By Jo Nova
Saving the world with silent killers
A new study shows electric cars are twice as likely to hit pedestrians compared to petrol and diesel cars. Presumably this is because EVs are so quiet. Though it’s also possible the dash interfaces are hideous, and some menu options are more deadly and distracting than others. Or perhaps EV drivers are more stressed or feeling nauseous? The study didn’t investigate that.
Amazingly the data was from six to ten years ago in the UK, so countless people have died in the interim, and if it is just a noise issue, it could have been fixed, or at least investigated. Where is the precautionary principle when you need it?
And if electric cars are killing more people in cities, we would presume that Fido and Spot would be a part of the carnage too. But who would know what the car-pet-kill tally was? Well, manufacturers might — they own the camera footage, but no one is even asking that question. Animals have rights you know, but they don’t donate to Greenpeace.
The Greens are rushing headlong to roll out the auto-weather-saving-machines across the countryside, and they might be killing wallabies and spotted quolls too but who cares, right? It’s not like anyone has done that study, or the Greens are worried about flattening a few rare endangered animals on their road to redemption.
Apparently, it makes sense if a few extra people and pets die now to save someone else who might suffer in one hundred years, maybe, if the computer models are right, and if EVs reduce emissions, and if emissions matter in the first place. All of which is unlikely. But rush, sprint, hurry to force those EVs onto the road. Even if they kidnap people, or kill children, it’s all for a good cause.
Electric Cars Twice As Likely To Hit Pedestrians, According to New Study
Scitech Daily
Study reveals a higher risk of accidents in urban areas across Great Britain from 2013 to 2017. Researchers call for measures to mitigate this risk as fossil-fuel vehicles are phased out.
A study has found that pedestrians are twice as likely to be hit by electric or hybrid vehicles compared to those powered by petrol or diesel. The research, which was published on May 21, 2024, in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, examined casualty rates in Great Britain from 2013 to 2017.
The risk is greater in urban areas, and governments must take steps to mitigate this safety hazard as they proceed to phase out fossil-fueled vehicles to improve air quality and curb climate change, urge the researchers.
Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young people, and 1 in 4 road traffic deaths are of pedestrians, they note. Amid the ongoing shift to electric and hybrid cars, concerns have been raised that these vehicles may pose more of a safety hazard to pedestrians than fossil-fuelled cars because they are quieter, particularly in urban areas where background ambient noise levels are higher.
the researchers calculate that between 2013 and 2017, the average annual casualty rates of pedestrians per 100 million miles of road travel were 5.16 for electric and hybrid vehicles and 2.40 for petrol and diesel vehicles.
Perhaps it’s really the fault of all those young inexperienced drivers?
And younger, less experienced drivers are more likely to be involved in a road traffic collision and are also more likely to own an electric car, possibly accounting for some of the observed heightened risk associated with these vehicles, they suggest.
Sure. These are the same careless teenagers who were “more likely” to splash $100 K on a Tesla Model S in 2016, right? What are these researchers thinking?
The only thing we know for sure is that the rush to force EVs on us has nothing to do with morality or compassion. It’s not about saving lives or protecting fluffy mammals. The Greens don’t care about those lives now, let alone the people of the future.
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More tales from the EV files:
- No one even knows if EVs will reduce carbon dioxide
- Insurance insider warns they want to force you into an EV, ban insurance for petrol cars, and track you
- Crash victims might have to be “left to die”,
- Ford explains it will have to stop selling petrol cars to poor people so it can meet government EV rules
- Thousands of EVs are rotting in fields in China
- After an accident, electric cars need to social distance in case they blow other cars up.
- How to paralyze a city with one easy EV “update”
- 90% of new car sales in Norway are EVs — but fuel demand has only fallen 10%
- EVs have suddenly become uninsurable (unless you are rich)
- Electric car kidnaps the driver at 30 mph, runs amok.
- The Luton fire just killed the EV market — the day 1,200 cars died.
- Teslas being banned in some areas of China because they are a spy threat. What does the CCP know?
- When you sit in a “digital car” you consent to being recorded and personal data sold.
- EVs report 80% more problems than petrol, diesel cars.
EVs are more likely to kill pedestrians due to the lack of engine sound is a bit thin. Even more so when you consider that the data is 10 years old. But a great headline anyway! More like driver stress caused by “range anxiety”.
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But if you combine the lack of noise from an EV with the permanently-mobile-phone-plugged-in average pedestrian, it increases the likelihood considerably. Very few people are actually present any more. ToM
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40 years ago when I put in a bit of time at a Sydney hospital it was Honda cars. Other makes have caught up since then.
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It’s just commonsense that pedestrians don’t always hear near-silent cars. Both the driver and the pedestrians play a part in avoiding collisions. If a pedestrian can’t hear the car then we have a problem. And what about people with poor vision for whom sound is an important extra clue?
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Mr. John: And think of the blind drivers! IMO if you bought an EV, and you are not a citizen of China, you are willfully blind, at the very least. It’s a form of vision impairment.
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What about the driverless cars??
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We were in Barcelona a few years ago, and did a fair bit of walking. The e-bikes there are terrifying, masses of them whizzing around completely silently. We had to be extra careful not to get wiped out by them. The idea that EVs’ silence is a factor is entirely credible.
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Yes MJ, we were in Barcelona last summer, down in the Gothic Quarter near the port (lovely area). Those E Bikes, handy though they are, were like swarms of bees, in and out of traffic and an absolute hazard for pedestrians. Before turning, stepping off the footpath or just stopping it was wise to look around for these silent killers!
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Extra weight longer braking distance.
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And think about how much CO2 is prevented from being emitted by reducing the number of Carbon-based lifeforms!
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My first, but not last encounter with this phenomenon was over a decade ago, in the US.
Near-miss from a Prius. A was walking along the “footpath’ outside one of the numerous hotels, in broad daylight and a white object just appeared; turning “enthusiastically” into the driveway I was crossing.. I looked daggers at the driver and got the “what’s your problem” face and body-language in return..
These things appear to come with a large consignment of SMUG for the drivers.
I mentally re-badged that vehicles type as a “Pious”.
Over the years since, I have ridden in several taxi-rides. The thing I noted with these rides is that the drivers have a tendency for heavy acceleration and hard braking; neither of which is conducive to “fuel” economy or mechanical longevity. And, as for the over-blown graphics display in the cockpit?. Next, some fool will be touting full “head-up” displays like a fighter aircraft. Given the parlous state of instrument visibility in some cars, this could happen; accompanies by the drooling adoration of much of the “motoring” press.
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Heads Up displays are now available on Range Rovers (I refused on my new one). However, I have found that almost as bad are the touch only control panels which are an absolute driving hazard. My previous model had knobs and switches for most of the in-car controls, such as heating and air conditioning, sound etc. These could be located quite easily by touch without taking my eyes off the road. However the new vehicle requires me to take my eyes off the road to actually look for the appropriate touch emblem on the large screen just in front of the gear change lever, and that often involves the wrong area being pressed as a knuckle can press one emblem while the finger hits the right one. I reckon this was designed by a 24 yo who plays with his iPhone all day.
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Not to hand just now but a WW2 pilot recouting his introduction to deck level flying at an RAF training course.
First requirement was that he be able to identify all cockpit controls by feel alone.
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EVs are a TOXIC, expensive disaster and we should always encourage families to buy better, cheaper ICE cars and of course have a much safer environment for passengers and pedestrians.
And when you have to replace an EV battery the remainder of the car is a useless, very cheap shell.
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The fires from EVs create a dangerous TOXIC environment and this will only increase as more are sold and cause more accidents.
Even shipping these disasters is very dangerous and we’ve already seen uncontrollable fires that send ships to the bottom of the ocean.
At least they should ban the shipping of these dangerous EVs on the same vessels as safer ICE cars and save many millions of insurance $.
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Japan, introduced a law saying EVs have to make an artificial noise of some type to alert pedestrians for when the vehicle is going forward or in reverse up to 30kph. EU and US are following.
Obviously these measures aren’t too effective in noisy cities and would only work in quiet areas. Also, Japanese are highly compliant with crossing at pedestrian crossings, Westerners less so.
And, the law of unintended consequences applies:
But regardless, all this pedestrian killing suits the Left’s agenda anyway, doesn’t it? They think there are too many non-Elites, they want a world population of 500 million, presumably a small percentage of Elites and the rest useful idiot slaves of the Left, just like the Eloi (slaves) and Morlock (Elites) of The Time Machine.
In any case, EVs soon won’t be a problem because the Left’s ultimate agenda is for non-Elites not to drive at all and to stay within the confines of the free range prisons known as 15 Minute Cities / 20 Minute Neighbourhoods.
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Japan, introduced a law saying EVs have to make an artificial noise of some type to alert pedestrians for when the vehicle is going forward or in reverse up to 30kph. EU and US are following.
Obviously these measures aren’t too effective in noisy cities and would only work in quiet areas. Also, Japanese are highly compliant with crossing at pedestrian crossings, Westerners less so.
And, the law of unintended consequences applies:
But regardless, all this pedestrian killing suits the Left’s agenda anyway, doesn’t it? They think there are too many non-Elites, they want a world population of 500 million, presumably a small percentage of Elites and the rest useful idiot slaves of the Left, just like the Eloi (slaves) and Morlock (Elites) of The Time Machine.
In any case, EVs soon won’t be a problem because the Left’s ultimate agenda is for non-Elites not to drive at all and to stay within the confines of the free range prisons known as 15 Minute Cities / 20 Minute Neighbourhoods. https://slaynews.com/news/wef-demands-limits-car-ownership-general-public/
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Australia also.
Warning noise law for electric cars to make roads safer for blind people (19 Apr)
Just in case you didn’t think smugmobiles weren’t already incredibly annoying, now they’re going to be making irritating earworm noises as well.
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And let me guess, the Australian law will be incompatible with the EU, US and Japanese laws.
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It’s all part of a make work program.
Government will insist that the alerting noises are all made in Australia.
You don’t want the auto makers saving a few bucks using cheap imported noise.
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How about “the government lied. EV’s won’t save the planet. Think of the child slave labour. Buy a petrol car” 😆😆
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Make them play Greensleeves over a speaker?
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Coincidentally, I was surprised yesterday by how much noise an EV makes on the highway.
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I walk a lot in my medium-sized city. I can easily hear just the tire noise from an EV and some have a kind of ringing sound that I assume is an intentional noise. However, I never, ever have any earbuds, headphones or other devices plugging my ears. I almost became a statistic many years ago biking in a rural area. I heard a large dump truck locking its brakes as it came around a curve and saw me. I quickly turned into a driveway and avoided being road pizza. There is too much danger to deliberately mask one of your senses.
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There were so few EVs back then I doubt the figures are reliable.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicles_in_the_United_Kingdom#/media/File%3APEV_Registrations_UK_2011_2014.png
EVs would have been doing urban journeys mostly where the pedestrians are, not much long distance on motorways where there are none.
So is the story robust?
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I often call in at Pheasant’s Nest, a major service station on the motorway between Sydney and Canberra/Melbourne. It has five EV charging stations. AFAIK, it is a long way in both directions to the next EV charging station – IOW any EV going past is extremely likely to charge there. In all the many times I have stopped there, all the charging stations have been empty, except for just one EV once. So I suspect that EVs really are used predominantly for local urban travel and not for longer trips.
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Despite EVs being rare there was quite a lot of data:
There is odd spacing in the numbers in the press release (why is there a space after the comma in 916,713?). I read that as data coming from 120,000 pedestrian casualties. For some reason the type of car was not known in 1/4 of these. But that still leaves 1,600 people hit by a rare hybrid or EV, which given the few miles driven was twice as high as expected.
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EVs can accelerate faster than an ICEV. I wonder if a lead foot is part of the problem?
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EV’s are also heavier, meaning that it takes longer for them to brake, especially on wet roads
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And in borderline incidents where someone might have walked away and not bothered to report it, instead they might need medical attention, because a heavier vehicle hit them a bit harder, and thus it gets logged.
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There might be a urban vs rural driving component in this data
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There is. The press release did go into details. And in urban settings they speculated that the higher background noise hid the approaching EV whereas in quieter country areas pedestrians were less likely to be hit by an EV.
I would presume the road noise in country areas would be more significant at high speed, and also that people crossing country roads would pay attention due to the high speed nature.
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I was on a forestry training course this week and out in the woods with a country road passing nearby, you could hear cars coming from some distance due to road noise from the tyres. Even when they passed by you could barely hear the engine noise – all tyre noise.
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Not very fair of them to choose those units when there’s every reason to believe that BEVs and even hybrids are relatively common in towns and rarer on the highways where the big miles are racked up. Rather than per mile driven, a fairer denominator would be per hour driven.
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“History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes” – Mark Twain.
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See also; Karl Marx, of all people:
“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce”.
A very nasty piece of work, with an occasional “shaft of wit”. as Doctor Spooner would say..
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When I hear an EV my reaction is: “What the hell is that?” not “Car – Caution!”.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fYlGk1UnK0&ab_channel=TheEconomicTimes
EV tanks? Australia has EV BushMasters!
“This EV brings the benefits of electric vehicles to the battlefield, particularly being quieter than its combustion counterparts, and I look forward to seeing it perform in field trials.”
https://www.australiandefence.com.au/defence/land/army-unveils-electric-bushmaster
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Also ‘….keeping personnel safe under fire….’. Love to see what happens when a RPG hits the battery pack, or they drive over a landmine.
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The noise argument is nonsense, all modern cars are very quiet at suburban speeds and the bulk of the noise they do generate comes from the tyres and air noise.
I have a large touch screen in my petrol car and it can be very distracting especially if the icons are a bit small and you have to brace your hand against the dash to make sure you hit the right one. ANCAP now rates down a vehicle with a touch screen compared to switches.
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EVs are only quieter than an ICE vehicle when they are going away from the viewpoint of the observer. Coming towards an observer, the principal audible noise both ICE and EVs make relates to the sound of the tyres on the road. Given the average EV has larger tyres than its ICE comparator, it may be that EVs approaching an observer make more, not less, noise.
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Yes I tend to agree. Modern cars especially are extremely quiet. It’s the tyre noise you hear.
And yes tyre is spelled correctly, I will ignore the red line. Put me in gaol if you don’t agree.
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What about the death and mayhem on golf courses and mobility scooters on footpaths? When Henry Ford introduced the Models A and T they were welcomed with alacrity and didn’t require government legislation to force an uptake. On the contrary, regulations were imposed to inhibit them.
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If you stand by a road and close your eyes yo can hear every car coming because of the road noise from the wheels, not the engine screaming.
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That might be true when you close your eyes. But we don’t typically do that when crossing the road.
What was the old education campaign? Stop at the kerb, Look to your right, look to your left, look to your right again.
Now it has to be, Stop at the kerb, Look to your right, look to your left, close your eyes and listen, open them again before you cross the road.
Tyres do make a noise. But Engine noise is definitely a notable warning indicator of a car in the vicinity.
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https://principia-scientific.com/ev-showroom-catches-fire-in-china-tenth-blaze-since-2021/
10 fires in 10 separate BYD showrooms but none attributed to EV Batteries. Who do they think they’re kidding?
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I’m curious to know more. EVs (some more than others) have much greater standing start acceleration and this coupled with no engine-start sounds could make their sudden movement a big surprise? I would expect insurers to have data related to accident damage, and which accidents involve injury to a pedestrian and which are at low speed or from still, rather than out on the road and all other accidents that might be attributed to young or lead-foot boy-racer drivers. I wonder whether low-speed standing start errors are more common in general with EVs, and they include pedestrian cases. There could be other statistical correlations since the majority of EV owners might have certain traits in common, that might make them statistically more prone to certain types of incident. This could also possibly have been a stat that already existed if the younger family members of wealthy individuals had a propensity to injure pedestrians – only now exposed as wealthy individuals signal virtue (or just enjoy roller-coaster acceleration) and buy up expensive EVs?
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Could it just be that EV drivers are statistically less attentive, less responsible or less intelligent than normal people?
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yes it could be.
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Come to think of it, I am consciously more cautious around a certain common make of hybrid on the road as I’ve noticed they often don’t drive very well. I even trained a family member to be particularly watchful of those on the road as they often do strange things. But that should show up in all incidents, not just car v pedestrian stats.
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It could also be that regenerative braking performance can be highly variable, due to limitations on battery charging rates, the torque-speed characteristics of the motor (in generator mode), and attenuated time response of regen braking necessary for stability of blended friction and electric braking.
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Walking or jogging I have had EVs “sneak up” on me but the major threat has always been at intersections when turning drivers don’t stop or even slow down.
I have become very aware of what Einstein said – Knowledge is knowing a street is one way. Wisdom is looking both ways.
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Thats easily solved. You just stay quiet about it. Like Channel 9 News. They do a story on how hot it is and the next story is an E-scooter burning down a house and not a mention this is the effect of climate policy.
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Whoever is at the head of channel 9 is extremely bent on climate change. We complain about the government propaganda channel ABC, but 9 is no better.
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When Living in Snowy Hokkaido – It was difficult enough to hear ICE cars when it was snowing, But EVs were totally silent – Lost count of the times I was almost cleaned up by them when I was walking. In tricky conditions you need to be able to use all your senses to keep yourself safe. Silent EV’s are very dangerous.
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Apart from all the other disadvantages- cost, replacement battery costs, resale values, range and especially charging times, why are EVs so ugly? Yes the word is hideous. This is another reason they aren’t selling. I just purchased a new VW Golf GTI. Makes a nice sound and pedestrians will hear me without it being annoying.
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Maybe we should revert to old practices such as having a traffic control person with a red flag walking in front of EV’s, as was a requirement when cars first hit the toad.
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There must be more toads hit by battery cars now.
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That is highly applicable to carparks. We have attended quite a few incidents where a silent EV has met an unsuspecting person.
Also,
In my experience, most pedestrian fatalities are not via a “high” speed contact.
I have attended pedestrian fatalities, caused by low speed “10km/h” impacts.
FYI, below is a very general summary of what I have seen, re car vs pedestrian –
10km/h – you will likely have a broken bone or hip. Especially if you are frail/old. Low risk of fatality… (yet they do occur)
20km/h – broken bones, likely internal injuries, skull fracture from secondary contact (i.e. head with road surface). Avulsion wounds possible.
20-30km/h – is enough to put a pedestrians’ life at high risk of fatality.
above 30km/h – contact with any moving vehicle is to be avoided.
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Self-driving tesla careening straight into moving train as driver desperately tries to turn away
The owner of a Tesla is lucky to be alive after dramatic dash cam footage shows the vehicle, while in Full Self-Driving mode, headed straight for a moving train until the driver seemingly wrested control of the car and turned away at the last second.
The driver posted about his experience
“I have owned my Tesla for less than a year, and within the last six months, it has twice attempted to drive directly into a passing train while in FSD [full self-driving] mode,” wrote the driver, who identified themselves as Craig Doty II from Camden, Ohio. “The most recent incident occurred on May 8, 2024, and I have dash cam footage from that event.”
Four videos from the incident show the vehicle traveling through a foggy rural landscape, with the front-facing camera footage showing the moment when a passing train appeared up ahead and the Tesla didn’t stop, even with the train crossing gate in the down position with alarm lights blinking rapidly.
https://futurism.com/the-byte/footage-self-driving-tesla-train
Onboard AI: ” I’ll get you next time!”😎
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After the first time, who would turn on FSD again? Knowing human nature, it’s possible that in future Tesla drivers will try to get FSD to “nearly” kill them so that they can get a payout.
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Karma Baby
Model Then Now Discount Change
GWM Ora $45,000* $35,990 $9000 20%
Peugeot e2008 $63,000* $39,990 $23,010 36.5%
Tesla Model Y $72,300 $60,900 $11,400 15.7%
Lotus Eletre $189,990 $239,000 $49,000 20.5%
Mercedes EQE 53 $350,000* $250,000* $100,000 28.5%
https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/car-advice/roadside-assistance-ev-nightmare-as-prices-crash/news-story/b62dd244c63c842b56c24d1c649fd5cd
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Louder is always better.
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‘ëngine noise is definitely a notable warning indicator of a car in the vicinity[‘
… what about if yr crossing the road concentrating on yr cell phone?
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The only positive feature of a battery powered car is the instant torque delivery from the electric motor. But there is evidence that this is leading to more crashes involving battery cars as drivers can’t cope with the acceleration. I have read that they were looking at trying to reduce this. The extra weight plays a part but the acceleration is what wears the tyres out on battery cars much faster than on normal cars. The stopping performance of battery cars is limited by tyre technology so a heavier car will take longer to stop. The special battery car tyres are to deal with the weight and the wear rate which would mean a harder compound that makes braking performance worse. In another article on this subject, a comment was made that as a pedestrian he was failing to adjust his behaviour for battery car acceleration and was nearly caught out crossing in front of them when he was used to making it across comfortably.
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EMFs (Electric milk floats) … the first time in history that the car is likely to get written off by an accident with a human.
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In Australia, the postal service has adopted three wheeler electric rickshaws as a replacement for the old Honda 110cc postie bikes. The “parp parp” noise of the bike was always associated with the mail delivery … but now it is pretty much silent. These things are not much more than a largish mobility scooter.
For short distance and low speed trips, with a lot of stop/start, the battery electric system makes sense. The three wheelers are lightweight, only carry a single person and about half a cubic metre of luggage.
https://kyburz-switzerland.ch/en/australia
You can see these things quietly zipping around the back streets of Sydney. I would say it’s generally a good use for the newer technology … not so much because of climate change … but because the skill of handling that difficult Honda bike is much higher than handling the very stable and easy to control electric machine.
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Order EVs to honk while moving.
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