I said on the radio the other day that the two main impediments to wider EV take-up are (1) range and (2) upfront cost. This solves #1. Cost is just a matter of time. (And not much time given the pace of battery tech improvements) electrek.co/2025/06/20/b... - ThreadSky

blakeshaffer.bsky.social • 4 days ago

I said on the radio the other day that the two main impediments to wider EV take-up are (1) range and (2) upfront cost.

This solves #1. Cost is just a matter of time. (And not much time given the pace of battery tech improvements)

https://electrek.co/2025/06/20/byd-tests-solid-state-batteries-seal-ev-with-1000-miles-range/

Comments

toddgoldsbie.bsky.social•3 days ago

Retrofit (about to be made redundant by Trump) Canadian GM & Ford factories to joint venture with China (51% Canadian/no spyware) to produce under $10K electric cars in Canada with Canadian workers.

cowboybanjobiker.bsky.social•3 days ago

What is the chance Elon will allow BYD in the USA?

samwithrow.bsky.social•3 days ago

We should be reducing, not increasing, vehicle miles traveled.

blakeshaffer.bsky.social•4 days ago

Operating: cheaper
Range: bigger
Ride: smoother
Acceleration: faster
Upfront cost: getting closer…

It’s an electric world…

cahiggins.bsky.social•3 days ago

Would be nice if Canada drops the massive tariffs on BYD if they agree to build a factory in Canada. It would help adoption greatly. I test drove a BYD seagull in Costa Rica last year, incredible machine for $10,000.

brucegm.bsky.social•3 days ago

Better yet, a Canadian JV with BYD. I don't know why this isn't happening.

daveturpin.bsky.social•3 days ago

Neither 1 nor 2 are actual impediments, they are just excuses given by people driving $90,000 trucks to the office and back to feel better about destroying the environment

daveturpin.bsky.social•3 days ago

The other day one of these folks told me, “I’d consider an electric motorcycle if it had 300 miles range”

My dude gasoline motorcycles don’t have 300 miles range. You just want to sound edgy.

travisfigures.bsky.social•4 days ago

And the only other thing is charging infrastructure and access to it.

blakeshaffer.bsky.social•3 days ago

At this type of range, the current charging infrastructure is more than sufficient. And it will only improve with more EV adoption.

travisfigures.bsky.social•3 days ago

I'm definitely pro electric car, don't get me wrong. I just want to see more charging availability and not like what you are hearing about in the US where there are governments that, for political reasons, are making adding chargers more difficult.

mike-kukla.bsky.social•4 days ago

LOL! A home charger and 1200 miles of range. That's not good enough?

travisfigures.bsky.social•4 days ago

It's great but if you can't charge at home... or if you travel long distances and need charging that isn't at home.
It's a thing.

mike-kukla.bsky.social•3 days ago

But 1200 miles is like the holy grail. It's phenomenal if true or if soon to be true! A revolutionary breakthrough! Don't you think so? How many ICE vehicles get 1200 miles to a single tank of gas?

travisfigures.bsky.social•3 days ago

I totally agree. 1200 miles is an incredible amount. No gas car does that. My comment is not trying to downplay that at all.
It for sure going to happen, and likely get even better

jlindblu.bsky.social•3 days ago

Statistics will tell the tale.

nobadcoffee.bsky.social•3 days ago

Would love an EV. My normal practice is spending about 10k on used and drive it til it dies. At the moment, no EV is even close to ICE in equivalent year, range, options. Hope the gap closes soon but it's still pretty big.

zamafir.bsky.social•3 days ago

Buddy just bought a 2023 Kia Niro with 30,000 miles, CPO for $15k. I can't think of any ICE vehicle as close in year, or reliability as a two year old current gen EV. How hard are you looking?

nobadcoffee.bsky.social•3 days ago

15k is not 10k. That's a great deal. Have not seen anything like it in Alberta. Kijiji search in Calgary just now under 11k reveals 4 (old) EVs and 3,200 ICE.

zamafir.bsky.social•3 days ago

I mean there are 10K options in the U.S., I just focused on the inverse of your argument, at 15K used EVs provide an incredible value no ICE model can match.

Canada has way lower adoption, so until it gets serious nationally, not just the coasts, EVs aren't going to see EU levels. let alone china.

nobadcoffee.bsky.social•3 days ago

I agree with most of that. For someone like me who doesn't really like cars and mostly cares about short trips from a to b I'm staying out of the market until the market develops.

mar-hendriks.bsky.social•3 days ago

In Canada, there’s a third impediment…

https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2024/2024-10-09/html/sor-dors187-eng.html

smokeygeo.bsky.social•4 days ago

these chinese products will kill the auto industry in north america and europe if the politicians allow imports, so the politicians will not allow imports

mike-kukla.bsky.social•4 days ago

Wrong, Europe and China are already working on minimum prices for Chinese EVs entering its markets. And by the way, as a consumer, do you really want to pay more for less Do you want to be complicit in making global warming worse and speeing us towards s climate catastrophe?

smokeygeo.bsky.social•3 days ago

"minimum prices" suggest restrictive import rules to preserve domestic industry.

My wants as a consumer beside the point

mike-kukla.bsky.social•3 days ago

If domestic industry can be "preserved" without forbidding imports, what, then is your point? And how can the consumer be left out of any discussion of the effects of trade? Is it not some benefit to the consumer the essential raison d'etre of trade?

smokeygeo.bsky.social•3 days ago

not all protectionism is just "forbidding" imports. Can also take the form of quotas, minimum prices, tariffs...

defeq79.bsky.social•3 days ago

And Americans automakers still have their thumbs in their assholes mumbling about muscle and gallons per mile

smokecityfc.bsky.social•3 days ago

The up front cost differential is quickly becoming a non-issue. Once you factor in lower operating and maintenance costs, it is not an issue at all. As for range, most EV’s now have more than enough range. The real impediment in Canada is charging infrastructure.

chezvoila.com•4 days ago

I’m an idiot but why isn’t there more focus on charging time? Range of EVs is already comparable to ICE cars. The problem is that it takes much longer to recharge. Is this a harder limit than battery capacity?

troelb.bsky.social•4 days ago

I agree, range is overvalued and can be substituted by charging speed. Most people will need a break after 2-4 hours of driving anyways.

My guess is that this focus on range is just status quo bias / loss aversion.

But manufacturers seem to improve on both :)

troelb.bsky.social•4 days ago

And trying to answer your question:
More capacity can be solved by "more of what we have already". So it can be simple within some limits.
Charging speed is difficult, because of heat losses (thus cooling needs) and stress on the battery. And there is an engineering trade-off between these goals.

blakeshaffer.bsky.social•4 days ago

See BYD’s latest 1MW (5 minute) chargers…

And with an 1800km charge you can find a convenient non-driving time to get it done.

jjerke.bsky.social•3 days ago

and we need to think not just range - but that 1800km charge means during winter in northern prairies etc... you'll still be able to get 600kms PLUS have a fully heated car

brucegm.bsky.social•3 days ago

One aspect about 2,000km range is that although it sounds ridiculous, it would almost kill the need for commercial fast chargers. I make frequent Kootenays-Calgary trips frequently....800km round trip. I would never need a fast charger.

brucegm.bsky.social•3 days ago

This could solve range and price. I get 500km in the summer which is workable although 600-650km would be preferable. That means a solid state battery 1/3 the size (or less because of light weight)than in the BYD Seal. 2000km is kind of ridiculous, especially when they charge so fast.

dangocurt.bsky.social•3 days ago

I would disagree with both of those.

Oh, I definitely believe oil company propaganda has convinced people this is true, but in practice it isn’t.

Contrary to popular belief, most people don’t take long road trips in their cars so having a ridiculously long range is irrelevant.

The upfront cost…

dangocurt.bsky.social•3 days ago

…is a symptom of our “buy now pay later” culture where people only look at monthly payments/initial price and don’t factor in other costs.

I find it both hilarious & ridiculous people think saving $10-15K buying an ICE vehicle is financially sound while ignoring the fact you’ve locked yourself…

dangocurt.bsky.social•3 days ago

…into paying thousands of dollars every year for gasoline. Forever.

EVs are already cheaper. Our Equinox EV was about $10K more than an a comparably equipped ICE vehicle. It’s saving us almost $4,000 per year (gas minus electricity). In 2.5 years we’ll be at the break even point in total costs.

dangocurt.bsky.social•3 days ago

Granted we’re in BC with higher gas prices and cheaper electricity, but even in places like AB or SK you could hit break even in 5-6 years.

As to range, I’m one of the few that take long road trips (friends think I’m crazy driving across Canada instead of flying). My usual trip is Vancouver to…

dangocurt.bsky.social•3 days ago

…Saskatoon via Jasper or Banff. This trip only takes me about 45 minutes longer in our EV than it did with a gas car. I leave home with a full charge (home charging is a game changer). I have a 15 minute top-up charge at breakfast and full charge over lunch/dinner. Plus two short breaks in between.

dangocurt.bsky.social•3 days ago

And this is with a slower charging EV that tops out at 150kW.

The whole charging speed/range thing is the anti-EV crowd trying to force their paradigm of gas cars only filling up in 5 minutes onto EVs.

Charging at home makes this irrelevant. When’s the last time you woke up in the morning to find…

jamesroberts.bsky.social•4 days ago

But the oil industry bros will certainly find a way to shove all of us into fossil fuel SUVs or ego boosting trucks for some time. Immorality seems to be the winning way these days.

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