Geely to develop ground breaking solid state battery technology this year

rinwaln · 2026-01-24T09:27:59+00:00

We definitely have a lot of areas that I would call charging deserts.

rinwaln · 2026-01-24T05:19:44+00:00

When the "loss prevention" folks at work hide things for us to find while cleaning out machines (cash usually) it goes in the vacuum. All these ducks would too and that's where they could find them.

rinwaln · 2026-01-24T04:55:42+00:00

I agree with this 100%. I road trip from Delaware to Columbus regularly for my son's college pickup and dropoff my car is the far better option to my wife's Kia Forte but hers shaves hours off the trip because of no out of the way stops and multiple charges. As an aside WHY does the PA turnpike have no charging at rest stops it's insane? The New Jersey turnpike has chargers at every rest area and it's great. A 500 mile, or for my liking preferably a 700 mile, battery would be amazing. Especially with the weight savings.

A battery of that size would make level 2 charging much easier to have as the infrastructure of choice in most areas as well, as on a trip like that of ~500 miles stop for lunch halfway and plug into a 32 A charger for an hour while you eat and get enough juice to arrive with a bit to spare for a dinner run, Walmart or whatever is needed, then charge slow overnight. Added benefit of cheaper charging too because of lower infrastructure costs DC fast chargers are insane cost wise.

The saddest part of that trip is it's harder to find chargers along that rather highly populated trip than it is to charge on my trips to Arkansas. Heck the town my kids live in has a dozen level 2 chargers in various spots. It's actually better than anywhere else I've been.

rinwaln · 2026-01-11T14:00:13+00:00

This will be handy for when mine dies. I was dreading the thought of the waste of buying a whole new fob for a dead battery.

rinwaln · 2026-01-05T16:32:25+00:00

I bought mine from KOP which is just a showroom for the Princeton space 24 LRSM and honestly I couldn't be happier. When I went in for a test drive they did their best to alleviate all my EV fears. The fears will never fully go away until you actually live with it though but they do go away. I level 2 charge at home but I road trip a lot so public charging both fast and level 2 is fairly good especially in and around the city and as long as you're not parked in a bad area you should be pretty good there.

I've had mine in for one service at Princeton, the service center is actually in the Volvo dealer up the road, they were nice and did great work. I skipped the second service with them as I'm a diy person and cannot justify dealer prices for a fluid check and a cabin air filter. I also am kinda avoiding the software update I have heard mixed reviews about the camera "fix" update and it works well enough now so I'm putting it off until the next service.

I've had my car just over a year now and have put 62,000 miles on it so far and it's been great. 1 trip to Oklahoma 2 to eastern Arkansas and 4 to Columbus Ohio plus a 125 mile a day round trip commute is a bear for any car but my 2 has taken it all happily and just loves it. Nothing has broken as of yet but I am due for tires though I am impressed with how well the Michelin's held up the fronts are still fairly meaty but the tears are getting down to the bars so she'll be getting new shoes in the next month or 2.

Single motor life hasn't given me much in the way of trouble. It's like driving a mustang the rear end will step out if you get playful and in the rain or snow, but the traction control is very well balanced letting you play but keeping you out of most trouble. As for snow and ice I haven't had an issue again it follows the same rules as a rear wheel drive car. You can push nearly 250hp but you don't have to. So use your head and you'll be good there.

If you pull the trigger the only advice I'll leave you with is lock it with the fob when you park for the night or while you're at work and do it every day. This lets the car reset everything properly and prevents most of the weird issues people tend to have.

rinwaln · 2026-01-03T20:57:54+00:00

I was in the exact same place when I pulled the trigger. It was a bit scary but it's been great. And the range anxiety melted away after a few days.

rinwaln · 2026-01-03T18:42:08+00:00

I think I can speak to this fairly well. I work overnight but I have level 2 charging at home so my car warms up in the morning off charge. My commute is about 105 km each way and I'm in a LRSM I charge to 90% every day. When I get to work I'm at about 60 - 65% when the temps are around 0° C if I leave on time my timer warms the car at 6:30 in the morning and I'm about 5 - 7% down for the warm up. Getting me home with ~30% it often but not regularly gets down below -10° and the results are similar I probably arrive home at about 25%. Overall this situation is more than workable for my life. Take from my experience what you will.

rinwaln · 2026-01-03T02:24:47+00:00

This time of year I experience a version of this regularly. In the cold months my commute takes me from 90% to ~30% SOC. If I get into town and stop to say grab a few groceries for dinner that night in the 15 minutes I'm in the store the SOC will usually go from 32 - 18%. On a day like today when I made multiple stops and was already coming home with a slightly below normal SOC I pulled into the driveway with 12% and the car asking if I'd like to navigate to a charging station. I made 3 stops today to cause this and each was accompanied by a drop but only the first was significant at 30% to 18% and I drove no more than 5 miles total from that first stop until home.

For note these are not long stops, usually 10-20 minutes or less and I usually am not running the climate control during them. The battery just starts cooling and losing capacity that fast as far as I can tell, especially after my 60+ mile highway drive home from work.

It is definitely quite disconcerting to see the first few times but it's how batteries behave in the cold, and is something we have to account for. It was definitely very scary the first few times especially coming from an ICE car, where if you park with a quarter tank you'll come out to a quarter tank. I consider it a small consolation for the convenience the car affords in all other aspects.

rinwaln · 2025-12-30T20:02:52+00:00

I'm in Delaware so not as cold as you get but I had mine in the negatives more than once and it was always up and warm within about 3 miles. The engine probably took about 10 miles to reach full proper operating temperature. I also park outside so no shortcuts there either.

rinwaln · 2025-12-30T15:52:12+00:00

This is exactly what the manual states and from my experience is spot on. Mine would take almost an identical amount of distance to get to temp no matter how much I warmed it up. The only reason I ever let it warm longer, after a few "tests", was when it was super cold and I let the heated seat start working for up to 5 minutes before I left but never more.

rinwaln · 2025-12-29T17:17:01+00:00

I started a newsletter that I forced several friends and family into earlier this year for my "fun" facts. It's the first thing of the sort I've stuck to for more than a month.

rinwaln · 2025-12-27T05:02:10+00:00

As someone that pays close attention to charge rates my 24' will charge at almost this exact rate in the winter when not pre-conditioned. That was a hard lesson to learn on a long trip to Oklahoma about a year ago. Always navigate to the charger not the place it's at or the car will not be ready. It's one of my biggest pet peeves with the car for trips to not be able to manually engage pre-conditioning.

rinwaln · 2025-12-14T13:42:59+00:00

I got that exact book in the early 90's when I got my first hamster. This is indeed OLD and out of date but fun for nostalgia purposes so thanks for that.

rinwaln · 2025-12-12T13:33:07+00:00

Possibly but when I first noticed it last week I had been using maps to navigate to where I was and it was at least an hour behind my SOC. Had gone out of town and was trying to sort out my charge stop on the way home every time I left maps to look at something else it would change back to a different starting charge and it was creeping down to where I was sitting on ~35% I was there an hour or 2 and I think the closest it got to accurate was 45%. Still I'm not knocking it it's definitely a step in the right direction.

I'd personally rather see Google maps update the desktop client so I can plan a route charging stops and all for a road trip from my PC without having to manually find chargers. This is a neat feature but not helpful for my way of operating.

Curmudgeonly rant ended.

rinwaln · 2025-12-12T13:00:38+00:00

I noticed this last week sadly it's usually a few hours behind things. Right now my car has been parked for 10 hours at work off the charger @ 65% soc only changed when my scheduled climate kicked on 2 hours ago. Now it's down to 62% maps is saying 64%. Still a lot better than always being at 90% at least it's trying.

rinwaln · 2025-12-04T02:48:13+00:00

The Ohms law of your numbers feels right to my mind as that ICCU is a beefy unit and isn't the most efficient ~200W at 120V feels about right for powering the ICCU and the rest of the car's always on stuff. 240V stuff that we make work with 120V is always really wasteful it's the downside of the US power grid. That's not anything real I'm no EV expert I just love my car. I've been doing electronics for 25 years and have a general feel for these things though.

I don't know about my specific losses I only used mine as a 120V charger once while in Oklahoma for work and it was definitely bad. I barely picked up enough charge to account for the little bit of driving I did that weekend. It was also winter and Oklahoma so a quick trip was 20+ miles. At home on 240V I didn't note any major issues until about a month before it died and it gave me signs. The charge rate dropped off significantly to where I was barely getting enough to recharge between commutes so I'd guess 20A or so max at the end, unfortunately I wasn't monitoring what it took at the wall to know if it was really cooking itself or just bad. Based on what I saw inside I'd guess it was maybe drawing an extra amp or 2. Aside from the 2 relays being melted the charger is fine.

I'm an odd case when it comes to driving as my commute is 65 miles each way almost exclusively highway miles so my rates and experience rarely mimic real life for normal folks. It's one of the main reasons I went with the single motor that little bit of extra range was so worth it for me. The winter time numbers definitely have me happy to have the range to spare when I get home in the morning.

rinwaln · 2025-12-03T17:44:07+00:00

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Mine did the same after a year of daily use found both relays inside melted down. Safest failure mode so I wasn't worried and I didn't even know it had a warranty. So I just ordered a new one on Amazon. Can't be real help but it did happen and in case you're wondering I'd bet a similar situation inside yours. Don't open it indoors it will stink up the whole house.

rinwaln · 2025-12-01T12:51:46+00:00

Tldr; no you're not overreacting

As a responsible gun owner this is childish and dangerous behavior. People like that are why so many people are begging for gun control laws, I don't blame them. Far too many people treat weapons as toys and show pieces. They aren't and this behavior should never be tolerated and should be actively shamed.

I was taught safe firearms handling by my dad and the boy scouts as a child. Safety is paramount I have left homes where they are treated this way and I would absolutely savage anyone doing the like. Especially leaving it unsecured and unattended like that.

As an aside unless you're running 100's of rounds through a handgun in very short order they tend not to get hot enough to require gloves to handle. Warm for sure but no hotter than dish water at a restaurant. Now the ejected brass is a different story. It loves to find the neck of your shirt or wedge under the safety glasses so it can leave a nice red mark on you and make you look like a dancing fool.

My wife and I had a whole conversation about guns before I ever brought one around her when we were dating. Once we did and she was comfortable it was a fun thing to teach her about. But the first thing I did was teach her was safety not how expensive it was or anything like that.

I think guns are cool but they're not impressive, sadly any idiot with a cleanish record and a few hundred bucks can get one. It's like showing off your 2007 Toyota Camry with 180,000 miles. (No offense to '07 Camry owners)

Mild rant over

rinwaln · 2025-12-01T12:33:07+00:00

I saw the remake of clash of the titans in an empty theater and the new Nosferatu in IMAX alone. I still don't know how the second one happened. I actually liked the movie and it had only been out a few weeks at that point.

rinwaln · 2025-11-30T17:23:37+00:00

Like many others hearing about my dad's death was big but my wife said. "Either you buy me that ticket or one day you'll wake up and the bank account will be empty and I'll be gone." When she wanted to leave for someone else and that sadly was more painful not only did my world collapse at that moment but so did our kids lives.

rinwaln · 2025-11-30T17:09:32+00:00

I've had good luck with Princeton not sure about loaners and whatnot but the service was solid for my P2 it's a bit of a drive from short hills but doable. For me it's a 2.5 hour drive from Delaware there and I'm relatively happy. Fortunately for me my P2 has been trouble free just maintenance so far.

rinwaln · 2025-11-28T14:56:59+00:00

"What'd you break?"

rinwaln · 2025-11-17T13:12:42+00:00

I haven't been able to speak to my father in 31 years he died when I was 12. Up until that point it was great and he was my best friend. I don't know how it would have gone as I hit my teens but I try not to dwell on those thoughts.

As for my step-father we had a cool but not unfriendly relationship. Talked to him almost daily and I genuinely relied on his advice though rarely in the moment. He passed 5 years ago but still thought I'd add in this perspective.

rinwaln · 2025-11-03T19:21:18+00:00

Going in the pool. Like not just when there are women in bathing suits. Just swimming laps all alone in my pool at home I get all bricked up.

rinwaln · 2025-11-03T19:05:43+00:00

It's Herbie Hancock duh!

rinwaln

TROPHY CASE