121–130 of 305 posts
That makes me itchy, and I'm not even planning on doing anything illegal.
Very good concept overall, I like the idea A LOT. One thing that surprised me: >> Speeding doesn't save as much time as you might think, but driving 10 MPH over the speed limit reduces fuel efficiency by 12-15%. How's my fuel efficiency related to the speed limit set by local authorities?
The biggest change is air resistance. Some day when you are on a freeway without many other cars around, shift into neutral. Depending on your car model, you will lose 1-2 mph every second until you get to around 50 mph, when you will lose speed much more slowly. On a flat road it might take you a whole minute to drop the next 10 mph. (Make sure you are in the right hand land before doing stuff like this. Also be awa…
Very good concept overall, I like the idea A LOT. One thing that surprised me: >> Speeding doesn't save as much time as you might think, but driving 10 MPH over the speed limit reduces fuel efficiency by 12-15%. How's my fuel efficiency related to the speed limit set by local authorities?
The biggest change is air resistance. Some day when you are on a freeway without many other cars around, shift into neutral. Depending on your car model, you will lose 1-2 mph every second until you get to around 50 mph, when you will lose speed much more slowly. On a flat road it might take you a whole minute to drop the next 10 mph. (Make sure you are in the right hand land before doing stuff like this. Also be awa…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
For cars sold in the EU, the position of the ODB-II port is mandated.
Do you have a source for that? Because from experience (being an EU driver) most cars I've dealt with have the port in a different location. Some as wonderful as being literally right in the centre console, to being as horrible as under a mat in the passenger side.
Does Automatic impact my phone's battery life? ... more or less: no Next section: Does Automatic charge a monthly fee? No, all you need is the Automatic Link and a smartphone with an active data plan . From my experience that is exactly what kills 99% of smartphone batteries...
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Yes, it is the OBD II port, and is typically used for on board diagnostics and connects directly to the ECU. The bluetooth "dongles" have been around for a number of years.
> Honda cars that use VTEC often don't have OBD II ports. i'm a car guy and i've never heard of this before. source?
I feel like the Beta flag next to Crash Alerts gives a new twist to what you can expect from a beta version.
I'm just hoping there's a way to turn it off without losing any other functionality. I really don't want to be hit with the bill from an accidental 911 call, I'll take my chances that if there's an accident someone around (or I) will be able to call 911 without a $70 app deciding it for me. I would also be concerned (this seems to be an extreme edge case) that off-roading may trip the sensor. I try not to break my eq…
"If you use Crash Alert, in the event you are in a crash, we may share your location and personally identifiable information with emergency responders and your emergency contacts."[1]
This is a great start to what I hope will be an awesome product. One of the other commenters mentioned fleet/enterprise customers -- let me raise my hand (as one of those customers) and say how SORELY needed this sort of approach to tech is in the fleet space. I actually predict (hope?) this will take off more on the business side than the consumer side. Here's the problem: Fleet managers (that is, people who are res…
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We're paranoid about not running your car's battery down. When the ignition is off, we consume less than 1 mA. By itself, the Automatic Link would take 3-4 years to drain even a cheap battery.
I think it's better to break this down, because this myth of 'running out of battery' is really exaggerated Let's say your average battery has 40AH. That means it can provide 1A for 40h (or better, the product time(h) x current(A) = 40 for a charged battery) @ 12v If your lamps consume 24W (I'm guessing), that's 2A, it means it would go from fully charget to nothing in 20h. But of course, your battery is usually not…
I don't think most car batteries are dead after twenty days of not driving, and, as you said, most batteries aren't always fully topped up.