Author Topic: Electric cars  (Read 694300 times)

sparky Paul

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #585 on: December 01, 2017, 10:19:13 PM »
Tesla has its Mega battery up and running in South Australia, well within the 100 days Elon Musk said they would do it by (or it would be free of charge). It uses the same technology used for Tesla cars.
What is important is the fact it is charged from a wind farm, not by solar, which Australia is big on.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-42190358

They're building a 49MW battery a few miles up the road from me, part of a 200MW system over several sites.

guest5079

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #586 on: December 02, 2017, 11:19:49 AM »
I was really surprised at an item in the GEM magazine over hacking into car computer systems.
In 2015 hackers got to a Chrysler Jeep and in the 12 mths Chrysler spent fixing the problem the hackers uprated their attack and got through where Chrysler had not anticipated.  Tesla were hacked by 3 Chinese hackers over 12 miles from the car, Tesla claim to have fixed it. A security expert with IBM discovered he could still access and unlock his old car even after undertaking a full factory reset and wiping all of his personal information from the car's computer, by logging into his smartphone app re enabled all the data and there was nothing the manufacturer could do. The data was eventually erased. Nissan's head of development 'even if a team could engineer an autonomous car to deal with 99% of the sort problematic scenarios that currently flummox them the remaining 1% would be, by their definition, even more complicated and difficult to navigate. Some scenarios, he posits, are so complex that only a human brain will be able to navigate their way through.'
I hope the writer Carlton Boyce will forgive some of my paraphrasing but it is a long article.
So at the end of the day, cars will still need a driver and those that have raised the security problems of keyless entry, it seems are only seeing the beginning of problems with data in car computers whether powered by ICE or Electricity. It seems it doesn't even have to be an autonomous vehicle as car computer hacking is becoming a very big problem.

Jocko

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #587 on: December 02, 2017, 07:00:07 PM »
Just watched "Guy Martin v The Robot Car" on Channel 4 catch up. Brilliant. But there again, I enjoy everything he does. He just comes across as a great guy. Worth a watch, if you are so inclined.

culzean

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #588 on: December 03, 2017, 06:04:16 PM »
Just watched "Guy Martin v The Robot Car" on Channel 4 catch up. Brilliant. But there again, I enjoy everything he does. He just comes across as a great guy. Worth a watch, if you are so inclined.

Unfortunately Guy will be remembered as the best rider never to win the TT - he admitted himself that he does not have the attention span for a race that length,  but he has also had some awful bad luck when he was in a position to win that robbed him of victory.  Nowadays he seem to be doing OK as a TV personality..... (which may be a longer career, and less dangerous).
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culzean

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #589 on: December 03, 2017, 06:13:11 PM »
I was really surprised at an item in the GEM magazine over hacking into car computer systems.

 It seems it doesn't even have to be an autonomous vehicle as car computer hacking is becoming a very big problem.

Any equipment that runs on software and needs to use internet or phone network (or any wireless system) will never be secure -- it is a fact of life,  it is an arms race between programmers and hackers,  and the hackers always seem to be one step ahead - there is undoubtedly more money to be made from hacking than from programming, so hackers have more incentive to do a good job.

It will be fun to see autonomous vehicles being hacked and driving themselves down to the docks and parking themselves neatly in shipping containers ready to have their memory wiped and shipped abroad LOL - and bank robbers (doing it the old fashioned way LOL) won't even need a getaway driver any more.
« Last Edit: December 03, 2017, 06:51:44 PM by culzean »
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

peteo48

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #590 on: December 03, 2017, 07:49:09 PM »
I was really surprised at an item in the GEM magazine over hacking into car computer systems.

 It seems it doesn't even have to be an autonomous vehicle as car computer hacking is becoming a very big problem.

 

It will be fun to see autonomous vehicles being hacked and driving themselves down to the docks and parking themselves neatly in shipping containers ready to have their memory wiped and shipped abroad LOL - and bank robbers (doing it the old fashioned way LOL) won't even need a getaway driver any more.

Now my wife is as technophobe as they come but, sometimes, it takes people from outside the bubble, as it were, to ask the pertinent questions. As she says if you can control your EV from your smart phone then someone else can! The hacking thing is important and answers are not forthcoming. I'm all for progress but questions do need asking.


madasafish

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #591 on: December 03, 2017, 08:38:14 PM »
If we had autonomous cars, the North Koreans could immobilise a country without launching a rocket of firing a shot.  Given the patent and obvious inability of car makers to make secure cars, it's going to be easy for terrorists to do a lot of damage at little personal risk.

culzean

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #592 on: December 03, 2017, 09:06:00 PM »
If we had autonomous cars, the North Koreans could immobilise a country without launching a rocket of firing a shot.  Given the patent and obvious inability of car makers to make secure cars, it's going to be easy for terrorists to do a lot of damage at little personal risk.

Agreed,  with ever increasing reliance on software, WiFi, internet and cell phones we are sleepwalking into a situation where nothing will be secure.  Everything is accessible to people who do not have our best interests at heart, at the click of a mouse button.
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

richardfrost

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #593 on: December 04, 2017, 08:30:35 AM »
Everything is accessible to people who do not have our best interests at heart

And not just people, remember Skynet?

madasafish

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #594 on: December 04, 2017, 11:55:45 AM »
Everything is accessible to people who do not have our best interests at heart

And not just people, remember Skynet?

Arnie is too old now to save us  ;D

culzean

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #595 on: December 04, 2017, 12:24:17 PM »
http://www.carbuyer.co.uk/tips-and-advice/160649/electric-car-battery-life-explained

Interesting article on EV batteries.

One statement is particularly interesting 'it is a bad idea to keep battery fully charged because the change in battery chemistry damages the battery'.   Article indicates that 50 % charged seems to be the best condition (which may be why the software will only allow 50% of capacity of new battery to be used (never letting battery charge or discharge too much),  gradually allowing more capacity to be used as battery ages to maintain range) - but once more of the capacity is allowed to be accessed there is a downward spiral of capacity.

WTF !  It is like saying of an ICE vehicle 'don't keep your fuel tank more than 50% full as it will damage the tank and reduce capacity'.
« Last Edit: December 04, 2017, 01:20:51 PM by culzean »
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madasafish

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #596 on: December 04, 2017, 12:39:43 PM »
If capacity cannot be used, it is not capacity...

So are makers quoting ranges based on usable capacity or total capacity?  If the latter, they are going to screw consumer expectations with predictable consequences.

culzean

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #597 on: December 04, 2017, 01:18:35 PM »
If capacity cannot be used, it is not capacity...

So are makers quoting ranges based on usable capacity or total capacity?  If the latter, they are going to screw consumer expectations with predictable consequences.

They are quoting range based on usable capacity, on a warm summers day, never going over 50mph and no hills (NEDC figures).

Problem is BEV is carting around a heavier battery than it should to allow for drop in capacity caused by charge / discharge cycles,  once some extra capacity is made available as battery ages (to maintain range), the rate of degradation / loss of capacity increases more rapidly,  the more capacity is used the more the battery degrades in a vicious downward spiral.

Quentin Wilson was on daily politics show today warning politicians not to hype up autonomous cars too much, as in his opinion (he talks to motor industry a lot) level five is 'at least' 20 years away.
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Jocko

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #598 on: December 04, 2017, 01:51:25 PM »
level five is 'at least' 20 years away.
I watched his piece and I was amazed how "Pro" self driving cars he was! And as for 20 years time. I remember 20 years ago quite clearly. It was only yesterday!

Jocko

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Re: Electric cars
« Reply #599 on: December 04, 2017, 02:25:02 PM »
Watched the latest episode of Fully Charged and there was some interesting stuff discussed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z61wL27eDRw
Norway has now reached a point with EV ownership where it is profitable for businesses to install charging points. So the charging network is expanding very quickly, without government subsidy. Currently, EVs are 46.7% of new car purchases. Diesel cars have fallen from 92% of new cars, to 21%.
They were also talking about the EV sharing scheme that runs in Paris. Autolib has dedicated pick up and drop of charging points. You can either use their App to find the nearest vehicle or pre-book. You can also pre-book a drop of point, so that there is not a car there already, when you arrive. The cars are always charged as you have to plug in to the charger to stop your hire, and if the car is not sufficiently charged it cannot be used and is shown as such on their system.
Another interesting point was the “What3Words” global addressing system. This has been developed to give a discrete three word address to every spot on the earth’s surface. Each 3m x 3m spot has been given a three word reference (words chosen at random from a 40,000 word list). There are 57 trillion of these addresses. Mercedes Benz is using the system, and it will be available on their cars from next year. So instead of putting a postcode into your Sat Nav (or autonomous vehicle) you will just give it a three word command. play.chop.glee finds me.

https://what3words.com/2017/09/mercedes-benz-introduces-worlds-first-car-3-word-address-voice-navigation-system/

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