[lug] OT: Runaway Prius

[Jeffrey Haemer]

Here's<http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/12/toyota-autos-hoax-media-opinions-contributors-michael-fumento_3.html>a
Forbes analysis of the incident.  There are lots of useful links,
including one to a Car & Driver article about braking that I liked.

Doesn't seem very Linux relevant, but it certainly sparked a lot of pre-talk
BLUG discussion.  Makes me wonder whether there might be a high overlap
between car geeks and computer geeks.

On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 11:17 PM, Maxwell Spangler <
maxlists at maxwellspangler.com> wrote:
> We were chatting about this last night at the meeting so I thought I'd
mention it here.
>
> Prius owner allegedly $700K in debt and hadn't been making payments on
> his Prius.
>
>
http://jalopnik.com/5488716/runaway-toyota-prius-stopped-by-california-patrol-car
>
> "Brake test: Turns out there's a brake override feature in a Prius.
> As soon as I press on the brakes with anything more than casual effort,
> the wide-open engine and electric motors stop propelling the car forward
> and the brakes take over. Brake pedal effort is by no means what I would
> consider high. In a panic, with adrenaline pumping, this would be easy.
>  Without adrenaline, it's still easy. What's more, it's not even startling
>  because the gas engine goes to idle instead of revving to redline as a
non-hybrid car would.
>
> This system is necessary in a hybrid because, in simplified terms, the
> motor/generator at the heart of the system cannot simultaneously drive
> the car forward and supply regenerative braking force. It has to choose
> one, and the default is to choose brakes."
>
>
http://blogs.insideline.com/roadtests/2010/03/2004-toyota-prius-three-ways-to-deal-with-a-stuck-throttle.html
>
> Still happy with my HONDA fit and it's drive-by-wire throttle. :-)
>
> --
> Maxwell Spangler
>
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Jeffrey Haemer <jeffrey.haemer at gmail.com>
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