Electric car thread

[nomadpete]

Further to vehicle crash safety:

Last night I was talking with a Road Crash guy (he's the one who operates 'jaws of life' to cut trapped folk out of crashed cars).

 

His hates those European cars - they are much harder to cut up! Much tougher reinforcement is built into them - sometimes it breaks the jaws.

 

I admit he didn't comment on chinese cars.

[facthunter]

Practically All of them now use High Tensile steel which often cannot be satisfactorily repaired IF it's creased.  Nev

[Siso]

I wouldn't like to hit a roo (or any animal larger then a sheep) in a tesla, low bonnet,  may end up inside with you.

[octave]

Australian (and European) Tesla models have a little-known feature called "active hood"

 

"Tesla has installed a pyrotechnic system that raises the rear portion of the hood (closest to the windshield), if a frontal pedestrian crash is detected. The hood immediately lifts by a few inches so that the pedestrian's impact hits a softer, and more movable surface than that of the solid parts beneath the hood, or even the windshield."

 

https://insideevs.com/news/333820/teslas-active-hood-safety-feature-could-save-lives/

 

There have been cases of this deploying during a collision with a kangaroo. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 26 by octave

[nomadpete]

4 minutes ago, octave said:

Tesla has installed a pyrotechnic system that raises the rear portion of the hood (closest to the windshield), if a frontal pedestrian crash is detected.

I believe some european vehicles (eg Volvo) have a front bumper bar airbag for this purpose. The plastic bumper drops and the airbag pops up.

[octave]

The active hood has been around on European cars since 2005, so not a new feature

 

The Jaguar XK was the first car to feature a deployable bonnet pedestrian safety system in 2005, although the system was first unveiled by Honda in a concept vehicle in 2004 and introduced in a production model in 2008. The system uses pyrotechnic actuators to lift the rear of the bonnet upon impact with a pedestrian, creating a cushioning effect to reduce head injuries. 

• Jaguar XK (2005): This was the first vehicle to publicly unveil the production system, which was designed to meet new European safety legislation. The system automatically "pops" the hood up a few inches to create a cushion between the pedestrian and hard points in the engine compartment.
• Honda (2008): Honda unveiled its "Pop-up Hood System" technology in 2004 and incorporated it into a production vehicle in 2008. Honda's system uses sensors in the bumper to detect an impact, then an actuator raises the rear of the bonnet by about 10 centimeters.
• General Motors (2007): GM introduced its active hood system in 2007 in the European market. This system works at speeds between 25 and 48 km/h (16-30 mph) and is designed to reduce pedestrian fatalities.
• Buick Regal (2017): Buick made the active hood standard in China with the new generation Regal in 2017. 

 

 

[pmccarthy]

The VW beetle had a pedestrian friendly bonnet.

[Jerry_Atrick]

A long lost xth cousin of mine had a HQ panelvan (don't think it was a Sandman, but it was hotted up in the old vernacular). He hit a roo at speed (I am guessing c. 100kph), and the roo ended up in the car, hit him and he suffered mild brain damage as a result.  I am not sure less aerodynamic cars makes that much of a difference - maybe at lower speeds (say 60kph) it does.

 

Edited November 26 by Jerry_Atrick

[nomadpete]

I have seen pictures of deer, roo or donkey, etc that have gone straight through the windscreen. 

 

There are less complicated ways to prevent unwanted pedestrian or animal entry via windscreens.

Way back, a friend bought a Citroen ID19. The bonnet didn't match the rest of the car. 

"Oh," said seller, "I hit a horse, it rolled up the bonnet and went over the roof!"

 

The beast had deformed the bonnet but I think the roof is glassfibre so it just flexed. 

 

Personally, I have been hit by a car and my biggest fear at the time was that the driver predictably hit the brakes and as there is nothing on a windscreen to hold onto, I slid off the bonnet and nearly went under the vehicle. All these newfangled mechanisms are unlikely to prevent this.

 

 

Edited November 26 by nomadpete
All true!

[octave]

There’s a safety requirement for a gap between the bonnet and the engine. In older cars, when pedestrians were struck, their heads often hit the bonnet. The gap acts as a cushioning zone to reduce the force of impact before the head reaches the engine. Many modern cars reduce this gap for aerodynamic reasons, so they use dynamic bonnet systems to meet safety standards.

 

 

[facthunter]

Merde OK is NOT Pro electric. Incidentally, BYD are not even Permitted in the USA.  Nev

[octave]

BYD does have a presence in the US, but only buses, trucks, and commercial vehicles, no passenger cars. There is a BYD factory in California that produces buses and trucks. It appears that the primary reason BYD is not permitted to sell passenger cars is due to security concerns over Chinese software.

[kgwilson]

They also produce better electric cars than the US industry apart from Tesla, though they have overtaken Tesla as the top manufacturer now.

[facthunter]

No comparison IMHO.  Nev

[onetrack]

I'm quite surprised at the number of Teslas I see on the road, that have all their badging removed. Every single piece of script or logo indicating the vehicle is a Tesla is gone.

It makes me wonder if there's some underground movement of Tesla owners that likes the Tesla design, but hates the CEO of the company - so they "rebel" against the CEO's attitude, statements, beliefs and ethics, to effectively shove it up Elon, by removing all the Tesla identifying badges and logos.

 

It appears quite a few American Tesla owners have even taken it one step further, by re-badging their Teslas to other car makes, and even specific models.

 

https://electrek.co/2025/03/03/tesla-owners-get-creative-to-distance-themselves-from-elon-with-new-car-logos-projectors/

[facthunter]

That's Been happening everywhere for a while Now. IDIOTS have been damaging them.  Some people add a sign saying" I bought this b4 we Knew he was Horrible/ MAD". Sales have dropped. Nev

[octave]

8 minutes ago, facthunter said:

I bought this b4 we Knew he was Horrible/ MAD".

 

My son has this sticker on his 2019 Tesla. 

[old man emu]

During our conversations earlier this year we questioned what the annual sales figures of EVs would be if we looked for those figures in December. I'm curious to see what those figures are (for Australia). 

[octave]

EV Sales up 24 Per Cent in First Half of 2025

 

EV and hybrid sales soar in Australia as internal combustion cars fall below 70% market share for first time

[facthunter]

Hybrid is for People who can't make up their Mind. It's a Punishing life for some Hybrid engines and you still have ALL the Maintenance issues of a normal car.  Conditions for EVs will continue to Improve and Petrol /Diesel will recede. as there's less demand for it.  Nev

[Siso]

I am considering a hybrid. Its not that I can't make up my mind. Its that the distance we live from our capital city, a full electric car would be marginal on range. I don't like sitting around a city waiting or looking for a place to but an extra 100km worth of power in my car. Different people have different needs.

[pmccarthy]

We have had two hybrids, both excellent. The only negative really is the harder suspension and tyres, done to reduce rolling resistance. 

[facthunter]

What about the Maintenance when it's out of warrantee.?. Anyhow Buy what you Like. It's a free country.  Electric is near maintenance free. Hybrid gives a small extra range for a High cost and More weight.  The vehicle is often a poor performer also compared to a STRAIGHT Ice car . Nev

[onetrack]

I hired a Toyota Corolla Hybrid for 12 days in Broome in July. It didn't use a great deal less fuel than a regular petrol-powered car. One of the most alarming events I had with it, was - I was driving along, chatting to SWMBO and resting my hand on the gear shift lever (as I often do), and accidentally moved the lever into Neutral, whilst doing about 60kmh.

 

The cars reaction was to apply full emergency braking immediately, nearly throwing us through the windscreen! I was quite shocked that any car maker would install a system that operates like this - especially Toyota. If we had been in heavy traffic, my inadvertent gear lever movement possibly would've caused a chain-reaction pile-up.

 

This setup is making me shy away from Hybrids even more than I previously was unenthusiastic about them. I can't stomach the idea of major increased complexity in a car that comprises a combined petrol engine, electric motor, and a drive system battery, with all its attendant increased amounts of wiring and electronics.

[Siso]

We drove around with some friends in Europe (Toyota Corolla over there, Rav here) and I was really impressed with the performance for a car that size. 130KM/h highways and it did it easily and had the power to get past other cars no worries. Probably not the best for long range but around the local area they are good. A good compromise.