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America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

bloomberg.com

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Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#401

Post by madengr »

MertsA wrote: post #358
DamnInteresting wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Economics is only a single factor though. Part of the decision for me was that zippy-peppy driving, it's mad fun. I haven't driven a Prius, but I don't get the impression it's so much fun to operate. Also, I hate stopping at gas stations, not just for the monetary cost, but for the time and general annoyance. Now I just plug in every night, my car is always ready to go. I'm never rushing off to an appointment only to…

> And I never have to change the oil. Well yeah, you kind of do need to change the oil if you don't want the gearbox to die an early death. There's also still coolant that needs to be changed regularly as well. EVs have significantly less maintenance, but there's still critical maintenance that must be done on time if you don't want to damage your car.

Coolant on my Nissan Leaf is 75k miles. Reduction gear oil is just inspect; it's a single gear. Brake fluid is the normal 30k miles.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#402

Post by m_mueller »

falsedan wrote: post #382
m_mueller wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does anyone here know how accurately current sensor technology could map O2 output on a satellite? I.e. could we get down to, say, 10 meter precision? Here's what I was thinking: Take the current approach with the Carbon certificate and decentralise it using blockchain technology (e.g. Ethereum) hooked up to (to be made) publicly available sensor data on O2, as well as a public data on land ownership; Give every patc…

Atmospheric sensors have to be deployed at the location they're sampling, so step 0 is: cover the earth with air quality monitoring stations. Step -1 is convincing someone to pay for this (governments have limited funding for this, so choose their monitoring sites carefully & extrapolate from the recorded data). There's a few sites which aggregate the public datasources, like http://aqicn.org/map/world/

Isn't there a more scalable solution? I'm imagining reflective stripes at specifiv GPS positions, so satellites can target them with lasers and measure the reflection. Too much refraction?

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#403

Post by cjrp »

MertsA wrote: post #358
DamnInteresting wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Economics is only a single factor though. Part of the decision for me was that zippy-peppy driving, it's mad fun. I haven't driven a Prius, but I don't get the impression it's so much fun to operate. Also, I hate stopping at gas stations, not just for the monetary cost, but for the time and general annoyance. Now I just plug in every night, my car is always ready to go. I'm never rushing off to an appointment only to…

> And I never have to change the oil. Well yeah, you kind of do need to change the oil if you don't want the gearbox to die an early death. There's also still coolant that needs to be changed regularly as well. EVs have significantly less maintenance, but there's still critical maintenance that must be done on time if you don't want to damage your car.

The coolant on a Bolt EV needs changing after 150k miles (http://imgur.com/7hF0Ijg). What gearbox?

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#404

Post by driverdan »

torrent-of-ions wrote: post #391
old-gregg wrote: post #84

I suspect that people of the future will look back and be amazed that for more than a century we've been legally allowing our slow-reacting bodies [1] to ride around at 80mph in a 2-ton hideous mechanical equivalent of a horse, killing ourselves [2] and simultaneously destroying our cities [3]. I myself used to be a "petrolhead" my 20s and it's quite amazing to observe this awakening when looking in the mirror. I sus…

Road safety is much better in Europe than the US. The US seems to have a problem with driver education. I actually think the prevalence of automatics is part of the problem as they present themselves as a big toy and convenient luxury rather than as a powerful machine that comes with a lot of responsibility. I wondered if the design of the roads themselves plays a big part, but I no longer think it is very significan…

Driver education in the US is a joke and everyone treats driving as a right, not a privilege.

If we had far better education and mandatory retesting every 10 years accidents would drop significantly.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#405

Post by LeifCarrotson »

MertsA wrote: post #358
DamnInteresting wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Economics is only a single factor though. Part of the decision for me was that zippy-peppy driving, it's mad fun. I haven't driven a Prius, but I don't get the impression it's so much fun to operate. Also, I hate stopping at gas stations, not just for the monetary cost, but for the time and general annoyance. Now I just plug in every night, my car is always ready to go. I'm never rushing off to an appointment only to…

> And I never have to change the oil. Well yeah, you kind of do need to change the oil if you don't want the gearbox to die an early death. There's also still coolant that needs to be changed regularly as well. EVs have significantly less maintenance, but there's still critical maintenance that must be done on time if you don't want to damage your car.

What are you talking about? Here's the official maintenance interval for the Bolt:

http://i.imgur.com/gU4FfdY.png

It calls for tire rotations every 7,500 miles - not a lot you can do about that, and I suspect tire wear will be worse in a torque-happy EV. Skipping them will only reduce your traction, which I suppose could damage you and your car. And of course you have "required services" like brake pads when those wear out and start to squeal; probably less common due to regenerative braking from the electric motor: Engine braking is a habit that takes work with an ICE, but it's the norm in an EV. And you might want to change the cabin air filter when it gets dusty - not that my vehicles haven't gone...a long time...without cabin air filter changes. Skipping them won't damage your car, just your nose. But fluid flushes? Hardly necessary.

Coolant only needs to be changed at 150,000 miles - hardly "regularly". Most ICE cars don't need changes at less than 100,000 mile intervals. In an EV like the Bolt, coolant deals with a lot less heat than an ICE and doesn't suffer microscopic contamination from hot exhaust gasses and oil.

And the Bolt doesn't have a transmission; it's direct drive. Gearboxes (I assume you mean manual transmissions?) typically take synthetic gear lube now with recommended intervals of 200,000 to 300,000 miles. Differentials use the same stuff. I did elect to change the differential fluid in my Jeep at 250,000 miles - but those diffs are taking a lot more abuse than a typical car.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#406

Post by dashundchen »

valuearb wrote: post #164
dashundchen wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1/3 of avoidable deaths is not insubstantial - and traffic accidents aren't the only harm done by autos. Add in an estimated 53,000 deaths in the US due to transportation emissions. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231013... Potentially millions killed by auto emissions worldwide. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/dec/17/pollutio... The leading cause of death in the US for people under…

Except that some illnesses like cancer are avoidable, it's not just accidents. Except that buses and trains and horses and teslas kill people and pollute. Even bikes kill people. Every mode of transportation is a killer, so if you want to eliminate travel deaths you can only eliminate travel. If you eliminated cars completely tens of thousands would likely still die in the US from transportation accidents. But now yo…

>>If you eliminated cars completely tens of thousands would likely still die in the US from transportation accidents. But now you've trapped people and forced them to live close to work, do less traveling, and live crappier lives.

>>Automobiles provide freedom to choose where you want to live and work. They are cleaner than ever and getting cleaner every year.

I think you're still ignoring the pollution deaths and massive negative external effects the automobile has on society, especically on those who can't participate in an auto-dominated society. The waste is colossal.

Automobiles provide freedom if you're luck enough to not be young, old, poor, disabled etc. Why do we want to design society around excluding huge groups from mobility, when bikes, effective public transit and walkability can open up our country to everyone?

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#407

Post by driverdan »

henrikschroder wrote: post #357
rsync wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you see - in the United States it is assumed that any towing or work activities must be done with a truck . I am not exaggerating at all when I tell you that the minimum acceptable size for this truck is larger than most freight/delivery trucks in European cities. Here is a completely normal, totally average truck that millions of people in the US use as a daily driver and have on-hand because they occasionally b…

> No, you see - in the United States it is assumed that any towing or work activities must be done with a truck. I love subtle cultural differences like this where two sides are completely unaware that life could be any other way than it is. :-D In the 80's and 90's in Sweden, I remember that every single car had a trailer hitch with a tow ball. And if you needed to buy something bulky at a hardware store, you borrow…

> Meanwhile, in the US, tow balls are extremely uncommon, and I don't think I've ever seen small trailers for rent anywhere.

They may not be as common but are still common. Many people have hitches on their cars. You're correct that there aren't a lot of places that rent small trailers but you can rent trailers small enough to tow with a car for $20/day from Uhaul.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#408

Post by driverdan »

trjordan wrote: post #20

My first car crush was in high school: the 2002 Subaru WRX. It would be fine to get some souped-up monster, and high-end BMWs are always fast, but when I first saw those silly little bug eyes and the trademark blue color? God did I want one. It was weird to figure out that it only came with a 2 liter engine. Apparently turbos help a lot. It was even weirder when the 2005 STI came out with the same engine ... and a bi…

> It was even weirder when the 2005 STI came out with the same engine

The 2005 STi has a 2.5L engine, not the 2.0 found in the WRX. It's the same block as the Forester's 2.5L turbo.

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#409

Post by falsedan »

stupidhn wrote: post #398
falsedan wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "sports car" lol Why'd you get a BRZ? Bonus question: uh why did Toyota/Subaru make them

> Why'd you get a BRZ? Good looking (subjective), reliable, quick, fun to drive? Why did you buy your car?

What's a car

I like the look of a BRZ but it's wildly impractical for what I need (small family car than can go on garbage roads).

Re: America’s Cars Are Getting Faster and More Efficient

#410

Post by mason240 »

notatoad wrote: post #121
timelol wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have an electric _bicycle_ that routinely dusts off ICE cars at stop lights. It just takes a while for all that machinery to start rolling.

I have a pedal-powered bicycle that dusts ICE cars at stop lights. For, like, 5 metres... Not only does it take a while to get all that machinery rolling, doing it quickly kills your gas mileage. Most drivers aren't drag-racing out of the stoplights.

>I have a pedal-powered bicycle that dusts ICE cars at stop lights. For, like, 5 metres...

But wow do I feel great for those 10 seconds before they catch up.

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