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this just in
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Cool this one just came out too, and it is interesting:
Jaguar I-Pace named BBC TopGear Magazine EV of the Year
https://www.renewableenergymagazine...-ipace-named-bbc-topgear-magazine-ev-20181126
Jaguar I-Pace named BBC TopGear Magazine EV of the Year
https://www.renewableenergymagazine...-ipace-named-bbc-topgear-magazine-ev-20181126
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And one more I had not seen:
"It’s an extremely close-run thing, but the I-Pace just clinches the win. It’s not quite as good to drive as the Model S, nor is it as practical, but for real-world range and ownership costs – two crucial areas for Electric car buyers – it has the Tesla beaten. It's more comfortable and classier inside, too."
https://www.whatcar.com/news/new-jaguar-i-pace-vs-tesla-model-s/n18273
"It’s an extremely close-run thing, but the I-Pace just clinches the win. It’s not quite as good to drive as the Model S, nor is it as practical, but for real-world range and ownership costs – two crucial areas for Electric car buyers – it has the Tesla beaten. It's more comfortable and classier inside, too."
https://www.whatcar.com/news/new-jaguar-i-pace-vs-tesla-model-s/n18273
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And look at this list, all very desirable cars, and looky what car happens to be on there...
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/best-luxury-cars-in-2019/index.html
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/best-luxury-cars-in-2019/index.html
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I was very excited by the E-Tron SUV, but the more I saw the less interested I became. The side mirrors are not coming to US because of our out of date regulatory process (just like real laser high beams, matrix LEDs, and countless innovations we won't be getting any time soon). But the reviewers generally DID NOT like the implementation on the Audi.
On the other hand most things about the I Pace really work for me, and I am not easily taken by a car. So that says a lot in my opinion on what Jaguar has achieved, even if it has a few imperfections. The Audi seems "perfect" and oh so dull...
I love the idea; of course, the idea also needs to be implemented well. But our ever-vigilant government will 'protect' us from such improvements for years to come.
That article was also still showing the Concept Car version of the Taycan - which was gorgeous. And, the production version is a frickin' Panamera (2nd only the the Honda Insight as the world's ugliest car, IMO) without an engine. I would have waited for a Taycan if they had made it ANYTHING like the prototype.
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Actually it has nothing to do with "protecting" and everything to do with a broken legislative and regulatory process that does not update rules and regulation to keep up with changes and technology. Other countries all have even MORE regulations for safety (and in fact most car safety improvements that save OUR lives every day) came from other countries lately, yet they manage to update their rules to allow all these new technological improvements. So that argument is simply false.
We are just slowly becoming technology backwards. Look at infrastructure commitments for BEV and hydrogen fuel in UK/Europe vs us (and I am not counting Tesla). Its truly sad.
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Digital mirrors are still a work in progress. They lack any form of binocular vision, they have a short focal distance to your eye, do not have the clarity of the human eye, and for side mirrors, when the car is off, you cannot tell if traffic/bicycle is coming when you open the door. Also since they have a refresh rate, sometimes the image will 'flash' if the source is a PWM source. Most do not have black palette acuity of the human eye either or suffer tragically slow refresh rates to achieve it.
They are great for spotting objects, they are not as good at judging speeds and distances.
Drive a car with a digital rearview in heavy traffic both night and day and you will see both the advantages and disadvantages of the system. That's why they switch between digital and optical by user preference. If you are far-sighted, you might not like them. HUDs work because the projector distance to the glass increases the focal distance.
They should probably go right to 360° view with faster framerates and better cameras and processors than they have today. These will allow you pull out 'blind' driveways safer (the camera is near the front bumper, not where your head is), back out safer, and check blindspots and velocities of cars better.
They are great for spotting objects, they are not as good at judging speeds and distances.
Drive a car with a digital rearview in heavy traffic both night and day and you will see both the advantages and disadvantages of the system. That's why they switch between digital and optical by user preference. If you are far-sighted, you might not like them. HUDs work because the projector distance to the glass increases the focal distance.
They should probably go right to 360° view with faster framerates and better cameras and processors than they have today. These will allow you pull out 'blind' driveways safer (the camera is near the front bumper, not where your head is), back out safer, and check blindspots and velocities of cars better.
What argument??
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That we are backwards because of over regulation or vigilance. We are backwards because we keep pretending government and regulations are “bad” rather than demanding they work efficiently and serve well. It amazes me how well government and services work in UK and Europe at local and national level, yet we pretend government is bad. They actually support innovation and technological advance, while we still have outdated regulations.
In fact they are building out skeleton of hydrogen infrastructure in Europe to allow switch of major car manufacturers to fuel cell, and this in turn should enable energy companies to feel safe in investing and building out the rest. Only place this is happening in US right now is in California.
Btw I love the Bolt camera read mirror, only thing I found strange was they only had a 30 frame update rate which made the image lag just enough that it was slightly unnerving. I wish they ran it at 60 or 90 Hz. Also was shocked that Bolt used such low quality cameras considering high res ones are not that expensive.
Vigilance and over-regulation are two very different things, so you may be arguing with yourself here. You seemed to say that the problem is attributable to sclerotic "broken" regulatory bureaucracy, and I would not disagree.
We've done the I-Pace to death, haven't we?:laugh:And now, back to the I-Pace ... ?
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Hey this was a perfectly good thread, is this really how it's going to die?!? >
Hey. I'm still stuck literally waiting for my ship to come in, so ... this is all the I-Pace fun, I get. Other than this, I can sit sulking in my empty garage, next to my forlorn charger, on a boot floor mat I ordered from EBay, holding my insurance cards/license plates/registration issued for a car that already died and that I don't own anymore. That's all I got.
Oh, I could drive the Land Rover Discovery loaner that is not only not electric, but requires PREMIUM fuel.
Oh, I could drive the Land Rover Discovery loaner that is not only not electric, but requires PREMIUM fuel.
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Drove the Bolt and the mirror appears to be the same as our Cadillac. It certainly has benefits, but I want to see if that's a cop behind me 1/4 mile back, I have to use the side mirror or flip the digital off. And at night, it does some really bizarre stuff with some headlights and other lighting. I can certainly see better using a mirror than a LCD display at night.
That said, both my wife and I drive almost exclusively in digital mode. Some other folk stick with the optical mirror unless there is passengers in the back seat. Depends on the car though. Better to have a lower res image than no visibility.
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Tip: nearly all high compression cars today (or turbo), have 'Low Octane Timing Tables'. This is because sometimes you must run what gasoline is available and the MFR has to warranty the car. The engine will sense some knock, then switch to the low octane table. A racer trick is to copy the normal table onto the Low Octane table so if you get some knock, it won't pull timing. And zero out the Intake Air Temperature table, which is another table that is used to pull timing. Those two tricks alone are worth up a 1/2 second reduction in quarter-mile ETs on a performance car.
Putting regular in a premium-only modern car will derate the engine about 10% when it switches tables. So if you were 300HP, you would be 270HP on regular. When you add XX% to the fuel gauge, the table resets to normal again.
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