Self-Hosted, Open-Source, Unconventionally-Named Vehicle Maintenance Records and Fuel Mileage Tracker

Nic Cruz Patane
@niccruzpatane
Tesla vehicles are nearly 8 times less likely to experience a vehicle fire compared to the U.S. average.
11:09 PM · Jan 1, 2025

2022 data:

• ICE vehicles: 59.5 fires per billion miles driven
• Tesla vehicles: 7.3
  ///

How many fires were not caused by accidents?

And note how much more difficult lithium battery guess are to extinguish.

if the deal goes through it would create the world's third-largest OEM in 2026. //

Beleaguered automaker Nissan is going to throw its lot in with Honda. The two Japanese OEMs want to merge by 2026, creating the world's third-largest car company in the process. In fact, earlier this year the two signed memorandums of understanding to create a strategic partnership focused on software and electrification. Now, the changing business environment calls for deeper integration, they say. //

Altaira Pilgram
This merger is about the rise of Chinese auto companies affecting their domestic markets and for now exports across Asia soon to be global. Over the last few years Chinese domestic auto manufacturers have gutted the sales of companies like GM, VW, and others in China and are now looking to aggressively reshape the international automobile markets. BYD for example is building factories Thailand, Hungary, and Brazil. Nissan, by its own estimates, has said at times it was unclear if it would last through 2027 if it stayed independent thus forcing it to seek out of desperation a strong partner. It also seems the Japanese government had a hand in propping up Nissan with this merger presumably with the goal of protecting its economy and jobs. The hope here is that the merged companies can pool R & D resources to develop not just finished cars but the myriad technologies and finished components that go into them in an timely manner, at scale and at costs that allow them to compete with the Chinese manufacturers. To me it is unclear that any of this is going to work. Saddling Honda with a duplicate but a worse company has to bog them down for years while they figure out what Nissan parts to keep and which parts to shutdown precisely when Honda needs to be nimble. The game of thrones, automobile edition, has begun in earnest.
December 23, 2024 at 4:46 pm

The adhesive in the tape is treated with capsaicin, which is one of the active components in chilies that gives them their spicy kick

Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT) provides pilots a way of monitoring the fuel/air mixture in the engine. It uses the stoichiometric mixture (where Fuel and Air are perfectly balanced so that there is no unburned fuel and no unburned oxygen at the end of the combustion event) as a reference: At this mixture the EGT is at its hottest ("Peak EGT"). Making the mixture richer or leaner will reduce the EGT, and all other mixture settings are described in terms of "Degrees Rich of Peak" or "Degrees Lean of Peak". //

The area of the chart from peak EGT to about 100 degrees Rich of Peak is often referred to as "The Red Box" -- in this range the fuel/air mixture has a low detonation margin, and the combustion event is producing the most internal stress on the engine components (cylinders, pistons).
As you can see from the Lycoming chart the Cylinder Head Temperature (CHT) peaks in this range, and there is a risk of exceeding the CHT limits and seriously damaging your engine by operating in this range for extended periods of time, particularly at high power settings.

The perfect ratio of fuel to air is 14.7 parts air to 1 part fuel. That’s the ratio of fuel to air that results in the most efficient burn possible, where all of the oxygen and fuel will be consumed. The science of measuring reactions, like the chemical reaction that turns oxygen and fuel into CO 2 and heat, powering your engine, is called stoichiometry. //

Just note, though, that in the real world, your car will be happier with around 13:1. We don’t live in perfect atmospheric conditions, so a little bit of extra fuel doesn’t hurt and will still be considered stoichiometric. //

Of the two, having a lean mixture is much more dangerous for your engine. An engine can run rich without much issue. An engine running lean can become lubricant starved and seize.

This is the car that gave Communism a bad name. Powered by a two-stroke pollution generator that maxed out at an ear-splitting 18 hp, the Trabant was a hollow lie of a car constructed of recycled worthlessness (actually, the body was made of a fiberglass-like Duroplast, reinforced with recycled fibers like cotton and wood). A virtual antique when it was designed in the 1950s, the Trabant was East Germany's answer to the VW Beetle — a "people's car," as if the people didn't have enough to worry about. Trabants smoked like an Iraqi oil fire, when they ran at all, and often lacked even the most basic of amenities, like brake lights or turn signals. But history has been kind to the Trabi. Thousands of East Germans drove their Trabants over the border when the Wall fell, which made it a kind of automotive liberator. Once across the border, the none-too-sentimental Ostdeutschlanders immediately abandoned their cars. Ich bin Junk!

P219B Bank 2 Air/Fuel Ratio Imbalance

OBD II fault code P219B is a generic trouble code that is often defined as, “Bank 2 Air/Fuel Ratio Imbalance”, and is set when the PCM (Powertrain Control Module) detects an imbalance between the air and fuel components of the air/fuel mixture on Bank 2. On V-type engines, Bank 2 is the bank of cylinders that does not contain cylinder #1.

NOTE: The word “often” used above is rather important, since at least 12 carmakers, including Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, GMC, as well as GM and Ford (and their related makes) use varying definitions for this code. While all known variations describe an air/fuel mixture problem on Bank 2 as the result of largely identical causes, the sometimes wildly different wording used by some carmakers to define/describe this code can and often does, create some confusion about the actual meaning of the code.

Of all the recent trends in automotive technology and design, the adoption of capacitive controls over mechanical switches and buttons—particularly on multifunction steering wheels—is among the most deplorable. One can see the appeal to the designer—slick-looking fiat panels trump dust-attracting seams, for starters. The bean counters love them, too—it takes less time to install the subassemblies, and that means a little more profit per car. It's just that they suck. And now, some Volkswagen drivers say capacitive buttons are to blame for their car crashes.

Whether you're on a straight or curved road, you have a much higher chance of recovering from hydroplaning if you stay calm and make the right moves. At the first sign of hydroplaning, let off the throttle and attempt to steer in the direction you want to travel—doing so very gently. Abrupt, herky-jerky steering movements can induce a skid, as can slamming on the brakes. Gentle brake application while steering is fine on cars equipped with anti-lock brakes (ABS), which nearly all cars made in the past 20 years are equipped with. Be smooth and consistent with the brake pedal. If gentle steering inputs have no effect, don't keep adding steering angle. Wait for the front tires to bite; trust us, you'll feel it. All of this happens in seconds, so any panic maneuver could send you spinning.

OBD II fault code P0505 is defined as “Idle Control System Malfunction”, or sometimes as “Idle speed control (ISC) system –malfunction”, and is set when the PCM (Powertrain Control Module) is unable to control, or maintain the engine idling speed at a specified RPM. Note that regardless of slight differences in the wording of various definitions of code P0505, this code always refers to the PCM’s inability to maintain or control the engine idling speed.

P0132 – Heated oxygen sensor (HO2S) / oxgen sensor (O2S) 1, bank 1 -high voltage

Now, NHTSA's ODI has upgraded the case to a full engineering analysis and includes the model year 2018–2022 Honda Accord, model year 2018–2022 Honda Accord Hybrid, model year 2017–2022 Honda CR-V, and model year 2020–2022 Honda CR-V Hybrid—all told, about 3 million cars on US roads.

Internet Science Man Hank Green investigates why cars look like putty now

Studies comparing modern traffic accidents with those of the early 20th century reveal that death from travel is 90 percent less likely today than it was in 1925.

The booming sound you may be hearing right now -- especially if you live in San Francisco or Washington, D.C -- could be resulting from liberal heads exploding as they read about what Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said during a conference this month. Electric vehicles will only ever make up 30 percent of the market or less, he argued, and politicians should get out of the way and let the markets decide which cars are preferable to consumers. //

No matter how much progress BEVs [Battery Electric Vehicles] make, I think they will still only have a 30 % market share . Then, the remaining 70 % will be HEVs , FCEVs , and hydrogen engines. And I think engine cars will definitely remain.

I think this is something that customers and the market will decide, not regulatory values or political power. [Bolding and underlining theirs.]

That's why Toyota Motor Corporation, which is competing all over the world, has a full lineup of multi-pathway products.

Experiencing the sequence of events in a car programmed for automated emergency stopping.

johnwalker 5d

nagle:
Norway is far enough along in this area that actuals are available.

Norway is, of course, an outlier both in its electrical generation and consumption per capita.

Around 95% of electricity generation in Norway is from hydroelectric power, and it is the largest producer of hydroelectric power in Europe. This is the result of a policy which has been in effect since 1892, and 90% of generation capacity is publicly owned.

Norway’s per capita electricity consumption is 24,182 kWh/year, ranking second in the world after Iceland (51,304 kWh/year). This is more than twice the U.S. at 11,267 kWh/year.

With abundant hydropower, electricity is the most common source for home heating and hot water, which has contributed to developing a grid which can support electric vehicle charging.

This isn’t to discount the value of the experience in Norway, where around 80% of new vehicle sales are electric, but their circumstances are unusually favourable to electric vehicles compared to countries without abundant base load hydroelectric power.

Mettelus > johnwalker 5d
From Euronews.com:

The number of fully electric cars in Norway exceeded 3 million in 2022, and the share of EVs among the total number of cars rose to 76 per 10,000 in 2021, up from only 2 per 10,000 in 2013.

Although new purchases are 80%, the total percentage of EVs is still very small. Successfully charging less than a percent of the vehicles is not a good indication of how it will go when 80% of the vehicles need to be charged. One car out of 100 can be charged at the bookstore.

Also, just a side note. In the McKinsey report they use EBITA and as Charlie Munger advised: Whenever you see EBITA, substitute BS. //

civilwestman 3d
I must wonder as to two practicalities in a place like Norway. According to a brief search, EV batteries lose 12 - 30 % of their range in cold weather - before the heater is turned on. Then, it drops around another 40%. I guess Norwegians just like the “cool” experience of gliding around in green vehicles. Are mink blankets an OEM option I wonder, like the Tsarist Russian troikas?