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PNW-Dem

(244 posts)
Wed Nov 18, 2020, 05:52 PM Nov 2020

Electric Vehicle Myths: #2 EVs Are Not Safe to Drive

For those of you who are environmentally conscious, I am going to start a series about electric vehicle myths.

Myth 2: EVs Are Not Safe to Drive

EVs are actually safer than gas-powered vehicles for two reasons. First, due to their typical battery placement, EVs tend to have lower centers of gravity than gas-powered cars. Having a low center of gravity makes an EV less likely to roll over. This is important because, according to the US Department of Transportation, rollovers have a higher fatality rate than other kinds of crashes. With more weight below you in an EV, you are safer.

Second, a common cause of injury during a head-on collision is the internal-combustion engine being pushed backward into the passenger compartment. The large block of metal has nowhere to go except into your lap.

An EV motor is much smaller and lighter than a gas or diesel engine. This has a few benefits. First, there is less heavy metal to be pushed back into the passenger compartment, causing injury. Second, EV motors are so small that they leave room for the manufacturers to put a trunk, or “frunk,” in the front of the car.

Also, with the smaller electric motor, there is more empty space under the hood. When a crash occurs, that “crumple zone” will absorb much of the impact. The crumple zone acts like a shock absorber.

The United States National Highway Traffic Study tests car models to assess how safe they are. In their forty-nine-year history of testing cars, the Tesla Model 3 is the safest. The Model 3, an EV, has the lowest probability of injury in a crash of any car.

Maybe the Model 3 stands alone in safety among EVs. So what were the second and third safest cars in the study? The Tesla Model S and the Tesla Model X. Tesla swept the top three rankings. Myth busted.

evpubs.com

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Electric Vehicle Myths: #2 EVs Are Not Safe to Drive (Original Post) PNW-Dem Nov 2020 OP
Worn-out NAND flash blamed for Tesla vehicle gremlins, such as rearview cam failures and silenced au Klaralven Nov 2020 #1
It then begs the question... LanternWaste Nov 2020 #2
I don't think autopilot is ready for prime time PNW-Dem Nov 2020 #3
After almost four years of owning and driving ONLY an EV, Ron Green Nov 2020 #4
Yeah but they kill birds! jcgoldie Nov 2020 #5
I'm Surprised This Myth Existed ProfessorGAC Nov 2020 #6
 

Klaralven

(7,510 posts)
1. Worn-out NAND flash blamed for Tesla vehicle gremlins, such as rearview cam failures and silenced au
Wed Nov 18, 2020, 06:20 PM
Nov 2020

Worn-out NAND flash blamed for Tesla vehicle gremlins, such as rearview cam failures and silenced audio alerts

Worn-out NAND memory chips can cause a whole host of problems with some Tesla cars, ranging from the failure of the rearview camera to an absence of turn signal chimes and other audio alerts, a watchdog warned this month.

Some 159,000 Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles built between 2012 and 2018 are at risk, we're told. These all use an infotainment system powered by Nvidia's Tegra 3 system-on-chips that include 8GB of eMMC NAND storage, which is typically found in phones and cheap laptops. The trouble is that these flash chips are wearing out, having hit their program-erase cycle limits, and are unable to reliably store data, causing glitches in operation. The storage controllers can no longer find good working NAND blocks to use, and thus fail.

According to a probe [PDF] by investigators for Uncle Sam's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), at least 30 per cent of the infotainment systems made in "certain build months" are failing due to the eMMC flash being worn out, typically after "three to four years in service."

According to the safety administration, this storage breakdown can "result in loss of rearview/backup camera, loss of HVAC (defogging) setting controls (if the HVAC status was OFF status prior to failure.) There is also an impact on the advanced driver assistance support (ADAS), Autopilot system, and turn signal functionality due to the possible loss of audible chimes, driver sensing, and alerts associated with these vehicle functions."

https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/17/tesla_nand_memory/

Having worn out NAND affect the Autopilot doesn't seem safe to me.

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
2. It then begs the question...
Wed Nov 18, 2020, 06:25 PM
Nov 2020

what is the percentage of EV safety issues vs. NEV safety issues?

Not addressing as such doesn't seem rational to me.

PNW-Dem

(244 posts)
3. I don't think autopilot is ready for prime time
Wed Nov 18, 2020, 06:25 PM
Nov 2020

I was talking about the majority if EVs. They are safer than gas powered cars. I put autopilot in a different category.

Ron Green

(9,822 posts)
4. After almost four years of owning and driving ONLY an EV,
Wed Nov 18, 2020, 07:07 PM
Nov 2020

the thought of going back to a tailpipe car is disgusting to me.

ProfessorGAC

(65,031 posts)
6. I'm Surprised This Myth Existed
Wed Nov 18, 2020, 07:13 PM
Nov 2020

I can understand not knowing about the lower CG or the improvement in crumple zone.
But, I don't know why anybody would think an EV would be less safe!
Same risk level? I get it. Riskier? Not getting it.

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