Low battery warning on Police car during chase

I had high hopes for the Avian and Swine flu but those both fizzled out. L.A. has some Bubonic and Typhus floating around, keep your fingers crossed.

all that machinery and chemistry frees up enough manpower to do things like modern medicine

I know some of it is dark humor, but I hear the “we need a plague” line a lot. I don’t think a lot of people realize just how terrible for civilization hundreds of millions of people not showing up for work would be, let alone the effort and danger it would take to dispose what was left of them.

My humor has darkened over the years. It keeps me from going crazy over what I do and have seen over the years. But I do look for the bright spots. Just think of all the overtime!

But on a serious note the woods I ran around in as a child now have houses and Malls. When I was born we had 3.5 billion now at 7.7 billion. I can’t hike any where without seeing trash. Each agricultural improvement leads to another population increase. 1st and 2nd world births have been on the decline for years. 3rd world hasn’t slowed.

Yes, but let’s not forget we are the biggest polluters too.

Polluting less, and consuming less has a lot of advantages too.

Like higher efficiency in general, more autonomy, cleaner air(which is important for cognitive functions), less money spent on things we don’t need, etc.

This is why until battery tech gets even better, we need to become as efficient as posdible so that when we get advancements, we reap even more benefits.

Antivaxxers seem to be more common than before (I guess those that lived through the polio epidemic, and the era of the polio vaccine are not so numerous these days… same goes for other horrible diseases), so you might see some other old plagues coming back.

Everywhere you go, and see in modern days. IS way overpopulated. overbuilt.
Primarily on what WAS… Good arable land to produce food for all the Lemmings in the world on 2 legs. Mainly it’s coastal.

=

“”Right you are. The human species is not going extinct. At least, not right away… That’s why I say quality of life is the issue.“”

Above.
Who’re you trying to kid.

Not until we’ve eaten and detroyed everything else on this planet first, anyway.
Lightbringer is one of the most sensible brains on here regarding this.

Unfortunately. A coupla good world wars won’t fix it nowadays.
Those were. the best means of birth control we had for decades.
Let all the younger generations (breeders) kill themselves off while the oldies control them into doing it as much as they can.
Prior to that Beubonic plague. Fire of London, etc held us back a bit.

We need to control the third world breeding b4 anything else will work.
They breeding quicker than humans can kill each other off.
Every ONE we save. Especially the males. is at least another ten to feed. growing expotentially down the ages.

The thought of the world populated by tribals, killing AND eating each other is not nice.
But. Just maybe…. Self inflicted. You’re saving them so they can breed US out of existence in time. That or China.

We were saying the world is starting to overpopulate 50/60 yrs ago. (I was here)

We and the Africa’s, Need to seriously look at China’s One child policy again. AND control it.

Although. After all this talk. Personally (dumb or not)
I reckon the planet is/has had pretty much enough of us.
The way she going. Something IS going to happen. Maybe we’ll be lucky and she’ll give a good shrug and start over again in a coupla million yrs with something different.

Looking around. Humans have NOT proven a very nice race to raise.
Killing themselves and destroying everything else on the planet, as fast as they can.
From the time there were two males and one female. and it hasn’t stopped yet.

Using all the materials. minerals on the planet, as fast as they can.
NO thought for any humans that MAY still be here.
in 100/200/500/2000 yrs time.
She’ll just be stripped. Barren. A cold GREY (concrete) boulder floating round in space with water splashing round the high bits.

Seriously. Forget the SMALL %age of good people over the generations.

From the very start of the human race’s existence. All we have EVER done.
Is kill and destroy. Everything. Everybody we can lay our hands on.
Then turn around and go back doing it again.

WHAT are we. Really…. A Farkin’ blight on the planet.
She would be a LOT better off without humans polluting her surface.

I’m not a doomssayer, whatever.
Just an old fart of 78 yrs. That has covered a lot of this planet while being here.
Watching what humans do. To it and themselves.
and wondering WHY……
We really. Have no rhyme. Nor reason for being here.
We’re no more than a virus in your computer really.
are we.
The small amount of good in humans. as a race,
No way can it negate
the evil we have shown for the last coupla, whatever thousand yrs.

That’s my little bit.
At least my generation won’t (hopefully) be around to see it eventuate.
Hopefully my grandkids too.

Doris Lessing…
For my father, who used to sit, hour after hour, night after night, outside our house in Africa, watching the stars “Well,” he would say, “if we blow ourselves up, there’s plenty more where we came from!”

Only one little blurb in the pænultimate paragraph, but it’s something

Better 50yrs late than never.

By ANY real objective metric we have right now, you are better off living in the developed world now vs anywhere at any time in history. Less violence, more food, better medicine, more rights, etc. I hope people in my generation and younger can - if not being optimistic about the future - at least find it in themselves to try and improve it.

:+1:

Yes. I can not think of any other time I would rather live in. As for what location in a developed world…. I like where I am, but have a number of places in Canada, the UK and France where I believe I could be at least as happy. And yes, I do hope that people do try to improve the places they live in.

Maybe a suitable moment to remind people to place themselves on the map of BLF users: Interest in (Google) Map of BLF Users?

Yes, this got a bit out of hand...



But the criminal would still get away in those 4 minutes, so is the electric car really to blame or is it the officer for letting the "fuel" get so low? The Model S can offer a range similar to gas-powered cars (370 miles for the long range version, but 250 miles for the base model), so this story is really no different than if the officer had run out of gas in the middle of a pursuit. Sure, the gas cruiser can be refilled easier and faster, but the bad guy gets away regardless.

Or....

They do what Police are supposed to do and start intercepting getaway vectors until they can roadblock or spike strip the runner :) . A single pursuing officer isn't the best strategy even if they've got 100 gallons of gas in the tank.

In fact, that's what happened here. Other units were called to intercept, the chase was called off for public safety, and then the culprit crashed and was captured. The Low Battery story (the OP link didn't work for me) was actually quite positive about the Tesla police cruiser, suggesting that this particular situation was rare since the cruiser was normally charged to a higher level before a shift and that they normally lasted an entire 11-hour shift with capacity to spare. Their words, not mine.

Some of the comments above suggest that some of you are not familiar with Teslas in the same way that many consumers are not yet familiar with modern LED flashlights.

Electric cars may not be the best choice for every police force, but wouldn't it be nice to have a car that's more powerful than pretty much every gasoline car on the road. A high-end Model S can overtake pretty much any gas automobile in the world, including many race cars. They're fast as f*ck :STEVE: . In fact, many police departments are interested in electric cars because they're so fast; they make excellent interceptors. And, since the police drive their cars so much, they can actually achieve the savings promised by electric vehicles; most consumers would have to drive a Tesla for a decade just to break even.

Yes, it's true that electric vehicles have to "consume" their range in order to cool or heat the vehicle occupants or even to cool or heat the battery itself (yup, it will even sit and cool or heat itself all day in the parking lot), but they are still more efficient than any gasoline vehicle, even in cold or hot climates. That "waste heat" that you recover to heat the occupants in a gas vehicle represents more energy than is used to move the vehicle and its occupants.

If you lose a dollar per minute out your car window, is it a superior technology if you can recover 10% of that for some useful purpose? The electric car simply closes the window. Unfortunately, the electric car costs substantially more and takes hours to refuel. Those are downsides, but they do not make electric cars "stupid" or some sort of hoax. A Tesla Model 3, for example, is eventually cheaper to own than a comparable gasoline car, but "eventually" here means possibly 9-10 years for the average driver :( .

I'm no electric car nut, but I do try to be objective about them. The reality is that we should have built cities that required less driving around in the first place ;) . Moving workers out into suburbs was a stupid move brought about by savvy marketing of the "English country estate", though our version is of course just a tiny border of lawn surrounding a vinyl-covered house sitting alongside a hundred identical houses, each with their own borders of lawn. Americans feel entitled to their ever-growing automobiles and the fuels that power them. I've adored cars, especially fast ones, my entire life, but I'm still willing to admit that cars are probably the most destructive technology ever invented.

To my knowledge, we've yet to see compressed air vehicles with viable range, though I'm always interested in these technologies. Personally, I liked the concept of Elio Motors (way more practical and also more ecologically-friendly than a Tesla), but they made a lot of mistakes (like having 3 wheels instead of 4, thus requiring a motorcycle license) and never got the car onto the market while it was relevant :( . Rather than try to start a million-unit-per-year car company from scratch, I think that a boutique company might eventually grow large enough to offer Elio-style vehicles. Some electric bicycle companies are now producing enclosed vehicles with space for passengers and cargo, for example.

Unfortunately, consumers are still being told that heavier vehicles are safer for their children (and thus a threat to me and mine as a I drive a small car). While size can add safety thanks to larger crumple zones, increased weight is actually more dangerous, both for people inside and outside the vehicle. It's downright stupid to be in an arms race where those that can afford larger vehicles are safer than those who cannot, yet even <<a top U.S. leader>> has recently been telling people that they should drive "tanks" in order to protect their families. Tell that to Formula One drivers, whose cars are the lightest they can possibly be while also protecting them from injury in incredibly violent crashes.

I'll drive a small vehicle until I'm too old to drive and my small vehicle is metaphorically a huge middle-finger to all of the massive vehicles around me on the road which I cannot see around and which will easily kill me in a collision. I simply won't play their game.

I do drive a pickup truck as well, but it's actually for farming, not for making me feel more secure as I drive around the urban jungle. I can't take cattle to market with my car ;) . The truck guzzles gas like crazy, so I have zero desire to casually drive it around. I certainly wish it were electric. That would be useful, actually, since farmers don't typically drive trucks for super-long distances; they usually do daily chores with them.

Though they are now seen as "old-fashioned" to the Tesla crowd, Hybrids are actually the best combination of efficiency, cost, and reliability of available full-size-vehicle technologies. Hybrids are effectively twice as efficient as any gasoline car on the road, which also means that gasoline cars would be just as efficient if they contained twice as many passengers (ride-sharing is more efficient than any technological solution and walking or biking effectively an infinite improvement beyond that).

For example, the Toyota Prius has been around for a long time and has proven to require almost no maintenance and have the lowest long-term ownership cost of any automobile on the market. People initially warned that the batteries would need replacement every few years, but in reality the battery packs typically last longer than the cars themselves. In other words, the car will rust apart before the battery pack is dead.

The current Camry was designed as a hybrid and they merely leave out the hybrid parts to make the non-hybrid Camry, so I don't understand why people even buy the non-hybrid version; the hybrid pays for itself rapidly in typical urban driving and REDUCES vehicle maintenance. No-brainer, IMO. The only reason Toyota sells non-hybrid Camry's is because consumers aren't very bright and can't do basic math. Oh, and my sister just bought a non-hybrid Camry :FACEPALM: .

<<deleted objectionable content>>

Electric cars are also seeing excellent battery life, mainly because those cells are treated far better than those in phones. (I despise the total sacrifice of battery life in order to get an extra 15 minutes of runtime. I'm disgusted that consumers accept and even prefer that tradeoff, as it means that my many-hundred-dollar phone, which of course has a non-replaceable battery, is basically designed to fail after only a few years. If they charged to only 4.10V or something, our phones would last 2-3 times longer.)

That’s why I charge my phone using smart plug. Phone is running Automate scrip that turns off smart plug at 90% battery. :nerd_face:

Well, you have got a lot of info and Opinions going on here. Must have been stuck in your craw for a while do get all that out in one post :slight_smile:

Anyway, regarding Elio.
They made that thing with 3 wheels so they could skirt all the safety regulations that come with making a Real Automobile. This is a trick used by lots of wannabe vehicle manufacturers.

I have no problems with Police using electric cars and totally understood all of the article, just posted it because it was funny to hear of a Cop on low battery during a chase. It is just a sign of the times that we are venturing into alternate forms of transportation and that is always nice to see technology evolve and slowly move the masses into something different and hopefully more efficient.

If a Hybrid is twice as efficient as you say, why do they not get twice the fuel mileage then???
Why did the very early Prius have better mileage then the later ones?

And lastly now, Why you had to go into Politics is beyond me?
You know the rules.
I personally know people on both sides that drive Electric cars so to pigeonhole them is just nearsighted and well, you figure it out.

Later,
Keith

BTW guys, since a Tesla Model S didn’t cut it for the police, I think a Roadster 2020 upgrade is due.

Actually, I was quite interested in an Elio, but how long has it been vaporware already? And when are people who expressed interest and “reserved” theirs (whatever that entails) actually going to get one?

I wanted something more convenient to be able to stuff into my (half of the) driveway, but wasn’t terribly interested in a murdercycle except as a placeholder to wheel out and take my front spot when I’d go somewhere (letting me winnow down to 1 car only), and possibly to just tour around in summer (ie, carry insurance for only half a year), but NYC traffic and the idiots on the road would make that a dangerous proposition. I’d rather not get gorked or end up a para-/quadriplegic, y’know?

And even a “Smart Car” getting only 40-mpg?? What a joke! My old fullsize Buick gets about 30 on the straights with a 3.8L pushing it along. You mean to tell me a little road-rat like that can’t get at least 60??

So even if an Elio only hits in the 60s vs claimed goal of 84mpg, it’s still a decent proposition. A 1-person commuter (don’t need a co-pilot in back) makes it way better’n an enclosed golf-cart. Only thing that would concern me would it any tendency to “weathervane” in high winds. But then again, I’d take a real car in lousy weather anyway.

Frankly, if I hear that Elio is delivering, I’d see what shakes out and as long as there’s no seriously bad news (say, qualitywise), I’d be in for one.

Hybrids aren’t twice as efficient as the same car without that tech, but it certainly helps.

Would hit 30mpg regularly in the hybrid Escape I had for a while, and anecdotally driving cars between dealership locations for work, the hybrids always got noticeably better milage.

I’ve got a gas powered F150 that’ll get 25mpg on the highway if I’m careful. Not all trucks “guzzle” fuel. This one has a smaller (2.7L) V6 and twin turbos. It can tow a boat or camper (with about 15mpg in my experience) too. I mainly use it to carry my tools/equipment daily, and I have a typical commute of 92 miles. I actually use my truck as a truck regularly, and it is a tool (the right tool) that works well for what I need. I have never felt the need to justify my truck, and don’t see it as an outward expression of my inner self-worth. I purchased it to fit my needs and budget. If I had less driving to do, or more towing I might have gotten the larger 3.5L Ecoboost or the 5.0L (I believe the 3.5L Ecoboost is actually higher performance than the 5.0L NA, but they have slightly different strengths).

When I finally get myself some more land, I will likely trade this smaller truck in for an F250 with a Powerstroke to match the increased workload I’ll need it to carry. It won’t be to look cool or provide me with a symbol of status. My buddies growing up used to joke “big truck, small peen”, so maybe this attitude is regional? I grew up in north central Texas in a rural community (10 in my graduating class). People out there generally drove trucks for the utility. I think the people leftdisconnected takes issue with are more likely the ones with “truck balls” or “too-tall-to-be-useful” lifts and ultra shiny wheels… that is a whole ’nother thing. I think attitude matters here.

My brother drives a Dodge Challenger with a 6.4L engine. No idea what kind of mileage he gets, but it sure is quick… I think we are blessed to have the freedom to choose whatever suits us. It isn’t really our business what someone else is doing with their freedom.

I won’t touch too much on politics, but I come from Texas, drive a Ford F150, and I’m going to keep my firearms. I took a number of environmental science classes in college, and apart from a few crazier students I think it was a great time. I grew up outdoors, am a Boy Scout, and love nature. If it would be useful to me, I could see driving a Nissan Leaf or a Tesla 3. I don’t think environmentalism is something that follows “party lines”, and the main disagreements are more about the “How” than the “What”.