Scrutable

dyqik wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 04, 2023 12:17 pm

bjn wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 04, 2023 12:14 pm

Sodium batteries could work great for static storage applications. So all those grid attached peaking shaving and stabilisation batteries should get cheaper, as well as your domestic PowerWall equivalents. This would free lithium to be used where having lightweight batteries is much more important. This should make lithium batteries cheaper for those applications than it would otherwise be if there were no sodium batteries.

A lot of PowerWall type applications are reusing lithium batteries that aren't quite good enough for cars anymore. Maybe going directly to recycling the lithium from an only moderately degraded lithium battery is helpful to the price, but the details might be important there.

We parked at the spot where he hit the police S.U.V. four years earlier [when the Tesla was in self-drive mode]. There was nothing special about the road here: no strange lines, no confusing lane shift, no merge. Just a single lane of traffic running along a row of parked cars. Why the Tesla failed at that moment was a mystery.

Eventually, Key told F.S.D. to take us back to the cafe. As we started our left turn, though, the steering wheel spasmed and the brake pedal juddered. Key muttered a nervous, “OK. … ”

After another moment, the car pulled halfway across the road and stopped. A line of cars was bearing down on our broadside. Key hesitated a second but then quickly took over and completed the turn. “It probably could have then accelerated, but I wasn’t willing to cut it that close,” he said. If he was wrong, of course, there was a good chance that he would have had his second A.I.-caused accident on the same one-mile stretch of road.

[...]

We approached an intersection and tried to make a left — in what turned out to be a repeat of the Laguna Beach scenario. The Tesla started creeping out, trying to get a clearer look at the cars coming from our left. It inched forward, inched forward, until once again we were fully in the lane of traffic. There was nothing stopping the Tesla from accelerating and completing the turn, but instead it just sat there. At the same time, a tricked-out Honda Accord sped toward us, about three seconds away from hitting the driver-side door. Alford quickly took over and punched the accelerator, and we escaped safely. This time, he didn’t say anything.

It was a rough ride home from there. At a standard left turn at a traffic light, the system freaked out and tried to go right. Alford had to take over. And then, as we approached a cloverleaf on-ramp to the highway, the car started to accelerate. To stay on the ramp, we needed to make an arcing right turn; in front of us was a steep drop-off into a construction site with no guard rails. The car showed no sign of turning. We crossed a solid white line, milliseconds away from jumping off the road when, at last, the wheel jerked sharply to the right, and we hugged the road again. This time, F.S.D. had corrected itself, but if it hadn’t, the crash would have surely killed us.

Woodchopper wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 21, 2023 7:49 pm

Tesla has big problems with battery production: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/austin-proble ... 07306.html

TopBadger wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 23, 2023 3:28 pm

You'd think smaller cheaper ev mobility would be a bigger part of the conversation at this point.

I like the look of this one... https://nimbusev.com/

TopBadger wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 23, 2023 3:28 pm

You'd think smaller cheaper ev mobility would be a bigger part of the conversation at this point.

I like the look of this one... https://nimbusev.com/

FlammableFlower wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 24, 2023 10:01 am

Renault have decided to end the Zoe, which I , as an owner, I think is a shame

nekomatic wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 25, 2023 12:06 am

FlammableFlower wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 24, 2023 10:01 am

Renault have decided to end the Zoe, which I , as an owner, I think is a shame

Didn’t it get a zero star EuroNCAP rating? One would kind of hope that put a dent in sales.

Martin_B wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 23, 2023 11:30 pm

TopBadger wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 23, 2023 3:28 pm

You'd think smaller cheaper ev mobility would be a bigger part of the conversation at this point.

I like the look of this one... https://nimbusev.com/

There's not a lot of room in there.

[snip]

The range is fine for a city run-about, but the luggage space is a small esky (coolbox) size, so not necessarily suitable for shopping unless you do grocery shopping daily and never buy more than one item of clothing at a time.

TopBadger wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 27, 2023 11:21 am

You'd hope it features side impact air bags.

TopBadger wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 27, 2023 10:36 am

Wow... I didn't realize a major manufacturer made a car that performs so poorly. You'd think anything from Renault would be 4+ stars.

nekomatic wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 27, 2023 1:35 pm

But their Dacia subsidiary doesn’t do so well.

Lew Dolby wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 27, 2023 2:47 pm

nekomatic wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 27, 2023 1:35 pm

But their Dacia subsidiary doesn’t do so well.

I've got a Duster. It's cheap - I don't expect Volvo standards on a cheap car. But five months to get spare parts. !!

Wot I needed wasn't vital so I could still drive it. But FIVE effing months for spares !!!!!!!

bjn wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 09, 2022 6:56 pm

As I said, might not be the best use of a solar panel, unless they were stupidly cheap. I used to park a car on the street in suburban Sydney, which would be a better proposition thank parked on a street in urban London.

Solar panels do need to be just as robust as a car roof, being put on roofs and left in the rain and all. Current panels have a lifetime of 25 years or so, which means they are more likely robust than a car roof.