The Lemon Fool

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-m ... r-68500233

"A runaway electric car had to be boxed in between police cars after an electrical fault left the driver unable to brake on a motorway.

The driver of the Jaguar I-Pace had been travelling on the M58 at about 14:15 GMT on Wednesday before calling police to plead for help.

Officers were able to escort the car on to the M57 and then the M62.

It was finally halted 25 minutes later between Junction 11 for Birchwood and 12 for Eccles, police said."

Once upon a time ...

My mother told a tale of her brother - a keen driver - losing his brakes on the motorway. He of course improvised using the gearbox and terrain to bring himself to a halt.

Come to think of it, I had a bike brake cable snap, coming down a steep hill that merged at the bottom onto a semi-main road in a T-junction. That would've been ballpark twenty years ago, when a replacement brake cable was more than a week's survival budget.

I guess the fact that it happened to an electric car makes it a news story. Along with the fact he had a phone and, instead of improvising, called the cops.

Was it Nina Siemaszko driving?

Is it not possible to power off an EV while in motion ? Or manually control the gearbox to shift down ?

y0rkiebar wrote:Is it not possible to power off an EV while in motion ? Or manually control the gearbox to shift down ?

"shift down"? It's an EV, it doesn't have a variable ratio gearbox.

This was described as "brake failure", my guess is it could be a failure of electronics or a sensor, as surely EVs are braked initially via the motors being switched to generator mode.

Of course, an EV does take a bit more stopping than a petrol car. Heavier and much more powerful even at the lowest speeds.

It's hardly a new story, though: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67005620

But this episode is another nail on the i-Pace's coffin, I'd have thought. Giles Coren dumped his overpriced pile of trouble very publicly last year. As this very forum discussed at the time.: viewtopic.php?t=37456

BJ

XFool wrote:

y0rkiebar wrote:Is it not possible to power off an EV while in motion ? Or manually control the gearbox to shift down ?

"shift down"? It's an EV, it doesn't have a variable ratio gearbox.

This was described as "brake failure", my guess is it could be a failure of electronics or a sensor, as surely EVs are braked initially via the motors being switched to generator mode.

Do EVs not have a manual handbrake either?

Lootman wrote:

XFool wrote:This was described as "brake failure", my guess is it could be a failure of electronics or a sensor, as surely EVs are braked initially via the motors being switched to generator mode.

Do EVs not have a manual handbrake either?

I don't know. My guess is, if they do it's likely an electric handbrake (doubtless aka an "electronic" handbrake these days ), so may well have also failed at the same time.

XFool wrote:

Lootman wrote:Do EVs not have a manual handbrake either?

I don't know. My guess is, if they do it's likely an electric handbrake (doubtless aka an "electronic" handbrake these days ), so may well have also failed at the same time.

Handbrakes aren't a very effective way of slowing even a large petrol car. I'd imagine that even the low-speed torque from an EV would turn a standard set of pads to smoke and dust every time. And if it didn't, surely everybody in this situation would give it a go?

BJ

bungeejumper wrote:

XFool wrote:I don't know. My guess is, if they do it's likely an electric handbrake (doubtless aka an "electronic" handbrake these days ), so may well have also failed at the same time.

Handbrakes aren't a very effective way of slowing even a large petrol car. I'd imagine that even the low-speed torque from an EV would turn a standard set of pads to smoke and dust every time. And if it didn't, surely everybody in this situation would give it a go?

Yes but in a runaway situation wouldn't an old-school cable-operated handbrake at least slow you down a bit? And on a hill, more so?

Better than nothing I would have thought. But I am filing this as reason number 571 why I will never have an EV.

It's amazing that the police could respond so quickly, and in force. The M58 is a short motorway with a big roundabout controlled by traffic lights, leading onto the M57. It depends on the speed of the Jag I suppose but they did well to clear the junction before the Jag came through. I wonder if the Jag was just crawling along, the brakes having failed but with the accelerator lifted so no real speed. If it was crawling, you would have thought the Jag driver could have just manoeuvred into a barrier or something. More detailed article required, I suppose. And had it been a BMW, the BMW nerve centre could have dialled in and cut the power (see BMW thread on the motoring board).

I guess it is the first time an EV owner has suffered from, erm, what's the opposite of Range Anxiety?

Lootman wrote:Better than nothing I would have thought. But I am filing this as reason number 571 why I will never have an EV.

That's a comprehensive list.

JOOI what are items 187 and 424?

Redmires wrote: If it was crawling, you would have thought the Jag driver could have just manoeuvred into a barrier or something.

Like those ramps for runaway trucks that have a steep incline and then a large amount of sand or gravel?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_truck_ramp

Lootman wrote:Yes but in a runaway situation wouldn't an old-school cable-operated handbrake at least slow you down a bit? And on a hill, more so?

Better than nothing I would have thought. But I am filing this as reason number 571 why I will never have an EV.

Cable operated handbrakes are not unique to EVs. Many (most?) ICE also have electronic handbrakes. And, I suspect, many accelerators are also drive-by-wire rather than a mechanical linkage
doolally

doolally wrote:

Lootman wrote:Yes but in a runaway situation wouldn't an old-school cable-operated handbrake at least slow you down a bit? And on a hill, more so?

Better than nothing I would have thought. But I am filing this as reason number 571 why I will never have an EV.

Cable operated handbrakes are not unique to EVs. Many (most?) ICE also have electronic handbrakes. And, I suspect, many accelerators are also drive-by-wire rather than a mechanical linkage.

Yes and more generally I hate those push-button electronic handbrake controls. How can you do a handbrake turn for a start? i like to "feel" my handbrake rather than it be binary.

All these "tech for tech's sake" changes drive me nuts and explain why I drive a 20 year old vehicle.