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Old 8th October 2015, 09:33   #16
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Datsun Go+ and the Discussion about Smart Cars

Hello friends!


This is not an ownership thread - instead it is a rant originating from the typical obsession of us fuel average fixated Indians!


While driving my new Datsun Go+ in the capital I noticed that in real life all my car delivered was an average of 14 kpl.

Now there are a number of tales spun by automotive manufacturers about the real-world capabilities of diesel, petrol, hybrid and electric cars, motorcycles, scooters, SUVs, trucks, and buses.

Fictitious fuel consumption values impact consumers hugely resulting in greater-than-predicted expenditure on fuel, higher-than-promised levels of emissions and lower-than-claimed drive range per tank of petrol or diesel.

Cars were originally made of only mechanical parts, but today electronics constitute a major part.

As cars get “smarter,” look for those creating the software inside to get — well, creative. Just one illustration of that is the use of car misbehaviour (tyre puncture/engine stalling) management systems and of controller area networks (car-to-infrastructure LAN, car-to-car LAN).

That can be used both in a positive sense and a negative sense.

First looking at the positives - present day cars have nearly 200 microprocessors and the number is expected to double in the next 5 years.

Everything from engine ignition, fuel injection, emissions, collision avoidance, cruise control, heating/AC, navi, suspension, transmission, steering, braking (ABS), lights/horn/wiper/defroster, entertainment suites, seats/pedals, communication/safety, parking, noise cancellation and security onboard the car is controlled electronically - not to speak of electrics!

Your average car has about 8 kilometers of wire and it has sensors practically everywhere - and in some cars onboard computers that shift the whole dynamics of the vehicle from soft-roading to sports to off-roading.

Indeed it won't be too far fetched to foresee a future where the entire car firmware can be simply flashed to upgrade! (Tongue-in-cheek comment).

Now the negatives - the latest diesels in Europe that comply with the current Euro 6 norms - assuming we believe the results (on the dynamometer and in real-world conditions) - are much cleaner than before across all pollutants, but the development of internal combustion engines has hit a wall and there is little more to be done to improve efficiency - other than, perhaps, cheating in tests.

In fact the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) feels that the challenges Volkswagen is currently confronted with are a US conspiracy against European diesels.

Future legislation could make it mandatory - both in the USA and in China where hardly any diesels ply - for vehicles to possess a minimum electric driving range of 50 kms.

This has already been anticipated by the VW Group which has their subsidiary Lamborghini develop the Asterion which employs twin electric motors in front drive and conventional petrol V10 as the rear drive - one can cruise at 100 kmph with the tacho showing an astonishing zero!

Indeed people will increasingly choose hybrid and electric vehicles in the future as a more environmentally responsible choice.

The writing on the wall is clear - all car companies in the world should go electric or die.


Drive safe!

Venky
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