Car Porn

This is true as time marches on the batteries of old are being replaced with new versions that are much better.
And maybe I'm just being reminded about the older hybrid cars with batteries having issues like this.
Newer hybrids have come a long long way. And With Tesla A full on electric with decent range things are moving
in that direction very fast. I can't imagine not needing gas for anything. But it could be just a few more miles down my road.
My boss at work said a neighbor just had bought a new Tesla S model last year. He asked him if he would like
to take a spin in it. Sure he said. So they jump in and the guy pulls out of the driveway and lines up straight
down the road (45mph road) And flips a switch to engage both electric motors in all wheel drive mode.
He said this thing took off completely silent and threw him back in the seat like he was in a rocket ship.
Within seconds he was going almost 100 mph. No drama just zero to fast really quickly.

However with lithium Ion batteries being the new go to batteries they are said to be very toxic to the environment.
And safe disposal regulation procedures are costly.

 

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...^^^... Back in ... about 1973 of so ... a friend bought the first Celica 2 door coupe in our area. It was expensive for that time but the fit and finish and quality were superb.

When riding with him in his Celica ... he would point out all of the bad fitting truck lids on US cars (Cadillacs & Lincolns) at stop lights. lol

The US manufactures' started focusing on Q/C and that was pushed on them even more with the early Celicas from Toyota.

 

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...^^^... Jay Leno was talking about putting one of these (no load in the bed) on its' nose at a down hill stop sign once.

I still love these little trucks .... made when JEEP was REALLY a JEEP ... lol

 

It is true that the Big 3 auto makers had to make some changes to be competitive with the cars from japan. Fit, finish, function
all were early goals. Some did this well and others tried and failed. Many of the American cars and trucks had huge fender and
body panel gaps. The fact that most of the cars and trucks from japan, were close the hood and never need to open it dependable.
Something the american vehicles could not produce at the time.

 

What's crazy is a American, Dr. Edwards Deming, taught the Japanese how to do quality. After WWII, the American automobile industry was selling every car they could make, so they had no incentive to improve their quality...until the Japanese started "cleaning their clocks" with really nicely made automobiles.

Throw in the Arab oil embargo of the 70s (1974?), and the crappy American gas guzzlers really took a hit in the market. That's when the Japanese automobiles really carved out a significant portion of the American market which they still hold today.

 

I remember back in the mid 70's I drove a Chevy C 10 pickup long bed 350 3 on the tree.
I heard about a radio promotion at a gas station about 10 miles from my work and gas was difficult
to get. So I waited 3 1/2 hours in the line around the block to get 10 gallons at $1.00 a gallon.
At that time it was a bargain. While I was there I picked up a nice pair of tickets to a rock concert
in Lakeland ( Foghat and Blue Oyster cult. ) $15.00 Those were some good and bad times all mixed together.

 

Speaking of how far electrics have come, check this one out. Electric supercar call the Rimac Concept 1. Built in Croatia. Check out the head to head competition between it, the Acura NSX and Lamborghini Aventidor on The Grand Tour. Richard Hamlin totally destroyed the million dollar car on a hill climb.

 

Electric cars as with motorcycles need an array of Charging stations in place to support the masses (US) that would be willing to purchase them and then be
able to drive long distance without fear of running electrically empty... It seems from what I've seen recently stations to recharge electric vehicles are becoming more vast.
Most however are positioned around the interstate highways
and not so much on the back roads.

 

Yes. Yes he did.

 

So this is whats left of the Car he crashed ? Did he survive the crash? If he did he's very lucky.

 

Yes, he survived...and walked with a cane for much of the next season.

 

Then from that response He must have gotten out of the car or was removed from the car before
the fire ensued. So yes he was lucky his skin didn't melt off.

 

They dragged him out as it lit off, so definitely very lucky. Apparently it continued catching fire for a couple of days, due to thermal runaway from the battery system.

Edit-
8 minute mark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF0hTFDOD04

 

so you can imagine what it would have been like if the crash were near or in a wooded area or ravine where access to put out the fire would
have been difficult. The wreck could have caused a severe forest fire. A multi vehicle crash where both cars had similar power systems Well
it just would not be pretty. I would think the automaker should address this issue with a fail safe.

 

Now this is a cool bug. I had a 1964 the same outside color. Hard top 1200 40 h.p 4 speed.

88 K miles.

So is the lower picture of what the VW in the upper photo looked like during the build _ A Subaru
injected VW ??? Or is it 2 different carts being shown ?

 

Shrug. He was technically driving a concept car, I believe. The batteries on the Rimac are lithium ion, so they and the drive motors in each wheel generate an incredible amount of heat, especially if you're working them hard. To keep it from burning itself up during normal driving they use an oil cooling system to exchange heat, and if you damage the drive system (say, by ripping a wheel off in a crash) you're going to spray hot oil all over even hotter electrical systems. Consider that he just ran a series of hill climbs at maximum attack and had probably maxed the temps on everything in the car and it's easy to see how it could have caught fire.
And the thermal runaway is part of the ongoing problem with LI batteries; if you damage them, they're a fire hazard for a while. That's why everything Amazon delivers with LI batteries has stickers all over the box.

 

Yeah, I see back to that buyer beware thing again.

You know the old saying "Be careful what you wish for"...

 

Shrug. If you wrecked your bike, poked a hole in the tank, and it caught fire would you say it was a design flaw?