One of Frank Sinatra’s closest long term friends burned to death in a new car with automated locks without latches inside. If the car was off but on fire there were no latches to get the door open from inside. He couldn’t remember the way to get the doors to open. The electrical system had no power to unlock. A terrible idea.
When they show “could you survive?” shows on a car sliding off a road or bridge going into a river or pond they tell you to
“roll down the window halfway to equalize the water pressure” and then push the door out. Otherwise it’s stuck against you under the water pressure. BUT how many vehicles have roll down cranks instead of the shorted out, dead electric window motors?
On a lighter note a for a different Tesla breakdown, I heard the emergency call guy for another Tesla had to drive there in a regular Ford truck or van . Imagine old time gas station guy saying “Lordy, can’t fix you up with a can of dry gas, a gallon of regular or a jump cable start. You’re stuck. Maybe a 12 hour charge if I tow you to a charging place 75 miles away but I don’t have that much time to spare. Sorry you can’t stay at our station and it’s 15 below zero out.”
Also, Neil Young’s several electric cars had fires and I’ve heard stories of other car fires. Must be a “thing” with them.
“BUT how many vehicles have roll down cranks instead of the shorted out, dead electric window motors?”
Good point. My father said 50 years ago they’re the first to go out for the most cost.
They seem to be a bit better these days, or people don’t keep their cars long enough for that to break, but I drive a manual transmission with roll-down windows.
I remember when these cars first started showing up as prototypes, on the road, in the 90’s, in CA. The OC Register published a story, how the firefighters said they would refuse to respond to the scene of an accident, involving a battery powered car. Then the electric vehicle manufacturer’s association made a large donation to the union’s pension fund. Just like that . . . the problem disappeared.
Yup, and he not only lost the LincVolt, into which he had poured over a million dollars, but also lost in the fire decades of his memorabilia that he stored in the same warehouse. Man, I love much of Neil's music, but he is a total dumb ass on so many things.
If there is any water more than about a third of the way up, there will be too much force to open it. Also, the electric motor will actually work under water as fresh water is a poor conductor of electricity. Unbuckle everyone inside, wait until the cabin is almost full of water, roll the window down and swim out. Check it out on Mythbusters.
“Also, Neil Young’s several electric cars had fires and I’ve heard stories of other car fires. Must be a “thing” with them.”
Starting to remind me of Statins. The people closest to them (doctors, in the case of Statins) say they are JUST FINE and very, very, few people have issues. The people who are subjected to them, well, they all seem to have issues. Something seems a bit odd...