231–240 of 283 posts
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Regarding your comments on charging - I hope that they add a charging port for solar. If you ever got stuck, and you had a panel with you (for camping or whatnot), you'd at least have some method to get topped up.
A 100 watt solar panel, a typical size for camping, would take 600 hours of bright sunlight to charge a 60KWh battery. About 10 weeks. In 10 hours you could get 1KWh, and might be able to move a bit.
His frustration with his trucks I bet it because they were powered by gas. Trucks should only be diesel you don't need horsepower (fast time to cover a distance) you need leverage aka torque. A documentary on Sherman tanks amazed me because they were gas powered and when hit gasoline exploded. German tanks were powered by diesel. The US has hated diesel from day one it's amazing. But electric has tons of torque by de…
His frustration with small utility vehicles and a pickup truck are more likely due to types of suspension and weight distribution. Low enough gearing will give you the equivalent of high torque to get over small boulders, but getting through snow is not even that difficult. The challenge is getting your tires to dig in, not a shortage of power.
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> and head restraints. What do you think an airbag's purpose is?
to cushion hit you hard if your unrestrained head happens to get close to the steering wheel but not as hard as the steering wheel itself would hit you. Google "HANS device". That's a restraint.
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> In all but the most serious crashes your face will not hit anything if the seat-belt fits well. Great, then there's nothing to worry about... but if it is a serious crash, you'll wish you had an airbag to bounce off of rather than a hard steering column, dashboard and windshield.
Most people will never be in an airbag deploying crash in their lives. Of the minority that will very few will be in the kind of crash where a (frontal) airbag is what prevents them from serious harm. If OEMs would just be less trigger happy with frontal airbag deployment then I'd be satisfied but the problem with that is that then you get the Concerned Mothers Association(TM) complaining about OEMs not doing everyth…
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Unless it's a Takata airbag and the thing that catches your face is a piece of metal shrapnel. You do understand that airbags are bombs. The inflation mechanism literally uses explosives. They can and have killed people especially children and the elderly. Early generation airbags are more violent and dangerous because the standard was to protect an unbelted driver.
> They can and have killed people especially children and the elderly. Who puts children in front of airbags?? The car is half-way covered in stickers saying not to.
I know it's a prototype, but I wonder how much thought was put into safety. The simplistic look makes you think there's probably no crumple zones. And there's clearly no driver's airbag, dashboard padding, etc. Edit: The style seems heavily inspired by the original Ford Bronco. They even support the removable rear top. http://classicfordbroncos.com/builds/
I wonder if they are targeting this for developing markets where safety is not a major concern.
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A Tesla model S fits 10' lengths of lumber. Just protect the dashboard from scuffing with a blanket.
I have an 8 foot utility trailer that I tow with my Honda Fit. I overloaded it once on accident with 2500lbs of roofing materials. The capacity is 2000lbs. I frequently load it up with long and heavy stuff, and I don't risk ruining my interior. It does 95% of what most people do with a truck, but I can still drive to work on Monday or take it on a long road trip and get 35mpg. Started with a $300 Harbor Freight trail…
Americans seem to love^H^H^H^Hdemand huge vehicles, but those huge vehicles rarely have the clearance and towing capacity to actually be "utility" despite being advertised that way :-(
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It's cool but it's kind of a gimmick. You can easily haul lumber on almost any vehicle with a roof rack. Many cars with fold down rear seats can fit 8' lumber too.
> You can easily haul lumber on almost any vehicle with a roof rack. -You can easily haul very limited quantities of lumber on almost any vehicle with a roof rack. I've tried once to put the maximum legal (well, in Norway, at any rate) weight of 200kg/450lbs on my Land Cruiser's roof rack, just to see how it affected handling. I've only felt more nervous in a car once, and that was in a Congolese taxi seemingly bent…
Re: what you said about wagons, I think the Subaru Outback is actually the most practical ICE vehicle out there. Pretty high clearance, very powerful engine, great towing capacity, good roof rack options, ample trunk space, and low centre of gravity.
I just wish they made one with an electric motor and a plug.
I know it's a prototype, but I wonder how much thought was put into safety. The simplistic look makes you think there's probably no crumple zones. And there's clearly no driver's airbag, dashboard padding, etc. Edit: The style seems heavily inspired by the original Ford Bronco. They even support the removable rear top. http://classicfordbroncos.com/builds/
Looks more like its inspired by the Land Rover Defender 90 to me. I don't really see the resemblance to a Bronco.
It's encouraging to see this. It's about time for electric pickup trucks. The price point ($60K) is going to be a problem for work trucks. They talk about high speed, not low-speed high-torque. They don't say much about how the drivetrain behaves at low speed. Do they have locking differentials, or something that prevents wheel spin? It's a two-motor system. Does the motor control system know how to keep the front an…
Also what is your off-road experience, that you can say "you'll cut yourself on the door handles." _citation needed_