EV general discussion

[OspreyO]

For me it's off all the time, only in exceptional circumstances like when I'm on the motorway at 3 in the morning and there's zero cars around.
I just find the autopilot/acc experience very underwhelming and requires a lot more concentration than just, you know, driving like a normal person.
You don't know what it (the computer) knows and how it'll react and if you have to intervene. And by that time that you may have to intervene...precious seconds have gone by and too late by then.
May be I'm just being paranoid

The whole point of the system has better reflexes than humans. The main flaw with them is false positives.

 

[OspreyO]

You can if the lane to your right is clear



It's not necessarily about reacting slowly, more the fact you're having to assess exactly the moment to move out so that

A) it's not too early
B) it's not too close

With standard cruise it doesn't matter so much, if you move out a little late then you haven't slowed down, so of course the answer with ACC is just to move out early, I just find it annoying - probably very much a personal thing!



I only use mine on motorways/dual-carriageways. On single carriageway NSL roads, the user manual is very clear that it can "lose" the vehicle in front of tight bends/hill crests etc. However the speed limiter can act as pseudo-CC in those situations; foot to the floor (or rather the resistance spot above the lockdown), but can easily ease off if needed.

If you move to a different lane the system won't slow to match a car that isn't there. The problem you're complaining won't happen.

Even with driving manually you have to access the right time to overtake.

On mine you flick it off and on with one button. It's instant.

It's literally a better cruise control in every way.

 

[OspreyO]

I tend to set it on motorways. Don't think it requires more concentration to be honest.

I find it takes lot less effort and work than manually doing it.

But then that's the point isn't it.

I don't have to touch the pedal in heavy stop start traffic especially crawling for long stretches on the motorway. How can that not be easier.

It's also like having someone checking on your driving it will catch any slow reactions.

 

[tamzzy]

That guys videos are annoying. States the b obvious in all the videos as if he's discovered what's obvious to everyone.

I mean, making good money from stating the bleeding obvious is a pretty nice way to earn! (To state the bleeding obvious )

 

[Penfold101]

For me it's off all the time, only in exceptional circumstances like when I'm on the motorway at 3 in the morning and there's zero cars around.
I just find the autopilot/acc experience very underwhelming and requires a lot more concentration than just, you know, driving like a normal person.
You don't know what it (the computer) knows and how it'll react and if you have to intervene. And by that time that you may have to intervene...precious seconds have gone by and too late by then.
May be I'm just being paranoid

I’ve had ACC for 5 years now on 3 different cars. I use it all the time on the motorway, just set the speed to 70 (or whatever the road limit is) and go, without worrying about someone else’s being set 1 mph slower as the car just adjusts itself and keeps a set distance - it makes life so much easier. If I find I’ve dropped down too slow for my liking then I just flick it off and overtake, then restart it with another flick - it’s ridiculously simple and I’ve never had a problem with the Mercedes or Volvo/Polestar systems.

There are times when it’s not suitable (massive dips in the road or shop corners on A roads when it can lose the car in front briefly) but that’s where knowing it’s a driver aid and not autopilot comes in. I’ve also found it can struggle when coming up behind stationary traffic at higher speeds, as it just doesn’t have enough time to react and brake the car fully - I can deal with that though as I’m concentrating more on the road ahead and not looking down at my speed all the time

 

[tamzzy]

Im not going to give up control to these bloody computers.
Vive la resistance!

 

[Penfold101]

Im not going to give up control to these bloody computers.
Vive la resistance!

I presume you can open your bonnet and point to the throttle cable then…?

 

[tamzzy]

I presume you can open your bonnet and point to the throttle cable then…?

 

[Diddums]

need an ev ACC lke scania previously discussed for HGV where you optimise economy for road profile ,inclining roads and bresting the brow, conserve those electrons.
+ dedicated sister thread, for Ron-Ski's Solar panel production figures (or Wordle ** WARNING: THERE ARE PROBABLY HINTS TO THE DAILY WORD IN HERE **)
for w/m comparison - averaged 55mpg/13p mile for 300miles this we.



BYD they have people everywhere - browsed aaround new dealer following solicitation at the supermarket where they had a display -
neither of the two salespeople realised the seal dm-i was a hybrid, the exhaust is well concealed though, as we saw (£419 p/m 6K, 48months !)
feels utilitarian - the slab of the front doors could handle two rows of cubby holes - the single seal much more elegant, must have had 8 dm-i's

 

[kefkef]

That guys videos are annoying. States the b obvious in all the videos as if he's discovered what's obvious to everyone.

To be fair, when you go through the comments and see how many people argue against what he states is the obvious is shocking!

 

[Haggisman]

If you move to a different lane the system won't slow to match a car that isn't there. The problem you're complaining won't happen.

If I don't move out too early, it will slow to 69, or even 68

Even with driving manually you have to access the right time to overtake.

Yes, but you don't have to worry about the car slowing down if you don't get it perfect

It's literally a better cruise control in every way.

I'm sure it is for most people, I just don't like it

 

[MrRockliffe]

I'm sure it is for most people, I just don't like it

I don’t like active cruise at all.

It’s not intelligent enough to warrant using it, so it feels more annoying than normal cruise.


It does too many weird and unexpected things for me, like braking hard when someone leaves onto a slip road.

 

[tamzzy]

To be fair, when you go through the comments and see how many people argue against what he states is the obvious is shocking!

Comments for "engagement"

 

[Haggisman]

It does too many weird and unexpected things for me, like braking hard when someone leaves onto a slip road.

I think that's it, it's unpredictable, with "dumb" cruise it's set and forget, you know what it's going to do, accelerate up to <speed> and stay there, if that's no longer appropriate (e.g. traffic in front) then you just turn it off.

With ACC you have no idea if it's going to lose sight of the car in front due to a bump in the road/too tight bend/glare on the camera/swamp gas reflecting off Venus or at at what point it will decide to slow you down, so it takes a lot more cognitive load to keep an eye on it and determine whether using it is still appropriate.

I.e. by trying to do more for you it actually requires you to pay more attention to it to make sure it's doing that "more" properly

 

[OspreyO]

Sounds like some of your ACC is just bad mine does none of that.

Slowing down by 1mph. OMG the horror.

 

[rodenal]

Likewise my ACC in the MG (which I actually think is relatively poor compared to BMW/VAG implementations I've used) doesn't exhibit many of the behaviours lots have commented on / worry about here.

Broadly speaking it just does what it's supposed to do, keeps me absolutely at or below the set speed traffic dependent and makes my morning commute miles more tolerable as I hit the inevitable 25 minute slow down. The biggest gripes I have with it is uncertainty over whether it's seen traffic slowing that is far ahead (the limits of what it can detect aren't always obvious), and that when it's slowed down in lane because of the car in front it takes a good few seconds after moving out to pick up speed. This is where other implementations have been better.

The one issue I can't understand is anyone experiencing cruise control letting the car slip over the intended speed (without accelerator intervention). I don't think I've ever experienced this even downhill etc in either my current or any previous cars, cruise just sorts it all out.

Each to their own though, if you don't like ACC you don't like it - switch it back to regular cruise and job done really.

 

[Penfold101]

With ACC you have no idea if it's going to lose sight of the car in front due to a bump in the road/too tight bend/glare on the camera/swamp gas reflecting off Venus or at at what point it will decide to slow you down, so it takes a lot more cognitive load to keep an eye on it and determine whether using it is still appropriate.

It’s no different to cruise control - if you were approaching a bend in the road where you wouldn’t use normal cruise, then you’d turn it off.

Same with adaptive - you use it based on the road conditions, same with any driving aids.

Anyway, we’ve now had ten pages of people in the camps of ‘IT’S AWFUL AND I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER MY CAR’ and ‘IT’S THE BEST INVENTION EVER AND I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT IT’ and it isn’t EV specific

(I am proudly in the latter camp )

 

[VincentHanna]

Sounds like some of your ACC is just bad mine does none of that.

Slowing down by 1mph. OMG the horror.

Ha! Agreed.

Think about it logically folks, for every hour of driving you will go 1 less mile than you would at 70mph, what a disaster.

 

[Demon]

Man this comparison video would have been great if it was done by competent people. It's like how can we choose the stupidest things and do those was the actual challenge.

Yeah, it's all theatre for them as are most EV channels simply as they have to get the clicks on they don't exist..

Saying that, ultimately, if I cut through the crap, the conclusion isn't horrific and they do at least touch on the key points of large battery / fast charging = less potential stops and Tesla have the charging infrastructure and software nailed..

Just think of it as EVs for Dummies..



As for ACC, I'm someone that loves driving and enjoys long journeys, but I still use ACC and Autopilot when I can..

I dropped the daughter off yesterday in Wales, a 2.5 hour round trip, with ACC and AP on as much as possible, all dual carriageways had AP on, all other roads, ACC on..

I think it only did the usual ACC issue of over compensating for a car turning off in front once, but it wasn't dangerous, just far more conservative then I normally am, otherwise, faultless enough, even the lengthy 40mph narrow lane roadworks it handled fine (as it always does)..

My Mrs however, she uses it sparingly and I'd say her 'workload' always seems so much higher so putting any energy in to using ACC/AP is a hassle, even if theoretically it might reduce the workload for her..

Each to their own.. real men slap on ACC pulling on to the drive..

 

[Haggisman]

Each to their own though, if you don't like ACC you don't like it - switch it back to regular cruise and job done really.

I'd love to, but that's not an option* in my car

It's like automatically dipping headlights/"high beam assist", they're a great idea in theory, but (in my car at least) they don't react quickly enough. If you're driving along windy country roads then they don't detect that oncoming car which you as the driver can clearly see across a field, or their lights illuminating the trees/hedges to the side as you approach a bend. Sure, it turns off quickly enough when the headlights are actually fully visible 5m in front of you, by which point the oncoming driver has already been dazzled!

Again, maybe it's just my car, but IMO the implementation is poor and actually makes it more difficult to control (I've actually had to go and read the manual to double-check how it works as it's really un-intuitive!).

To turn the high beams on with assist on is a single push away
Pulling the stalk when the lights are ON will flash them OFF
Pulling the stalk when the lights are OFF will flash them ON
To turn the assist off is a double push away (easy enough, when you know, but not intuitive).
To turn the high beams off when assist is off is a single pull

The first few times I drove in the dark I kept dazzling oncoming cars because I'd pull the stalk to turn the high beams off (you know, like every single other car I've ever driven...) which would work - while I was holding the stalk, and then immediately turn them back on again when I let go , so now I have to remember to double-push the stalk for them to work properly without assist.

In fact there's over a page/20 bullet points in the manual outlining the various scenarios in which it won't work. In essence, if you're not driving along a perfectly straight & flat road in clear conditions and oncoming vehicles' lights are not in perfect condition then it probably won't work properly.

Not sure why the derision to be honest, it's not like I'm saying these things are the end of the world - more an annoyance and a distraction, which IMO is not what you really want when driving.

As I've said, maybe it's just in my car that they're poorly implemented, but they only seem to be suited for very specific "perfect" situations which I rarely encounter on the road - they're great at reacting to what has just happened/is happening right now, but they lack a driver's ability to anticipate what is about to happen (which IMO is far more important).

And yes, I'm aware these systems aren't limited to EVs, so apologies for taking this further off topic


* I was wrong! There is a super-secret (i.e. I should have read the manual) option to change smart CC to standard CC!!