In this week’s post
- Why can’t we have sliding doors on all vehicles?
- Something other than a Volvo EX30.
- Is it possible to go off-grid, and charge your EV with solar and battery packs?
The first question comes from a newer fan who wonders why all new cars don’t have sliding doors.
Top image: Nissan Hangout concept. Above image: Peugeot 1007
Q: I had sliding doors on my old Honda MPV and it made things so simple.
I have subscribed to a few of your channels and I’m glad that you cover minivans in such entertaining ways! But I remember having the ease of entering and loading a small minivan with sliding doors and it made me wonder. Nathan, why don’t all cars have sliding doors? It seems to make so much sense to me. Can you explain it?
Sincerely grateful.
- Lana S. Spokane
A: Thanks for reaching out.
I totally agree with you! Especially when you’re parked in a tight parking spot, of have a small garage, sliding doors truly help. I actually have an answer from a designer I met in Beijing many years ago at the auto show. He worked for Honda, I believe he was on an older team with the previous Honda Odyssey.
We were both looking at the Peugeot 1007, a tiny car with sliding doors (I have placed an image above), and we admired the design. He mentioned how hard it must be to engineer a car around the idea of sliding doors, as it’s harder to conjure than a simple door on hinges. The vehicle itself has to have enough real-estate to add a track to suspend a door on. That can be problematic for designers.
There’s also the stigma of the sliding door: some people look and only see a minivan’s door. It’s a perception that may hurt the idea. Also, there’s the exterior design element of a sliding door. Both the door’s shape, and the cove for the sliding track stand out, and force the design to accept those features.
Someone mentioned crash-test issues, like the likelihood of the doors refusing to open when damaged. Honestly, I have no data on that – but it seems like a logical assumption.
As a former owner of a Mazda 5, which was a cross between the MPV and a Mazda 3, I miss the utility. It was so easy to load the thing anywhere. Kids, cargo, dogs… in-laws… they all marched into the side entrance with no issues. I would love to see that utility used on a real SUV in the future!
- N
The next question comes from a long time fan who was considering a Volvo EX30.
Q: (Via Twitter @NathanAdlen) Re: Something other than a Volvo EX30.
I could see in the review you put together that you had next to no access to the car. Saw others having 1 on 1 time in a quiet studio. That upsets me that you guys have so little access to this car. I like what I see with the Volvo EX30, and I was seriously considering one to replace my Q3. Now I see the world is covering it in Spain while hanging out in nightclubs. I like that you guys are the hardest working journalists for cars I know. And I’ve been a fan for over 10 years!
So what do I look at other than the Volvo? I want a vehicle that is small with good range and is affordable. That’s one of the reasons I want it. All the kids are out of the house and I have a big dog ‘Samson’ and a tiny dog ‘Butchie’ who love a car ride. In my Audi I can drop the back seat and they know that the flat area is just for them. I usually lay down a pad and blanket for their comfort too.
Now I want an all electric car and it has to cover a few bases. I now live in Escondido which is near San Diego and not far from the beach. It’s also home to VERY EXPENSIVE GASOLINE!!! So I think that I need a electric car for that too.
Now other than the Volvo EX30 which you like despite the lack of PR love, what else should I consider?
Confused.
- DiceyDiggs76
A: You’re right about our lack of access, but I still think the car has potential.
The 2024 Hyundai Kona EV is all-new, and it looks like a real winner. The old one was about $33,000 for the long range 258 miles and it has 201 horsepower. Not too shabby. The new Kona EV will have an entry model which has a 200-mile range and 122 hp. The beefier one makes 201 hp and has a advertised 261 mile range. I think the pricing, size and packaging is close to the Volvo, but it’s less radical inside.
The same goes for the new Kia Niro EV, which is even closer to the Volvo’s boxy styling. I believe these cars are good alternatives to the EX30.
You mentioned in a previous message the upcoming Tesla Model 2 (or whatever its name will be). Unfortunately, I have no data on that vehicle, other than it is supposed to be an entry-level Tesla. There are some Chevrolet Bolts still out there, and they are damn good too,
I suspect with all of the recent negative feedback about EVs, coming from automakers and buyers, the push to lower prices is beginning to spread. It’s a given that other sub $40 and even sub $30,000 EVs will hit the market soon. Now, if they can produce a few higher quality sub $20,000 EVs – that would be epic!
Hope this helped
- N
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The last comment comes from a friend of TFL Studios, who has set up a solar hack to keep his EV charged – off the grid.
Q:(Via Twitter @NathanAdlen) Howdy Nathan! I hope you don’t mind the DM.
My tranny recently dropped out of my 250k mile 07 FJ Cruiser so it got me looking for a new inexpensive, reliable fun little runabout as insurance for my old FJ.
The search lead me to a 2017 Chevy Bolt with only 27k and a new battery for 19k subtract the 4k for the government rebate and I’m thinking 15k is a steal for this little EV with legit 260+ miles of range.
So that gave me an idea I wanted to pitch ya… how about a hot hatch series called “Watt Hatch?” In it you guys pick up a gen 1 Bolt and give it the hot hatch treatment, wheels, tires maybe a” tune” if such a thing exists and see how it stacks up against hot hatches of today and yesterday. I figure you guys could probably get at least 5 maybe 10+ vids out of this series between purchase, mods, testing, and competitions.
Thoughts?
Thanks Nathan! Love what you guys do!
Did you ever get the solar and battery solution you had been looking into? We just picked up some ecoflow solar generators we plan to test with car charging etc. They’re completely modular and expandable, and thus far, I’m impressed with the quality.
Anyway, I’m sure you’re busy as heck. I’ll see ya in the next video!
- The Prepared Ranch
A: First of all, great choice of EV, and great video!
As we are still heading to more and more EVs hitting our roads, the idea of a EV jerry-can make me smile. It’s a common question, “How can you keep the car charged – off the grid?” That’s a fair question, and there still no way to quickly charge your EV in the middle of nowhere.
With that being said, I’ve seen an intrepid group of EV enthusiasts out there who are figuring out ways to keep things rolling, even when totally off the grid. By combining beefy batteries with portable solar panels, they produce enough power to charge their vehicles. Depending on the setup, I’ve seen folks gain 10-30-percent of their power throughout the day.
In order to make that happen, the batteries leave the home fully charged, and are supplemented by the solar panels. The problem comes in on repeating the process. Some of these batteries (many can be connected to others in a series) are huge 1kWh or even more. In order for them to fully charge using solar, well it can take a day or more. It depends of the solar capacity, battery and weather.
I would like to see what it takes (how long), to completely charge a 60 – 100 kWh battery only using a solar setup that’s portable. Yes, the weight of the batteries and panels will drop the range of the EV, and that’s part of the challenge as well.
From what I have gathered: if you camp off grid and want to charge your EV in this way, it can take up to a week to do so. Still, if you’re camping anyway, it could be a hell of an efficient way to being self sufficient.
- N
Now, what if you needed just a tiny bit of petrol – AND you can charge your vehicle off-the-grid as well? What about just driving said vehicle on electricity alone? Maybe this is the answer…
