Regarding electric vehicles and them being online, I am in two minds about it, I always said, from a privacy standpoint, I’d never buy an online car. But my company gave me a company vehicle 2 weeks back, a Cupra Tavascan EV and it is all online, it even includes real-time conversations with ChatGPT, you start with Hallo Cupra, which I changed to Hola Tavi, and, like Siri, you can use it to change things in the car, like heated seats, cooled seats, temperature, steering wheel heater on or off, windows up and down etc. or navigation, but for more complex things, such as “who is Leo Laporte?” it will reach out to ChatGPT in real-time to get an answer. I’m actually finding it very interesting and some of the features (checking the charging status) is very useful.
I am on another site today and left the car charging in front of one of the buildings at the other end of the site, I can check the app to see if it has charged or if there are problems with the charging - it has currently charge from 8% to 55% in the last 2.5 hours (AC 11KW). This was the first long drive I did with the car and I was surprised, it is 400KM between my home and the site I am visiting, I thought I would need to stop and charge 20% or so on the way, but it actually got here with 8%of charge left, which was just under 5 hours of driving, which is about as long as I want to drive without a break - and it will charge to 80% in around 25 minutes, which is quick enough that it will have charge by the time I’ve been to the loo, had something to eat and drink and stretched my legs…
I’d like fully automated - it is partially automated, it will stop and start in traffic, keep distance, automatically adjust speed to match the road signs and change lanes automatically on the Autobahn, but I have to keep an eye on it and keep touching the steering wheel. Being able to relax and read a book or watch a video, whilst it drive itself would be so much nicer, although for that length of journey, it makes more sense to catch a train and then get a robo-taxi at the destination for the last few kilometers - the trains can travel at up to 300km/h, the Tavascan is artificially restricted to 185km/h (114mph), which is the only downside - if you boot it, you are still getting passed by station wagons and vans… But these days, I rarely drive above 90mph on a normal journey, so it isn’t that much of a problem, as the German e-mobility YouTuber Car Maniac says, “it is a just German problem, but it is still a problem for Germans…”
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