Electric cars
Book - 2022
Are you considering your first electric vehicle purchase or looking for insight into how to take care of your brand new plug-in car? Either way, this book has the advice you need to make the right decisions.
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Instructional and educational works - Published
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Hoboken, New Jersey :
For Dummies, a Wiley brand
[2022]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Item Description
- Includes index.
"Learning made easy"--Cover.
"Learn the total cost of electric car ownership; discover how, when, and where to charge your electric car; build a maintenance schedule free of oil changes"--Cover.
"Inside: a simple explanation of how electric cars work; the differences between electric and gas-powered cars; electric options for every budget; advice on keeping your battery charged; safety features in electric cars; how to protect and service electric vehicles"--Page 4 of cover. - Physical Description
- xii, 396 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
- ISBN
- 9781119887355
- Introduction
- About This Book
- Foolish Assumptions
- Icons Used in This Book
- Beyond the Book
- Where to Go from Here
- Part 1. Getting in on the Popularity of Electric Cars
- Chapter 1. So You're Thinking About Buying an Electric Car
- Why Buy an Electric Car?
- The Disruption of Better Tech
- Acronyms and Abbreviations That Make You Sound Smrt
- Drawing the Line between Electric and Gas-Powered Vehicles
- Yeah, but Gas Cars Aren't Going Anywhere for a While - Wait, What?
- Where gas cars are going in Europe (and especially Norway)
- Where gas cars are going in the US (and especially California)
- Why predictions are unpredictable
- TL;DR: Your Top Questions about Electric Cars, Answered
- How long does an EV take to charge?
- EVs can't get me where I need to go?
- Aren't EVs expensive?
- How long until I have to replace my EV's battery?
- Why can't I find somewhere to charge my EV?
- What happens if the battery runs out of juice while I'm driving?
- Aren't EVs worse for the environment than gasoline cars?
- Chapter 2. The Fascinating Tech That's (Sort of) Under the Hood
- Recognizing That Induction Motors Mean Instant Energy
- Seeing What Happens When You Hit "the Gas"
- Comparing Torque and Horsepower
- Letting Physics Do the Braking
- Knowing how EVs make energy while driving
- Seeing what happens when you let up on the "gas"
- Making More Room for the Fun Stuff
- Knowing What to Do When There's (Almost) Nothing Under the Hood
- Driving an iPad with Wheels
- Faster and further - all by changing a few words
- Predicting the future of OTA updates, and the car as a computing platform
- Chapter 3. Electric Vehicles and a Safer Drive
- Why You Might Be Under the Impression That EVs Are Unsafe
- A Brief - and Instructive - History of ICE Vehicle Safety
- A Short History of Everything (Car-Safety-Related) in 2 Minutes
- Examining Safety Features (and Statistics) for Electric Vehicles
- What's NHTSA's line, anyway?
- The 5-star safety rating
- Exploring the Possibility of a Car Fire (ICE versus EV)
- Car fires by the numbers
- Calculating the risk of an EV catching fire
- One caveat to all this EV fire talk
- The leading cause of vehicle fires
- Okay, but what if I have a pacemaker - you know, electromagnetic motors and such?
- A Car That Gets Safer Over Time
- EVs will get safer over time
- Your EV will get safer over time
- Part 2. Buying Wisely
- Chapter 4. Consider the Cost (of an Electric Vehicle)
- The Price of an Automobile: An Analysis Using Numbers
- Gas versus Electric: A Comparison Using Numbers
- So, about that price parity thing
- Estimating the cost of gas for ICEs
- Estimating the cost of electrons for EVs
- Price parity: The wait is over
- A deeper dive (into the fuel tank)
- The French-Canadian connection
- EVs and Maintenance: An Estimation Using Numbers
- Whoa - EVs Seem Expensive! Maybe We Should Look at the Numbers
- Bottom Line: Estimating (Using Numbers) the Total Cost of Ownership
- Chapter 5. Researching Your EV Options
- An Overview of the EV Market
- HEVs
- PHEVs
- BEVs
- Separating the Wheat from the Chaff
- Hatchbacks
- Midsize sedans
- Luxury/performance sedans
- Crossovers
- SUVs
- Pickups
- Others
- Deciding When (or Whether) to Buy a Used Electric Car
- Verifying battery life
- Start practicing Zen meditation
- Living with no (or very few) incentives for used vehicles
- Chapter 6. Buying Your New Electric Car
- Exploring the Differences between Buying an ICE and an EV
- Navigating (or Avoiding) the Dealership
- So then what's the deal - why can't I buy a Tesla in Texas?
- Remembering that no states have banned EV car sales
- Buying an EV from a dealer
- Handling EV-specific issues at the dealer
- Choosing between buying and leasing
- Leveraging leasing incentives
- Taking advantage of the option to buy
- Taking the route of Costco or another wholesale club
- Taking advantage of a corporate discount
- Shopping for a used EV
- Insuring Your Electric Wheels
- Seeing why EVs cost (a bit) more to insure
- "How to save 15 percent on ..." (you know the rest)
- Part 3. Maintaining Your Newfangled Horseless Carriage
- Chapter 7. Charge 'Er Up!
- Onions Have Layers, and Charging Has Levels
- Getting Up to Speed with Level 1 Charging
- Is Level 1 charging enough for your EV driving needs?
- How do you use Level 1 charging?
- What are some obstacles to Level 1 charging?
- Level 1 Cheatsheet
- Turning Things Up with Level 2 Charging
- Level 2 charging at home
- Level 2 charging in public
- Should you install a Level 2 outlet at your home?
- How do you use Level 2 charging?
- What are some obstacles to Level 2 charging?
- Level 2 cheat sheet
- Getting a Wicked-Fast Charge with Level 3 Charging
- Fast charging plug connectors
- Examining Level 3 charging claims from EV manufacturers
- Identifying the players in the DC fast-charging business
- Level 3 Cheatsheet
- Chapter 8. Protecting the Battery (and Your Investment)
- Seeing Which Batteries Actually Power Cars
- Looking at battery form factors
- Looking at the advantages of cylindrical batteries
- It takes a village
- Battery pack capacity
- Counting Up the Kilowatt-Hours
- Kilowatt-hours in vehicle badging - that's so 2018
- Getting down to the nitty-gritty
- Recognizing That Too Much of a Good Thing Is a Bad Thing
- Dealing with Battery Death
- Going the Extra Mile
- Seeing Where EV Batteries Go When They Die
- Dirk Spiers and Spiers new technology
- JB Straubel and Redwood Materials
- Your EV recycling to-do list
- Dealing with Battery Pack Replacements
- When replacing a battery makes sense: The case for hybrids
- Reviewing battery replacement options
- Chapter 9. Keeping Your Car in Top Shape
- Getting Your Hands Dirty (or Not)
- Dealing with tires
- Putting on the brakes
- Dealing with batteries
- Optimizing battery health
- Tracking Down EV Service Locations
- Finding service at a dealership
- Going mobile (service, that is)
- Benefiting from third-party services
- Doing it yourself with DIY service (right-to-repair)
- Keeping Your EV Exterior in the Pink
- Opting for paint protection film
- Wrapping up the exterior
- Coating in ceramic
- Keeping Your EV Interior Shipshape
- Caring for your seat
- Cleaning that big screen
- Organizing your trunk/frunk
- Knowing What You Don't Need to Do
- Things You'll Never Have to Add to Your To-Do List
- Part 4. Futurethink and Fun with EV Engineering
- Chapter 10. Faster, Farther, and More Fun
- Living Out Your Speed Racer Fantasies
- Taking a good look at ICE power output
- Comparing EV power output
- Staying Out of Jail
- Can an EV Power Your House?
- Recognizing the challenges of V2H
- Adding the challenges of V2G to the mix
- Addressing challenges with a Smart Grid
- Will EV Prices Ever Come Down? When?
- Renewable Energy and the Electric Car World
- Using a clean energy broker
- Using your own solar power
- Next-Gen Batteries
- Next-gen battery objectives
- Less expensive (and faster charging)
- Solid-state batteries: Lighter weight (and faster charging)
- Lithium-sulphur: Lighter, denser, cheaper
- Faster charging (that is all, but that is also enough)
- Chapter 11. Our Autonomous Future
- Adding Up the Self-Driving Benefits
- Listing the Key ADAS Benefits
- Can These Cars Drive Themselves - or What?
- Leveling up your self-driving knowledge
- Level 0. No Driving Automation
- Level 1. Driver Assistance
- Level 2. Partial Driving Automation
- Level 2. Examples
- Level 3. Conditional Driving Automation
- Level 4. High Driving Automation
- Level 5. Full Driving Automation
- Doing the Vision Thing
- Tesla and Comma.ai bet on cameras
- Waymo and Cruise add lidar
- Other carmakers split the difference
- Recognizing the Challenges
- What's still really hard for autonomous cars
- What's still really hard for humans regulating autonomous cars
- Gazing into the EV Crystal Ball
- Where AV capability is coming fast
- Where AV has already arrived
- Chapter 12. Other Vehicles That Are Going Electric
- Going Mobile with Electric Buses
- Seeing why battery-electric buses are fantastic
- But, but - electric buses aren't all that fantastic, after all
- Keep On Truckin' (with Electric Long-Haul Trucks)
- Tesla Semi
- Freightliner eCascadia
- Volvo VNR Electric
- Kenworth T680
- BYD 8TT
- Nikola Tre
- Delivering the Goods (with Electric Delivery Vans)
- BrightDrop
- Canoo
- Rivian EDV
- Workhorse
- Keeping things in perspective
- I Sing the Lawn Mower Electric
- Chapter 13. The Best Car Is No Car: Electric Bikes and the Morning Commute
- Making the Trip by Bike
- Improving fitness
- Improving mentals
- Enhancing your ability to explore new places (and more often)
- Having access to faster and cheaper transportation
- Putting money in your pocket through tax incentives
- Looking at the Three Classes of Ebikes
- Scouting Out the More Notable Ebike Companies
- VanMoof
- Gazelle
- Aventon
- Rad Power Bikes
- Bird Bikes
- Trek
- Specialized
- Hey! I'm Giving Away Ebikes!
- Part 5. The Part of Tens
- Chapter 14. Ten Countries Leading the Way - and What They're Doing
- Norway
- Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands
- Germany
- China
- United States
- California
- UK
- New Zealand
- Mexico
- India
- Japan
- Chapter 15. Ten Companies Leading the Way - and a Look at What They're Doing
- Tesla
- Xpeng Motors
- Lucid and Rivian
- Volkswagen
- GM and Ford
- Geeley/Polestar
- Hyundai
- BYD
- SIAC
- Everyone Else
- Chapter 16. Ten Predictions from EV Insiders (with Plenty of Commentary and Opinion Because It's My Book There, Bub)
- When New EVs Will Cost $25,000
- When Robotaxis Will Make Their Grand Entrance
- When Electric Planes (or Flying Cars) Will Make Their Grand Entrance
- Which Companies Will Thrive (and Which Ones Won't)
- Electric vehicle or EV-related companies that will thrive
- Electric vehicle or EV-related companies that will likely go bankrupt by 2030
- Electric vehicle or EV-related companies that haven't yet launched (or won't ever launch) production
- When You Will See Electric Semis (and What It Will Mean)
- Future Battery Tech for Your Car
- When You'll (Hopefully) See an Impact on Parking and City Design
- Connected Cars
- The Last ICE Sale Will Take Place Sometime in 2030 - for California
- Index