Last Post Date Automotive Blogs (377)

A driver’s education teacher in Iowa dies in crash when his 14 year old listed as a 'StreetSmarts Driver’s Ed student overcorrected when entering the shoulder of a highway, crashing with an oncoming SUV.

The 71 year old teacher was pronounced dead at the scene and others were taken to a hospital with injuries.

Maybe 14 is too young to learn to drive.



Story link:

Czinger 21C is a 950 horse power hybrid sports car built with many 3D printed parts. Only 80 are planned for Q1, 2023.

When you buy a vehicle at a dealer, they often issue a temporary tag until they can get the permanent tag issued. For years, I've heard people reference this as a 'paper tag'
The paper tag is usually good for 2-3 weeks giving enough time for the dealership to process the official tag or sticker to validate the new or existing tag.
Today, I found there is an official name for the paper tag... it's called a DRIVE-OUT TAG.

In the news, a man and woman in Memphis, Tennessee were arrested for creating fake drive-out tags. Police found 236 of them!

Memphis Police Department found printers, tags, plastic laminator machine, a rifle, handgun, bag of marijuana, digital scales.

Each were charged with 236 counts of forging evidence of title assignments.
Among that, a list of other charges ranging to drug paraphernalia and possession of a weapon.

The Shelby County Fugitive Task Force passed the tip to the Memphis Police Department who made the search and arrests.

Fraudulent drive-out tags...

In Vancouver, Canada, in late May, a Tesla Model Y burst into flames while the driver was waiting for a light at an intersection. He had to kick out a window to escape.

Around the same time, a new Tesla burst into flames in Brooklyn, Illinois, and a week before that a Model 3 caught fire in California City, California, while it was parked in a driveway.

In April, a deadly lithium-ion battery fire occurred in a Tesla car crash in Houston.

Last year, a Tesla caught fire while charging overnight in a garage, which the Washington Post described as “one in a string of recent examples showing what can happen when electric cars are left parked in garages to charge overnight” and which promoted electric vehicle (EV) makers to warn “owners not to leave the cars charging unattended in certain circumstances, or sitting fully charged in garages.”




Tesla recently ordered a recall of almost 130,000 cars because of an “infotainment” system issue that threatened to overheat during “fast charging.”

We’re not trying to single Tesla out here. It isn’t the only one having problems with its lithium-ion batteries.

A March 31 house fire in Damascus, Maryland, caused by a charging Chevy Volt resulted in $350,000 worth of damages.

Last August, GM recalled all the 110,000 Chevrolet Bolt cars it had sold “due to the risk of the high-voltage battery pack catching fire” and warned owners to park their cars away from buildings and other cars. As of April, GM had replaced the batteries on only about a quarter of the recalled cars.

Chevrolet recalled about 110,000 of its Volt EV model years 2017 to 2022 for potential battery fire issues.

In France last month, two electric buses spontaneously exploded, resulting in all 149 electric buses being pulled from service.



Electric scooters in India have been catching fire, and let’s not forget about the Samsung Galaxy 7 phone that had to be recalled after its lithium-ion battery started catching fire.

Shippers are increasingly wary, too. Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines is the latest to say it won’t transport used EVs on its cargo vessels.

But don’t worry, we’re told. Electric vehicles result in far fewer fires than their gas-powered cousins.

From 2012 to 2021, Tesla reports that there was roughly one Tesla vehicle fire for every 210 million miles driven, which compares to one fire per 19 million miles driven for all vehicles.

“The difference between Tesla and the average is 11:1, which is a big win not only for Tesla but in general, for electric cars,” writes Mark Kane in InsideEVs.

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Yeah, they're called frits. The perimeter of a car windshield (windscreen if you are in England) has a series of graduated dots that transition into solid black. The graphic pattern is enamel that is baked to the glass and used as a primer to hold the windshield to the adhesive that secures it to the frame of the car.
Primer is part of the function as the graduated pattern hides the glue line of the adhesive making a nice aesthetic finishing touch.

Last year I had a cracked windshield (probably from a stone on the highway) and the insurance company offered me an aftermarket windshield that was readily available, or an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) from Toyota that would take a few days to get. Since the crack wasn't through the glass safety laminate and I had time, I opted for the OEM glass and the frits were the same.

What you see in this video is an electric car with a shorted cell at a charging station setting off all the rest.
Note the time it took to destroy 3 cars. The first car was destroyed in about 38 seconds.
The fire cannot be extinguished with water.

My car is under manufacturers warranty and I'm entitled to some free oil changes. I booked an appointment about a week in advance and they confirmed by email.
The email also contained an advertisement.
The next day, I received another confirmation of the appointment and like the first, it contained an advertisement. The third day... you guessed it. Another reminder of the appointment along with an advertisement. Okay... Enough.

I clicked the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email and 2 more days of emails and advertisements. Obviously they are unaware I clicked the link to unsubscribe.

We're past the oil change. While I was there, I looked at one the the new models for 2022. It's not what I expected, nor am I inclined to pay $6,000 over sticker price, give a deposit and wait 4 to 6 weeks for a car to arrive. However a few emails came through from the dealer... sales rep and one from the sales manager. That unsubscribe button is getting lots of use so I actually replied formally requesting they stop sending me emails.

Sheesh!
Don't call me, I'll call you...

Despite complaints from the muscle car enthusiasts, car manufacturers are moving forward with high-power all wheel drive hybrids and electric models too!

Years ago I blogged about patenting a device that when pointed at a vehicle and pressing a button it would send a burst of energy knocking out the computer control of the vehicle.

My state of mind at the time was to fry the control making the car (truck, etc.) useless and the person would have buy a new computer chip.

Computer chips are very expensive and in most cases very difficult to replace when basically, all I want to achieve is a simple 'don't cut me off' approach... maybe a more sophisticated jamming device would be suited for this purpose.

When would I use it?
Lots of places. Tailgaters for example. No matter how fast you drive, which lane you use, there are some people who will actually change lanes to follow you and stay 2 car lengths at 70 miles per hour.

One click and Zaaaappp... the computer in their car resets causing the motor to shut off! Good bye tailgater...

I should be in the way to the patent attorney's office, instead I'm heading to work.

(NOTE: For those who don't understand humor in a blog... creating, owning or using such a device would probably be in trouble with the law)

I'm surprised to see the clarity of highway cameras. In the video below a car loses control entering a highway and slams into a box truck heading for an overpass. The truck hits the rail that retains the vehicle from going over the edge but the bursts into flames (like a Hollywood movie) billowing black smoke until (about 8 minutes later) the emergency fire truck arrives to cool things down.