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Public Transport EVs: “fell far short of expectation”

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  1. #11

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    @bdw - you should see the pile of Teslas waiting to get charged here in Cyberport over the weekend. The queue is about 20-30 deep. I know .. #firstworldproblems compared to Australia.

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  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by shri:
    @bdw - you should see the pile of Teslas waiting to get charged here in Cyberport over the weekend. The queue is about 20-30 deep. I know .. #firstworldproblems compared to Australia.
    haha yes that may be the case now that they are 'too popular' in HK and this technology has taken off too well. I don't own one and was wondering about this and how convenient they really are now that everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. But anyway I was replying to Katherine's comment implying that Australia is somehow ahead and installing some new fancy technology that allows you to charge while you have a cup of coffee, but the fact is this technology is here in HK now and HK is way ahead of Australia in this technology and in deploying the infrastructure. Of course it helps that HK is a tiny island compared to Aus but even just comparing HK to Australia's two largest cities, HK is still way ahead.
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  3. #13

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    This thread reminds me of an article I read a few years back about Alexander Dennis, a Scottish bus maker whose biggest buyer is KMB.

    “We set out to launch a durable, reliable, value for money, light weight, fuel efficient vehicle. That’s what we did – and that’s why we picked up 80pc of the Hong Kong market. We have used that as a springboard. If you can sell into Hong Kong – with the heat, the humidity, the gradients and general topography, with all those passengers and the 20-hour days – you can pretty much sell anywhere. These vehicles are carrying up to 130 people at peak times.
    From the looks of it, conventional ICE buses have difficulty handling HK's road conditions, much less immature EV technology.

    'If you can sell into Hong Kong, you can pretty much sell anywhere’ - Telegraph
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  4. #14

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    Original Post Deleted
    Well good luck because it looks like you and your family are going to be riding them very soon...

    BYD Becomes First Chinese Auto Company to Penetrate Japanese Market | BYD

  5. #15

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    “The poor fuel economy performance of the hybrid buses should mainly be due to the high air-conditioning loading in the hot and humid summer in Hong Kong, which could account for up to 40 per cent of the fuel consumption,” it said.
    Not setting the A/C at the Hong Kong typical 0°C would have helped a little bit.

  6. #16

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    Can't do that. Would solve _way_ too many problems.
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  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skyhook:
    The impractical hk government fucked up the perfect BYD E6 taxi opportunity. For it to work practically in the eyes of the taxi industry, a battery swap service at key service station locations dotted conveniently around the place, would have been a no brainer.
    But the car isn't designed for that. It was bound to fail. A taxi goes easily 500Km a day. You can't have 3 hour charge breaks every 250Km or so.

    Can't really understand why they replaced diesel with LPG and not CNG, which burns clean. LPG doesn't.

    Anyway, maybe one day it will work.
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  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by flameproof:
    But the car isn't designed for that. It was bound to fail. A taxi goes easily 500Km a day. You can't have 3 hour charge breaks every 250Km or so.

    Can't really understand why they replaced diesel with LPG and not CNG, which burns clean. LPG doesn't.

    Anyway, maybe one day it will work.
    Which is why I mentioned an automated BATTERY SWAP SERVICE at key taxi locations where they like to do their daily shift changes. ! which would take less time to change than it does fuel up with LPG !

    Also the other fascinating thing about all this, Beijing, as of next year I think I read somewhere, is getting their ICE powered taxis off the road and replacing them with 75,000 electric cabs.

    https://youtu.be/ejQ9dzqzkKw

  9. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skyhook:
    Which is why I mentioned an automated BATTERY SWAP SERVICE at key taxi locations where they like to do their daily shift changes. ! which would take less time to change than it does fuel up with LPG !
    First you need a car that is designed for quick battery swap. Other issues can be overcome afterwards.

    And Beijing.... yada yada yada... they have lots of goods idea that don't work out in the end or are being done in the most inefficient way.
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  10. #20

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    First you need a car that is designed for quick battery swap.
    Are there any current production or about to be released in 2018 cars which are reliable enough to run for 300-400kms a day and handle quick battery swaps in non-workshop conditions?

    Really not sure what Beijing is going to do, but for sure they don't have 24/7 demands on their taxies. Would be interesting to see how those cabs handle the dust / pollution / acid rain.
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