You tow an electric vehicle exactly how you'd tow a locked vehicle in park with the brake on: lift up the rear wheels and put them on dollies (or tow by the rear). Not being able to get your vehicle in a state you can push it in is a mild design flaw, but the "untowable" claim can really only be made by people who are doing it wrong.
"bricked" never meant "this thing will never work again no matter what." It simply means "this thing is going to be such a bitch to fix I should probably just toss it and get another."
But then again, anyone and everyone who argues over minutiae in the meaning of the word "bricked" is just being pedantic;)
Having R'd TFA, the problem is slightly bigger than a flat battery. A fully discharged LiIon cell is physically damaged and cannot be recharged. If left to sit long enough (which was the case in each example), enough cells could be in this state to prevent recharging. So yes, "bricked" is inaccurate and unnecessarily negative, but the issue is bigger than can be fixed with a simple recharge.
That said, the five examples of failed batteries were all due to the owner letting the vehicle sit for weeks without charging.
If it was one of the "newer" Toyota Corolla based Novas, you probably could have swam down there with your key, turned it on, and drove it out of the lake.
Having RTFA'd, it is a negative opinion piece full of half truths and misinformation. That article is a horribly blatant attempt to discredit the vehicles from somebody who does not understand the underlying technologies. It needs to be taken as an opinion piece - there are zero references on his five examples (it's simply a chat with a service manager), and he is stating things as fact which simply aren't.
First: yes, there are cases with batteries where they can be discharged to the point where the cells themselves are damaged and cannot be recharged. This is the case with *most* battery chemistries and is not going away any time soon. The blogger calls this a "Devastating design problem" when it is simply a part of the technology, like not storing your fuel cans near the furnace or leaving fuel to sit in a carburetor. There is a pretty clear warning in the car's manual not to let the battery voltage flatline for long, our intrepid blogger even provided a a PDF file with that page out of the manual. It states that the battery must be charged immediately if the charge level falls to 0% and has a great deal of information on the care and feeding of the battery.
Even if we take the five failed battery packs as truth, that is 0.2% of vehicles with an issue - an issue that in each example was due to the owner not charging the vehicle with one possible exception. His extension cord example could present a possible issue with the Tesla chargers. A typical cheap "heavy duty" extension cord will have 16 gauge wires, which over that distance is going to have some noticeable resistance. I don't know the current draw of the battery, but if it is expecting to pull 10 or 20 amps, the charger will see a significant voltage drop and likely cut off the charging (unless it has a "trickle charge" mode, dunno...). If the vehicle didn't report that it wasn't charging (or inaccurately reported it was), then I could see this being a design issue. I'll also note that this particular example did not state whether the customer had to pay for the repair.
What it comes down to is all electrical systems have ways they could be improved. That doesn't make this a devastating problem, it is simply an aspect of this class of vehicle that the owner needs to pay attention to. This blogger has a bone to pick or wants to stir the pot with a sensationalist report. Apparently it's working, after all, we both read his article:P
All depends on the car, but it doesn't change my point. Most folks weigh a repair cost against the value of the car, I try to weigh the repair cost against the cost of the replacement car.
Nail on the head. I really disliked the S series cars, ugly, slow, boring to drive, but they went and went while pulling decent mileage. My sister has one and I hate driving it, but I have a mild respect for the damn thing.
Then what happens? Take a formula that worked well, and replace it with a heap of re-badged "global platform" cars. Turn it from a really good one-trick pony into a flea market for all of the same junk sold by other badges of the same company. Compare Chevy to Pontiac to Saturn in the last few years and find the vehicles that *don't* overlap. Anything of value with Saturn was lost long before they closed shop.
Not everybody has that much turnover on cars. If you're only keeping your car for two years, you could pretty much ignore all maintenance and it would last for that two years. Horrible mess for whoever gets it next, but it will make it through your two years. A properly maintained car can go for two or three hundred thousand miles and last the owner ten or twenty years with a handful of lesser expenses. I see $1200 for a transmission against $25,000 for a new car, and unless there are significant enough problems with the old car I go with the repair. It also helps that I really like my older car...
You didn't try to sell her on the cost savings of the greater mileage and (potentially) cheaper insurance of riding your bike? I mean, it's all lies - but like any lie you can spin it into a plausible half-truth!
I would take a dongle over a "call home" system like FlexLM any day. I've been embarrassed in the field when my license that I had thought I'd checked out properly was missing the license to some key piece and wouldn't run the debugger. I've never had so much hassle just running software - you'd figure for >$12k per *year* they could come up with a protection scheme that worked.
Only your last example is valid for the case of a document falling into somebody's lap. Documents marked "for internal use only" are only enforceable through whatever contract kept them internal. Unless you are an employee or in some way responsible for keeping it "internal" then there is nothing to keep you from reading it. Writing "don't read this" on a document doesn't give that document any special powers.
In general, the same applies for classified documents. The US has no general "Official Secrets" act, so you can't prosecute just anybody for leaking - much less reading - classified documents. There are exceptions, but they must be narrowly defined.
There are plenty of living organisms capable of living somewhat indefinite lifespans - many species of trees are more or less limited to dying only through external means. If humans didn't age as we do now, we'd still have an average life span of a few hundred years due to deaths in accidents, wars, diseases, etc.
All good points and I'm sad to see that Overrated mod there; however, the fact remains that nuclear plants in the US are all based on extremely old and comparatively unsafe technologies due to political red tape. The nuclear industry in the US has been held back much more for political reasons than safety.
As is, people seem to think that it's either nuclear power or magical maintenance-free reliable windmills, rather than either coal power or de-industrialization.
I think you'd be shocked and disheartened by how many would prefer de-industrialization.
Slashdot Mirror
You tow an electric vehicle exactly how you'd tow a locked vehicle in park with the brake on: lift up the rear wheels and put them on dollies (or tow by the rear). Not being able to get your vehicle in a state you can push it in is a mild design flaw, but the "untowable" claim can really only be made by people who are doing it wrong.
"bricked" never meant "this thing will never work again no matter what." It simply means "this thing is going to be such a bitch to fix I should probably just toss it and get another."
;)
But then again, anyone and everyone who argues over minutiae in the meaning of the word "bricked" is just being pedantic
Having R'd TFA, the problem is slightly bigger than a flat battery. A fully discharged LiIon cell is physically damaged and cannot be recharged. If left to sit long enough (which was the case in each example), enough cells could be in this state to prevent recharging. So yes, "bricked" is inaccurate and unnecessarily negative, but the issue is bigger than can be fixed with a simple recharge.
That said, the five examples of failed batteries were all due to the owner letting the vehicle sit for weeks without charging.
If it was one of the "newer" Toyota Corolla based Novas, you probably could have swam down there with your key, turned it on, and drove it out of the lake.
Having RTFA'd, it is a negative opinion piece full of half truths and misinformation. That article is a horribly blatant attempt to discredit the vehicles from somebody who does not understand the underlying technologies. It needs to be taken as an opinion piece - there are zero references on his five examples (it's simply a chat with a service manager), and he is stating things as fact which simply aren't.
:P
First: yes, there are cases with batteries where they can be discharged to the point where the cells themselves are damaged and cannot be recharged. This is the case with *most* battery chemistries and is not going away any time soon. The blogger calls this a "Devastating design problem" when it is simply a part of the technology, like not storing your fuel cans near the furnace or leaving fuel to sit in a carburetor. There is a pretty clear warning in the car's manual not to let the battery voltage flatline for long, our intrepid blogger even provided a a PDF file with that page out of the manual. It states that the battery must be charged immediately if the charge level falls to 0% and has a great deal of information on the care and feeding of the battery.
Even if we take the five failed battery packs as truth, that is 0.2% of vehicles with an issue - an issue that in each example was due to the owner not charging the vehicle with one possible exception. His extension cord example could present a possible issue with the Tesla chargers. A typical cheap "heavy duty" extension cord will have 16 gauge wires, which over that distance is going to have some noticeable resistance. I don't know the current draw of the battery, but if it is expecting to pull 10 or 20 amps, the charger will see a significant voltage drop and likely cut off the charging (unless it has a "trickle charge" mode, dunno...). If the vehicle didn't report that it wasn't charging (or inaccurately reported it was), then I could see this being a design issue. I'll also note that this particular example did not state whether the customer had to pay for the repair.
What it comes down to is all electrical systems have ways they could be improved. That doesn't make this a devastating problem, it is simply an aspect of this class of vehicle that the owner needs to pay attention to. This blogger has a bone to pick or wants to stir the pot with a sensationalist report. Apparently it's working, after all, we both read his article
All depends on the car, but it doesn't change my point. Most folks weigh a repair cost against the value of the car, I try to weigh the repair cost against the cost of the replacement car.
...your name brands are typically "made in China" as well.
Nail on the head. I really disliked the S series cars, ugly, slow, boring to drive, but they went and went while pulling decent mileage. My sister has one and I hate driving it, but I have a mild respect for the damn thing.
Then what happens? Take a formula that worked well, and replace it with a heap of re-badged "global platform" cars. Turn it from a really good one-trick pony into a flea market for all of the same junk sold by other badges of the same company. Compare Chevy to Pontiac to Saturn in the last few years and find the vehicles that *don't* overlap. Anything of value with Saturn was lost long before they closed shop.
Animals have been eating the wiring of cars long before they were biodegradable.
Not everybody has that much turnover on cars. If you're only keeping your car for two years, you could pretty much ignore all maintenance and it would last for that two years. Horrible mess for whoever gets it next, but it will make it through your two years. A properly maintained car can go for two or three hundred thousand miles and last the owner ten or twenty years with a handful of lesser expenses. I see $1200 for a transmission against $25,000 for a new car, and unless there are significant enough problems with the old car I go with the repair. It also helps that I really like my older car...
If you only want your car for 40k or 50k miles, then yeah you can get away with it.
You didn't try to sell her on the cost savings of the greater mileage and (potentially) cheaper insurance of riding your bike? I mean, it's all lies - but like any lie you can spin it into a plausible half-truth!
...on the flip side, your rights end where theirs begins. Then again, they'll all just be bums anyway, right?
I would take a dongle over a "call home" system like FlexLM any day. I've been embarrassed in the field when my license that I had thought I'd checked out properly was missing the license to some key piece and wouldn't run the debugger. I've never had so much hassle just running software - you'd figure for >$12k per *year* they could come up with a protection scheme that worked.
So what you're saying is... Science was wrong and will always be wrong!!! Praise Jesus!
Oh gods, my kingdom for an Inconceivable mod!!!
Only your last example is valid for the case of a document falling into somebody's lap. Documents marked "for internal use only" are only enforceable through whatever contract kept them internal. Unless you are an employee or in some way responsible for keeping it "internal" then there is nothing to keep you from reading it. Writing "don't read this" on a document doesn't give that document any special powers.
In general, the same applies for classified documents. The US has no general "Official Secrets" act, so you can't prosecute just anybody for leaking - much less reading - classified documents. There are exceptions, but they must be narrowly defined.
I spose you're right... Makes you wonder how many of them thought before hand "I'm not going to have *that* kind of divorce if the time comes."
I see your faith in humanity is well intact...
Both of them... unless one of them is a vindictive twat who doesn't want to share something that costs them nothing.
The Arm will prevail!!!
There are plenty of living organisms capable of living somewhat indefinite lifespans - many species of trees are more or less limited to dying only through external means. If humans didn't age as we do now, we'd still have an average life span of a few hundred years due to deaths in accidents, wars, diseases, etc.
All good points and I'm sad to see that Overrated mod there; however, the fact remains that nuclear plants in the US are all based on extremely old and comparatively unsafe technologies due to political red tape. The nuclear industry in the US has been held back much more for political reasons than safety.
As is, people seem to think that it's either nuclear power or magical maintenance-free reliable windmills, rather than either coal power or de-industrialization.
I think you'd be shocked and disheartened by how many would prefer de-industrialization.
And those people are wrong and should be taught the proper use of the terminology.