When I read this article all I could think was :wtf:.
https://tinyurl.com/3bbpx376
Wasn't he in the AA ? :grin: :grin: :grin:
only surprised it doesn't happen more often!
Electric cars have no neutral. Regenerative braking/slowing makes them impossible to push. They have to be winched onto a low loader to move them far but I can't see why it couldn't be winched onto the grass island in the picture. There is absolutely no excuse for running out of charge. Constant warnings plus they typically tell you 0 miles left when there are still about 10 miles possible.
Doubtless owned by a merchant banker.
Blooming things, it will all end in tears. This country is nowhere near ready for them. :sad:
Quote from: klondike on September 02, 2023, 10:10:40 AMElectric cars have no neutral. Regenerative braking/slowing makes them impossible to push. They have to be winched onto a low loader to move them far but I can't see why it couldn't be winched onto the grass island in the picture. There is absolutely no excuse for running out of charge. Constant warnings plus they typically tell you 0 miles left when there are still about 10 miles possible.
Doubtless owned by a merchant banker.
A JCB wouldn't have had any trouble shifting it.
Good job it hadn't just pulled out into lane 3 of a motorway.
The road is a dangerous place at the best of times.. Why produce cars that could (potentially) cause yet more problems..
What about those cars that can drive themselves !!.. Not for me..
Quote from: Scrumpy on September 02, 2023, 11:40:54 AMThe road is a dangerous place at the best of times.. Why produce cars that could (potentially) cause yet more problems..
What about those cars that can drive themselves !!.. Not for me..
Eeekkkkk, No way in hell will I get in one of those things. [1080] [2110]
nor me - height of bloody stupidly
"The handbrakes of electric cars, and some other modern cars, are controlled electronically, unlike those of traditional petrol and diesel cars, which are mechanical. This means that the handbrake often locks when the power fails and the car cannot be pushed or towed."
If so it's not a handbrake; be that as it may, does anyone know if it locks two wheels or all four? Some sort of skates might be useful for emergency situations. A couple of skate boards would have solved the problem.
Quote from: Ashy on September 02, 2023, 06:11:56 PM"The handbrakes of electric cars, and some other modern cars, are controlled electronically, unlike those of traditional petrol and diesel cars, which are mechanical. This means that the handbrake often locks when the power fails and the car cannot be pushed or towed."
If so it's not a handbrake; be that as it may, does anyone know if it locks two wheels or all four? Some sort of skates might be useful for emergency situations. A couple of skate boards would have solved the problem.
I think that many, if not all, new cars have an electronic handbrake. Ours does anyway (Golf).
I hope that should the power fail, perhaps the battery go flat, it would be possible to push the thing to the side of the road.
Depends how it works but in heavy vehicles the parking brake is applied by a coil spring and released by compressed air.
the Mondeo (2021 plate) has an electronic brake - don't know whether it apples all four brakes or just two, nor what would happen if the battery was flat.
I'm afraid I don't understand any of the so-called logic behind the 'new' cars.
Why does a driver need a multi-media screen, I don't even use our car radio & what's wrong with pulling a handbrake lever as at least you know it's on or off.
Quote from: Diasi on September 03, 2023, 07:44:05 AMI'm afraid I don't understand any of the so-called logic behind the 'new' cars.
Why does a driver need a multi-media screen, I don't even use our car radio & what's wrong with pulling a handbrake lever as at least you know it's on or off.
Very true often simple is best. I don't use most of the things on my car, just what I need but I do like Radio Scotland on a longer drive, otherwise the cars only noise is the engine, and even that's very quiet for a diesel. 🙂
things my car has which I don't use
Radio
CD player
Assisted hill start
self parking
cruise control (but I would if I did a long motorway journey as I used to
Bluetooth
and there are probably other things I don't use because I don't even know they are there!
Quote from: Raven on September 03, 2023, 09:01:51 AMVery true often simple is best.
I agree, the more complicated anything is, the more there is to go wrong.
Quote from: Michael Rolls on September 03, 2023, 09:13:03 AMthings my car has which I don't use
Radio
CD player
Assisted hill start
self parking
cruise control (but I would if I did a long motorway journey as I used to
Bluetooth
and there are probably other things I don't use because I don't even know they are there!
I use cruise control quite a lot & the speed limiter most of the time.
I use my CD player and radio , my car doesn't have any gadgets. :grin:
My 22 year old motor has automatic windscreen wipers and lights.. She was 'Posh' back in the day..
I wish she could reverse park herself..
I agree with Ashy .. the more gadgets the more problems.
The only thing I would use if the car had one, is a built in Sat Nav if I wasn't sure where I was going. As it is I have to plester about with my phone app, rake out the holder for it, and find the wire for the lighter plug, and prey it will not unstick it's self from the windscreen, blooming carry on. Thankfully it's only from Inverness south that I find I can need it.
Quote from: Scrumpy on September 03, 2023, 10:41:36 AMMy 22 year old motor has automatic windscreen wipers and lights.. She was 'Posh' back in the day..
I wish she could reverse park herself..
I agree with Ashy .. the more gadgets the more problems.
'She'?
Why do people call cars 'she'?
Well, I assume it's because they can be bloody difficult at times.
Quote from: Diasi on September 03, 2023, 09:39:19 AMI use cruise control quite a lot & the speed limiter most of the time.
Cruise control around our lanes is totally inappropriate and I do not like speed limiter - it can be dangerous if an emergency situation calls for acceleration. Obviously your motoring is different to mine
Quote from: Michael Rolls on September 03, 2023, 11:17:36 AMCruise control around our lanes is totally inappropriate and I do not like speed limiter - it can be dangerous if an emergency situation calls for acceleration. Obviously your motoring is different to mine
I agree. Even on our motorways, I feel the need to change speed all the time, except for on the few occasions when there is little or no traffic around.
The one form of 'speed limiter' ours has is a bleep which sounds when you exceed the posted speed limits, which it can read from the speed limit signs.
Interestingly, having attended a short course (free!) provided by Manchester council to help people who haven't driven for a couple of years (including me, but that's another story), I was offered an hour with an instructor who pointed out that I was changing up a gear too frequently.
He suggested that up to 20mph, stay in second gear, and up to 30mph, third gear. Bearing in mind that most of the roads around here are either 30 or 20 limits, I found that I rarely use fourth gear (never mind fifth) unless I'm on a motorway or other dual carriageway!
He pointed out that if you keep your gear appropriately low, you have more control of the car yet you are not using too much fuel.
At first, I found it difficult not to change up to fourth as early as I always have done, but now getting better at it!
and, of course, lower gears mean more revs and more emissions! So much for these moronic 20 MPH zones unless genuinely for safety reasons
Large parts of The Wirral are 20mph and many people are not happy about it.
The residential streets here are 20mph. Lots of old terrace housing, single file traffic because the roads are so narrow, it makes sense. Our road, quite a steep hill, has a bit more off street parking, so its less congested than most, but still a bit of a slalom. Most of the neighbours don't seem to find 20mph difficult, but there are a couple of idiots who race up and down.
Quote from: JBR on September 03, 2023, 10:58:46 AM'She'?
Why do people call cars 'she'?
Well, I assume it's because they can be bloody difficult at times.
I call her 'She' because she takes me where I want to go..' She' never lets me down and her workings are not complicated..
'She' never jumps a light.. 'She' doesn't need a piercing horn to let you know she is around..
'She' never rushes anywhere but still arrives in time.
'She' loves a bubble bath in Fairy Liquid.. and looks as good as a car that has been buffed up..
... and 'She' lights up when it is dark.. without being glaringly obvious..
Quote from: Scrumpy on September 03, 2023, 03:00:54 PMI call her 'She' because she takes me where I want to go..' She' never lets me down and her workings are not complicated..
'She' never jumps a light.. 'She' doesn't need a piercing horn to let you know she is around..
'She' never rushes anywhere but still arrives in time.
'She' loves a bubble bath in Fairy Liquid.. and looks as good as a car that has been buffed up..
... and 'She' lights up when it is dark.. without being glaringly obvious..
Sounds like me, though I don't like bubble baths in Fairy Liquid.
Plain, ordinary soap will do me.
Thats a great tip to drive in 2nd gear for 20mph and 3rd gear for 30mph, thanks for that!
I find it really difficult to stay at 20mph, my Cooper is busting to go faster!! 🚗
Quote from: Ruthio on September 03, 2023, 10:09:24 PMThats a great tip to drive in 2nd gear for 20mph and 3rd gear for 30mph, thanks for that!
I find it really difficult to stay at 20mph, my Cooper is busting to go faster!! 🚗
I think it's safer to stick to the limits, especially as there are so many cameras about these days.
Not that I'm a speed merchant, but Marge got done for going a bit over the 30 limit having just left a 40 limit area. We reckoned that it's a means of catching people out and raising money!
but of course
Quote from: JBR on September 03, 2023, 10:44:18 PMI think it's safer to stick to the limits, especially as there are so many cameras about these days.
Not that I'm a speed merchant, but Marge got done for going a bit over the 30 limit having just left a 40 limit area. We reckoned that it's a means of catching people out and raising money!
Councils are excellent at doing that. Edinburgh Council have several places where the speed limit changes and the signs are hard to see, also St Andrews has a road that changes in several places, unless you know, it's easy to get caught out.
Quote from: Michael Rolls on September 03, 2023, 11:17:36 AMCruise control around our lanes is totally inappropriate and I do not like speed limiter - it can be dangerous if an emergency situation calls for acceleration. Obviously your motoring is different to mine
Mr Rolls, pay attention at the back as I've explained this to you previously. :grin:
Your car has a kick-down that will overide the speed limiter.
As for cruise control I often use it on country rural roads as in Lincolnshire a lot of them are long & straight.
The road to Retford is rural but it has a 50mph SPECS speed camera system for the entire 15 mile journey, so I use cruise control for that.
I just tap it on & off as & when needed, & of course touching the brakes or clutch cancels it.
I never have to take my eyes off the road to check the speed.
Phil
You know what they say about 'when all else fails read the instructions'? Just looked up the Mondeo's manual and you are right - but an earlier car most certainly wouldn't kick down in speed limiter only in cruise control - I think it was the CR-V but wouldn't swear to it. Whichever car it was, I never actually used speed limiter other than that experiment.
As for long straight roads - well, I've heard of them, but around here....