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Gasoline may be flammable, but gas powered cars don't just spontaneously combust.
Electric vehicles
- Thread starter redrumloa
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I don't think that's underground, but yes, it's an issue. It doesn't happen often but when vehicles are crowded together you do get these chain reactions of fire spreading. If tanks of petrol were mixed in with the electrics it would not be better. Flame barriers between stalls would be helpful, but the rate of spontaneous combustion may be so low that the extra expense is not justified by the cost of the damage.
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This one didn't explode, but it did travel 1,008 km on one charge. This Mercedes-Benz is way out of every normal person's price range of $108,308
But, it's the technology that matters in this case. Competition is a wonderful thing
www.thestreet.com
But, it's the technology that matters in this case. Competition is a wonderful thing
Mercedes Pulls Off a Feat That Should Worry Tesla - TheStreet
The German vehicle manufacturer has just achieved a performance that will be talked about in the automotive world.
www.thestreet.com
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People here probably think I'm anti-electric car but I'm not. I actually have been interested in electric cars since at least the late 80s. If I had the financial means I would have done an electric conversion to a VW Beetle back then as kits were available using traditional lead acid batteries. The costs were beyond my means in my teens, but by todays standards not exactly boutique.
Fast forward today and the pure electric cars are mostly firmly in the boutique category. Mass producing them causes many problems. That includes environmental problems no one wants to seem to talk about. Their batteries require lithium and rare earth minerals that are produced through strip mining. The whole concept of them being "zero emission" is a falsehood. The carbon footprint just to manufacture one (mainly battery) is sky high. That's not getting into where they get their electricity from. If it's a coal power plant, also high. It's not zero emissions, it's indirect emissions.
I like the technology. I actually like the concept of not being beholden to big oil, OPEC and the like. I just don't want to replace one evil (Big Oil) with another Evil (big government and new age robber barons(Elon Musk)). Then there's the whole "fly by wire" thing. I'll fight tooth and nail to avoid ever owning a fly by wire car, or got forbid a self driving car.
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the thing with a "self driving" car is that YOU turn on that feature. In fact you have to BUY the tech and get it installed in the car.
While I think some people would do better if they let technology drive the car because they suck at it, I personally am a good driver and would prefer to do it myself.
While I think some people would do better if they let technology drive the car because they suck at it, I personally am a good driver and would prefer to do it myself.
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Self driving is one thing, drive by wire is another. I said "fly by wire", I meant "drive by wire". As far as I'm aware, self driving cars are drive by wire cars. The drive by wire thing is what truly frightens me. My current daily beater is not a drive by wire car, but it's "safety features" have put me in frightening situations. The worst is some sort of emergency auto-braking feature that has malformed twice nearly causing another car to rear-end me. It has something to do with merging across lanes with a certain type of reflector on the road. I think light glare from it makes it think a crash is imminent, so slams the brakes to the floor. Also mainstream sources have proven that drive by wire cars are fairly easily hacked, meaning you can be "suicided" pretty easily.
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that sounds like it's not working properly. And I'm not being facetious. I mean it should be brought into wherever you service your car and fixed.
I have a friend with a new car with some fancy stuff going on. If he drives slightly out of his lane the car just beeps at him. (He then yells at the car, "Shut Up!"). While that's funny, it certainly doesn't slam on the brakes!
I don't mind car technology giving me more information (like those rear cameras, as an example), but I don't want it suddenly gaining control over the car. That's weird.
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It goes in for scheduled servicing. I'll be mentioning it to the dealer.