Overview:
Electric Vehicles are a key part of our tomorrow and how we get there. If we can get all the fossil fuel vehicles off our roads, out of our seas and out of our skies, we'll have a much better environment. This community is where we discuss the various different vehicles and news stories regarding electric transportation.
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Shit like this only makes me want to never buy commercial cars ever again. I'll buy every piece of a car and put it together myself before subjecting myself to that kind of abuse. I'm never going back to a renter lifestyle.
Repeal DMCA section 1201.
Eventually vehicles will be more like the other tech in your life, sorry you want to but tires from a company that we don't approve of, not going to happen because we approve the tires to work with our system and the tire pressure monitor is only compatible with Bridgestone tires. Plus they add 30% to the price of the tires for their testing and making sure that they work, nothing to do with profit.
Or like the cell phone industry, you go and fill up with gas, now there's still gas remaining in the car near the end of the month, next thing you know the gas station employee is there to siphon out the gas you didn't use. Well that might be a bit far fetched.
Throw a stupid chip into anything and then someone else has the control, which really is what the governments of the world want, they've had it with people getting ahead and questioning their decisions after all they know better than you and they will lead you.
Don’t laugh, but BMW in kinda like that with their BMW approved “star spec” tires. Transfer case blows up with non approved tires? Too bad. But the star spec version is different than the normal retail version, they are actually better.
People who buy BMW deserve everything they get.
Off the shelf parts and open source designs are the antidote. Something like the defunct Local Motors was just a bit early for helping solve a problem like this. Having a factory or workshop for those without the infrastructure themselves to build their own solution would have been a major boon to giving alternatives to the "you will own nothing and be glad for it" mentality all manufacturers seem to be taking nowadays.
The stupid chips can phone home to somewhere else other than a manufacturer. They can talk with something like my self hosted home assistant instance through a VPN instead. The chips are just a tool for doing a job. Best to make them do work for you instead of a data grabbing, rent seeking manufacturer.
Trains are the solution.
Don't worry you can watch a minority get brutalized by the government as a consolation prize for your freedom
I will keep fixing my 2007 truck. I can change my own breaks and any other part. Also no tracking and my console has buttons on the radio. Same for my wife 2008 Hyundai.
Problem is the move to electric only (not hybrid) propulsion for light applications is ready and needed. I've been ready for an electric pickup that's reasonably priced. Now I'll just start by finding a body I like and start buying parts for electric propulsion one piece at a time.
I really don't think that the large manufacturers realize how simple electric cars can be made. So much so, that I believe the hobby is on the precipice of moving into more mass adoption beyond the typical tinkerers and mechanics. A model like the defunct Local Motors might have been 20 years too early.
Dude I love to electrify my truck, but long as it doesn't stop me from working on things myself. Let me know if you figure out how we can do this ourselves.
I'm keeping an eye on the electric conversion kit coming soon™️ from Edison Motors or at least get a parts list to buy everything piecemeal. Keeping your 2007 and converting when the transmission, axles, or engine goes out is a real possibility. Hell, even selling those parts to offset could be an idea as well.
The thing that converted me was a video that floated around the internet pre-YouTube where a guy did an EV conversion of a Volkswagen Super Beetle using lead acid batteries and a jet engine starter for a motor. It absolutely smoked a Corvette on the drag strip. My original plan was to get an old S-10 or Ranger and convert it. Building a battery box would be easy since they still had frame rails then it would just be a matter of getting the voltages right with wiring and a controller to map controls and slapping an electric motor at the end of an axle. Obviously it's a bit more nuanced, but it's a dead simple application all around.
Same. 2004 F150 here, which, funny enough, needs brake pads at the moment. Too lazy, too windy, not messing with it today.
Gave son a 2004 F 150 just paid to have pads and master cylinder replaced. Did cost that much. Fuck this noise right to repair.
cars are now smartphones and i hate them.
This is true for pretty much all cars made in the past 10 years with electric parking brakes. Even more so in the past couple years with complete brake by wire systems now being used. We are starting to get cars in quite frequently where the owner tried to replace the brakes themselves, or flush the brake fluid, and the brakes are no longer working and the dash is lit up like a Christmas tree.
Imagine my (mild) shock after doing my own brakes for 30 years and then coming upon this tidfbit of knowledge JUST after buying parts for my truck.
For anyone else navigating all the misinfo around doing this on a ford truck:
Set the ignition to ON.
Press and hold the accelerator pedal and place the electronic parking brake (EPB) switch in the APPLY (upward) position. Continue to hold the accelerator pedal and the electronic parking brake EPB switch.
Firmly press the brake pedal for at least 1 second. Release the brake pedal while continuing to hold the accelerator pedal and the EPB switch.
Set the ignition to OFF then set the ignition to ON within 5 seconds, then release the accelerator pedal and the EPB switch.
I'm trying to figure out how many appendages this procedure requires.
The full complement of an unmodified human. 4
You have to keep reading. They went out and bought the special tools to complete the service but Hyundai locked their account, explicitly stating DIYers are not permitted.
It's pretty easy to put my 2021 Traverse into service mode and retract the parking brake. Honestly, the easiest car I've ever done rear brakes on. I would hope other manufacturers have a feature along those lines, too.
I really wish there was an open source car I could buy and tinker with.
I'd love to make one myself, but I don't have the talent, money, or commitment.
I'll keep dreaming that it will happen one day.
Older cars are pretty much that. Pre-2000s are generally very simple to work on, and you could replace the whole ECU with a DIY unit with some work if you wanted to.
Parts are getting rare and expensive. I have trouble sourcing parts for my 2002 Mitsubishi.
Plenty of older cars are basically reverse engineered and simple enough to be considered open source these days.
there are companies dedicated to providing kits to retrofit classic cars to be electric
Aptera might be the closest think to "Open Source" we might get.
The owner and creator plans on providing all schematics, operational code, and components. Including QR codes etched on everything to easily be able to find the specific info for any given part.
It's been a while since I've done a deep dive into them, but maybe it's time to do so again.
Factory five sells kits that take a donor vehicle and regular tools to put together.
Duh. This is the future for all vehicles as their service departments are struggling as people cannot afford to fix their cars.
I will never own a vehicle that I can't maintain. I always do weeks of research before buying any car, so something like this is a huge red flag.
Maybe when cars turn to shit we can try bikes as main mode of transport