On Thu, 14 May 2009, Christopher Zach wrote:
Michael S Briggs wrote:They didn't really blow up - capacitors are just items that do fail over time. Remember, these things are 30 years old. The main problem is that most people may not be able to figure out what the problem is, and assume that it is a faulty design. But, how many vehicles do you know of that can run for 30+ years without some component failing?My E20? :-)
Touche'. :)
The only nice thing I can say about having regen automatically come on when you release the accelerator is that it could be nice in the winter, when driving in snow. It would be better though if they had it where that regen only came on when you lightly press on the brake (not hard enough to engage the mechanical brakes though). Allowing the car to coast in neutral when your foot is off the accelerator would be a more efficient design than forced regen when you just want to coast.Mmmm... It allows me to have the same driving style with electric or gas. The difference is so minor I don't need to think about it. Driving a real electric is odd with the big coast factor.
Since my diesel car is a manual transmission, I put it in neutral to coast - so an automatic regen would require a different driving style for me.
Coasting is substantially more efficient in many situations - and due to limited battery capacity, maximizing efficiency should win out on this one IMO. Yes, it makes it slightly different for people accustomed to automatic transmission cars - but, some car-makers have already started making their auto tranny cars shift into neutral when your foot isn't on the accelerator or brake, due to the greater efficiency.
That is a valid point. Unfortunately, many engineers are prone to "feature creep" (i.e. being fascinated by ever-more-complex features, not realizing that they don't necessarily make a more marketable product).Which kills a lot of designs. Oh well.
"Beware creeping elegance" (aka feature creep) should be tatooed on every engineers forehead. :)
Mike