Plug In Solutions, one of the largest plug-in hybrid kit manufacturers in California, says that it has come up with a fix for the “unintended acceleration” issue for all of Toyota’s cars—not just the hybrid ones. The fix comes in the form of a switch that allows drivers to “turn off” their engine in the case of an emergency. Interestingly enough, this is the same type of fix that regulators are currently debating a future requirement for on all vehicles.
While it is not truly a “fix” and more of a band-aid on the underlying issue, the add-on kit does address the problem in a way that seems rather certain to succeed in an emergency. It also gets around the need to tackle hard-to-nail-down software issues—although it won’t win the $1 million prize just announced “find the cause of and solution to” the issue. No one has yet to conclusively prove what the unintended acceleration issue is related to, and Toyota has gotten a rather unfair lashing in all of this considering that their “unintended acceleration” rates are about the same as the industry average.
Robb Protheroe, Plug In Solutions’ Director of Technology, said in a statement that the same technology they use in their plug-in hybrid kits ”just happens to solve Toyota’s latest issues with their customers’ inability to stop their vehicle.”
“When we realized that all our employees drove Toyota Prius and Highlander Hybrids, we knew that we needed to create a safe solution quickly,” added Andra Sachs, Plug In Solutions’ Director of Sales and Marketing. “Our engineers then realized that we had already solved this problem and incorporated it into all of our Plug In Hybrid Kits and cars.”
The company says that if Toyota owners already have the Plug In Solutions Kit installed they also have the safety feature installed. If any other Toyota owners would like to add the feature to their vehicles, they can buy them for $99 without installation or $199 installed—although I do think that Plug In Solutions is just the first company in a long ling of forthcoming announcements for similar such products from other companies.
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Why can’t people just put their cars in neutral and then break till they stop? Is this just so foreign now that everyone drives automatic transmission cars?
Aromatic transmissions are setup (at least last I saw) to allow you to bump the car into neutral even when it is running.
Why can’t people just put their cars in neutral and then break till they stop? Is this just so foreign now that everyone drives automatic transmission cars?
Aromatic transmissions are setup (at least last I saw) to allow you to bump the car into neutral even when it is running.
All motorcycles and scooters have an engine cut-off switch. Hey, why not cars?
All motorcycles and scooters have an engine cut-off switch. Hey, why not cars?
Now, Nick, This is more like it.
Good reporting on a problem with a solution to the problem. It is interesting that the “unintended acceleration” problem did not show up until the Audi’s with non Buick pedal positions had the problem. Then it moved to several other makes until the NHTSA blamed it on “pedal mis-application”. That was a long winded and polite way to say the driver did it. That was also before we had electronic throttle controls.
I would suspect a temperature change causing a value change in a resistor on the control board. I would require a mechanical linkage in any system that incorporates a butterfly valve in the air passages. This would allow cutting the engine power by closing the throttle regardless of the amount of fuel fed by the computer.
Both Toyota and Ford claim to have a full mechanical linkage on the brake systems, but both state that this linkage does require a longer pedal movement than is required when everything is working as designed.
Perhaps we need braking courses where we can simulate the failure that causes this problem. After all there are very few cars that have engines actually more powerful than the brakes. If you doubt this, calculate the power required to stop a car from 90 MPH at 0.9G. That’s a de-acceleration rate of 28.98 fps. 90 MPH is 132 fps. This is a stop in only 4.55 seconds.
Now, Nick, This is more like it.
Good reporting on a problem with a solution to the problem. It is interesting that the “unintended acceleration” problem did not show up until the Audi’s with non Buick pedal positions had the problem. Then it moved to several other makes until the NHTSA blamed it on “pedal mis-application”. That was a long winded and polite way to say the driver did it. That was also before we had electronic throttle controls.
I would suspect a temperature change causing a value change in a resistor on the control board. I would require a mechanical linkage in any system that incorporates a butterfly valve in the air passages. This would allow cutting the engine power by closing the throttle regardless of the amount of fuel fed by the computer.
Both Toyota and Ford claim to have a full mechanical linkage on the brake systems, but both state that this linkage does require a longer pedal movement than is required when everything is working as designed.
Perhaps we need braking courses where we can simulate the failure that causes this problem. After all there are very few cars that have engines actually more powerful than the brakes. If you doubt this, calculate the power required to stop a car from 90 MPH at 0.9G. That’s a de-acceleration rate of 28.98 fps. 90 MPH is 132 fps. This is a stop in only 4.55 seconds.
So far the worst proposed idea is the brake override software ‘solution’ that would drop engine revs when brakes are applied. Those of us who know how to drive manual transmissions employ ‘heel and toe’ to blip the throttle by rotating the ankle and applying the right side of the right foot on the accelerator when braking to match engine speed with road speed when down shifting. The engine is then making power at a proper rpm to accelerate out of a turn smoothly.
So far the worst proposed idea is the brake override software ‘solution’ that would drop engine revs when brakes are applied. Those of us who know how to drive manual transmissions employ ‘heel and toe’ to blip the throttle by rotating the ankle and applying the right side of the right foot on the accelerator when braking to match engine speed with road speed when down shifting. The engine is then making power at a proper rpm to accelerate out of a turn smoothly.
ChuckL…
Put a sock in it…nobody cares about what you deem to be “good reporting”.
ChuckL…
Put a sock in it…nobody cares about what you deem to be “good reporting”.
Once the car takes off there is very little time!
Once the car takes off there is very little time!
bernard:
I’ve never driven an aromatic transmission; what do they smell like?
bernard:
I’ve never driven an aromatic transmission; what do they smell like?