Re: [EVDL] Commercial delivery EVs for FedEx, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Staples, Frito-Lay,

Willie McKemie wrote:
> You know far more about EV history than I, but isn't it so that
> essentially all the trouble with early EVs was associated with
> lead batteries?

No; not by any means. There were lots of problems; some techincal, and
some human.

Remember that even in the 1970's, EV technology for industrial and
off-road vehicles was pretty mature. EVs were recognized as costing more
than an equivalent ICE initially, but saving money in the long run with
lower maintenance and higher reliability.

EV forklift and golf cart batteries routinely lasted 5 years or more.
They were flooded lead-acid; but at the time that was normal for regular
cars and trucks as well, so there were no surprises about the need to
check and add water, keep terminals clean, etc.

But things often went wrong when people tried to apply this technology
on on-road EVs. Here are some examples:

1. The company was a new start-up, or a new division of a company
with no EV experience. They didn't look at or learn from existing
EVs, and so made stupid mistakes that made the vehicles unreliable.

2. The company was promoting some "revolutionary breakthrough", and
used EVs as a platform to get investor's attention and sell stock.
The technology was untested and unproven; and failed.

3. The EVs were "rammed down the throats" of employees against their
will. The employees then got "revenge" by sabotaging the programs.

4. The EVs were heavily over-promoted at a "miracle cure", with
wildly optimistic range and performance claims. Customers would
try them, and discover they worked much worse than advertised.

5. The instrumentation was very poor. Drivers had no way to tell
whether there were problems or not. Like an ICE with no gauges,
drivers would blindly use the EV until something broke, in the
process murdering the batteries, overheating the motor, and
killing the controller.
--
Lee A. Hart | Ring the bells that still can ring
814 8th Ave N | Forget the perfect offering
Sartell MN 56377 | There is a crack in everything
leeahart earthlink.net | That's how the light gets in -- Leonard Cohen

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