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EV's, car size, distracted driving, etc.
Last Post 04/18/2023 08:57 PM by Frederick Jones. 8 Replies.
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6ix
Posts:485
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| 04/14/2023 04:34 PM |
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This might be long. Having studied transportation/industrial design in school, I've always been a car nut. I still follow them quite closely but I'm growing more and more disheartened at the general direction of car development.
Case in point. Replacing ALL tactile buttons with touchscreens. Has anyone tried using these things without taking their eyes off the road??? Impossible as there is no feedback. The UI is different on each screen and nothing carries over from one model to another. Utilizing touch or muscle memory is impossible, but they are a big win for the industry since they are far cheaper to produce than actual knobs and buttons. It's irresponsible design driven by the almighty dollar, and people are losing their lives due to it. Distracted driving is just as big of an issue as drunk driving, but it will never face the societal consequences since seemingly everyone does it.
Next up, EV's. Putting aside the financial impact these things are going to have in 5-10 years when the batteries are depleted and the car is worthless although the mechanics are still fine (in other words, if it were ICE it could still function for many more years but instead will be sent to the landfill), they are crazy heavy. In the 90's, a standard Honda Accord was probably around 3,600 lbs but now is closer to 5,000. And that's for an ICE model, not EV! Now a regular EV sedan is quickly approaching 3 tons while the trucks - Hummer EV - are close to 5 TONS!!! And absolutely gigantic. Laws of physicals says that these things will kill pedestrians, cyclists and small homes without the driver even being aware. Take the supposed Tesla Cybertruck. With stainless-steel panels bent to sharp 90-degree corners, how does that pass pedestrian safety standards?
Bottom line, where is responsible design? From terrible UI design to gigantic cars weighing nearly the same as an Abrams tank, everyone on the road should be terrified. These new cars are a failure in so many different ways. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 04/14/2023 04:45 PM |
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Fully agreed on touch screens, they should be outlawed period.
Also agreed on car size. I’ll disagree on EV, it’s a far superior drivetrain technology over ICE. The battery challenge is being rapidly overcome, battery replacement will become a thing. We have a 2017 Leaf, bought it second hand at low price, only maintenance to date is wiper blade replacement, battery still at 90%, brakes at 70% thanks to regenerative braking. Despite being an old model with limited range it’s good for 90% of trips, we barely ever buy gas for our CRV anymore. Being in Europe now, I see a lot of properly sized EVs. It gives hope for good options on second hand EV market about 5 years from now. Cause buying cars new is a fat waste of money. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 04/14/2023 09:22 PM |
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| Adding to 6’s rant: more and more functionality is becoming by subscription. The way things are going, even the radio will only work if you pay up regularly. Boo! |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 04/17/2023 08:13 AM |
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| I hate that as well LSD. Converted all of my 600 something albums to mp3 and refusing to join any type of subscription. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 04/17/2023 06:57 PM |
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We have a radio gift here in Portland. KMHD. Public radio and all they do is play jazz. 24/7. Except fopr the very late/early hours, almost all by volunteer DJs who love the music. And real jazz. The greats. Folk you've never heard of. New jazz. Local jazz. And for me, a regular fare of 12-bar blues - from the blues greats, from the jazz greats. (I had one of Seattle's best improvising standup bass players practically throw me against a wall by the collar and say "Every jazz player worth his salt loves to play the blues" when I apologized for making him play another damn song after he'd spent their break with my wife and I and complained about having to play one song after another for vocalists who came to sit in. That guy could stretch out and play forever, alone or with like minds, with no script or song in mind.
And back to cars - the great thing is this station keeps getting better. It started as a college station. Low budget equipment and transmitter. Got enough money on the public radio model to upgrade some. Merged with Oregon Public Radio a few years ago; accessing far better studio equipment and transmitters. Signal now comes into both my house and almost all of Portland and surrounding really well. (Still a few canyons with poor signals. And for better or worse, the demand for jazz isn't big enough yet for a call to fill them in.)
And touch screens - texting is illegal but touch screens aren't? Touch screens without which you cannot operate the car? (I bought the base model Prius C because it had stick in the floor, no paddle. I have to reach down to use re-generative braking which I use on almost every stop.) |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 04/17/2023 08:15 PM |
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gigantic cars weighing nearly the same as an Abrams tank
Forget the weight....a "normal" pickup truck today is roughly the same size as a WWII Sherman tank.
Generally speaking, pickup trucks in the U.S. are about the same length as a Sherman tank, give or take a few inches, and less than two feet narrower. The biggest difference is in height. The Sherman was 108 inches tall, whereas trucks tend to have a cab height of about 76 inches.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkbxzg/american-cars-are-now-almost-as-big-as-the-tanks-that-won-wwii |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 04/17/2023 08:30 PM |
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Posted By Cosmic Kid on 04/17/2023 08:15 PM
gigantic cars weighing nearly the same as an Abrams tank
Forget the weight....a "normal" pickup truck today is roughly the same size as a WWII Sherman tank.
Generally speaking, pickup trucks in the U.S. are about the same length as a Sherman tank, give or take a few inches, and less than two feet narrower. The biggest difference is in height. The Sherman was 108 inches tall, whereas trucks tend to have a cab height of about 76 inches.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkbxzg/american-cars-are-now-almost-as-big-as-the-tanks-that-won-wwii
The good thing is that the new tanks are so much heavier. Tons of room for improvement for today's pickups. (Quite literally.) |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 04/18/2023 07:49 AM |
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I've got a 2019 Chevy Colorado diesel 4x4... 30+mpg and tows my boat without any issues.
It's the same size, or slightly larger than my first pickup (1996 model). The size inflation of trucks is just stupid!
Distracted you say? Manual shift is the answer. That and a mandatory disabling of inputing data into any device moving faster than, say, 5mph. But what about passengers you say? Tough cookies. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 04/18/2023 08:57 PM |
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| Ha! Your youngin passengers might see it differently, but this geezer thanks you for your post. No tubeless, latest doping (which for sure is around), etc! (Good luck with that.) |
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