EEVblog #1337 - I Bought An Electric Car

[Monkeh]

Well at least you've got good plans for reducing overpopulation. Shame about all the dying.

[nctnico]

That doesn't work because vehicle safety is not only about protecting the people inside but also protecting pedestrians and cyclists. There is no way around that other than enforcing it by regulations. People won't buy cars which are better at protecting pedestrians because people are too short sighted to recognize that it actually is an improvement.

They don't recognize it as an improvement because it is not an improvement. Frankly I don't give a damn about protecting pedestrians and cyclists in terms of car design. The way to protect them is to make cars that have good visibility, an area where the vast majority of modern cars fail miserably, and to avoid distracting gadgets, another area where modern cars fail miserably, and generally smaller and lighter cars, yet another area where modern cars fail miserably. Beyond that it is the responsibility of the driver to watch where they are going and the responsibility of the pedestrians and cyclists to be aware of their surroundings and not step out into traffic. I'm not going to drive a blob mobile just to avoid injuring the pedestrian I shouldn't hit in the first place and as with the occupant safety argument, this one is invalid at least in the USA where a growing majority of cars are actually gigantic trucks. Pedestrian safety is yet another useless automotive regulation I would eliminate given the chance.

Well... recently I nearly got run over by a car on a crossing where I should go first. I'm pretty sure the car's anti-collision system intervened instead of the driver because the driver increased the speed after slowing down at first  Needless to say I'm pretty happy such systems are almost standard on new cars (and mandatory from 2022).

[james_s]

Well I don't have one on my car and I'm not likely to ever own a car that does. Maybe people should try paying attention while they drive. I would be in favor of making distracted driving a criminal offense, or at least make the fine hurt. $5k for a first offense seems reasonable, make it a felony if an accident results, start throwing people in jail. Maybe people would start taking safety seriously and put down the damn phone. Automated technology to prevent collisions is not the solution, it is a crutch that enables people to engage in risky behavior. There is already far too much of this driver assist technology and driving isn't getting any safer, it's a proven fact that as soon as you take away the need to focus on something, the mind will find something else to focus on. When I was still working in the office I took the bus there and from my vantage point on the bus I would see people EVERY DAY barreling down the highway looking down at a smartphone on their lap, they think nobody can see them doing it. I have also nearly been run down in a crosswalk while someone was looking down at their phone. I don't want rounded cars so I hopefully bounce off and I don't want some gadget to hopefully see me and slam on the brakes (and the inevitable false triggers), I just want the person driving the car to watch where they're going! Driving is a privilege, there's no excuse for the carelessness so many people exhibit.

[EEVblog]

Well I don't have one on my car and I'm not likely to ever own a car that does. Maybe people should try paying attention while they drive. I would be in favor of making distracted driving a criminal offense, or at least make the fine hurt. $5k for a first offense seems reasonable, make it a felony if an accident results, start throwing people in jail. Maybe people would start taking safety seriously and put down the damn phone. Automated technology to prevent collisions is not the solution, it is a crutch that enables people to engage in risky behavior. There is already far too much of this driver assist technology and driving isn't getting any safer, it's a proven fact that as soon as you take away the need to focus on something, the mind will find something else to focus on. When I was still working in the office I took the bus there and from my vantage point on the bus I would see people EVERY DAY barreling down the highway looking down at a smartphone on their lap, they think nobody can see them doing it. I have also nearly been run down in a crosswalk while someone was looking down at their phone. I don't want rounded cars so I hopefully bounce off and I don't want some gadget to hopefully see me and slam on the brakes (and the inevitable false triggers), I just want the person driving the car to watch where they're going! Driving is a privilege, there's no excuse for the carelessness so many people exhibit.

When I used to drive across Sydney to work every day I'd often think "how to hell did I even make it home?" as I had absolutely no recollection of the drive, my brain was just on autopilot for the daily grind.

[gmb42]

Toyota to spend USD 13.5B to develop batteries and their battery supply system for EVs.

Like many other battery manufacturers they are hopeful about solid-state batteries but time will tell if all the myriad problems with the technology can be overcome.

Notably no mention of hydrogen, and passing mention that the reduction in CO² from a hybrid is about a 1/3rd of a BEV.

Planned capacity of 180GWh, which seems too little to me for the worlds largest automaker, somewhat behind Volkswagen with 240GWh in Europe alone.

[james_s]

When I used to drive across Sydney to work every day I'd often think "how to hell did I even make it home?" as I had absolutely no recollection of the drive, my brain was just on autopilot for the daily grind.

Your brain didn't store that information because it was an uneventful routine but you were probably still paying enough attention at the time that if a pedestrian or other obstacle appeared in front of you, you'd snap out of it and react. The problem I see is people who aren't focused at all, like when I'm riding in a car someone else is driving and I am completely disengaged with the driving part and not even looking in where we're going most of the time. Still, I recall that statistically most accidents occur close to home, I suspect because when people are in the most familiar routines they are the least engaged. Routine can lead to complacency which can lead to carelessness.

[David Hess]

Still, I recall that statistically most accidents occur close to home, I suspect because when people are in the most familiar routines they are the least engaged. Routine can lead to complacency which can lead to carelessness.

Close to home is also where people drive the most, so more accidents should be there.

[Ed.Kloonk]

When I used to drive across Sydney to work every day I'd often think "how to hell did I even make it home?" as I had absolutely no recollection of the drive, my brain was just on autopilot for the daily grind.

Your brain didn't store that information because it was an uneventful routine but you were probably still paying enough attention at the time that if a pedestrian or other obstacle appeared in front of you, you'd snap out of it and react. The problem I see is people who aren't focused at all, like when I'm riding in a car someone else is driving and I am completely disengaged with the driving part and not even looking in where we're going most of the time. Still, I recall that statistically most accidents occur close to home, I suspect because when people are in the most familiar routines they are the least engaged. Routine can lead to complacency which can lead to carelessness.

 

He's prolly the person I sit behind who goes 10 under the speed limit whilst in their own little world and wonder why there is not traffic in front of them.

[james_s]

 

He's prolly the person I sit behind who goes 10 under the speed limit whilst in their own little world and wonder why there is not traffic in front of them.

There is a 2 lane road that goes between the city I live in and the adjacent city, it has lots of curves and very few places to safely pass. Nearly EVERY time I drive home on that in the evening I get stuck behind somebody who is going 10mph under the speed limit, it drives me nuts. There aren't very many speed signs but I know the limit is 45, doesn't stop people from going 30-35 sometimes and I get stuck behind one of them all the time. The annoying part is at the edge of town the speed limit drops to 25 and most of those people seem to carry on going 30-35.

[Ed.Kloonk]

 

He's prolly the person I sit behind who goes 10 under the speed limit whilst in their own little world and wonder why there is not traffic in front of them.

There is a 2 lane road that goes between the city I live in and the adjacent city, it has lots of curves and very few places to safely pass. Nearly EVERY time I drive home on that in the evening I get stuck behind somebody who is going 10mph under the speed limit, it drives me nuts. There aren't very many speed signs but I know the limit is 45, doesn't stop people from going 30-35 sometimes and I get stuck behind one of them all the time. The annoying part is at the edge of town the speed limit drops to 25 and most of those people seem to carry on going 30-35.

There's a sneaky car manufacture rule here that requires cars to be unable to report a speed that is faster than the car actually is going. So the speedos are purposelessly dialled back to err on the side of caution. A car being driven at 60kmh might be actually doing closer to 50kmh. Added to that drivers who think that Jesus is sitting beside them in the car will do another 5km/hr less because they think they are speeding.

The people driving slow I can deal with. But I do take exception with our country's meteorology aficionados not taking authorities to task the fact that cars are sold with speedos that lie.

[james_s]

Car speedos here typically read a percent or two low, but nothing like the 20-30% slower I often see on that road. The problem is it only takes one idiot that isn't paying attention and thinks the limit is 30 or whatever to clog up the whole thing. They always seem blissfully unaware of the 5-10 cars clumped up behind them.

[timelessbeing]

Swapable batteries are preferable to taking 10 seconds to plug in at home every night? 

When the car is dead and I need to go somewhere right now, yes absolutely.

But why are you disingenuously presenting it as an either-or choice? I can swap my power tool batteries or charge them.

3 to 5 minutes to replace a battery with a fully charged one.

[Ed.Kloonk]

3 to 5 minutes to replace a battery with a fully charged one.

Seems admirable, but the geographical, mechanical and safety logistics to make this possible are so whack it's not funny.

[timelessbeing]

ostensibly , it's already been working for two years

[Ed.Kloonk]

ostensibly , it's already been working for two years

The devil is in the detail tho. Mechanically, it'd be interested to see how the battery compartment protects the battery from punctures without making the car prohibitorily heavy.

[EEVblog]

3 to 5 minutes to replace a battery with a fully charged one.

Seems admirable, but the geographical, mechanical and safety logistics to make this possible are so whack it's not funny.

Yep, battery swap tech is doomed to failure.

[David Hess]

Yep, battery swap tech is doomed to failure.

What a battery swap might look like:  (Actually a battery and battery cable swap)