Electric car thread

[old man emu]

Some things are good, like the block on the gear selector by the footbrake. A lot of things that are controlled by modules receiving data from sensors can cause difficult to correct faults. 

 

I'd say that alot of gadgets on the dashboard are marketing gimmicks. Remember when all we needed was a couple of warning lights, a speedo and a fuel guage? Cars got us fron A to B with those simple things. 

[Marty_d]

Our new MG5 will have all that assistance.

However if I want to go back to basics, I jump on the bike.

Manual gears, only 1 dial (speedo) and even the indicators don't turn off automatically. 😄

[red750]

BYD is currently executing a massive logistics surge to Australia, having committed to tripling shipment volumes to 30,000 vehicles for May and June 2026 to address record demand driven by high fuel prices.  The first special shipment of nearly 5,000 vehicles has already departed Shanghai aboard BYD’s proprietary carrier, the BYD Zhengzhou, and is scheduled to arrive in Melbourne on June 2, 2026, before proceeding to Sydney and Brisbane.

[onetrack]

BYD has a dedicated RHD assembly line in one of their factories. It churns out a new RHD BYD car, every 52 seconds. Trump has handed ownership of the car market to the Chinese.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/an-enormous-ship-docked-in-melbourne-today-its-cargo-could-permanently-change-australian-motoring-20260531-p602f6.html

[kgwilson]

For the first time ever an EV is the top selling vehicle in Australia for May and it isn't Chinese but the Tesla Model Y.

 

https://www.drive.com.au/news/australian-new-car-sales-in-may-2026-tesla-model-y-is-first-ev-to-top-vfacts-charts/

[onetrack]

The move to ensure new cars have familiar buttons and switches for the primary basic controls in a car is gathering pace, and it's being pursued by safety authorities. It's long overdue.

Every car should have a similar familiar layout, to enable easy transition from one vehicle to another, without confusion or distraction.

The safety authorities are becoming concerned that touch screens with many of the vehicles primary controls on it, are a safety and distraction hazard.

Manufacturers are starting to agree that they went too far in trying to make cars into mobile phones on wheels.

 

The comment from Aston Martin director of design is very relevant. He speaks of how touchscreens take away from the driver, the feel to be able to properly use the car.

It's interesting to see that the ultra-conservative Toyota is still using the approach of retaining buttons and switches for the basic vehicle controls.

Numerous Chinese and European and Korean vehicles have gone too far in making touchscreens the primary control device in cars, and now a number of them are admitting, they have to return to a Toyota-like, controls design.

 

https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/big-touchscreens-to-give-way-to-physical-controls-as-car-brands-ditch-annoying-feature-and

 

Edited 1 hour ago by onetrack

[old man emu]

The problem with fitting all sorts of electronic whizz-bags to cars is that when the whizz goess bang, the car stops working. I can see the benefit of a GPS, but with a small screel, not a dash-wide screen that could be used to watch a Cinemascope epic. I remember when portable DVD players arrived. It was illegal to have one in a vehicle within the view of the driver.