an interesting concept
have you found anything to compare the price of leasing to owning?

 

I was talking with a guy last night, and apparently you can buy the electric car and lease the battery?? This one company has two plans - fixed and variable. One you're lucky enough to be allowed 500 km (300 miles) a month. I guess the burden of a battery replacement wouldn't be on the owner.. Are the returned batteries recycled? Or just landfilled?

VinFast releases battery leasing price plans for Canadian customers

VinFast's unusual battery leasing subscription plan lowers the upfront purchase price for Canada's early buyers of the VF 8 and VF 9 models

electricautonomy.ca

I put on 4 times that a month ... and I'm retired !!

 

Not sure where the batteries end up, but it’s not at a recycling operation. The largest source of recycled lithium in the US, comes from the scrap in manufacturing(8-10%) of the lithium used in the manufacturing of batteries.

 

yeah 10 miles a day
better live closer to the center of town than 5 miles

 

It looks like a reasonable way to get into an EV. I think I would give it a try. It would also be a good way to own a second vehicle for non commuting if you wanted one.

 

Right now the main thrust of the MBA dweebs is to turn everything that you own into something you lease, license, subscribe to, or etc. So it may or may not actually make sound financial sense.

The idea with a car lease is that your monthly payments are more or less the depreciation of the vehicle plus some finance charges for the leasing company so you can just walk away with it at the end of the lease. It works better for businesses than individuals because sometimes there's a tax advantage. The leasing companies know this and generally keep the finance charges part of the cost just a little less than the tax savings. It doesn't take much to make a bean counter happy, just a little ahead is OK. I think individuals don't usually often come out ahead with a lease, but in the short term the lease lets them drive a more expensive car on a similar monthly payment.

With a lithium battery, there's much less residual value. Is there going to be a big market for off lease batteries? If you own your car in three years but lease the battery for three years, what happens, you turn in your battery and lease another? Why not just lease the whole car? It seems more scammy than legit.

However if they were to bundle battery insurance / warranty into the cost of the lease, that might make some sense. If the cost of the battery replacement stays high - right now it can be more than a comparable gas engine or transmission - people might need that insurance, they can't afford to fix that battery.

 

I read about a process that was going to change batteries in EV rather than charge them.
The concept seemed to have merit. Then I realized that the car MFG's would have to make the batteries removable quickly. Pretty much that has not happened. DC connections at 400 or higher volts that are easily removable would worry me on the roads I drive.
It is an idea, one like hydrogen cars. Just imagine the cost of the refueling stations. The AHJ's are not going to like hydrogen leaking.

 

i still think hydrogen is a MUCH better concept than battery
japan is working on an engine that exhausts mostly water
and the vehicle to put it in

the problem would be the fueling stations
there arent any

if the feds would get behind that the way they did battery
it would kill several birds with one stone
personally i have the most hope in that concept

 

Long ago I did a building with a EM generator that we were told had a hydrogen fuel cell. Work progressed, and when the unit was finally fired up it had a diesel day tank under it. I notice stuff like this. I asked questions and was told the fueling of the fuel cell was the problem. I do not know if this was a local issue or what. I do know I have never heard of a hydrogen fuel cell again.

 

I saw a video where this guy made hydrogen under his cars hood with a battery connection, a couple of jars partially filled with mostly water and salt I think. He fed the fumes into his air intake. It more than doubled his MPG.

 

i havent heard about anything but straight water
however an increase in mileage i can believe either way

i have seen a lot of those videos
some of them are claiming something better than unity power when they run on straight hydrogen generated that way
i have also heard it can damage the sensors the car computers rely on as well as void the warranty

i buy the extended warranty so i have never tried it

 

Water injection would be easier and cheaper to increase the mileage.

 

Read up on the 6 cycle diesel engine.

It basically used water to make steam and decrease fuel consumption.

Looks like it would work better on stationary engines than vehicle ones.

 

Was it something along the lines of a water alcohol mix used with piston aircraft engines, maybe post ww2? Maybe during, somewhere in that time period.

The range on the Vinfast seems to reflect a growing increase in range, but nothing radical either. I see Polestar and Rivian regularly. The traditional manufacturers will either adapt or die as the start ups will. I think the competion is good. I’d like to test drive some of these other brands and types to see what they are like to compare, contrast with my model 3. Via fast seems to be taking a wise choice in going with a suv platform.

 

Was it something along the lines of a water alcohol mix used with piston aircraft engines, maybe post ww2? Maybe during, somewhere in that time period.

Many years ago, I flew DC-7s as air tankers. They had 18 cylinder radial engines, 3400HP for takeoff and used alcohol/water injection for takeoff power.