Safety tips for new drivers for FFE

[TonySpice]

I learned this through experience,

1. Quietness. Driving through strip-mall car-parks etc where there's walkers be extremely careful. People will not hear the car and step into your way while half looking. The lack of sound when the vehicle is proximate to them is a real issue. I drive REAL slow in strip-malls etc and give walkers plenty of room to maneuver.

I will be posting more of my safety-tips here but invite other forum members to invite their leanings.

 

[nuuk1]

Yeah running over people is very harmful to your car, can possible cost thousands in repairs, everyone be carefull

 

[TonySpice]

Tip 2: Make sure to carry windshield anti-freeze spray and snow brush etc. The car simply will not heat up the front windsheild as much as a regular car, frankly its not even close. Not too much an issue if you're close to L2 and/or the ice is minor. But if your parked somwhere for a day when it ices up, when you return to the vehicle you'll need to work a little to get the ice off. Even if you're plugged into L2 after 10 minutes it may still take you a little work to get it ready.

 

[arnoldbrame]

Yeah running over people is very harmful to your car, can possible cost thousands in repairs, everyone be carefull

Ya, and what about people who get crushed by the car? :?

 

[Gigi]

Yeah running over people is very harmful to your car, can possible cost thousands in repairs, everyone be carefull

Ya, and what about people who get crushed by the car? :?

Reminds me of street corners in the tourist areas of London where in the street, just beyond the curb, they paint "Look Right" to alert those of us used to looking left for oncoming traffic to instead look right. What if in strip shopping centers they had to paint "Watch for Electric Cars"? Wouldn't it be great if there were that many of us EV drivers!

 

[WattsUp]

What if in strip shopping centers they had to paint "Watch for Electric Cars"? Wouldn't it be great if there were that many of us EV drivers!

I think some people just need a "Watch for Cars" reminder. A lot of ICE cars are also very quiet when tooling around parking lots.

 

[rabar10]

Here's one: you go to back out of a parking space in your shiny new EV, still enamored with its silence and simplicity. Then you wonder why the car is moving so slow even though you're hitting the "go" pedal. Finally you realize it's just rolling/coasting backwards due to a slight decline in the parking lot, and is not under motive power. Confused, you step on the brake, check the gear shifter (yes, it's in reverse, not accidentally in neutral like you initially thought), shift to park and back to reverse, same results, start to panic that the car is broken...

Then you realize that the little green "Ready to drive" icon in the lower-right of the dash isn't lit. Put it back into Park, press the brake, press the Start/Stop button again, and after just a bit it lights up. Shift to Reverse, back out, and drive away sheepishly, embarrassed that you didn't know how to work your shiny new EV...

Moral of the story: The car takes a half-second or so from when you hit the Start/Stop button to being "Ready to drive", assuming you have your foot on the brake. BUT-- the interlock that lets you shift out of Park disengages as soon as you hit the Start/Stop button. So if you get in a hurry and shift out of Park before that little green "Ready to drive" light is lit, the car will stay in Accessory mode and you will have no motor power.

 

[WattsUp]

So if you get in a hurry and shift out of Park before that little green "Ready to drive" light is lit, the car will stay in Accessory mode and you will have no motor power.

Yup... this has come up numerous times. Just search the forums for "ready to drive" and "RTD".

 

[davideos]

Moral of the story: The car takes a half-second or so from when you hit the Start/Stop button to being "Ready to drive", assuming you have your foot on the brake. BUT-- the interlock that lets you shift out of Park disengages as soon as you hit the Start/Stop button. So if you get in a hurry and shift out of Park before that little green "Ready to drive" light is lit, the car will stay in Accessory mode and you will have no motor power.

I still get caught by that from time to time, but not as much as I used to. My procedure now is: Enter car, press brake, press start, buckle seatbelt, shift out of park. Unfortunately, I'm getting faster at buckling my seatbelt.