Serious question. Why does the self-driving car need windshield wipers?
Anyone Here Have An Electric Car?
- Thread starter Chuckinden
- Start date
That’s my biggest issue with EVs.
They are great for simply commuting or driving around town (I’m actually considering getting a EV for my wife). But if you are someone who enjoys driving for driving’s sake, EVs are pretty depressing.
They are big, heavy drag racers that provide a sterile driving experience and offer nothing in terms of engagement. The torque of an electric motor is certainly amazing, but an electric motor has no character. For me, there are few things more enjoyable than driving on a two lane road with the radio off and windows down so you can listen to the engine as you run it up through the rev range. EVs simply can’t offer anything close to that.
And that’s before you get into the issue of how heavy the current generation of EVs are. A Tesla Model S weighs about 1,200 pounds more than my car. That’s massive. An electric motor’s torque can overcome the weight when it comes to acceleration, but it can’t address the problem of slowing that mass down under braking, or of managing weight transfer or fix the lifeless steering.
I’m sure as batteries improve in the future, they’ll fix the weight issue but for now I’ll stick with my combustion engine.
Because Teslas aren’t even close to actually being self driving cars. The Full Self Driving option is basically snake oil. Elon has been saying Tesla is one year away from actually having true self driving cars since like 2012. It’s a problem Tesla will probably never solve, especially because the cars rely solely on cameras and don’t use radar or LiDAR like every other car these days does.
Had a Model 3 performance for a few days this week and holy crap I hated it. I was bored with the acceleration in about five minutes. Such a sterile experience. And honestly even the instant torque wasn’t that impressive.
And don’t get me started on how every single control is on a touch screen. To adjust the mirrors you have to navigate through a menu on the screen and then use scroll wheels on the steering wheel. It’s awful.
I’ll keep my V8, thank you.
Yeah, I really dislike the use of touchscreens in cars.
There’s something to be said for using analog buttons/switches. They’re always in the same place and provide tactile feedback, so you can operate them while keeping your eyes on the road. But maybe I’m just old fashioned.
Funny enough, Randy Pobst tried racing a Tesla at Pike’s Peak and had to withdraw from competition because of the touchscreen. His windshield started to fog up and he wasn’t able to turn on the defroster. I guess it’s kind of difficult to use a touchscreen while also trying to drive 130 mph on a winding road.
Last edited:
First because the self driving feature isn't used all the time.
Second you still need to see where you're going...just in case.
Once you get Elon's Neuralink chip implanted in your brain, you can just think about it and make it work.
What about people with stutters or heavy accents? J/k
Exclusive: Surveillance Footage of Tesla Crash on SF’s Bay Bridge Hours After Elon Musk Announces “Self-Driving” Feature
Musk has said Tesla’s problematic autopilot features are “really the difference between Tesla being worth a lot of money or worth basically zero.”
theintercept.com
Electric vehicle drivers get candid about charging: 'Logistical nightmare'
Charging an electric vehicle on the go is neither easy nor fast.
I get the enjoyment but the jury will be deliberating in it’s usefulness to conservation and climate forever.
EV emissions realities start with physics. To match the energy stored in one pound of oil requires 15 pounds of lithium battery, which in turn entails digging up about 7,000 pounds of rock and dirt to get the minerals needed—lithium, graphite, copper, nickel, aluminum, zinc, neodymium, manganese, and so on. Thus, fabricating a typical, single half-ton EV battery requires mining and processing about 250 tons of materials. (These figures hold roughly true for all lithium chemistries.) For the carbon-counters tracking such things, the global mining and minerals sector uses 40 percent of all industrial energy—dominated by oil, coal, and natural gas—and that’s before we take into consideration the massive expansion that would be required to supply all the battery factories planned for widespread EV adoption.
EV emissions realities start with physics. To match the energy stored in one pound of oil requires 15 pounds of lithium battery, which in turn entails digging up about 7,000 pounds of rock and dirt to get the minerals needed—lithium, graphite, copper, nickel, aluminum, zinc, neodymium, manganese, and so on. Thus, fabricating a typical, single half-ton EV battery requires mining and processing about 250 tons of materials. (These figures hold roughly true for all lithium chemistries.) For the carbon-counters tracking such things, the global mining and minerals sector uses 40 percent of all industrial energy—dominated by oil, coal, and natural gas—and that’s before we take into consideration the massive expansion that would be required to supply all the battery factories planned for widespread EV adoption.
The batteries will be 100% recoverable via recycling very soon. The technology exists and is being implemented and put into practice now.
The bigger issue is whether or not the nimby's left wing lunatics and coal worshipers will let the government invest in nuclear energy and fast track products. growth and livelihood in the future is going to be about who has the electricity. Once a resource viewed as almost limitless is now becoming more scarce in western countries. Nuclear is the clear answer. Abundant, cheap, "clean" and efficient.
I bought a new Tesla Model S and received it two weeks ago. Love it so far. It is not as much of a "luxury" car as the BMW 5 Series I traded in, but it makes up for it in other ways. I find the touch screen very intuitive, like an Iphone, and the entertainment system is great. I test drove the Mercedes EQS and I guess that is packed with "tech" but it was really confusing how to operate the screen.
Have had my EV 3 months now. Do not miss going to gas stations at all. Passing trucks, minivans & shitboxes at every traffic light is addicting.
I think if you're willing to wait x amount of hours to recharge it won't change your itinerary if your ride is under 5 hours total.
Assume he means, not having to gas up and charge at night.
Question is, how much does it cost to charge?
At home?
At a station?
I believe Tesla and others have some free places but for how long?
Interesting article comparing the performance of EV's vs. Conventional Gas powered cars. It seems that EV's are 500-1,,000 pounds heavier than their conventional counterparts. So they don't brake or turn quite as well. EV's are quicker (0-40) but not necessarily faster (top end). I am sure that EV makers are working on reducing weight.
www.caranddriver.com
How EVs Compare to Gas-Powered Vehicles in Seven Performance Metrics
We tallied up testing data since 2012 to build this by-the-numbers tale of how EVs are changing the performance landscape.
Last edited:
One way to think about the performance of the current generation of EVs is in terms of how players were rated in the old EA NCAA football video game. A RB in that game would be given ratings of anywhere from 40 to 99 across several different categories like acceleration, agility, speed, strength, breaking tackles, etc.Interesting article comparing the performance of EV's vs. Conventional Gas powered cars. It seems that EV's are 500-1,,000 pounds heavier than their conventional counterparts. So they don't brake or turn quite as well. EV's are quicker (0-40) but not necessarily faster (top end). I am sure that EV makers are working on reducing weight.
How EVs Compare to Gas-Powered Vehicles in Seven Performance Metrics
We tallied up testing data since 2012 to build this by-the-numbers tale of how EVs are changing the performance landscape.
If you used that same approach to compare a high performance gas car with an EV, you might have something like:
- Gas car
- Acceleration: 92
- Agility: 98
- Speed: 99
- EV
- Acceleration: 200
- Agility: 75
- Speed: 85
If overall driving dynamics are your thing, then get the gas car. Until they can figure out a way to reduce the battery weight significantly, EVs are going to continue to struggle here.
However, if/when they are able to get the battery weight down significantly, then I think EV driving performance might become pretty mind blowing. An EV’s center of gravity will be lower than a gas car of comparable weight, and you have the potential of using individual motors at each of the 4 wheels to maximize traction. At that point, you might start to see EVs put up lap times that previously seemed unfathomable.
My Tesla M3 turns and handles better than any car I have ever owned and most of the time brakes on it's on with residual braking.Interesting article comparing the performance of EV's vs. Conventional Gas powered cars. It seems that EV's are 500-1,,000 pounds heavier than their conventional counterparts. So they don't brake or turn quite as well. EV's are quicker (0-40) but not necessarily faster (top end). I am sure that EV makers are working on reducing weight.
How EVs Compare to Gas-Powered Vehicles in Seven Performance Metrics
We tallied up testing data since 2012 to build this by-the-numbers tale of how EVs are changing the performance landscape.
Speaking of regenerative braking, I was glad to see that Tesla came to their senses and are bringing back the ability to adjust the level of regenerative braking. I never understood why they eliminated that adjustability a couple of years ago.
I can understand why some people might enjoy one foot driving, so I’m not knocking it, but I personally would hate dealing with that all of the time. My personal preference is to be able to have more control over the brakes than what the highest setting of regenerative braking allows.
There’s an old Mario Andretti quote that says something to the effect of: “it’s amazing how many drivers, even in F1, think that the brakes are only there to slow down the car.” Brakes are also a tool for managing the balance of a car, and a high level of regenerative braking really limits your ability to do that. It’s probably not a big deal for most daily driving, but if you enjoy driving, it can be annoying.
Leaving it up to the drivers to be able to tailor the driving experience to their own tastes is a good thing, so I think this was a smart decision by Tesla.
EV handling is not bad for the extra weight. The heavy battery is low and centered in car so handling balance is good, compared to gas with heavy engine high and in front.
You still can brake manually anytime you want. Regenerative braking takes some getting used to and it saves on brake pads. It also adds charge back to the battery albeit not much unless you are coasting down a mountain. I don't have a problem at all with it.
Yeah, I see no issue with it when you’re daily driving. But if I’m wanting to do some spirited driving on a country road, I’d want to be able to dial back the level of regenerative braking quite a bit. The standard setting is much too high for that situation and it starts to become a bit obtrusive.
You used to be able to turn down the level of regenerative braking in Tesla’s up until a couple of years ago, and then there was an update which took that option away. That decision never made sense to me.
I bought a green works mower to do my finish mowing. I wanted it because my other push mower was so heavy and hard to pull up my bank. I like it. Most mowing is with my ZTR but the stuff I cannot get to is the battery powered mower. I bought an extra battery because one charge would not do everything I needed. With both batteries charged I can do everything. It does seem the batteries do not last as long as you would expect.
Last edited:
I have a relative who worked in voice recognition. His company was constantly updating their software for accents, impediments, and slang. He helped install the software at a bank in England where there are a blue million variations in accents that had to be accounted for. (We watch a lot of English TV shows, and we always have to have captions turned on to understand what been said.) Voice recognition really requires a lot of tuning the software to the person who uses it.
I've been looking at electric riding mowers so I don't have to go deal with gasoline. Reviews are mixed.
I’ve had one for a few years and the most important thing is to get one with a replaceable lithium battery. Mine uses lead acid and running them under 50% really damages them. If I replace them I’ll just buy a 48v lithium and correct charger.
It’s a Ryobi and I love the mower, just hate the old style batteries.
Fox Business just interviewed a large 7 brand car dealer in NJ: he basically said "No one is buying EVs".
Ford will lose $3 BILLION on EVs this year... and with replacement batteries costing 40-50% of the original cost of the vehicle... it's easy to see why...
We're simply not ready yet.
Ford will lose $3 BILLION on EVs this year... and with replacement batteries costing 40-50% of the original cost of the vehicle... it's easy to see why...
We're simply not ready yet.
Well, if a car dealer on fox said it, you can take it to the bank.
Yeah... I'd certainly believe liberals and the Biden administration over the guys out there actually selling the product.
What incentive does the dealer have to NOT sell cars?
Lol...
Like with everything else, politics enter into the EV marketplace. Some hardcore conservatives are against EV's and you are apparently one. Now hardcore liberals are against Tesla because of Musk. Not sure how buying a car became a political decision.
I’m a little under a half acre that’s relatively flat. Inclines shouldn’t be a problem for an electric because the drive motor makes ridiculous torque. Mine is a Ryobi rm480e and was advertised as mowing up to two acres but my yard uses about half the battery. I know Ryobi has new 80v mowers that are supposed to be more efficient but don’t know anyone with one.
I will add that my favorite thing about it is that all I have to do is unplug it and go, which is nice because I hate mowing.
I'm waiting on a look at the RAM Rev when it comes out. The large battery pack supposedly has a 500.mile range. Still have to wait on my dog to pass. He's a shedding machine and I hate to buy a new truck that will look like a kennel within a week. 😕
