Electric Vehicles

Here’s a nice story about a brand new Tesla catching fire and the car’s computer locking the occupant inside.

And to think that some people think it is a good idea for Tesla’s computer to actually drive the car!

Yikes, that’s really scary. I’m not clear on how he got out though… did he break a window? Did the car finally unlock?

Glad he got out safely.

He shoved on the release really hard while putting all his body weight on the door.

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Sounds like the Tesla broke Robot Law #1:

First Law
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Second Law
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

Third Law
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

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The idea of a computer controlling the door is scary. I don’t know the exact details about how it is supposed to operate, but it seems like there are more failure modes than a typical “dumb” car door, since the computer could be mistakenly keeping it shut. I suppose the trade-off is you have more protection against doors opening at speed. There is also an emergency release mechanism, no word on whether that was used or not. Without more information, I’d carry a glass break hammer as a backup if I owned a car with computer controlled doors.

Don’t we all these days? Like, are regular old Fords and Toyotas not computer controlled? I can unlock my car doors with my cell phone, so I assume that means they’re controlled by a computer of some sort. Not a Tesla.

That said, a glass-break hammer sounds like a good idea.

Humblebrag new car lady :laughing:
My 2000 Ford Ranger cannot be controlled by my phone. Not even if I throw it very hard at the truck.

Perhaps the distinction I didn’t make clear was “computer decision-making in operating the door” as opposed to “computer responding to user input”. Imagine some seemingly reasonable decision, like “don’t open the door while car is moving”. If the computer believes the car is moving when it is not, you may have a problem. If the computer fails while the car is moving, and the physical mechanisms are left locked or are prevented from responding until computer tells them, “sure, fine, open the door”, that may be a problem.

Back in the day, some cars had interior door handles that would override the locked status of the door, meaning if you pull on handle, the door will unlatch, regardless of lock status. Later some had locks that overrode the door handle “input”. I think people accepted the lock taking precedence (I am sure the old folks grumbled about the change) because they could understand what the cause of the override was and “fix” it. Similarly, I think most people accept the “lock doors after short time in gear” automation, since they would frequently do this manually anyway and know how to override it.
Tesla sometimes seems to take the attitude that the computer is always right. That might be fine much of the time, but the edge cases will have dramatic consequences.

Yeah, I’ve been contemplating what it means for a lock to be controlled by a computer. I’ve never had a car that I could lock or unlock by phone, but by last several cars could be locked or unlocked by hitting a button on the key. That means there’s some level of computer control. And my prior car (but not my current car) used to lock itself when it was moving faster than some speed. But I could still over-ride that by tugging on the little button within the car. So… unless the computer kept repeatedly telling it to lock, it would be pretty easy to unlock. But I suppose it could fail in some way where the computer repeatedly told it to lock itself. Maybe I need a pointy hammer.

Thing is, it seems that the computer is the ONLY control. Most cars have overrides. My current car has a remote AND a key, with a lock on the door. If/when the fob won’t work, the key is a backup. The car starts only with a key. I think I like it this way. I don’t see the button as that much more convenient.

Fair enough. My previous car was a 2004, and even it had automatic door locks though.

If there is a computer involved at all, it seems like there is the potential for it to not work as intended. Granted, the more the computer does, the more potential there is for screw-ups and a 2021 Tesla undoubtedly has more controlled by a computer than your 2000 Ford Ranger.

So, I don’t know about the Model S but I do know the Model X and 3 and I’m guessing they are similar. With the X and 3, when you open the door the window rolls down a small amount. There is no top of the door and the window seals into the frame of the vehicle. My dad had an issue with his 3 where the servo wouldn’t activate when the door was opened. I can see this issue making it feel like the door is stuck closed and won’t open. I suspect that the fire in the vehicle fried some wiring and this same thing happened to the driver’s door in the Model S. That is why he was able to get out by applying extra pressure to the door. So not really a computer issue but a design flaw for form over function.

This one slipped by me in July when it happened, but here is the news…

Tesla Announces a Drastic Cut in the Supply of Supercharger Network Availability for Tesla Car Owners

“… Drastic Cut in Supply …” is your add, right? I suppose that would assume Teslas are a minority in electric vehicles out there that want to use the supercharger network.

The explanation is Telsa want access to government spending, and has talked about this for a while. In the article:

If Tesla opens up significant numbers of its charging stations in the US — especially if it can power up cars from renewable energy sources there — it may tap into new government funding such as grants, tax credits, rebates or green energy credits which it can sell to companies that need them to offset their own environmental impact.

The exact types of credits would be at the discretion of various state and federal authorities that run environmental programs and green credit regimes.

The buildout of charging stations will be a barrier for a number of years for a largely electrified transportation fleet.

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It’s a natural corollary, right? A service is in limited supply, and then the number of customers instantly increases significantly - got be be at least double, right?. That means whatever access Tesla car owners had to superchargers is going to be instantly diminished. If you were regularly waiting for access to a Tesla charger before, your average wait is going to increase.

I interpreted “drastic cut in supply” to mean they were closing stations altogether.

I don’t own a plug-in vehicle, so I have no idea how crowded Tesla charging stations are. Is there typically a wait?

If typical is currently: normally only 1/4 of the chargers are in use at any given time, but it’s going to change to: normally 2/3 of the chargers are in use at any given time… then I would not call that a cut in anything.

If, on the other hand, the average waiting time to plug in was going to increase from 20 minutes to 50 minutes… well I still wouldn’t call that a cut in supply, but it IS a change that will negatively impact Tesla owners. I would maybe call that an increase in users and congestion.

Really it would help Tesla owners out if they became only half the users of the stations but there were then twice as many stations. No idea if that is in the works though. But it would make sense.

(And if half isn’t the right number, substitute in the right one. If they’re going to be 1/3 of users with 3x the stations… even better for Tesla owners.)

No, it isn’t a natural corollary. I am not able to quickly find “in-force” numbers, but “issue” numbers for 2020 have Tesla at 70%+ market share in plug-in EVs, declining slightly from prior years (and until recently they were the only big manufacturer), so let’s estimate “in-force” market share of 80%+. Throw in that extra 20%, assuming they had nowhere else to charge their vehicle (bad assumption), and the “supply” is shared by 25% more cars, less than half of your “double”. Not exactly a “drastic cut” (I would call a doubling of demand with no supply increase “drastic”).
Another offsetting factor is the rate at which Tesla is adding supercharging stations.
If you had stats on average wait time to start charging, or utilization ratios showing the existing stations are pushed, I would view it as more of a negative for Tesla owners.

Well, their current (heh-heh) idea was to Apple-fy the EV market by allowing exclusive use of their Tesla recharging stations. “You want to use it? Buy a Tesla.”
I’m guessing that, aside from the added government funding part (which might be pretty huge), their charging stations are not at capacity.

I think Tesla opening up their stations to other types of vehicles is a win for Tesla drivers. The additional demand should encourage addition of charging stations at existing facilities and possible opening on new locations. It also might encourage other charging companies to make it easier to use their stations for Tesla owners as my understanding is that you need some sort of expensive adapters to charge a Tesla at a non-Tesla charger. Also, if Tesla is granted money to increase charging infrastructure, that just seems like a win.

I think you can charge a Tesla on nearly any charging station. The Tesla car comes with adapters for 120V hookups.

They also sell these for 220V outlets:
https://shop.tesla.com/product/nema-adapter-bundle
Note: these things are out of stock. And, why would I possibly need SEVEN different adapters? I can buy them one-by-one if necessary.

Anywho, can use these to charge a Tesla with an existing 220V outlet. I have one near the back of my dryer – which uses gas, not electric, so the plug is always available.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. Teslas can’t use any level 3 charging stations without a specific adapter. Tesla recently began selling a CHAdeMO adapter for $400 which can be used at some level 3 stations. They also have a J1772 adapter but I thought that was only for level 2 charging and that standard is being phased out due to very few vehicles using it (the Nissan Leaf was the last one IIRC). Level 2 charging provides only about 20 miles of charge an hour and is not really a viable option for quick charging like at a Tesla Supercharger. Charging on a 120v (level 1) will give you like 3 miles of charge per hour. Who is going to sit at a public charger long enough for that to be viable? My thought was that if Tesla is putting competitive pressure on other charging companies, maybe they will install plugins for Teslas without the need for adapters.