Electric + Human-Powered Vehicles

[stevebrooks]

So this is a PHEV claiming a 2,000km range, that's huge if it's true, but there are no figures for fuel consumption, even so it seems remarkable. My i30 gets 4l/100km and can probably do 1,000km on a really full to the brim of the filler fuel tank.

https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/t ... es-of-2025

[stevebrooks]

So this is a PHEV claiming a 2,000km range, that's huge if it's true, but there are no figures for fuel consumption, even so it seems remarkable. My i30 gets 4l/100km and can probably do 1,000km on a really full to the brim of the filler fuel tank.

https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/t ... es-of-2025

Hunted around and found some details;

One of the highlights of the Seal 05 DM-i is the BYD DM-i 5.0 PHEV system. The maximum power of the 1.5L engine is 74 kW (99 hp), and the maximum power of the permanent magnet synchronous motor is 120 kW (161 hp), matched with 7.68 kWh and 15.898 kWh LFP battery packs. The declared pure electric range is 43 km and 90 km, respectively. The fuel consumption is as low as 2.95L/100km. Under a full tank and charge, the comprehensive range is 2000 km.

It all seems to be still manufacturer claims so we will have to wait until it releases in Australia and get reliable road tests from Australian sites, but 2.95L/100km seems like it should possibly do well over 1000km, somewhere between 1000km and 2000km under real world conditions I would suggest, maybe 2000km if you are driving in absolute best test conditions, but it would still have to be a fair sized fuel tank to get 2000km.

Apparently already released in China, so maybe some time this year for Australia.

https://carnewschina.com/2025/02/02/byd ... -in-china/

[stevebrooks]

A long video here on the different battery technology advances CATL is bringing to the market this year. Strangely enough the hype over solid state batteries has died down and you hardly hear a mention of them at all these days, I suspect that's because they are still 2 years away and people, well, they just get tired of it all.

But this is about current working and demonstrated battery chemistries and technology. 1.3mw charging sounds nice, really fast as well, I can't see that sort of charging infrastructure being rolled out in Australia, in fact anywhere but China for a while, maybe in specialised areas in the US and Europe, sounds good but another thing to wait for. Three different battery chemistries, 3 different applications, cheaper or longer range etc, a dual chemistry hybrid battery for PHEV's that will provide 200 miles (320km) range on battery alone, that's remarkable if true and would be a game changing development for PHEV's, I mean getting 100+km range already on some PHEV's if pretty game changing, that's a longer range than some BEV's today, but another wait and see claim.

Yes the thing watches like a long advertisement for CATL, although BYD does get a small mention in there, but it is a video about CATL so I guess that's inevitable.

[stevebrooks]

I have been watching a number of BYD Shark 6 reviews, no, not just driving up and down the road, actual proper 4wd stuff, for example one here;



They handle everything thrown at them with relative ease, outperforming other more well known brands, these are people who do serious 4WD stuff. For the price the interior fit out and features make most Ute's in the same category look seriously underspecced, with the advantage of being able to basically dive them as a full EV in the city and towns and have the extended range to do some serious traveling I can see them becoming the leading vehicle in this class in the country. Now the only down side is towing, they have a lower tow rating than most others at only 2.5t, but BYD is apparently bringing out a different model that will increase this to at least the 3.5t mark.

Seriously, if you were after a UTE in this class, have solar and can charge at home, and don't need to tow over 2.5t it's almost a no-brainer that you should go for the BYD Shark 6 or similar vehicle types that are emerging from China, I can't see traditional ICE vehicles competing for very long at all. What it need is for this newly elected Labor government put in some some serious groundwork in promoting EV's and charging.

Expect over the next year or so these types of vehicles to come to completely dominate this market segment. If I was in the market for a new car now, and was after a Ute of this class, I can't see any reason to pick anything else.

[stevebrooks]

Still seeing multiple news and youtube videos claiming EV's are dead, funny that:

Uncertainty about trade and industrial policy triggered by US tariffs won’t derail growth in sales of electric vehicles, which should account for one in four cars sold this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

In its annual report on the outlook for the uptake of electric vehicles — a key element in efforts to reduce climate-changing emissions — the IEA indicated that the increasing affordability and lower operating costs was supporting sales.

“Our data shows that, despite significant uncertainties, electric cars remain on a strong growth trajectory globally,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a statement accompanying the report.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/moto ... 78ef3a2a41

[stevebrooks]

New eBike with 130km range, and a 1000w motor, costs a fair bit though!

https://www.news.com.au/technology/moto ... 39e4bacc78

[stevebrooks]

What are we doing, just what are we doing?

Strange question? Maybe, but new battery manufacturing investment as joint ventures between China and Europe are going ahead even as we, Australia, and the US, fall further and further behind in the transition to EV's and clean energy. With the huge tariffs in the US hampering EV take up, and at the same time destroying local car manufacturing, Stellantis, one of the worlds largest car makers, is going 50/50 with CATL to build huge manufacturing plants in Europe to provide a local supply of EV batteries rather than relying on shipping from China. Given different different circumstances, that is a proper transition from ICE to EV, this could have been an investment in the US, or even Australia as a local Oceania supplier of batteries.

With EV sales booming in Europe it's very likely we will be forced to buy EV cars if we want an imported car, oh look all cars are imported! In the UK alone they sold just under 400k EV's in 2024, in Australia we sold just under 100K, putting us as 7.4% of car sales with the UK at 21% of car sales being EV. Given our backward looking politician 7.4% is not an inconsiderable number, in the very near future it will be EV or nothing because ICE manufacturing will cease worldwide. In March alone the UK sold 100k EV's (number includes new and used of course but this is full BEV not hybrids or other variants). When we include hybrids in that data over 31% of all new cars in the UK had some variant of EV power.

Let's face it, despite all the doom and gloom videos and news reports about the death of EV's there's no stopping them, it also gives Europe the added benefit of importing less oil and retaining more of that money locally, so while China is indeed pulling more and more market share in Europe, it's not just the car market changing dynamically, it's the entire energy economy. Australia need to get its head out of the sand pit and start actually doing something, I am talking politically of course, in effect with the highest percentage number of rooftop solar in the world the people are already there, why do we even still have politicians that are pushing nuclear and fossil fuels? I still firmly believe part of the Liberal disaster was due to their pointless push on Nuclear and intention to destroy renewable progress in Australia, I suspect that's what lost Dutton his seat.