Not long ago a motorcycle with a fuel gauge was basically unheard of and even "low fuel" idiot lights were rare. Riders used advanced (and generally inaccurate) mathematics to calculate remaining mileage and, when the engine inevitably sputtered, switched over to a reserve tank that would let them nervously motor along a few more miles. Reva, an Indian company set to start shipping
electric cars next year, plans to resurrect that most irritating sequence of events in their two-door NXR -- albeit with a modern spin. Now, instead of reaching down and turning a dial to get to that precious extra juice, drivers will need to call or text Reva HQ. Some overworked customer service agent will then remotely activate the "reserve battery," which surely doesn't even exist, to give a bit of extra range. We pity the fool who runs out of charge somewhere outside of cell range, but not quite as much as the designer who pitched this terrible idea.
posted September 9th 2009 9:02PM
remind me again, why not just give the option for the reserve power to the driver?
Because that would make sense.
That would be too easy, any car manufacturer could do that! Now letting someone in India decide if they'll let you drive another 3 miles to a gas station, or speak gibberish and ignore everything you say, that takes planning on the part of someone with the IQ of Pee-wee Herman.
Because then they wouldn't be able to take advantage of modern technology... and they wouldn't be able to name the car "NXR"
i think its so that one respects teh emergency situation that it is meant for, like the reserve battery in most cellphones.
No... that's exactly what they're expecting us to do!
You gotta believe that the only reason to give remote control over something like this is so they can charge you for the "service". Who knows, maybe they will even charge you monthly (like onstar) to be given the privilege of this "protection".
hmmm... protection...
If it is 11:00 at night, and you are in a bad section of town, they could then demand that you give them a credit card number in exchange for that extra 3 miles.... that kind of "protection".
My guess is like most batteries that are intended to live a long life they don't want to give idiot users the ability to fully drain a battery. The reason that Prius batteries haven't been degrading in mass is because the car never fully charges nor drains the battery. My guess is they are doing the same here...just a bit more...aggressively.
The option should be given to the user to disable this. So you call in and they text the God Mode cheat to the car. :P
I'd love to hit this thing with my AR-30.
good idea Plexico
Gun people always have the most intelligent things to say.
Tim Stevens, I'm LMFAO at your post title. Simply brilliant.
They want to know how many times you harm the battery by letting it drain completely... just like iPhone nubs
Actually that goes in general for any battery that is not NiCad
But one call to customer service and someone is going to blog the
how-to. How will Reva keep track?
Unless there is an unique code. May be they will text the code back
:-)
At least that little plastic toy won't be too hard to push home.
Most Li-Ion batteries are designed to only be used down to 50% of their capacity; any lower and you cause permanent damage to it. This is why many cell phones, even when their batteries are "dead", still boot up to the splash screen... and then shuts itself off to protect its battery.
I've wondered what that would mean in the EV world. I'm taking a wild guess this is one manufacturer's way of "unlocking" that part of the battery on demand -- causing a hassle for drivers to do it to prevent everyone from just flipping this switch on a frequent basis. I'd rather cause permanent damage to my battery than get stuck on a freeway -- though I'd only have my dumb arse to blame...
I think the car company will charge the user a fee each time they call. Just another crooked a** way to make money.
+1 insightful
-1 Not Slashdot
is this 50% thing true for laptop batteries? because i frequently let mine get down to 10%, because i use it to take notes in class, where i often don't have access to an outlet.
He means 50% of the battery's true capacity. What you see on your laptop's battery display takes that into account, so when it tells you it's empty, it's actually at that 50% or so mark. The manufacturers aren't going to let you ruin your $70 battery that easily. They'd have a lot of irate customers if they did.
ah ok, thanks.
My bike has no fuel gauge, and only a reserve dial near the tank. I usually just ride it till it dies, switch to reserve and gas up. It really isn't that big of a deal. However, change that flipping a switch gesture into texting the manufacturer and well, I guess *facepalm* really sums it up. On the other hand, if you're outside of cell service, the reserve probably isn't going to get you to a gas station anyway.
Hey, Engadget, what did you do with my avatar here?
Ah, I love when problems fix themselves :)
Ha, yeah, my F3 has no fuel gauge, no low fuel light, and the trip meter is broken. It's fun trying to remember when I last filled up. I'm *pretty sure* "down" is "reserve". Here's hoping I don't find out the hard way that I have it backwards.
HAHAHA! I don't have a any gas indicator too!. I learned not to trust my tripmeter the hard way when my boss reset my tripmeter when I had the bike for a week and I ran out of gas (didn't know about reserve tanks then) and pushed my bike to a gas station which was luckily a block away. I learned my mileage the second time I ran out of gas...
backAsswards
bass ackwards
awkward spaz
wtf?
good god D;
I think this is half story only. There must be some other logic behind this kind of thing and this may not be the complete story.
I would wait until more details come out, before reaching any conclusion regarding design flaw.
Nope. I highly doubt that, but +1 for optimism though!
I found this article: http://earth2tech.com/2009/09/08/reva-revs-phone-controlled-charging-for-electric-cars/
This discusses about what this REVive technology can be possibly. They also talk about induction charging, which Nissan
is also targeting. But i doubt that Reva is going to use that so soon.
My best guess is that they will still have a reserve(low-fuel) indicator like other cars, but will have an extra additional battery pack, that
you can use in case of emergencies "ONLY" by dialing or texting REVA. This would prevent users from using this additional pack too often even though not necessary and hence reducing the battery life.
This will make people be more alert regarding charging their batteries and get out of their comfort zone. If this turns out to be as i have guessed, i think its a far better idea than "Design flaw" that Engadget has concluded so easily without even knowing full details.
...aaaaaannnnd THIS is where we out-source everything to, because people in India are smarter than Americans (that's an actual quote from a boss)
On average... you bet your ass they are smarter than an American. No shame in it. You have an immense penis.
They *are* smarter although sneakier too. Revo people will be charging the user for every call they make.
cellphones in india are really really commonplace though, im not exaggerating, but the assisstant of the guy that works on teh streetside selling food (i guess you could think of it as new york hot dogs, but way lower class) has a cellphone with unlimited plans.
"This is RevaStar, how may we help you?"
"Hi, I ran out of gas, and my battery is dead. Can you please activate my reserve battery?"
"Sure. What is your credit card number?'
"I'm sorry?"
"Credit card number. And social. Home address. Mothers maiden name. Also, info on any loans she has. (you know how pesky loan applications can be!) You're stranded, so now we are going to use your credit card, social, home address, and others maiden name to activate your special platinum extra battery!'
"Wait, but I was told this service is free"
"Oh. It was. But then we realized we could use this service to charge ranso- I mean, help the environment by keeping cars off the road."
Mr Jinto, Pinto, Hinto, etc....
Does AAA, AT&T or your insurance company, etc provide free road-site assistance service?
@hary... You don't understand the sarcasm of this do you? I'm sorry.
And... If you can read, it is "Jinto". I could read your name, Hary. Thx.
Oh, didn't you realize the sarcasm behind calling you by different names?
No, I saw the child coming from with in you. Congrats, by the way, for finding your inner child. But daddy has to go to work now, and does not have time to help little johnny with his logic lessions on common sense.
I'm just waiting for the poor suckers who buy this car to realize that no one will answer the phones when the company goes out of buisness, or ceases to car about the car.
Shows your poor thinking like few other here my friend.
This company has been operating since quite a few years and is here to stay. As i said earlier, don't reach conclusions until you know
the full story.
http://www.revaindia.com/revaworldwide.htm
Oh, sorry, hary, had I realized you were a troll, I would not have responded to you.
@Jinto,
Do you know the definition of troll?
many other companies operate since quite a few years, stop operating. what's your point?
Oh this is great!! I got this from the FAQs of the company's website.
It is designed in California. Now how many of us will bash India? ,lol.
So California does have a hand behind this new idea.
When was REVA launched?
The REVA Electric car was launched in June 2001 in Bangalore, India. Designed in California and manufactured by multiple award-winning REVA Electric Car Company, a global innovator and the world's leading electric car company, ranked by Business Today as one of India's "Coolest Companies". With over 2000 vehicles on the road and a capacity from 2008 of 30,000 vehicles per year, RECC is today the largest manufacturer of on road Electric Vehicles globally and London represents the largest privately owned electric fleet by a single manufacturer in one city in the world. RECC's headquarters and factory are in Bangalore, India.