Chevy Silverado EV!!??!?

[pcase74]

So, I just got done watching this video: 

Here are some of the highlights from the video that got me super excited!!!(but please go watch the video first)

1. Up to 400 miles of range
2. 10 minutes of charging = 100 miles of range 
3. 664 whp 700 lb-feet torque. <4.5 second 0-60
4. The Mid-Gate???? It comes all the way out 
5. The charger allows charging other EV's 

Here's the biggest one IMO:

      6. Ultifi! Linux based OTA upgrades, user upgradeable, personalization, third party apps, and more!?

 

What have I missed? What peeks yalls' interest? How will Ultifi impact the future of EV's?

 

 

P.S. If Linus Media Group has talked about this please link me the videos!

 

[dizmo]

I don't really see EVs as being sustainable long term unless there's some massive breakthroughs in battery tech, so I'm really not that excited.

 

[pcase74]

25 minutes ago, dizmo said:

I don't really see EVs as being sustainable long term unless there's some massive breakthroughs in battery tech, so I'm really not that excited.

 

From what I have read about the battery technology Chevy is using (Ultium). The battery's are expected to last 150,000-250,000 miles or 10 years. Ultium is continuing to research and develop batterys that have million-mile lifetimes and zero cobalt/nickel cells.https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1128221_gm-battery-chief-600-mile-evs-viable-million-mile-battery-in-sight . That being said when you take into consideration that Chevy's Ultifi operating system is built on linux we could be looking at a lineup of cars that could continue to be upgraded, far beyond what typical ICE(internal combustion engine) vehicles are capable of, leading to less e-waste.

[Blademaster91]

Looks like it's based on the EV Hummer? So they're doing away with a conventional body on frame truck which is interesting.

But I think battery range has to improve before EV trucks make any sense, I watched the TFL video on the Rivian truck and actually using it as a truck to tow a trailer cut the range in half.

And while the fast 0-60 and software is nice, I would rather have a nice basic vehicle with less things to break, people just want simple reliable vehicles which is why some older trucks and SUV's have really high used value.

[pcase74]

4 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

Looks like it's based on the EV Hummer? So they're doing away with a conventional body on frame truck which is interesting.

Yes and No. From what I have gathered they are calling the EV Motors and battery the GM Ultium platform. My guess is that it is going to be fairly modular for them and will have several different types of motors and battery sizes/shapes to fit in all sorts of different body styles (Truck, SUV, Sedan, etc.). In the video the GM engineer specifically talks about how the motors were not the same as the hummer. They also do not like the term unibody and referred to how the battery acts somewhat like a frame (don't quote me on that) and somewhat of a mix of unibody and body on frame.

16 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

But I think battery range has to improve before EV trucks make any sense, I watched the TFL video on the Rivian truck and actually using it as a truck to tow a trailer cut the range in half.

And while the fast 0-60 and software is nice, I would rather have a nice basic vehicle with less things to break, people just want simple reliable vehicles which is why some older trucks and SUV's have really high used value.

I am interested to see what the extended towing package is going to look like. 20,000 pound towing limit promised. That's twice as much as Rivian. So how will it compare range wise? No one knows yet obviously. But see my reply above and they are already working on battery's with 600 mile range which is a nice jump compared to other manufacturers. Also we haven't even talked price. Base model WT is starting at $39,900 directly competing with the F-150 lightning and so far the Specs are blowing it out of the water. Ford standard battery range 230 miles. Chevy at 400. The highest range you can get on the Lightning is only 300 miles and will cost you $72,000.

[Needfuldoer]

Should've called it the Avalanche. The family resemblance is undeniable.

 

[trag1c]

I don't see the appeal in an EV truck, an EV car as a grocery getter is fine but not a truck. If you use your truck as a truck chances are you have a trailer and that means you potentially have limited places that you can fuel up let alone charge. Especially if you're going somewhere remote. 

 

Then my other issue is Canadian winters, that battery range is going to be suspect when it's -40 and you're pushing through 2-3ft of snow.

 

I think I will stick with the 5.3L, 6.2L or the 6.6L dirty max and have a truck that can actually do what a truck is intended to do.

[pcase74]

1 hour ago, trag1c said:

I don't see the appeal in an EV truck, an EV car as a grocery getter is fine but not a truck. If you use your truck as a truck chances are you have a trailer and that means you potentially have limited places that you can fuel up let alone charge. Especially if you're going somewhere remote. 

 

Then my other issue is Canadian winters, that battery range is going to be suspect when it's -40 and you're pushing through 2-3ft of snow.

 

I think I will stick with the 5.3L, 6.2L or the 6.6L dirty max and have a truck that can actually do what a truck is intended to do.

That is a great point. I wonder how much the engineers are getting paid to make battery's more efficient in extreme temperatures. I read a study that range can drop up to 50% in the cold when climate controls are used. However, the appeal of an EV truck vs EV car shouldn't even matter. The appeal of anything EV is the cost per mile. That 400 range battery, depending on your energy pricing, in a truck, car, or whatever is most likely going to be cheaper to charge vs filling up any ICE. The EV trucks are attracting people in suburban to urban locations because they can have the great efficiency and the room for whatever their weekend warrior heart takes them. It's the same reason Honda still makes the ridgeline, Ford is making the maverick, and Hyundai with the santa cruz: Urban cowboys  . P.S. how does that diesel like to startup if you forget to plug it in on a cold night  *insert diesel cold start noises here*

[Needfuldoer]

18 minutes ago, pcase74 said:

That is a great point. I wonder how much the engineers are getting paid to make battery's more efficient in extreme temperatures. I read a study that range can drop up to 50% in the cold when climate controls are used. 

"When climate controls are used" is the key part. Car engines give you all the heat you could want "for free" because only about 1/3 of the energy from  exploding gasoline creates motion, and the rest just makes the engine hot. ICE cars and hybrids can just run their engines for heat.

 

EVs have two options:

 

- A heat pump, which is basically an air conditioner running backwards. This is the most efficient way to get heating from electricity, because the refrigerant gas is the part actually moving heat energy around. We just make the right conditions for that to happen. This can get expensive, and efficiency drops with the temperature. Home-size heat pumps get on the struggle bus below freezing, an even the best are only rated for -15 freedom degrees (-26 science degrees). Factor in wind chill from the vehicle moving, and that's more common than you might think.

 

- Resistive electric heating. Basically this is no different from running a toaster, electric dryer, or space heater. Battery power gets dumped through nichrome wires, wires get hot. It's simple and cheap to implement, but extremely energy inefficient. You only get 3.41 BTUs per watt this way, which is why plug-in space heaters drive your electric bill sky-high. (By comparison, heat pumps are 3 to 5 times as efficient.) In an EV, this murders your range.

 

I drive a Volt. If I run the electric heat, the car will draw 9kWh from the battery just sitting still. That's about what it takes to maintain 35 MPH. But I also have heated seats and a heated steering wheel. They keep me plenty warm on most days, and the extra power they consume is negligible. Because it's a hybrid, I just run the engine in the winter (because I'd have to anyway to get where I'm going once the electric heater uses the battery up). 

 

I only see about a 10-15% drop in range in the winter, because I don't let the electric heater run. If I did, my range would get cut in half.

[Zusafek]

Personally, I'm not a fan of electric vehicles due to the fact the infrastructure is not ready for them.  

[Needfuldoer]

6 hours ago, Zusafek said:

Personally, I'm not a fan of electric vehicles due to the fact the infrastructure is not ready for them.  

It's more ready than you might think.

 

If you expect recharging to look like a trip to the gas station, then no we won't get there any time soon. (I blame Tesla's Supercharger network for cementing this idea in the minds of the public.) That's an awful lot of power we'd have to round up and dump into a battery in a very short amount of time.

 

But what if we take that same total amount of power, and spread the draw out over a longer period of time?

 

Plug an EV is into a 220v circuit while it's sitting parked (as most cars are most of the time), and it can fully charge from 0% overnight while drawing about as much as an electric oven or clothes dryer. You don't have to charge all of the battery capacity every day ether (unless you drive 300 miles every day), so fully recharging a 60-mile round trip commute only takes a couple hours on an oven-size circuit. That kind of use is even attainable from an overnight charge on a regular 15 amp, 120 volt circuit, with the car drawing about as much as an electric space heater.

 

It's like filling a swimming pool. A fire hose (Level 3 DC fast charging, Superchargers) can fill it up very quickly, but almost nobody has one. Everyone has a garden hose (Level 2 and Level 1 charging); it will take longer, but it will get the job done.

[dizmo]

23 hours ago, pcase74 said:

From what I have read about the battery technology Chevy is using (Ultium). The battery's are expected to last 150,000-250,000 miles or 10 years. Ultium is continuing to research and develop batterys that have million-mile lifetimes and zero cobalt/nickel cells.https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1128221_gm-battery-chief-600-mile-evs-viable-million-mile-battery-in-sight . That being said when you take into consideration that Chevy's Ultifi operating system is built on linux we could be looking at a lineup of cars that could continue to be upgraded, far beyond what typical ICE(internal combustion engine) vehicles are capable of, leading to less e-waste.

It's more the fact that it still uses lithium. There are very few places on the planet to get it; it's not really sustainable.

[Heliian]

On 2/12/2022 at 3:12 PM, trag1c said:

I don't see the appeal

Ford has 200k reservations for the lightning. 

 

I'm waiting to order mine, it fits my usage.  I'll let you know in a couple years when I get one. 

[dalekphalm]

On 2/13/2022 at 2:48 AM, Zusafek said:

Personally, I'm not a fan of electric vehicles due to the fact the infrastructure is not ready for them.  

Really, the only kind of infrastructure needed is this:

 

1. Infrastructure to allow apartment and street dwellers to charge EV's - this could be rolled into Need #2, but could also be specialized, by installing strategic electrical infrastructure into Apartment parking lots/garages (some already do), and installing electrical infrastructure into street parking zones.

 

Anyone who has a parking lot or garage basically already has the charging infrastructure - even with Level 1 charging (120V @ 15A), you can use the power outlet that already exists on the outside of your house to slow charge your EV (or pay to install a Level 2 charger - 220V, usually 40A but amperage can vary). L2 chargers are needed if you travel more than say, 50 miles per day (around 80 km)

 

2. Long commute infrastructure - this is for the people who do road trips. Visiting family in another state or province, etc. This infrastructure is already excellent in many places, but needs expansion, which will slowly continue over the coming decades.

[airborne spoon]

What always cracks me up and annoys the crap out of me these companies tell you the range which is EPA range meaning 55 mph, flat road, no wind. We all know this is unrealistic and any EV owner can estimate the actual millage based on the estimate. Like my car the EPA says its like 315 miles but its more realistic to say 240 miles and based on how i drive, (lead foot) the actual real world miles is about 210-220 miles.

 

Trucks should have a range estimate based on while towing a 18,000 lb trailer so people know what to expect on their trips, but that'll ruin their marketing because the range will drop like a stone. Even a tesla with the biggest battery the millage drops by an average of half when towing a small aerodynamic camping trailer that weighs 2,000 lbs.

[dalekphalm]

49 minutes ago, airborne spoon said:

What always cracks me up and annoys the crap out of me these companies tell you the range which is EPA range meaning 55 mph, flat road, no wind. We all know this is unrealistic and any EV owner can estimate the actual millage based on the estimate. Like my car the EPA says its like 315 miles but its more realistic to say 240 miles and based on how i drive, (lead foot) the actual real world miles is about 210-220 miles.

 

Trucks should have a range estimate based on while towing a 18,000 lb trailer so people know what to expect on their trips, but that'll ruin their marketing because the range will drop like a stone. Even a tesla with the biggest battery the millage drops by an average of half when towing a small aerodynamic camping trailer that weighs 2,000 lbs.

This is a regulation problem. governments should institute updated range and efficiency estimates for trucks (particularly EV’s) for a variety of weight loads. 
 

If I recall correctly though, the F-150 EV range was calculated with some kind of payload (500 lbs or 1000 lbs - I don’t recall).