So there's Skactiv-X and then there's this...

craigo · Aug 18, 2017

lightsandsirens said:
The question is why? I don't mean to stir the pot, but why are we still blowing up stuff to drive our engines?
With so many advancements in electric and new charging stations popping up everywhere, why not go all electric. I would trade mine in today if a 200-300 mile range electric CX5 was available.

At the fastest of these stations (which are not everywhere...they're very rare), it takes at least 30-75 minutes to recharge a depleted battery to full depending on capacity. Most of these little chargers are a lot slower than that.

It needs to take 3-5 minutes. This will not be done with current battery technology.

bamirault · Aug 19, 2017

"I would trade mine in today if a 200-300 mile range electric CX5 was available."....and I would not. Imagine taking the drive from Ottawa to St. Stephen to spend Christmas with the family. The trunk has clothing and gifts. The rear seat has the 3 and 5 year-old (dog left with the neighbours). It's snowing so the wipers are going, the lights are on, and thanks to the cold the AWD is active and the heater is working overtime in the intense cold 'cause it's also heating the trunk to help keep the cabin warm - and the rear defrost is running.

How far will a 200-300 mile charge actually take you? Where do you find the recharge stations? How long will the recharge take? How many cars are in the line ahead of you waiting for a turn at the charger? How entertained are the kids going to be while you wait at each of the stops? If your CX-5 is THE family hauler, then it can't be my hauler if the range is only 200-300 miles. I will be using internal combustion for the foreseeable future so I'm looking for the most efficient CUV I can afford. That was the CX-5 in 2012 and may be again if and when we get the diesel or the newer gas engine here.

Brian

Red MC · Aug 19, 2017

paris1 said:
So let's try this one more time. What is it about "The Volvo engine used a 48-volt electrical system to spin up its supercharger, but Mazda could use something different to build supercharger boost pressure." that tells you Mazda is the first to use an electric supercharger? BTW, I'll cop to being wrong about this engine being in the XC90 and S90 production cars. It's purely experimental at this point.

In my post that you responded to, what I said was "Seems so obvious it's a wonder nobody has brought it to market before." Volvo hasn't brought it to market.

craigo · Aug 19, 2017

bamirault said:
"I would trade mine in today if a 200-300 mile range electric CX5 was available."....and I would not. Imagine taking the drive from Ottawa to St. Stephen to spend Christmas with the family. The trunk has clothing and gifts. The rear seat has the 3 and 5 year-old (dog left with the neighbours). It's snowing so the wipers are going, the lights are on, and thanks to the cold the AWD is active and the heater is working overtime in the intense cold 'cause it's also heating the trunk to help keep the cabin warm - and the rear defrost is running.

How far will a 200-300 mile charge actually take you? Where do you find the recharge stations? How long will the recharge take? How many cars are in the line ahead of you waiting for a turn at the charger? How entertained are the kids going to be while you wait at each of the stops? If your CX-5 is THE family hauler, then it can't be my hauler if the range is only 200-300 miles. I will be using internal combustion for the foreseeable future so I'm looking for the most efficient CUV I can afford. That was the CX-5 in 2012 and may be again if and when we get the diesel or the newer gas engine here.

Brian

Yes, exactly. For real mainstream changeover it will take a leap in storage technology, not to mention a massive infrastructure buildup of power plants and transmission capacity - something which has not even started yet and takes forever. I give it ~20 years. Who knows - hydrogen fuel cells could come back around if the new batteries in the lab don't scale up to manufacturing well. You can refuel a hydrogen car in a few minutes.

GJ-Molestor · Aug 19, 2017

Kaps said:
Guys trust me - CVT and small displacement turbos is where its at. Doest matter you cant carry a car full of people up a grade. but thats where our power of dreams lie. And yes - 21 mpg in city. Win win.

I get 21MPG in the city, overtaking everyone and try to be as inefficient as possible with my 528i, which is an NA 3L inline 6 paired to 8 speed transmission. it's a 3900 pound car (RWD)

taking this into consideration, a small turbo with a CVT (based around efficiency) is not an impressive figure at all. turbo engines run rich at high-rpm and it has been proven time and time again that the average driver will get WORSE MPG with a turbo engine then vice-versa. this, paired with the fact that the CVT offers only a slight benefit on the highway while further dulling response and performance in the city makes your apparently amazing drivetrain less and less desirable.

I see nothing wrong with Mazda's approach by making large displacement NA 4 cylinders with a conventional 6 speed. their drivetrain has been proven to excel in real world driving conditions while making zero compromises in the name of driving enjoyment. I will take the predictable, punchy and linear throttle response of Mazda's 2.5L over a turbo engine anyday. I want the engine to pull cleanly to it's rev limiter without running rich and tapering off in the turbo engines. no thanks.

GJ-Molestor · Aug 19, 2017

Red MC said:
In my post that you responded to, what I said was "Seems so obvious it's a wonder nobody has brought it to market before." Volvo hasn't brought it to market.

I've been in a volvo with the supercharged/turbo 4 cylinder before. not only was the whole car a smouldering piece of outdated s***, but the car had some of the most terrible turbo lag i've ever seen despite claiming to have a supercharger. it didnt work.

GJ-Molestor · Aug 19, 2017

Red MC said:
We get most of our electricity from blowing up stuff.

And obviously what you want isn't available. And if it was available today it would be very heavy, and very expensive, and still lose money, so it would probably be targeted primarily for markets that have EV mandates and rationed out in low numbers. See Chevy Bolt. When somebody proves they can make and sell a 200-300 mile range EV in mainstream numbers (100k+ a year), and support them, and make money on them, then your question will make sense. I think we're still a long way off from that. Tesla is hoping to prove me wrong with the Model 3, but given the history of what Elon Musk has promised (and when) vs. what his companies have delivered (and when), I'm not holding my breath. In the mean time, most automakers are only interested in making just enough EVs to satisfy mandates.

Also, charge time would make life difficult on long trips, so I'd be more interested in a plug-in hybrid with a typical day's worth of EV range.

on top of what you said, driving an EV is just about the furthest thing you can go from "being green"

ColoradoDriver · Aug 19, 2017

bamirault said:
"I would trade mine in today if a 200-300 mile range electric CX5 was available."....and I would not. Imagine taking the drive from Ottawa to St. Stephen to spend Christmas with the family. The trunk has clothing and gifts. The rear seat has the 3 and 5 year-old (dog left with the neighbours). It's snowing so the wipers are going, the lights are on, and thanks to the cold the AWD is active and the heater is working overtime in the intense cold 'cause it's also heating the trunk to help keep the cabin warm - and the rear defrost is running.

How far will a 200-300 mile charge actually take you? Where do you find the recharge stations? How long will the recharge take? How many cars are in the line ahead of you waiting for a turn at the charger? How entertained are the kids going to be while you wait at each of the stops? If your CX-5 is THE family hauler, then it can't be my hauler if the range is only 200-300 miles. I will be using internal combustion for the foreseeable future so I'm looking for the most efficient CUV I can afford. That was the CX-5 in 2012 and may be again if and when we get the diesel or the newer gas engine here.

Brian

Well said.

I think some of you need to learn how to read Kaps' posts

So there's Skactiv-X and then there's this...

craigo

bamirault

Red MC

Member

craigo

GJ-Molestor

GJ-Molestor

GJ-Molestor

ColoradoDriver

2014 CX-5 Touring AWD - 132k miles

Similar threads

Latest posts