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
Hary, I'll leave you with this: I don't care about the company. We done care about the company. Their FAQ does not have any bearing on us wondering, "hey, why don't they let the owner of the car use the spare battery themself?" you know. A non stupid thought. Something that make sense. You are like an apple fan boy, but worse, because you know there is only one of you.
Somehow I don't think the designers were the ones that went about implementing this 'feature.' Including remote activation of systems is one thing (and it might be a very good thing in a number of cases), but I imagine that REVA had the genius idea of carrying out the OnStar from hell experience (since after all, they're the ones that have to hire the staff and piece together the back-end infrastructure).
I think I can say this, based on a study I've conducted:
100% of Reva fanboys are ignorant Assholes. Unfortunately, I can't really be conclusive, because you really need a control group of minium 40, and I could only find one Reva fanboy in existance.
So, based on these parameters, I can conclude this: hary536 is an ignorant asshole.
@CJ,
You have a good potential to be an analyst. I suggest you try your hand at that field?
And ya, start with the Reva study.
@Jinto,
That's why i said, wait until all the details are out. Don't jump to conclusion just on the basis of the currently available incomplete details.
Many times, incomplete details don't make sense, until they are complete.
That doesn't mean it will be the same in this case, but just wait for a week or so, until the conclusion.
Sorry, what it's about? You lost me at "an Indian company set to start"
I prefer to die that call an Indian phone support line.
Reva: What a piece. The Hyundai of electric cars... which translates into "what a piece".
...and you don't want to know what the word Reva means to a Finnish person... Poor car.
dear Sir, what would be the better way? (sic)
It is a shame that Tim Stevens is so quick to judge something that he does not fully understand - how could he, we have not explained how it works yet. Electric cars are not like motorbikes and batteries and electricity do not behave the same way as engines and petrol. Our research showed that 'range anxiety' is a real barrier to purchase for some people, so we worked to find a solution. If a customer runs out of charge, they can telephone or SMS REVA’s customer support centre. The operator will remotely asses the car’s batteries and safely release additional energy, while protecting the life of the batteries. Within minutes a few extra kilometres of range are made available remotely via the telematics solution, and the driver can continue home or to a place where the NXR can be charged. This is not a design flaw but a clever solution to an issue that we hope will encourage more people to switch to low carbon driving. In reality we know that drivers of electric cars are no more likely to run out of electricity than driver of conventional cars are to run out of liquid fuel. But changing habits requires time and sensitivity to perceived issues.
Keith Johnston
President, European Operations
REVA
The "phone home" part is admittedly stupid, but the reserve battery part of this is not. Battery "fuel gauges" always have the problem of having to say "empty" when you really not because they never want to leave you stranded. By switching in a full charged reserve battery, you now have an accurate idea of how many miles you have left at the point where you need accuracy the most (near empty). You can never get this level of accuracy by trying to measure the last 5 or 10% of charge in the larger battery. It's a cheap effective solution to what is actually a pretty tough problem for EVs.
"The operator will remotely asses the car’s batteries and safely release additional energy, while protecting the life of the batteries."
Or you could just put a switch on the dash, which will operate relays to disconnect the drained battery and connect the reservce battery.
Much simpler, more reliable, cheaper to install. But then you wouldn't be able to offer cell base protection as a "service".
In all fairness to KJ and the Reva company, Engadget's article is (no big surprise) lacking in any serious evaluation of their product. Looking at their homepage, it does look like this is a state-of-the-srt electric vehicle, employing modern battery management computer systems, which provide the driver with all the information that he needs to understand the range remaining on his vehicle... much more precisely then he would in an ordinary automobile. Only an idiot would try to squeeze an extra mile out of his car when teh computer told him he had 300 yards left....
"The car is fitted with a “wireless tablet”, an embedded appliance made by Encore Software that integrates into a high-resolution single touch-screen display system all vehicle dashboard functions such as Speed, State-of-Charge, Range and critical sensor inputs...."
Not quite the "If I run out of gas on the main tank, my motorcycle starts sputtering, and then I switch to the reserve" type of process so rudely described by Engadget.
I guess that the "reserve" is actually talking about excess capacity in the main battery pack, which would be unlocked by the remote operator if he determines that doing so will not harm the battery. He is probably able to remotely determine current state of charge, and what the discharge rate was that got you there, and what individual cell voltage was. If his measurements, for example, shows that one of the batteries is approaching cell reversal, then drawing any more power from the batteries would destroy the battery pack.
Good guess, KJ?
what if I forgot my cellphone?
Your fooked...or you will need to walk to the nearest place with a phone.
tmarks11 - correct, you got it spot on in your last paragraph. kj
Check it out Reva Revive (tm) - combating range anxiety
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOIKbTTxiLg
Top two new model of Reva NXR and NXG
Check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL7msa65nUY
Regards
Steve