Chris, I couldn't (could, as you Yanks insist on saying - it doesn't make sense the way you say it!) agree less! I love cruise control. But then, I tootle along a bit faster than the heavy trucks (most of which stick to 90kph over here) but slower than most everything else. Thus, my over-taking and the increase in speed that usually entails, is minimised and the whole thing is so much more relaxed. Obviously this only works on dual (or more) carriageways.
I'm eagerly awaiting autonomous driving, which they are already doing trials on in the UK - on the public roads I mean. 10 years and we'll all be doing it. What does this mean. It means the end of this silly all speed up - whoa! - Too close! - all slow down again - in heavy traffic... and the accidents - and delays - that inevitably ensue. It means we'll all be able to drive at a reasonable speed - 90kph in lane 1, 120 in 2, nutters or emer-services in lane 3 - and get on with something else - read the paper, do some emails etc. Much more productive and much safer. That's the theory anyway. MW On 5 Jan 2014, at 19:08, Chris Tromley wrote: > On Sun, Jan 5, 2014 at 12:54 PM, brucedp5 <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> >> IMO There are items that should have been kept with the lowest priced 'S >> trim' model, and some fluff/junk should have been made optional to keep the >> price down. On the S trim ... >> >> Need an option to buy a: >> - Cruise control (to save energy) >> - B-mode regenerative braking system (to save energy) >> > > There will be plenty of opinions on this, but in my case every new car I've > had came with standard cruise control, and it's a waste. I never use it. > It's a pain to deal with even in light traffic, and it DOES NOT save > energy. All it does is maintain a constant speed, regardless of > conditions, which is not the path to low energy usage. > > Over time I've learned by using the real-time mpg readout (or ammeter) and > keeping track of mpg every fill-up (or kWh/mile every charge) that constant > speed is pretty inefficient. Much better to use your momentum and surf the > undulations of the terrain. Let your speed drop a bit going uphill and > give it some more juice going down with a gravity assist. Don't be extreme > or you'll drop out of the sweet spot (and piss off surrounding drivers). > Conserve and maintain your momentum. I'm not into boats, but I suspect > this is the same mentality as used when sailing. > > Get the feel of it and you'll beat cruise control for efficiency every time. > > Chris > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20140105/a3ec6d4d/attachment.htm> > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA > (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
