Viewing profile — kgermino

A big part of the issue is that federal funding drives probably the majority of significant projects at all levels. We have a completely broken system where every project is a targ…

That's true, but if you stay in the regenerative zone it doesn't (seem to) make that much of a difference in practice. All the braking power happens in the rear if you only brake t…

I don't see why it would be an issue in most cases. Obviously you'd want AWD for proper off-roading, but for just driving around on streets it should be fine. My EV van is RWD and …

That’s probably true but I wouldn’t count it out. I think you’re more likely to get answers like “we do 10:00 on tuesdays” (timed for schools) than “no”

And the TSA wouldn’t do anything to stop that Hell the TSA doesn’t do much to prevent that on commercial flights, but requiring private flights to start going through commercial se…

It does depend on what car you get. A RWD Ioniq5 can do about 3 hours on the highway with 20 minute stops (though the stops are a lot longer at the more-available Tesla chargers). …

Isn’t that their entire point?

But it creates other issues, especially for a non-techsavvy user

Pretty badly for both sides

It's primarily done for security and secondarily a benefit making it easier (for everyone!) to identify denomination by feel

That's fair, though it's not a given that the sprinklers are for turf-grass instead of something more important. More interestingly (to me): did it have a local interface or was th…

I agree? In both cases the control system is physically in your house. It sounds like the sprinkler system did work completely offline (though it's not clear if you'd actually be a…

Are there any furnaces that do that? Certainly, the standard smart thermostat set up is that your ecobee is connected to the Internet, but controls the furnace using good old-fashi…

Well that brings up two immediate issues A standard furnace and thermostat won’t even know if you pull the thermostat off the wall, much less have any way to handle it beyond “full…

It wouldn’t _have_ to, that’s a political decision not a mathematical requirement. But, even if you did it would still help tremendously and possibly still be sufficient. There’s d…

they're regularly revised up or down because they're (very openly) preliminary numbers released just days after the month ends and before many employers have even answered the surv…

6600 lb towing capacity Towing range is an issue with all EVs and the battery on this one isn't that big, but if you're regularly doing long distance towing I'm not sure why you'd …

it does depend a lot on what you buy it for, but obviously 8' is a good benchmark. But honestly... at 8' I'm not sure why you're bothering with anything (unless you're getting a lo…

What? Unintended acceleration happens _all the time_. It’s usually driver error or a stuck floor mat. The vast majority are drivers who hit the accelerator thinking it’s the brakes…

I don’t know where we’d draw the line for “quality first” but I’d argue Toyota at minimum qualifies That doesn’t mean they’re perfect: cars are incredibly complex machines and mist…

May be my age, but I wouldn't say any of those brands are a mark of quality. Rather the opposite in fact. They are all interesting in their own way (especially Tesla), but certainl…

Miles (of range) per hour (of charge) is somewhat widely (and accurately) used as a metric for charging speed

Agreed. There’s an EV camper van with rooftop solar. IIRC it gets about 1000W peak, which isn’t bad for the home batteries but is basically nothing for the high voltage drive syste…

I don’t think you’d have to run the AC any more aggressively with the solar panels than with a traditional steel roof? If you’re suggesting it wouldn’t work in a garage, that’s obv…

In theory those screens are regulated to be safe to use while driving - my car for example has a lot of more complex features disabled while the car is in gear - while the phone do…