It's called the Law of Conservation of Energy. The total energy of an isolated system remains constant; it is transformed in an EV from stored electrical energy to the rotational energy of the wheels and further to velocity of the vehicle. Losses occur at all energy transfers; friction, electrical, and those pesky Newton Laws of motion. Therefore, the energy returned through the use of regenerative braking, though an improvement of efficiency (you are transferring the energy of your vehicle in motion - mass, velocity - back to stored electrical energy rather than heat), will never be close to the energy required to achieve vehicle velocity. There are also circuit losses (as you so well describe in almost all your articles) and losses from heat. In effect, you can't have a perpetual motion machine.
With the possible exception of the brake fluid exchange, none of those other flush services are needed at 30,000 miles and are nowhere to be seen in the Kia scheduled maintenance.
BG and other flush schedules are what is known ADP (Additional Dealer Profit) services.
I recommend changing service providers who take more interest in the well being of their customers.
Oh, I’m very careful with this sort of thing. My wife doesn’t even step into the service shop anymore since they seem to target the women. But I always do my due diligence and confirm service intervals with factory/warranty recommendations. I did find a new service shop recently that we may start using for our regular vehicle service.
I agree that dealer markup can be quite high, but disagree that the services aren’t necessary because the manufacturer doesn’t call for it in the manual. Many manufacturers don’t recommend fluid changes on certain systems, or have ridiculously high mileage intervals in order to keep their average yearly maintenance costs down…or for carbon credits. Some now claim that rear differentials and transmissions are “lifetime” fluids, which of course is a joke… unless they mean the lifetime that the average consumer keeps a vehicle these days.
At 8yrs old you were working inside your house power panel? Really? I was about 10 in '61 when I saw a new kid whizz by me on a bike w/ a small gas engine in the frame. That got me started but I can't imagine sticking my hand in the house panel that young.
The RamCharger does sound interesting as a truck, which is most relevant to an RV group, but the Highlander SUV has been doing the same thing for 7 years now? EV drivetrain, modest battery, gas engine to recharge as needed. Gas-only 25mpg, hybrid 35mpg, and 45mpg if intelligently driven (EV forced in town, force recharge on highway) [all summer mileages]. I WOULD agree the dinky battery is it's weakspot so it didn't have to cycle the engine as often, but even a modest energy buffer (absorb a stop and give it back to start) is a huge help. I'm tempted to backpack another 30kwh in the trunk, but 400v batteries that size take pucker!
I think the main idea behind a large battery with a 140+ mile range is that you could probably drive it around all day (or days) on battery power alone. Then it can be recharged with a Level-2 charger using cheap electricity or solar panels. But the gasoline engine is always ready for highway travel or towing a trailer.
As a retired fleet manager, it might not be the range or the energy efficiency that is important, but rather the reliability. No one wants to be broken down on a vacation or needing a work truck waiting for specialized parts or technicians trained to get the transportation up and running again. Greater complexity brings greater cost and less reliability when there are more things to wear and fail. However, it is cool way to travel with lots of bragging rights.
Thank you for the analysis and information. I won't live to see the full great transformation but its as interesting to watch evolve as was advancements in the medical field ( I was a very early recipient of a future considered "miracle" treatment that allowed re-attachment of my severed arm ), space exploration from finally getting early rockets off the launching pad without exploding in place all the way through man on moon landings, active space stations and retrievable 1st stage rockets for reuse, Rose Parade going from hues of black & grey & white to nearly every home affordable "Living Color", corded rotary phones in the black Bakelite to easily portable cellphone technology, computing power, etc, etc, etc. Gosh, it's been interesting and in addition, my dad's profession in animal husbandry and agriculture fields kept my feet planted in reality of past and present . The solutions and answers are out there, we just have to be smart enough and disciplined enough to investigate, analyze, learn, interpret, etc without pre-conceived notions or miss-information and little patience. Have fun testing the EV truck & tow combo.
Mike, I think you should take a look at your Kia's owner manual, all those services at 30K miles sounds like typical dealership BS to me. Its been a while since I owned a Hyundai (Kia sister) so maybe its changed. I own mainly Chevys now. Case in point, my 3/4 ton Silverado has 30K diff and 60K trans service under extreme conditions (normal, severe, extreme) My 2023 Bolt EV has the same schedule as my 2020 ICE Chevy Blazer: 5 year brakes, 150K coolant (Bolt has 3 loops so actually more expensive) and 150K transmission. The Blazer which is similar to your Kia has no recommended rear diff or transfer case (if it exist) service mentioned.
That's exactly right. The Kia dealership tried to sell my wife on maintenance intervals for "extreme service" like she was driving a Baja race. Of course, I did my own research and told them to forget about it. We'll revisit this at 60 or 80 thousand miles, but I wonder just how many car owners get talked into this extreme maintenance schedule. It sounded like they pitched it to everyone.
I think they have the electric car down pat. 600, 700 HP. Quiet, low maintenance, ect. It's the energy storage side that needs work. Is it H? it is Nuclear? I dont know but Lithium batteries are not it. This is why I would never buy an EV. I would lease one but never buy.
It's called the Law of Conservation of Energy. The total energy of an isolated system remains constant; it is transformed in an EV from stored electrical energy to the rotational energy of the wheels and further to velocity of the vehicle. Losses occur at all energy transfers; friction, electrical, and those pesky Newton Laws of motion. Therefore, the energy returned through the use of regenerative braking, though an improvement of efficiency (you are transferring the energy of your vehicle in motion - mass, velocity - back to stored electrical energy rather than heat), will never be close to the energy required to achieve vehicle velocity. There are also circuit losses (as you so well describe in almost all your articles) and losses from heat. In effect, you can't have a perpetual motion machine.
With the possible exception of the brake fluid exchange, none of those other flush services are needed at 30,000 miles and are nowhere to be seen in the Kia scheduled maintenance.
BG and other flush schedules are what is known ADP (Additional Dealer Profit) services.
I recommend changing service providers who take more interest in the well being of their customers.
Oh, I’m very careful with this sort of thing. My wife doesn’t even step into the service shop anymore since they seem to target the women. But I always do my due diligence and confirm service intervals with factory/warranty recommendations. I did find a new service shop recently that we may start using for our regular vehicle service.
I agree that dealer markup can be quite high, but disagree that the services aren’t necessary because the manufacturer doesn’t call for it in the manual. Many manufacturers don’t recommend fluid changes on certain systems, or have ridiculously high mileage intervals in order to keep their average yearly maintenance costs down…or for carbon credits. Some now claim that rear differentials and transmissions are “lifetime” fluids, which of course is a joke… unless they mean the lifetime that the average consumer keeps a vehicle these days.
At 8yrs old you were working inside your house power panel? Really? I was about 10 in '61 when I saw a new kid whizz by me on a bike w/ a small gas engine in the frame. That got me started but I can't imagine sticking my hand in the house panel that young.
Yup, my parents had no idea what I was doing down in the basement…
Of course I was trying to take over the world, just like Pinky and the Brain!
The RamCharger does sound interesting as a truck, which is most relevant to an RV group, but the Highlander SUV has been doing the same thing for 7 years now? EV drivetrain, modest battery, gas engine to recharge as needed. Gas-only 25mpg, hybrid 35mpg, and 45mpg if intelligently driven (EV forced in town, force recharge on highway) [all summer mileages]. I WOULD agree the dinky battery is it's weakspot so it didn't have to cycle the engine as often, but even a modest energy buffer (absorb a stop and give it back to start) is a huge help. I'm tempted to backpack another 30kwh in the trunk, but 400v batteries that size take pucker!
I think the main idea behind a large battery with a 140+ mile range is that you could probably drive it around all day (or days) on battery power alone. Then it can be recharged with a Level-2 charger using cheap electricity or solar panels. But the gasoline engine is always ready for highway travel or towing a trailer.
As a retired fleet manager, it might not be the range or the energy efficiency that is important, but rather the reliability. No one wants to be broken down on a vacation or needing a work truck waiting for specialized parts or technicians trained to get the transportation up and running again. Greater complexity brings greater cost and less reliability when there are more things to wear and fail. However, it is cool way to travel with lots of bragging rights.
Thank you for the analysis and information. I won't live to see the full great transformation but its as interesting to watch evolve as was advancements in the medical field ( I was a very early recipient of a future considered "miracle" treatment that allowed re-attachment of my severed arm ), space exploration from finally getting early rockets off the launching pad without exploding in place all the way through man on moon landings, active space stations and retrievable 1st stage rockets for reuse, Rose Parade going from hues of black & grey & white to nearly every home affordable "Living Color", corded rotary phones in the black Bakelite to easily portable cellphone technology, computing power, etc, etc, etc. Gosh, it's been interesting and in addition, my dad's profession in animal husbandry and agriculture fields kept my feet planted in reality of past and present . The solutions and answers are out there, we just have to be smart enough and disciplined enough to investigate, analyze, learn, interpret, etc without pre-conceived notions or miss-information and little patience. Have fun testing the EV truck & tow combo.
Mike, I think you should take a look at your Kia's owner manual, all those services at 30K miles sounds like typical dealership BS to me. Its been a while since I owned a Hyundai (Kia sister) so maybe its changed. I own mainly Chevys now. Case in point, my 3/4 ton Silverado has 30K diff and 60K trans service under extreme conditions (normal, severe, extreme) My 2023 Bolt EV has the same schedule as my 2020 ICE Chevy Blazer: 5 year brakes, 150K coolant (Bolt has 3 loops so actually more expensive) and 150K transmission. The Blazer which is similar to your Kia has no recommended rear diff or transfer case (if it exist) service mentioned.
That's exactly right. The Kia dealership tried to sell my wife on maintenance intervals for "extreme service" like she was driving a Baja race. Of course, I did my own research and told them to forget about it. We'll revisit this at 60 or 80 thousand miles, but I wonder just how many car owners get talked into this extreme maintenance schedule. It sounded like they pitched it to everyone.
I think they have the electric car down pat. 600, 700 HP. Quiet, low maintenance, ect. It's the energy storage side that needs work. Is it H? it is Nuclear? I dont know but Lithium batteries are not it. This is why I would never buy an EV. I would lease one but never buy.
It's all about the batteries, isn't it? Once you have a 600 mile range, then you won't need as many fast charging stations on the road.