19 Replies to “We Don’t Need No Flaming Sparky Cars”

  1. Ford has no ability to remotely change how far my truck goes. Elon Orwell apparently does control teslas though. Maybe he’ll also get it to take you to the reeducation camp if you post something unapproved on twitter or YouTube.

  2. I don’t think much of Elon Musk, but I think he’s innocent in this case.
    Battery life is determined by how fully the battery is charged and discharged, okay? If you charge any type of battery to 100% and discharge it to 0% the battery will be useless after a few dozen or few hundred cycles. If you charge to 95%-98% and discharge to 20% your battery will last for thousands of cycles. The rate of charge and discharge also affects battery life; heat is destructive. The faster a battery is charged or discharged the greater the heat. Remember the Boeing 787s that caught fire last year? That was because the software that controlled the battery charger was defective; it allowed too high a charge rate which melted the lithium-ion battery.
    I suspect what Tesla has done to get that extra 40 miles range is they’ve lowered the maximum discharge point, sacrificing battery life for it.
    Al_in_Ottawa

  3. Tesla owners signed on for total control of the car being held by Tesla when they bought it. It is upfront and considered a feature. I agree they can’t express outrage now when the company does just that.
    BUT this is the way of the future for all cars, ICE or electric. Control can be put in the hands of others and it comes as no surprise that control isn’t always used for good. This guy’s KIA Forte was disabled even after possession was transferred completely to him.
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-man-fights-back-after-dealer-remotely-disables-car-over-200-fee-1.4265588
    I’m sure Ward knows not to buy a new Fort F150 with SYNC Connect but it is an example of the control coming to ‘ordinary’ trucks and probably isn’t as well understood by the general public. Most of the crap, like the Auto Start/Stop to save gas is controlled within the truck but programmed by Ford at the factory and I’ll assume ‘new versions’ are installed without the owner’s permission by the dealer when ordered by Ford.
    The amount of software in all our cars is mind-boggling and depressing since it is taking control away from owners and back-yard mechanics.

  4. Nope that’s not why. The cheaper models have the same battery as the more expensive ones and only software limits the range of the cheaper models.
    This is not a unique thing to tesla. There are other instances of manufacturers having detuned engines for cheaper models. The difference is the ability to control all cars remotely and against the owners/operators wishes.

  5. I feel fortunate that I am already old enough that I can probably eke out the rest of my driving years with old tech used vehicles. Looks like I need to stock up on parts though as manufacturers will probably become more aggressive about getting older vehicles off the roads to force us to submit to their control. From the industry’s point of view, the ideal situation will be achieved when we all can only lease vehicles for shorter and shorter life cycles before exchanging them for the latest colour.

  7. Tesla owners signed on for total control of the car being held by Tesla when they bought it. It is upfront and considered a feature. I agree they can’t express outrage now when the company does just that.
    BUT this is the way of the future for all cars, ICE or electric. Control can be put in the hands of others and it comes as no surprise that control isn’t always used for good. This guy’s KIA Forte was disabled even after possession was transferred completely to him.
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-man-fights-back-after-dealer-remotely-disables-car-over-200-fee-1.4265588
    I’m sure Ward knows not to buy a new Fort F150 with SYNC Connect but it is an example of the control coming to ‘ordinary’ trucks and probably isn’t as well understood by the general public. Most of the crap, like the Auto Start/Stop to save gas is controlled within the truck but programmed by Ford at the factory and I’ll assume ‘new versions’ are installed without the owner’s permission by the dealer when ordered by Ford.
    The amount of software in all our cars is mind-boggling and depressing since it is taking control away from owners and back-yard mechanics.

  8. Apologies for the second post, the first timed out and I submitted again without checking to see that it had in fact already posted.

  9. Well, this highlights the uselessness of EVs for emergency services like fire trucks and EMS vans. Sure power shuts down and gas pumps don;t always work, but imagine a whole fleet of emergency EVs being down in a time of crisis. That’s what Mayor Gregor Robertson wants for Vancouver. Morons all.
    HA HA HA!! The Captcha is PEPSI 3623…. “PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America division, a leader in the use of all-electric delivery trucks, is adding 20 electric vehicles to its fleet in upstate New York, along with 20 innovative and enhanced electric vehicle charging stations.”
    Too funny.
    Morons all.

  10. You bet Tooner, that is the way to go. Already planning that strategy with the F350 Powerstroke, it doesn’t get more than 5,000k per year on it, so it should last a long time, and with the shiny new ones going for north of $70k, there’s no way I’m going there. Hell, a new paint job is $5k plus change, still worth it.
    I would rather spend the $10k to rebuild and bulletproof the motor, and $5k to rebuild the tranny (the ones with 5 gears, not the crossdresser down the road, snark!) than to purchase a new or near new Ford, with more gizmos and electronics that really are not necessary.
    I get along fine without the gizmos now, and if I need them, I can buy an aftermarket sound/stereo/puter system that does 95% of the factory unit, at far less cost.
    The cost of new vehicles is outrageous, but more outrageous, are our younger people, who are seemingly quite happy with an $800/mo vehicle payment………………..but complain about high rents and home prices…..stupid is as stupid does!

  11. Comments that time out are almost already published. Just close your tab and refresh in a minute or two. The platform is crappy, it happens when I write posts as well.

  12. I’ve been telling people for years. “Buying a self-driving car and the government will determine where and how far you can go” People have always told me I’m paranoid.
    You’ll pry my standard transmission vehicle out of my cold dead hands.

  13. Imagine Escaping a Hurricane in a Tesla
    Imagine if the government banned gasoline cars, so all privately owned cars were electric. Imagine if every one of those evacuees had an electric car. Imagine the chaos if millions of electric cars pulled up at the same roadside charging stations at the same time, each expecting their half hour “fast” recharge, each driver utterly desperate to bring their families to safety before the hurricane struck.

  14. hi Al.
    any word on why tesla people did not disclose any of this? you know, full disclosure stuff so the CUSTOMER can make an informed decision?
    stop defending this kind of subterfuge.
    speaking of tesla, I wonder what Nicola thinks of this modern day electrical engineering version of ’emperor’s new clothes’ syndrome with his name glommed onto it.
    and finally, I get to check another item off my bucket list!!! I finally actually SAW a tesla !!! wheeee !!!!! parked in a driveway at night, plugged in. that’s why I noticed.
    wheeee !!!!

  16. Actually this kind of thing is standard practice in the IBM part of the computer business. Since at least the 30XX line they’ve sold the customer top end multi-processor boards with only one or more processors licensed. So a low end machine is really the same as a higher end one (at the processor level anyway) but without the license to operate more CPUs/Channels. Tesla’s remote upgrades thus mirror those IBM has provided since at least the mid 80s.

  17. Actually the same practice was used with Software, MOST software ARE masters that include all features and available protocols.. The “Product KEY” controls what is loaded..
    (Buy cheap version, and expensive version…Use Key only from expensive version..Return unused software)…
    In some Hi-End Broadcast Editing systems the secret is hidden in programmed hardware…The hardware is programmed from the keyboard.. only a few know how. The Director of Software & Company President (GVG)

  18. Tesla is a car … for people who HATE cars. And now I learn that it is a car for people who HATE freedom. Not only the RESTRICTED freedom of range … but the total surrender of your mobility to a bureaucrat at a switchboard … somewhere in the “central office”. Tesla owners happily signed-away their personal sovereignty for the promise of a FAKE green virtue-signaling mode of transport.

  19. Most other auto manufacturers “sell vehicles that are incapable of learning and improving and are highly vulnerable to obsolescence,”
    Well, I guess I’m living well into the past…the last thing I want is a smart assed truck.
    I own it, and I damned well control it, not some globalist progressive freeloader.
    2006 Emissions Free GMC Duramax – turbo back straight exhaust that does not blow black smoke…No Cat, No Muffler, no resonator, no EGR….and 22 mpgs at 124 kmhr….. Titan Tank (52 Gal) plus a 30 gal slip….1800km range.
    EV’s….?? until we get a grid that can actually handle them, untill they get a range of 600 km+ on a charge, they remain cute toys and about as useful as teats on a bull.

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