Category Archives: Electric Avenue

Electric vehicles, no matter how many wheels they have.

Auto Industry, Electric Avenue, Four Wheels

Ford Mustang Mach-E Passes Michigan State Police Testing

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You’re not going to see Ford Mustang Mach-E police cars in your rear view mirror next week. But in the future, you could.

The Michigan State Police have pretty much established the standard when it comes to testing cars for police use. They put cars through grueling acceleration, top speed, braking, high-speed pursuit, and emergency response handling tests. This is where the Dodge Intrepid’s brakes were found to be not up to the task, catching fire in the process. The Ford Mustang Mach-E, though, passed all these tests with flying colors — the first electric car ever to do so.

It didn’t even have a cop motor, cop suspension, cop shocks… Ford submitted a bone stock example for testing. The only modification was stickers (which, arguably, do add horsepower). We won’t know exactly how the Mustang Mach-E stacks up against traditional police cars like the Ford Explorer, Dodge Charger, etc. until later this fall, when the Michigan State Police will publish test results for all cars they’ve tested during the past year.

According to Motor1.com, Ford does not currently intend to build a police version of the Mustang Mach-E. Seeing how well the regular version did in these tests establishes a baseline for its performance. I expect that when the full test results come out, Ford will see in what areas other cars beat them, then design improvements that will address those shortcomings.

Electric cars, in general, make a ton of sense when it comes to police use. Most of the time they sit around, idling, wasting gas. Electric cars, by their nature, don’t do that. They also have a massive battery, which is necessary to run all the lights, computers, radios, and other emergency equipment. Additionally, when it comes time for hot pursuit of them Duke boys, there’s nothing quite like the acceleration of an electric car. Tesla’s made it famous, but all electric motors generate maximum torque from zero RPM, making them quicker off the line than any fossil fuel car can be.

It’s an intriguing concept. The only issue is with departments that keep their cars on the road 24/7, rotating multiple officers through them as they go on and off their shifts. That doesn’t leave any time to recharge.

Auto Industry, Electric Avenue, Four Wheels

Ford Boosts F-150 Lightning Production Before It Even Begins

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Despite not having built a single production truck yet, Ford has already announced a production increase to 80,000 F-150 Lightning electric pickup trucks annually. Ford will invest another $250 million across three Michigan plants involved with F-150 Lightning production, and hire 450 more workers to build them. The Drive has more details.

It may seem a bit bold, even cocky, to make such an investment before the truck has even hit the road. But considering that Ford has received 150,000 reservations for the Lightning, I think it’s a pretty safe bet.

Electric Avenue, Live to Ride, Two Wheels

Yamaha, Honda, KTM, and Piaggio Commit To Standard Swappable Batteries

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The biggest issue with electric vehicles is the recharge time. Society is accustomed to stopping at a gas station, filling the tank in a few minutes, and driving another few hundred miles. Electric doesn’t work that way — yet. One way to bypass this issue is rather than wait for your batteries to recharge, simply drop your depleted battery into charger, install a freshly charged battery, and zoom off into the sunset. It’s all the speed and convenience of a gas station fill-up in an electric world.

Of course, one of the main issues with this is every manufacturer has a different battery design and standard — until now. Motorcyclist reports that Yamaha, Honda, KTM, and Piaggio have signed an agreement to form the Swappable Batteries Motorcycle Consortium, which will help and promote the establishment of common standards for vehicle batteries across corporate boundaries.

This is absolutely crucial if swappable batteries are to succeed. There are many different standards out there right now, both for charging as well as the batteries themselves. Seeing a few big companies jump on board with this idea is encouraging. Standardization to allow swappable batteries makes it easier for manufacturers to sell us on electric vehicles, because they become much easier and more practical to use. No more range anxiety. Just pull into a battery swap shop just like you use a gas station now, swap batteries, and keep going. At that point, it doesn’t matter if the batteries take a few hours to charge. They’ll just sit there, charge, and go right back into someone else’s vehicle afterward. It’ll work great, as long as the electrical infrastructure can handle it. (Are you listening, Texas?)

Electric Avenue, Live to Ride, Two Wheels

Zero Motorcycles Already Sold Out For 2021, Updating For 2022

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If you wanted to buy a 2021 motorcycle from Zero, you’re too late. They’re all sold out, according to Jalopnik. Zero is already hard at work on updating the electronics to make most 2022 models even better.

After I got to ride a Zero SR/F at IMS Outdoors, I understand the popularity. If you can get over the almost complete lack of sound from these bikes, they’re legitimately fun to ride, and FAST. Did I mention fast? On our demo ride our leader got us all onto a nice quiet straightaway real slow, then mashed the throttle and took off like a light cycle from Tron. Naturally, the rest of us did the same. There’s nothing like the instant power and torque from an electric motor.

I could definitely see myself owning an electric bike as a commuter or city bike. They’re perfect for squirting in and out of traffic, and use virtually no power at a stop. My thing, though, is getting out of the city, out into the middle of nowhere, for hours at a time. That’s where electric bikes in general, not specifically Zero, fall short. It comes down the same old problems: charging time, and places to charge them. I’m sure that situation will continue to improve as more and more electric vehicles hit the road.

Autonomous Overlords, Electric Avenue, Four Wheels

Tesla “Full Self-Driving” Software Has Leaked

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Elon Musk promised Tesla owners who bought the so-called “full self-driving” package that they would receive it by the end of September. Elektrek reports that hackers have gotten their hands on it early, as in now.

This is alarming on numerous levels. Tesla has been severely limiting even the number of beta testers for this software, which is only intended for use in the US. But a YouTube video shows a hacked car in Ukraine operating in “full self-driving” mode. Ukraine, if you’re not familiar with geography, is not the US.

So far, all that hackers have wanted to do is get their hands on the software and try it for themselves, not alter it for any nefarious ends. But what if someone does? Now that it’s widely known to be out there, hackers with less benevolent intentions can have their way with it. This reminds me of Doctor Who‘s “The Sontaran Stratagem” episode, where the Sontarans hacked cars to gas humanity, as well as eliminate key opponents who learned of the plan before it was fully implemented.

Finally, there’s the fact that we’re simply not ready for “full self-driving” cars yet. Teslas are still randomly crashing into police cars while in the currently available Autopilot mode. That’s a rather fundamental flaw, one that should be addressed before giving the software even more control over the car. How do we know that aliens aren’t waiting for the opportunity to crash Teslas into every police car simultaneously, then take over the world? It could happen, especially if the software is that easy to hack.

And if there are aliens.

Auto Industry, Electric Avenue, Four Wheels

Subaru Teases Their First Electric Vehicle: The Solterra

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Subaru’s been slow to hop on the electric bandwagon, but they’re getting there. They just released teaser photos of the Solterra, their first electric model. Naturally, it’s an SUV.

I agree with Elektrek’s take on this. All-wheel-drive is what Subaru is best known for, and they’re doubling down on that. But when it comes to electric vehicles, all that goes out the window, because you can easily have multiple motors powering the wheels. No trick STI center differential can replace the flexibility of two independent electric motors front and rear. So it’s puzzling as to why Subaru has taken this approach.

Only time will tell how an electric Subaru will blow head gaskets.

Auto Industry, Electric Avenue, Four Wheels

Lotus Goes Large On Electric

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Colin Chapman would be spinning in his grave. The company once known for “simplify and add lightness” has announced big plans to do quite the opposite, reports Electrek. We knew Lotus was going electric, but three of the four new models on the way aren’t what you’d expect from Lotus. They include two SUVs, a four-door coupe, and a sports car, which will be the last to come out. We’ll have to wait until 2026 to see it. All four of these models will be electric.

While it’s a sad departure from the true sports cars we know and love, it’s also pretty much inevitable for any car company that wants to survive. Survival is necessary if we’re going to keep getting the little zippy sports cars that made Lotus famous in the first place.

Auto Industry, Electric Avenue, Four Wheels

Every Chevy Bolt Gets Recalled

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First, GM was going to test the batteries in pre-2019 models and replace defective battery cells. Then they decided to replace them all. And now, 2019 and newer Bolts have been added to the list, also to get a full replacement whether they need it or not. That’s all of them. Every. Single. One.

It’s not a good look, is it? Fires in Chevy Bolts due to spontaneously combusting batteries evokes memories of the Pontiac Fiero and its infamous fires. In this case, though, it’s because of defective battery cells, which could apparently all go up in smoke at any time. This one isn’t even Chevy’s fault, but supplier LG Chem, who of course Chevy wants compensation from, according to The Drive.

The Bolt was the early go-to affordable fully-electric car after customers learned the affordable versions of the Tesla Model 3 wouldn’t even be built for a year or two after its introduction. Chevy scored a big win there. That’s all been undone, and then some, because, as the Hydraulic Press Channel would say, “It is extremely dangerous and may attack at any time, so we have to deal with it.”

Top tip: Don’t use a hydraulic press to dispose of your old batteries.

Electric Avenue, Four Wheels

Ford Will Show Electric Crate Motor at SEMA

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People have been buying and dropping crate motors into classic cars for years. My old next door neighbor had a modern 5.0 Coyote V8 under the hood of his 1967 Mustang, and it was pretty cool. Now Ford plans to offer an electric option, since electric conversions of classic cars are becoming more and more of a thing.

The Drive has the details, but this motor is just 570 mm, or 22.5 inches, from front to back. That’s tiny. It’ll fit into practically anything. It might even fit into a motorcycle if you can work out where the battery will go. Ford Performance will supply everything else, and maybe the battery, too, eventually.

Auto Industry, Electric Avenue, Four Wheels

Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Tests Tesla Model Y

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Cop cars are known for being cheap to buy, cheap to run, run hard, and put away wet. So why has the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office splurged on a not-so-cheap Tesla Model Y? Fuel costs, says Elektrek. They believe that in 6-18 months, the savings in gas will offset the additional cost of purchasing the car.

There’s a lot to that. Police cars run almost constantly, and burn a ton of fuel just idling. I mean, who’s going to steal them? An electric car completely eliminates this waste. It also has at least as good, if not better acceleration than the Explorers, Chargers, etc. currently in service. Finally, police run an insane amount of electrical equipment. All those flashing lights, sirens, radios, computers, radar, and other stuff sucks down a lot of power. Traditional cruisers get upgraded alternators to keep up with the demand. An electric car can already supply it, straight out of the box.

We’ll have to keep an eye on this one. If Boulder County is right, we may start to see a surge in electric police cars over the next several years.