Electric Car Repairs/Maintenance ?
Discussion
To continue my series of slightly inane questions regarding the current/imminent elecric car revolution.
What kind of maintenance will they require, I cant think of much, am thinking they will be a lot less needy than an IC car, putting batteries aside for the time being.
Do they have a cooling circuit, surely there must be some cooling involved when all that energy is drained fromt he batteries to the motor, but cant imagine it is under as much duress as an I/C cooling circuit, or do they have a big heatsink with a sticker saying "Hot !" like my last electric vehicle ?
Brakes I would imagine last longer as a lot of the braking is regenerative, fluid I suspect would be the same interval.
Oil, there isnt any ! am guessing the lubricaton of the motors bearings is packed in when its built and thats it, there isnt a conventional gearbox but there is some kind of transfer to the wheels, even normal manuals seem to be sealed for life and I cant see it being any different with an EV, the main reason in IC cars to change the oil is for shift quality, if you dont have a shift, you dont notice and as long as it goes you dont care, problably less polluted thn on a normal car, less heat, no combustion etc ?
Motor, am thinking it will be largely a sealed unit and maintenance free ?
No Cambelts !
No Plugs, plug leads, distributor cap, DMFs, DPFs, injectors, turbos, MAF sensor, valves, pistons, cams, air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, fuel pump. Makes you realise how needy IC engines are in comparison to electric motors, would be interesting to hear form someone who maintains electric trains, similar but bigger scale.
Drive Electronics, possibly an area for concern, my mate buys and sells mobility scooters and it seems a common failure point, is it any more prone than a modern ECU ?
Clutch, there isnt one, so no worries there.
Exhaust, another thing to not have to think about.
Steering/Suspension, well, there is extra weight but am asuming they will cater for that in the design, all that torque could be quite tough on components though.
Tyres, I have seen what a weighty diesel car can do to a set of tyres, the slug of torque is addictive, where people had a 2.0 petrol before with 130 lb/ft and 130 bhp, they now have the same 130 bhp but with double the torque, electric motors can develop even more torque and I get the impression from the Tesla S reviews and speaking to a Nissan Leaf owner they are quite compelling to drive, usually that goes hand in hand with shredding tyres, that low down grunt is not doing burnouts but it does stress a tyre more than a petrol with less torque and having to go through the rev range to get at it.
All the other gubbins should be similar I guess.
I think a main dealer service for an EV will be even more smoke and mirrors than the current glorified oil change
What kind of maintenance will they require, I cant think of much, am thinking they will be a lot less needy than an IC car, putting batteries aside for the time being.
Do they have a cooling circuit, surely there must be some cooling involved when all that energy is drained fromt he batteries to the motor, but cant imagine it is under as much duress as an I/C cooling circuit, or do they have a big heatsink with a sticker saying "Hot !" like my last electric vehicle ?
Brakes I would imagine last longer as a lot of the braking is regenerative, fluid I suspect would be the same interval.
Oil, there isnt any ! am guessing the lubricaton of the motors bearings is packed in when its built and thats it, there isnt a conventional gearbox but there is some kind of transfer to the wheels, even normal manuals seem to be sealed for life and I cant see it being any different with an EV, the main reason in IC cars to change the oil is for shift quality, if you dont have a shift, you dont notice and as long as it goes you dont care, problably less polluted thn on a normal car, less heat, no combustion etc ?
Motor, am thinking it will be largely a sealed unit and maintenance free ?
No Cambelts !
No Plugs, plug leads, distributor cap, DMFs, DPFs, injectors, turbos, MAF sensor, valves, pistons, cams, air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, fuel pump. Makes you realise how needy IC engines are in comparison to electric motors, would be interesting to hear form someone who maintains electric trains, similar but bigger scale.
Drive Electronics, possibly an area for concern, my mate buys and sells mobility scooters and it seems a common failure point, is it any more prone than a modern ECU ?
Clutch, there isnt one, so no worries there.
Exhaust, another thing to not have to think about.
Steering/Suspension, well, there is extra weight but am asuming they will cater for that in the design, all that torque could be quite tough on components though.
Tyres, I have seen what a weighty diesel car can do to a set of tyres, the slug of torque is addictive, where people had a 2.0 petrol before with 130 lb/ft and 130 bhp, they now have the same 130 bhp but with double the torque, electric motors can develop even more torque and I get the impression from the Tesla S reviews and speaking to a Nissan Leaf owner they are quite compelling to drive, usually that goes hand in hand with shredding tyres, that low down grunt is not doing burnouts but it does stress a tyre more than a petrol with less torque and having to go through the rev range to get at it.
All the other gubbins should be similar I guess.
I think a main dealer service for an EV will be even more smoke and mirrors than the current glorified oil change
Google Nissan leaf service intervals.
They have gone back to 6 monthly services, which is, rotating the tyre's from front to back! IIRC, the brake fluid now needs to be changed once a year to.
It's all a load of flannel though, the first time they actually replace something, rather than just check stuff*, is 8 years when the change the heater coolant.
They have gone back to 6 monthly services, which is, rotating the tyre's from front to back! IIRC, the brake fluid now needs to be changed once a year to.
It's all a load of flannel though, the first time they actually replace something, rather than just check stuff*, is 8 years when the change the heater coolant.
- and that assumes they actually check anything rather than just turning off the service light!
Craikeybaby said:
It could go more the way on consumer electronics, where you go to the dealer for an update to the cars operating system - or could that be done over wifi with the car parked on the drive?
If it follows consumer electronics does that mean that each software update will knacker something that used to work and that after about 18 months it'll only do half it's stated speed, the battery will be flat in 10 miles, and you'll have to press the brake pedal 30 seconds before you want to slow down?AW111 said:
The father of a friend had a prius. He's not the last of late brakers, but even so, 100,000+ km out of a set of front pads is not too shabby.
The regen brakes do their job rather well for his manner of driving.
Mine are at 68,000 miles and still have plenty of life in them - probably about 60% worn.The regen brakes do their job rather well for his manner of driving.
bristolracer said:
I cant see your garage bills being any less than they are now.
The car makers will not drop their dealers in it, It is in the car makers interest to have profitable dealers selling lots of OPC parts.
That only holds for people daft enough to believe that the official "service schedule" is anything by a cynical attempt to make more money. The car makers will not drop their dealers in it, It is in the car makers interest to have profitable dealers selling lots of OPC parts.
bristolracer said:
I cant see your garage bills being any less than they are now.
The car makers will not drop their dealers in it, It is in the car makers interest to have profitable dealers selling lots of OPC parts.
It will be interesting to see how Tesla does over here - their decision to cut out dealers altogether is causing a few ructions in the USA (not amongst customers, I should add).The car makers will not drop their dealers in it, It is in the car makers interest to have profitable dealers selling lots of OPC parts.
AW111 said:
The father of a friend had a prius. He's not the last of late brakers, but even so, 100,000+ km out of a set of front pads is not too shabby.
The regen brakes do their job rather well for his manner of driving.
The regen system does such a good job that the mk1 Prius was fitted with front drums. I think they only went for discs on later versions for PR reasons. The regen brakes do their job rather well for his manner of driving.
The impression is given that these cars are (suspension steering and wheels apart) almost maintenance free, or at least, very low cost.
What is being overlooked is the fact that the main battery pack won't last forever, and unless you are handy with a soldering iron and have plenty of time on your hands soldering (7000 was it?) 18650-type batteries to form a battery pack (Tesla) I feel confident that replacing this will more than make up for all the savings compared to IC engined cars.
Methinks.
What is being overlooked is the fact that the main battery pack won't last forever, and unless you are handy with a soldering iron and have plenty of time on your hands soldering (7000 was it?) 18650-type batteries to form a battery pack (Tesla) I feel confident that replacing this will more than make up for all the savings compared to IC engined cars.
Methinks.
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