also with very minimal a/c use, dry roads and an ambient temp of around 18c - so pretty much ideal conditions. I didn't account for wind but on the way back it did a very similar number (58 miles to warning) so I can only presume that was representative. If you're thinking of one I would strongly suggest getting an extended test drive first to make sure it will actually do the job you want it to. On the other side of the coin, while knocking about around town I could regularly keep it around or slightly over 3 miles per kWh. If you're doing gentle, short runs these may be ideal. I can see for something like local couriers they would be great because its all slowish around the doors stuff and overall mileage is fairly low. A side benefit is being able to leave the hvac going without having to have an engine running.

[@Danger_mouse]

In Australia, depending on location, a good deal of our weather means you might not need either the heater or A/C, not all day anyway. Also our highest speed limit is 110kph on a free way, so not where you'd normally run a courier van doing deliveries or a trades person doing house calls.

[@siraff4461]

@@Danger_mouse I'm not all that familiar with the road layouts over there. Here we generally have small roads in town with 30-40mph limits, A roads/dual carriagways with 60-70mph limits and motorways which are meant to be 70mph but if you do 70 on most you will be getting overtaken quite frequently - a lot of the time by white van man. Here couriers can be door to door, city to city or even national. Its not unusual for them to do well over 500 miles per day if they are on the longer runs and most of them tend not to hang about. We also seem to have the most idiotic "commutes" in the world. Here its seen aas normal to drive 100+ miles to work on a site only to drive back in the evening. It used to be if people worked that far away they would get digs but now most don't bother because of the shocking state most of the places are in. Its also not unusual for people to commute to a static place of work 50+ miles away - especially if that work is in London where prices mean its almost always cheaper to live elswhere and drive in every day. One of my pet hates is the people who do a 50-100 mile commute every day - a lot of that sitting in traffic in London too - all to sit at a desk using a computer which they could easily do over the internet from home. There's the big saving in pollution if anyone wants it. Stop the massive commuter waste.

[@Danger_mouse]

@@siraff4461 In Australia, we don't have a flexible speed limit system. If the sign says 100k, then you can bet someone will book you for doing 2km over that. Inner city travel speeds are 50 or 60km/h, inner urban areas sometimes 40. Our city people have long commutes also, but long in time, not usually in distance. They might travel 30km to work, but spend most of it gridlocked and take an hour to do the trip. Usually frees up after the morning rush and you can get about. The rest of us Smart people live away from the city 👌

[@kadmow]

@@Danger_mouse -hmmm, Victoria isn't all of Australia. No one / very few ppl, in NSW get booked at 2 k's over the limit.

[@dean22593]

The van for a tradie would be ok but I wouldn’t use it as a courier. As a courier you might have your run worked out and then you get the call from base to head somewhere 10km away to pick up 5 boxes and deliver them to somewhere 20km further away by 5pm, thereby stuffing you up completely.

[@philip4846]

John I believe that the 11kw charge limit is possibly there because in the USA their 3 phase is only 240 Volt not the 415 we and most of the rest of the world have. Phil

[@tweake7175]

you hit on one of the main bottle necks, charging at home. here the standard house street connection is only 60 amps. plus im told the power co doesn't want fast chargers installed because the street transformers will need to be upgraded.

[@peterkovacs8654]

After a bit of thought, continuous induction charging through the roadway would make EVs more user friendly, think brushless slot cars. Feasible?

[@markstephens5118]

I've always said the only thing the world is going to get out of the change to electric vehicles is a much need investment in battery technology and a vast improvement in air quality in heavy trafficked area's such as city's, metro's and residential /urban places and i should think noise pollution in the same places will be vastly better. I also think at the moment Ford are making a mistake with the battery chem on these tradie vehicles because it would seem that LFP chem would be better as they can be discharge 100 pc and recharged to 100 pc without harm to the battery, even with the kw density down on Li battery's tradies don't need 6 second 1/4 mile times so power isn't as important as torque for carrying.

[@thatdave86]

Courier vans have the big draw back of not being able to stop during the day to fast charge ,schedules don't allow it ,and a major obstacle in this industry is the companies classing the couriers as independent contractor status ,so there's no requirements to supply fast charging at the depot's that the couriers work out of . If these electric vans could have a range that could get them safely through the day ,then they will be on the right path . There are some applications that would allow courier vans to work in city confines and have flexibility to be charged during the work day ,but not all . Tests in Britain showed tradies trying EV vans dealing with obviously colder conditions ,and in most they would see the distance to a job as say 25 miles,but the van has used 45 miles of battery range ,that leaves the issue of planning the rest of the days jobs and how to get there and back ,of the old plug in at the customers job site or property,that may not be well received by many . Hybrid should surely be the best way forward for trades and couriers with bigger battery range ,as a van can Carry the bigger battery,can't it ? It's a start I suppose !

[@fastdamo]

Hybrid is aways the way to go for commercial vehicles. Same for long distance cars or cars that need to tow anything. The governments are pushing EV's onto the public without providing any infrastructure or answering how green the electricity will be produced. Trucks need distance and load carrying capacity, neither can be provided by all electric - don't mention hydrogen, that isn't coming any time soon.

[@davefroman4700]

I mean seriously right? Who could possibly want a van that costs 70% less to own and operate right? Listen Pal. We already have 2 of these units in our fleet here in Canada. And we already put it in our budget to do the rest 3 at a time over the next 4 years. Its a none issue putting in level 2 chargers. The two guys I have in the E-Transit? Love it. Quick off the line. Most days? They come back with around 25-40% state of charge when they come back in. They are charged to 80% overnight. So if I purchase 100kwh to charge those vans overnight? It costs me $25 to run both vans for the day. The rest of the fleet is averaging $40 a day in fuel per unit. No oil changes, No transmissions to fail, No tuneups, and while the rest of the fleet needs brakes every 9 months, these things are still brand new. Considering that todays batteries are routinely lasting 200,000 miles before they will not be able to meet our needs? The amount of money saved in fuel and maintenance on the vans we save will be roughly twice what it will cost to replace the battery according to the accounting office. And thats at todays battery prices which will come down over time as well. Not to mention that we will undoubtedly see a "Core Return Policy" applied to the discounting of new batteries as Ford ramps up its recycling. The metals in the batteries are cheaper and easier to recycle these days than it is to mine new materials. The best thing is that with the Canadian incentives? We are now able to write off the entire purchase cost of the vans and the chargers on our company taxes. But even without that incentive I still would be doing it.

[@nuclearfishin1185]

What about in the UK where they changed all the police vehicles to EV's and the crims were getting away as the police cars ran out of charge and had no where to recharge them quickly! Smart move that one!

[@miskatonic6210]

Nice fairytale, bro. That's almost exactly like crimefighting works.

[@100Jeanluc]

Pardon my ignorance but I've never heard why there is no onboard charging. Please explain.

[@paulmcdonagh5040]

All EVs have an onboard charger, it is very slow as it plugs into a standard house PowerPoint and can only draw a maximum 10amps so the house power does not trip. This is very slow compared to a charge station.

[@100Jeanluc]

@@paulmcdonagh5040 I get that. It's charging while it's running that I'm talking about.

[@jackwood8307]

So whats that magnetic rod used for?🤔

[@Crispin90]

What happened to the Holden Cruze and Captiva videos?

[@notathome13]

Yep no exhaust but the fumes of a ev going up on flames is a killer to more than just onlookers.

[@markrussell5904]

do you know how many Ice vehicles go up in flames and you are carrying 80lts of a class 3 liquid/gas.

[@kensmith5694]

EV fires make the news because EVs are new. ICE vehicle fires don't even get reported on.

[@notathome13]

@@markrussell5904 A fair few but we have methods of dealing with liquid fuel fires, ev on the other hand, it's left to burn because the have no safe way to deal with lithium on fire.....

[@markrussell5904]

@@notathome13 if you where to put a date to it. on the timeline of vehicles development where are EVs in comparison to ICE vehicle development?

[@notathome13]

@@markrussell5904 about 8 years and that’s providing resource become available. Meanwhile stick to your scooter.

[@richardkaz2336]

I uses my Vito to cart our MTB's to the trails head and just general regional trips around town, but we also use our van as a camper van . The 75L tank gets us around 900+ km so we're talking about trips up to the Coffs Coast and Northern Rivers. So an EV as a camper van is not viable. Now fast track the up take EV's how many chargers are there going to be to service all the EV's that are travelling distances and then charging for 4-7hrs away from home. Next problem is most homes have 2, 3 or 4 cars by the time their teenage/young adult kids have a car. This will result in substantial electrical load on your home switchboard and consumer mains. There is a substantial hidden cost as many houses just don't have the consumer mains or switchboard capacity.

[@jimgraham6722]

Its not really an issue, multiple charge points on a single domestic circuit can be integrated using time division multiple access to keep instantaneous draw within allowable limits.

[@javic1979]

the BEV van would cost the same as $1.27 for diesel for your current van,

[@richardkaz2336]

@@jimgraham6722 😂 You don't know what you're talking about. Charging 7kw of electricity across multiple outlets is not the same as network communictions.

[@jimgraham6722]

@@richardkaz2336 Sorry Richard, you are wrong. We actually operate one of these time division power networks for charging EVs. They are computer controlled via smart phone. They work great.

[@javic1979]

@@richardkaz2336 sorry, I was pointing out your current van would also be cheaper if the diesel dropped below that fuel price if you use the Victorian metro electric pricing to charge that BEV van. I drive a vw amarok and get the same range and fuel economy as your van. I wont be switching to a battery electric vehicle until they are safer, greener and you can bolt a diesel range extender.

[@PathosBedlam]

Seems to me someone should start a Tradie Only Fast Charging service so that there are no queues for workers who need to get back on the road ASAP. Probably a subscription of $50 a mth plus electron charges. Time is money, and this is peanuts compared to fuel prices for people doing 600km or more a week.

[@adventurefound]

I know I'm being annoyingly specific, but it affects me, so I'm going to do it anyway. I'm a carpet cleaner. Most carpet cleaners run petrol, or diesel powered truck mount machines in their vans. They are simply more powerful, and produce much better results, than electric carpet cleaning machines. Usually, an auxiliary petrol or diesel tank is fitted underneath the van to power this machine. I can't see this being possible under a full electric van, due to the space being filled with batteries. No doubt carpet cleaners aren't the only ones who need to run small combustion motors in the back of their vans either, so Ford (and any other manufacturer that goes down this road) will certainly be losing a chunk of the market that just might be bigger than they think. Next time you are out driving, just count how many carpet cleaning vans you see driving around. There are more of us than you might realise.

[@garfieldsmith332]

Minimum 500 km with a full load including driver and passengers in a Canadian winter with all lights and heater running. A 5 minute time to do a full charge at a charging station. Charging stations in every town and highway charging stations on majored highways. A price comparable to the same vehicle with an IC Engine. Plus the ability to have it serviced at any local garage. With all these conditions met, I MAY consider an EV vehicle.

[@marktaylor4929]

What is the price surcharge for the EV version?

[@franciscoshi1968]

I would like to add to your estimates that doubling the weigh does not double the energy consumption. Even at low speeds (60kph) it appears aerodynamic drag is still a significant component of energy consumption. A good example of this is an Imiev minivan (literally a brick on wheels) and the Imiev sedan. They both weigh about the same but the minivan has about 75% of range in city driving. Also MG ZS EV at about 1500kg compared to a Tesla M3 over 2000kg where the lighter MG has a higher consumption in city driving. I would say that it needs more real life testing to determine what the reduction in range is due to load. The thing to consider is the van (unlike a Ute or a vehicle towing a trailer) has the same aerodynamic performance regardless of load. I am inclined to suggest that the loaded range will not be significantly lower than the unloaded range.

[@andys31337]

The model 3 entry level now starts at about 1650kg

[@patrickmaher4909]

Ford is now the number one selling manufacturer in the US. This has happened mainly due to increased sales of EV.

[@bdw66]

Renault have had an electric version of small Kangoo van on the market for a couple of years now. Is there some real world feedback for this vehicle against the scenarios you suggest?

[@artistjoh]

Something is definitely in the wind - I had never seen an electric vehicle in operation on the road before, and suddenly, in the last month I have seen three of them.

[@MyTv-]

It’s always the next generation tech, and that’s always BS, with few a exceptions every couple of decades or so!

[@jasenanderson8534]

EV transit type vehicles were everywhere in the UK where I've just been, as were regular EV cars, almost one in 5. They'll find their niche here in time. It's inevitable.

[@Rusty_Gold85]

every opponent to EV thinks they have to commute out to melb and back for work everyday

[@stormspottersau3045]

John, What about doing a break down in true life cycle.... Cost to build vs life cycle (vs elec / dinosaurs) vs cost to recycle.

[@chrisact9601]

Hey John, you know how you said you can't get a 300 Landcruiser in Australia yet? I saw one driving around Canberra today. No idea if it's a dealer thing, or what but there it was, large as life. It was a Sahara ZX.

[@SenseiKreese]

In regard to the "next-gen battery tech", what about the solid-state batteries we hear about that aren't too far away? Thoughts on that John?

[@AutoExpertJC]

Fusion power.

[@rayfisher6869]

So where does all the electricity come from for charging and how many vehicles can be charged per street

[@gregbailey45]

It depends how much rooftop solar PV is installed in the area. More is better.

[@sergeantschlumpf6368]

What about parent companies, manufactures, & partner ships that make electric vans? FCA, PSA, Stellantis, & VW, VWAG?etc. 00:00:00..

[@what_up777]

Some things that needed to be addressed are battery warranty. That's a whole new issue as these things are very expensive to replace.

[@jamesdk5417]

Hi John, may I please be educated as to what your pointers original job was.

[@waynemgtregear7228]

To get three phase power from pole to the metre box cost up to three thousand $.

[@rogersmith7396]

Whats involved with getting three phase at a residence? Could you go to 440 volts or higher?

[@nerd1000ify]

Most of Aus has 3 phase 'to the pole' one of the phases is then split off to provide single phase power to the residence. So 3 phase supply is available if you're willing to pay for the extra wiring needed to bring the other two phases to your building. Unfortunately this is an expensive endeavour. I'm a hobby machinist with an interest in vintage machine tools, so I know quite a few people who would like to run old 3 phase industrial machines at home. Most find it cheaper to fit each machine with a VFD and modify the motor to accept 240V 3 phase rather than have 440V grid supply hooked up. Hopefully as EVs become more popular we'll see houses being built with a 3 phase connection for the charger. Then I can get some big boy's tools :D

[@timrohds750]

Don’t forget they pick up as well!

[@Cloxxki]

Aussie couriers do 16 hour shifts?

[@Low760]

If they work for auspost, 6.5 hours!

[@alphaomega5721]

5 EVs by Dec '24? Ambitious with only 4 buyers.....

[@Robert-cu9bm]

Looks like we'll all have to get used to siestas.

[@peterkovacs8654]

Roadway based Induction charging public parking places in addition to roadway based induction charging in/near major metropolitan areas. Real world technology available now

[@jasonnowakowski4640]

Another thing is when we have blackouts overnight and the charging stops

[@trandel]

It may make some sense if your metro only. That’s not all tradies nor is it a courier drivers doing routes outside the inner city. I’m telling my clients to wait. Infrastructure for the logistics industry is not there yet.

[@christopherrussell1677]

All looks good ! 👍 , we just need to load up the vehicle with a huge diesel or petrol generator and jerrycans . Beam me up Scotty !