Steve Jones - SSC Editor (9/26/2016)
Gary Varga (9/26/2016)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (9/26/2016)
...I especially hate the newer keyless entry that doesn't have a backup. When there's an issue with electronics, I can't open some doors. That seems fundamentally unsafe.Are you sure that there isn't a hidden backup? My wife's keyless car actually has a key hidden in the fob. You have to dismantle the fob but it is there.
That only works on the driver's door. At least in multiple models.
On our Prius, if you lose power, you cannot open the rear hatch, at least not without disassembling a panel. Guess where the battery is? Inside the hatch compartment. There are terminals in the front engine compartment, but if you happen to park in a garage, head first, as most people do, you cannot get jumper cables to reach. At least in the Prius, you can open the passenger door without power.
In BMWs, you can open the driver door, but without power, or with a failed actuator, you cannot open the other doors. I cannot believe this is a safe condition for the car.
Now, that's actually a bit disturbing. Knowing a bit about Lithium-based batteries, if the car is in an accident that causes the car to lose power and the battery has suffered the right kind of hit to cause it to burn profusely, as such batteries will (and it really doesn't take much penetration), then not being able to open the doors to quickly escape the ensuing inferno creates a death trap especially for kids in their car seats in the back seat.
Heh... and you thought gasoline was dangerous. I've seen Lithium fires that have burned down steel reinforced cement pillars and have quickly burned through the 2" thick steel hulls of experimental submarines. A friend of my Dad was kill by a partially discharged Lithium battery that exploded on what seemed to be a rather insignificant impact at a Navy Test Facility. Another episode occurred where the 18 inch concrete slab on a test bunker (about 40' by 40') was physically moved from it's original position when a Lithium battery exploded at another Navy Test Side.
Tell Elon Musk he can go to hell if he thinks I'm going to drive such a bomb or hang one of his whole-house batteries on my wall. 😉
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.