Pulling Your Plug

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Electric cars don’t just plug in. They can also be unplugged – so to speak – and not necessarily by their owners. 

Lost in the Oceania-is-at-war-with Eastasia mass formation psychosis now forming over Keeeeeeeev! was a telling Tweet that appeared – and disappeared – urging Elon Musk to remotely disable every Tesla in Russia, so as to teach the Russians a lesson. 

One lost on Americans. 

Electric cars will tether Americans not merely to electrical outlets but to a leash – the other end of it held by those who have the ability to yank it, at their pleasure. Like Elon Musk, who is considered by some to be a kind of libertarian techno-hero a la Tony Stark, the fictitious Iron Man. But if so, why would he design electric cars that are connected cars?

Cars that can be disconnected – for any reason – at any time?

Many such reasons can be imagined – among them that Elon is the scion of a family of managerial technocrats who have been working on ways to manage us for the past 100 years. 

All that’s needed for them to succeed is the tech (check) and the excuse.

As for instance, the next “pandemic.”

During the last one, now waning, it was harder to lock down the populace because people were still mobile. This writer was able to defy the lock-down orders issued by the state Gesundheitsfuhrer – Ralph “Coonman” Northam – by getting in his unplugged and thus disconnected truck and driving it the 30 miles to the coffee shop he wanted to support by showing up to buy coffee. If he’d had a plugged-in/connected electric truck, it would have been easy to lock it down – by transmitting an “update” as these ethereal remote-commands are styled.

Understand – before it’s too late – that this is one of the main reasons why electric vehicles are being so aggressively shoved down our throats (by shoving non-electric cars off the market; that’s being done via regulations which are making it increasingly difficult to offer any vehicle not at least partially electric). It is for precisely the same reason that digital money is also being aggressively pushed. Both take control away from you and endow those who now control you with the power to coerce you by implicitly threatening you at all times with what amounts to loss of privileges as the price of disobedience, at any time.

The technology and the technological infrastructure already exists, to do this. Everything that is online, for instance, is or can be instantly known. And punished. Your views, for instance – as via your Tweets, comments or (as in the case of people such as this writer) your published thoughts. Any Wrongthinkful thought expressed online can trigger a punishment meted out via anything else that is “online” – such as your electric car.  Such as the electric power that is now also connected, online.

Your money.

Everything intertwined online and over-the-air being so much easier to centrally control.

Your thoughts – and your actions – via your mobility. Intertwined with your ability to buy and sell. All conditional upon your obedience, expressed overtly – as by wearing a Face Diaper when “mandated.” Also implicitly, as by knowing you’d better not publicly say you don’t “stand with” Keeeeeev! or whatever other thing it’s made clear it’s obligatory to support or at least, not question out loud.

Understand this. 

Electric vehicles are the essence of this. They are not – as is often disingenuously (or simply, ignorantly) styled, “simpler” vehicles than engined vehicles. Yes, certainly, electrics have fewer moving parts. But it is their electronically controlled part – the battery pack – which is the critical part.

It can be “updated” – as in, via the airwaves – to grant its owner more range, as was revealed when Tesla so graciously did just that a few years back, as a hurricane bore down on Florida and Tesla owners were worried they might not have enough range to escape from Florida.

That was nice. But implicit in that is not-so-nice. The same ability to remotely increase an EV’s range can also be used to reduce it. To zero, if those who control it want to so reduce it.

And there is nothing you can do about it, if they do.

If you disconnect the car from connectivity, your EV may not work at all – kind of like the individual Borg (Star Trek reference) separated from the collective.

Non-electric cars are also increasingly vulnerable to being unplugged, too – since many of the newer models are also set up to receive “updates” (that is, instructions) remotely, over which you have no say-so. The car receives – and obeys.

And so do you – if you own such a car.

But EVs are uniquely and more completely controllable because of what makes them go and also what they need in order to go. That being electricity – which is not under your control in the way that fuel (gas and diesel) is, once bought. Electricity isn’t stored. It flows, in real time – continuously. Until it stops flowing. As when the power is cut off.

Then there is no electricity.

Maybe you capture your own – via panels and such. Which won’t be enough – unless you have an array capable of catching a huge amount of it. Which few if any homes have.

And even if you do catch it enough, your EV can still catch an “update” – and then it won’t matter how much electricity you have. It will be like having a 100 gallon of drum for a car with a locked-up engine.

This is where things are headed. Unless they’re stopped. And that will only happen if enough people finally understand what this electric car business is really all about.

. . .

Got a question about cars, bikes or anything else? Click on the “ask Eric” link and send ’em in! Or email me at EPeters952@yahoo.com if the @!** “ask Eric” button doesn’t work!

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70 COMMENTS

  1. It’s not just electric cars. Any connected car can be shut down. GM has had OnStar for a generation. They say they can stop a vehicle that has been stolen, for example. Plenty of stories of people getting their cars back.

    Double-edged sword, of course. So don’t make the mistake of assuming that since you don’t have an electric car, you’re safe from this “feature”. If you have a car that’s less then 8-10 years old, you’ve got a connected car that can be stopped dead in its tracks.

  2. Sure, EVs like the Tesla are inherently computer-controlled, and with all that “friendly assistance” from Tesla also comes the ability to monitor where you go with it, and, if necessary, STOP you in your tracks. But this tech has long existed. About ten or so years ago, I was leasing a 2011 Ford (con)Fusion, and the damn thing had a built-in governor! So regardless of you ride’s motive power, it’s controlled by a computer, and therein lies the ability to REMOTELY control it. Ever the more with the electric steering, like on my 2020 car.

    At minimum, say the wrong thing, or even be observed wearing a “Trump 2024” cap, and you find your ride unable to start, or even UNLOCK. A control freak’s wet dream, and we’ve got plenty of those sociopaths in DC and so many state capitals.

  3. ICE vs EV comparison:

    Mercedes $94,000 new, residual value after 9 years $23,000
    Tesla Model S price $94,000 new, residual value after 9 years $23,000

    Mercedes: Fuel cost for 100,000 miles $16,000

    Tesla: Fuel cost for 100,000 miles: cost of electricity to recharge battery $5,000
    CNBC crunched the numbers the average cost to charge an EV to go 100 miles = $5.00
    cost of installing charger in home $10,000

    Cost of time lost waiting for recharge 6 hours a week for 468 weeks @ $20.00/hr. = $56,160
    this is the biggest problem with EV’s, the charging hassle, it is ok if you have servants, this is why the first 20% who got EV’s are switching back to ice vehicles. an EV is great for people who’s time is worth nothing.

    Cost of depreciation plus fuel for 9 years:

    Mercedes
    residual value after 9 years $23,000 depreciation = $71,000
    fuel cost $16,000
    total $87,000

    Tesla
    residual value after 9 years $23,000 depreciation = $71,000 minus $22,000 cost to replace battery = $1,000 residual value.
    total depreciation = $93,000
    the battery, the biggest most expensive component in a tesla depreciates to zero value in 9 years.
    fuel cost $5,000
    total $98,000

    Tesla including all costs:
    cost of installing charger in home $10,000
    Cost of time lost waiting for recharge 6 hours a week for 468 weeks @ $20.00/hr. = $56,160
    $98,000 + $10,000 + $56,160 = $164,160
    total $164,160

    NOTE: the fuel cost for the Mercedes fuel was $16,000, for the Tesla $5,000 but including the $10,000 to put a charger in your house it = $15,000

    NOTE: Tesla fuel cost: CNBC crunched the numbers the average cost to charge an EV to go 100 miles = $5.00
    What is the real cost to go 100 miles? The power plants and the electricity transmission and distribution lines are often government owned, so poorly managed and wasteful (and taxpayer financed), it costs 100’s of billions of dollars to build this fragile system, often financed with huge debt.
    What if they increase their rates so the average cost to charge an EV to go 100 miles = $50.00 ……….after all the ice vehicles are banned/crushed…..

    The EV is a trap to stop or control mobility. The electrical grid has to be expanded 500% to accommodate the replacement of ice vehicles by EV’s. That won’t happen, what will happen is they are planning to limit your EV charging to one day a week, this can be done remotely, (it is easier then stopping an ice vehicle owner from using alternate fuels, so they are pushing EV’s).

    Lots of people will be walking anyways they can’t afford a $50,000 to $100,000 EV.

    They are forcing you out of ice powered vehicles that work into EV’s that are wasteful, (use twice as much fuel at the power plant to make enough energy to push the tesla one mile down the road compared to an ice powered vehicle to go one mile), inconvenient, have limited use, are more expensive and pollute more (power plants are dirtier and burn twice as much fuel to push an EV one mile down the road). .

    ice vehicle economy example……
    Fiat 500 0.9 lt. 8V 51 mpg city, 69 mpg highway…

    https://motoreu.com/fiat-500-0.9-8v-twinair-start-stopp-mpg-fuel-consumption-technical-specifications-3921

    • EV vs ICE engine fuel costs

      Mercedes: Fuel cost for 100,000 miles $16,000
      25 mpg x $4.00/gal = $16.00 to go 100 miles
      (some gas or diesel ice vehicles can get 50 mpg) = $8.00 to go 100 miles.
      (an old diesel can run on 50% used oil (free fuel) = $4.00 to go 100 miles.
      (some old diesels can run on 100% used deep fryer oil (free fuel) = $0.00 to go 100 miles.
      (some old ice engines can run be converted to run on wood ( maybe free fuel) = $0.00 to go 100 miles.

      Tesla: Fuel cost for 100,000 miles: cost of electricity to recharge battery $5,000
      CNBC crunched the numbers the average cost to charge an EV to go 100 miles = $5.00
      cost of installing charger in home $10,000

      • (If they switch to 100% solar or wind turbine power it is so expensive, the lifespan of the system so short, it is so inefficient, the average cost to charge an EV to go 100 miles might be = $500.00 )

    • Tesla: Fuel cost for 100,000 miles: average cost of electricity to recharge battery $5,000
      (In San Francisco fuel cost for 100,000 miles: cost of electricity to recharge battery $9,680
      the cost to charge an EV to go 100 miles , is more in some markets Boston = $9.33, in San francisco = $9.68
      CNBC crunched the numbers the average cost to charge an EV to go 100 miles = $5.00

      There is an additional cost the $22,000 battery is used up, worn out in 100,000 miles. this works out to $22.00 per 100 miles it is costing you for the battery, in addition to the $5.00 per 100 miles for fuel cost. that = $27.00 per 100 miles.

      These EV’s look really expensive to own/run, ice vehicles are cheaper, people have no clue of the real numbers…….

      • Is the EV using more fuel then the ice vehicles?

        On the electric-vehicle side, the EPA’s efficiency rating for EVs — called “MPGe”, for miles per gallon equivalent — gives consumers an idea of how far an EV can travel on 33.7 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of charge.

        Why 33.7 kWh? That’s the amount of electricity that is chemically equivalent to the energy in a gallon of regular gasoline.

        The average MPGe rating for 2022-model-year EVs sold in the U.S. is about 97, so driving 100 miles in that hypothetical average vehicle would use 34.7 kWh of electricity.

        travelling 100 miles in an EV uses 1.03 gallons equivalant of fuel = 34.7 kwh of electricity

        travelling 100 miles in a 50 mpg diesel uses 2 gallons of fuel

        Power plants – coal, natural gas, petroleum or nuclear – work on the same general principle. Energy-dense stuff is burned to release heat, which boils water into steam, which spins a turbine, which generates electricity. The thermodynamic limits of this process (“Damn that rising entropy!”) mean only part of the energy in the raw materials actually make it onto the grid in the form of electricity.

        Thermal efficiency of power plants using coal, petroleum, natural gas or nuclear fuel and converting it to electricity are around 33% efficiency, natural gas is around 40%.

        Energy loss in transmission = around 6% average in the U.S. (some states are 9%). Some countries, like India, have losses pushing 30 percent. Often, this is due to electricity thieves. More of that will be happening soon.

        Fun fact: Transmission and distribution losses tend to be lower in rural states like Wyoming and North Dakota. Why? Less densely populated states have more high-voltage, low-loss transmission lines and fewer lower-voltage, high-loss distribution lines.
        So they are pushing everybody into big cities which have higher energy loss in transmission, which wastes more energy, complete morons.

        https://grid.insideenergy.org/lost-in-transmission

        Thermal efficiency of power plants using coal, petroleum, natural gas or nuclear fuel and converting it to electricity are around 33% efficiency, natural gas is around 40%. Then there is average 6% loss in transmission, then there is a 5% loss in the charger, another 5% loss in the inverter, the electric motor is 90% efficient so another 10% loss before turning the electricity into mechanical power at the wheels.

        33% – 6% – 5% – 5% – 10% = 25% efficiency for EV’s.

        An Ev is 25% efficient in turning original source of energy, petroleum in this example into mechanical energy to push the car down the road.

        So to end up with 34.7 kwh of electricity which is equivalant to 1.02 gallons of gas to push the EV 100 miles down the road 4.08 gallons of fuel were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station, remember net 25% efficiency.

        travelling 100 miles in a 50 mpg diesel powered ice vehicle uses 2 gallons of fuel, it converts chemical energy, the fuel, into mechanical energy inside the engine, to turn the wheels.

        the average cost to charge an EV to go 100 miles = $5.00 (in some states it is $9.68)

        There is an additional cost: the tesla $22,000 battery is used up, worn out in 100,000 miles. this works out to $22.00 per 100 miles it is costing you for the battery, in addition to the $5.00 per 100 miles for fuel cost. that = $27.00 per 100 miles.

        travelling 100 miles in a 50 mpg diesel uses 2 gallons of fuel @ $4.00/gal. = $8.00

        So the EV used twice as much fuel to go 100 miles. (four gallons burnt at the power plant).

        So why are they pushing for high fuel economy in ice vehicles? Are they worried about conserving fuel? Then why are they pushing EV’s that burn twice as much fuel?

        They say they are worried about global warming and emissions, that can’t be true because the emissions at the power plant (used to produce electricity for EV’s) are higher then the emissions in the exhaust of the ice powered vehicles.

        They are lying to us, there must be a different agenda, they think we are too dumb to figure it out. The real agenda restricting, controlling mobility, freedom of movement.

        • Either that, or politicians are just stupid.
          Maybe a little of both…
          In any case, a course in thermodynamics is not required for a degree in politics (a.k.a. “government”), which is all about how to screw with other peoples’ heads, and get paid for it.
          S = k log w, bitches.

          • Hi Turtle

            The dinks and losers that can’t make it in the real world get a job with the government, so that is who is running (destroying) the country, the highest porn site traffic is at government offices, your tax dollars being wasted, fire them all.

            something you have to understand about governments everywhere, they are thieves stealing taxpayers money, they have their hands on the money coming in from taxes, fines or money they borrow, so they steal some and never get caught, they are in control, untouchable. money ends up in their offshore accounts and accounts of friends and family.

            Dr. Marc Faber says these governments steal between 5% (honest governments) and 100% (crooked governments) of the money collected, borrowed.

            mullin’s quote
            people refuse to believe that we are governed by criminals. I refer you to the opinion of one of the most famous FBI agents, Charlie Winstead, the man who gunned down John Dillinger. In his book, “The Bureau”, William C. Sullivan quotes Charlie Winstead as saying, (P.27),

            “When I investigate a man and prove he’s a criminal, if he doesn’t already work for the government, they’ll hire him. If he already has a government job, once they hear he’s a crook they’ll promote him. The criminals in Congress only feel comfortable with other criminals.”

            We could not ask for a more qualified source, nor for a more apropos phrase than “the criminals in Congress.” The criminals enact into law program after program to reward their fellow-criminals, and to rob and enslave the workers of America. Anyone who gets in their way is disposed of by the “majesty of the law.

            They are morons, they are too busy stealing to study/research the stuff they pass laws on, like some germ bs cluster fuu,,kk, global warming, banning ice vehicles for EV’s that are worse, etc..

            An Ev is 25% efficient in turning original source of energy, petroleum in this example into mechanical energy to push the car down the road.

            So to end up with 34.7 kwh of electricity which is equivalant to 1.02 gallons of gas to push the EV 100 miles down the road 4.08 gallons of fuel were burnt to generate the electricity in the power station, remember net 25% efficiency.

            travelling 100 miles in a 50 mpg diesel powered ice vehicle uses 2 gallons of fuel, it converts chemical energy, the fuel, into mechanical energy inside the engine, to turn the wheels.

            the average cost to charge an EV to go 100 miles = $5.00 (in some states it is $9.68)

            There is an additional cost: the tesla $22,000 battery is used up, worn out in 100,000 miles. this works out to $22.00 per 100 miles it is costing you for the battery, in addition to the $5.00 per 100 miles for fuel cost. that = $27.00 per 100 miles.

            traveling 100 miles in a 50 mpg diesel uses 2 gallons of fuel @ $4.00/gal. = $8.00

            So the EV used twice as much fuel to go 100 miles. (four gallons burnt at the power plant).

            So why are they pushing for high fuel economy in ice vehicles? Are they worried about conserving fuel? Then why are they pushing EV’s that burn twice as much fuel?

            They say they are worried about global warming and emissions, that can’t be true because the emissions at the power plant (used to produce electricity for EV’s) are higher then the emissions in the exhaust of the ice powered vehicles.

            Here is the intelligence level of these bastards:
            Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) says that in the 14 months he’s been in Washington DC, he’s been invited to DC orgies and has witnessed lawmakers using cocaine, according to Just the News, citing the freshman lawmaker’s recent appearance on the “Warrior Poet Society” podcast.

            “I look at all these people, a lot of them that I’ve looked up to through my life, I’ve always paid attention to politics. Then all of the sudden you get invited to: ‘Well hey we’re going to have kind of a sexual get together at one of our homes, you should come,” said Cawthorn.

            “I’m like: ‘What did you just ask me to come to?” he continued. “Then you realize they are asking you to come to an orgy.”

            https://www.zerohedge.com/political/sexual-get-together-rep-cawthorn-says-he-was-invited-dc-orgy-witnessed-cocaine-use

      • My main concern with electric vehicles is the expected lifespan for the battery pack. After 9 – 10 years the batteries may be worn out and need replacement. If this proves to be the case, then electric cars may have a higher lifetime cost than the ones that are fossil fueled. By the same reasoning electric cars may also have a lifetime emission of CO2 that is higher than fossil fueled cars have.

        Electric cars are still so new that we do not have good statistics about how long the batteries last. “All bets may be off” after about 8 – 10 years.

        • Morning, Jone!

          The irony is – as regards EVs – if they didn’t have to be “safe” (i.e., compliant with all the numerous government “safety” standards, most of them having nothing to do with whether a car is likely to crash) they could be made much lighter – and that would make them much more efficient and practical as well as much less expensive…

    • And they catch on fire and burn down your house.

      I wonder if you could add the increase in homeowners insurance that some EV owners are experiencing.

  4. Celente is warning about some sort of event or false flag giving the banking powers a reason to shut down the banks and separating you from your money. Celente warns,

    “I am saying to everyone listening, we are at the crucial point where one day, they are going to say a bomb, hacking or whatever, and to save your lives and to save your money, we are closing down the banking system. You won’t be able to get your money out, and maybe when you do, they will devalue it. They did it before and they will do it again.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/you-need-guns-gold-getaway-plan-celente-warns-wwiii-has-begun

    • Let’s say that happens, and you have a bunch of gold. Are you going to take it down to the grocery store and buy some food with it?

      • Hi Nate,

        In that event, it’s likely there won’t be grocery stores. Silver and gold will, however, probably be acceptable to local farmers and so on – as precious metals always have been.

      • In the event of economic collapse, which eventually consumes all fiat currency, barter replaces it. As production starts growing again, money is needed. As has always been the case, the “money” used in such recovery is Gold and Silver.
        You might be surprised by how easily Gold and Silver might be accepted at your local grocer, if their dollars are simply not available. Managers have to eat too.

        • Hi John

          Gold is good for bigger transactions like bribing the guards to escape or buying a vehicle, silver is good for small transactions.

          In a collapse
          One silver coin = one loaf of bread.
          Two wheelbarrows of fiat paper currency = one slice of bread.

  5. Hackers remotely start, unlock Honda Civics with $300 tech

    https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/25/honda_civic_hack/

    If “hackers” can do it, so can the cops. They have phone unlockers, this is no different. Why break a lock when executing a search warrant (and spoil the seized asset auction value) when you can just get the IT guy to unlock it? Or maybe it’s part of a social justice investigation into whatever dispariging words you posted on the Bird Site last week and they want to plant some evidence to get your ass canceled.

  6. I’ve had Fight Club fantasies about going around with a group of evil libertarian types and smashing EV’s headlights and windshields… like Tyler did with BMWs and Beetles. Leave the gas cars alone like he left the American muscle car alone (as I recall).

    F these uppity idiots like the ‘basically socialist’ guy I know who has a Tesla and reminds me of that fact everyday. These ‘Brian Griffin’ and ‘Andy Bernard’ types of old that would let you know that their Prius gets 60 mpg and that they car more than us.

    F them all.

    • Attack the property of an entire group of people, because of some guy that you know?
      Seems childish at best. More anarchist than libertarian for sure.

      • Anarchy – The word anarchy comes from the ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarchia), which combines ἀ (a), “not, without” and ἀρχή (arkhi), “ruler, leader, authority.” Thus, the term refers to self government.

        Where to you find vandalism implied? None of the ararchists that I know would even consider doing shit like that.

      • Anarchy is not synonymous with chaos. Chaos is currently being administered by the state. A state that summarily rejects the Non Aggression Principal. It will without hesitation attack the property of an entire group of people because of “some guy they know” who happens to occupy the White House.
        Did you not notice that this was a “Fight Club fantasy”, not a call to action?

  7. Might be a debunked story, but for sure plausable.

    https://tiremeetsroad.com/2021/03/18/tesla-allegedly-remotely-unlocks-model-3-owners-car-uses-smart-summon-to-help-repo-agent/

    From the post “Summon Your Tesla from Your Phone” on the Tesla Blog:

    Using Summon, once you arrive home and exit Model S or Model X, you can prompt it to do the rest: open your garage door, enter your garage, park itself, and shut down. In the morning, you wake up, walk out the front door, and summon your car. It will open the garage door and come to greet you. More broadly, Summon also eliminates the burden of having to squeeze in and out of tight parking spots.

    So could a repo 𝚖̶𝚊̶𝚗̶ person get Tesla to flash lights and have the vehicle pull out into a driveway or out of a parking space? I don’t see why not, especially if you lease or finance through Tesla.

    • Morning, RK –

      I especially liked the part about “Summon also eliminates the burden of having to squeeze in and out of tight parking spots.” Am I the only person left in this country who thinks that a person who cannot park their car on their own is a person who has no business driving one?

      • Or not parking in a spot that’s not properly sized for your vehicle.

        However, now that you mention it, the “tight parking spots” reminded of a scene in the director’s cut of The Blues Brothers where Elwood parks the Blues mobile in an elevated train transformer shack, which was, acording to Aykroyd, the sourse of the car’s magic abilities. The shack was so narrow they had to egress from the windows.

        • That was a scene that was cut from the original release.
          It bothered me even when I was a kid that I didn’t know where Elwood parked the car or got the spray glue from etc. At some point in the 1990s those scenes were found and put back in. Movie is much better with them. Supposedly there was more to the film that is completely lost now. Unknown if it would make for a better film though. At least the scenes needed to tie up the loose ends were found.

  8. cbdc coming soon = screwed

    Given how much is at stake, this financial revolution is among the most important questions today’s societies could possibly grapple with. It should be under discussion in every parliament of every land, and every dinner table in every country in the world.

    Around 90 central banks are either in the process of experimenting with or are already piloting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). In a world of just over 190 countries that is a large contingent, but given they include the European Central Bank (ECB) which alone represents 19 Euro Area economies, the actual number of economies involved is well over 100. They include all G20 economies and together represent more than 90% of global GDP.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/unbeknown-most-financial-revolution-coming-threatens-change-everything-and-not-better

    No freedom of mobility, thought, speech, or money.

  9. Our money supply is already digital and exists only as a function of an accounting entry at the financial institution. Now that Wells Fargo has crossed the Rubicon and declared some customers’ accounts undesirable, we are very close to government doing the same. My wife is liquidating her Wells Fargo account for a more local credit union but that may only buy time until the surveillance state decides whom gets to participate and who is ostracized.

    • Cash out every paycheck you get asap and start to buy some ‘Junk’ silver. 1964 or older quarters, dimes, and (some) half dollars. 90% silver they are.

      This is something I’ve been doing after Castro Jr in Canada froze accounts.

  10. There’s another problem with connected cars, that they needs something to connect to. The earlier systems like onstar were based on older cellular technology which no longer works. 3G was just turned off, and loads of 3G devices that are dependent on it ceased to function.

    Unfortunately, car manufacturers are now “selling” features which are dependent on cellular networks for their functionality, and even worse, they are trying to collect subscription payments for features, like heated seats or Apple Carplay, and if the cars can’t connect to home base an get permission to turn those things on, they won’t. When at some point in the future, the car outlasts the communication network, you will lose features unless you find a way to hack the car.

    It’s infuriating that the auto industry is learning the worst lessons from the tech industry.

  11. About 5 years back I was looking at buying a used Impala with Onstar and I asked my mechanic if he could disable it so it would not be able to communicate with GM, he felt that it wouldn’t be a problem to do. Similarly how much of a problem would it be to do that with newer cars? I don’t know but maybe a fellow wrong thinker on the site might be able to tell us.

    • I did it with an ’02 gm truck, I think. It had, which I believe was, the very first onstar system in it. I also found the antennae and removed it, and pulled the fuse and off I went.

    • RE: “you’ll have to figure out how to survive using free transport, i.e., walking!”

      I suppose, that most times that’s pretty easy to do in, The City.

      Outside the city limits, not so much. Esp in places such as Texas where miles go on forever, or anywhere rural in The Northland in the Winter.

      Have you tried walking five miles in a blizzard lately? Or, when it’s 100+ degrees? Even in, The City, getting around on foot when it’s a 100+ degrees can be a life ending endeavor. Ufda!

  12. The Internet giveth & the Internet taketh away.

    It provides us knowledge & freedom, but is being increasingly used to subjugate us.

    The ultimate step is not shutting things down, it is if they are successful in forcing digital cash on us.

    Then all that is needed is to cancel your access to purchase transactions.
    Once you are a financial persona non grata, dealing with you will be illegal.

    The black market will survive, but life will be extremely difficult if you can neither receive or spend “money”.

    It is already extremely easy to do (ala Canada) but for the survival of cash.

  13. Just thinking out loud. What’s to prevent ‘hackers’ from disabling this remote access capability. Obviously these puters are basically password protected at a high level, but not to the best of the hackers.
    So the remote access just tells a PLC to do something. A PLC is just mini-relay logic with hundreds/thousands of mini-switches.
    I would think the ‘hacker’ could bypass the remote-stop capability, and many other things.

    • In the other idea category. And electric motor has wires coming out of it that are powered to run the things. You can buy dc controllers and/or dc to ac controllers almost anywhere these days. Hook your own controller up to the motor and battery and now you control it, bypassing all the fancy nonsense.
      you might have to turn a little knob to accel/decel, but it will go.

  14. I submit that such technology, per se, is ethically neutral. Its *application* may vey well be evil, depending who is allowed access to the kill switch, and under what circumstances.
    Aye, there’s the rub.

    A few positive scenarios:
    1. Wrong way driver on a high speed highway, either a) fleeing felon or b) DWI. a few years back, there was case “a” on NB I215 just south of Cajon Pass. LE sharpshooter in a hovering helicopter terminated the driver with a high powered rifle round, or several, through the windshield.
    2. Fleeing car thief or other felon leading LE on a high speed chase, thus endangering the lives of innocent people, on or off the roadway. Every now and then, we read about some luckless citizen whose life ended when his auto was t-boned by a criminal running from the law.
    3. Carjacking, usually at gunpoint, or simple auto theft by B & E.

    In these cases, the ability to remotely disable the vehicle would undoubtedly save innocent lives and property. In the cased of carjacking, or even simple auto theft, it might effectively foreclose the possibility for those vehicles so equipped.

    Car got stolen? No problem. Log on to the manufacturer’s anti-theft website, authenticate yourself,. and enter the VIN of the stolen vehicle. End of joyride. Location of vehicle, now immobilized, disclosed to rightful owner. Would work very similarly to credit card fraud prevention.

    And, yes, I am extremely wary, and acutely suspicious of, the potential for egregious misuse of such technology for nefarious ends by evil politicians, control freaks, or mere simple minded busybodies who wish to control the behavior of honest, law abiding citizens.

    • All of the advantages you listed to having state remote control of your vehicle are valid. They can also be accomplished by not letting you drive at all. Which you may be induced to suffer, if you are a “law abiding” citizen.
      When law is unjust, where should a just man be?

      • I’ll just take my dangerous freedom chances of getting ICE car-jacked, having my ICE car stolen, or dealing with a wrong-way driver. None of which has happened yet, and the odds are too low of that to risk the obviously higher odds of a hacker/bureaucrat locking me out of my EV car or even crashing it to kill me… as I will be a dissenter. Always.

        Die free.

  15. This is the best argument for building your own electric car, if you really want one, then you would have an electric car that can’t be shutdown (the power supply is another issue, it can be turned off, you would need your own electrical power supply).

    You can build one cheaply using lead acid batteries which are 100% green, lithium batteries aren’t only 5% are recycled.

    The lithium batteries are also highly dangerous, fire bombs on wheels, their biggest issue.

    Why spend $40,000 on an electric car that can be shutdown remotely?

    DIY electric car runs 200 miles on old lead-acid batteries

    The rise in demand for clean vehicles has not only tempted automakers to rollout next-gen electric vehicles, but has also encouraged several eco-conscious individuals to use their skills to create low-cost electric rides. David Cloud is one such individual who has spent $3000 in converting a 1997 Geo Metro to run on an electric engine fueled by old lead acid batteries.

    The vehicle is powered by 8” ADC motors that are included on each rear wheel and are powered by old 12V lead-acid batteries. The vehicle has a top speed of 72mph and can hit 60mph in 18 seconds, with a range of about 200 miles.

    https://ecofriend.com/diy-electric-car-runs-200-miles-on-old-lead-acid-batteries.html

    Business opportunity:
    Build these and sell them for $15,000 ? When people figure out that the new cars are a trap, a curse, there might be a market for these.

    • I have no issue with DIY electric cars per se, but the idea that one can achieve 200 miles on lead-acid batteries isn’t realistic. I was involved with a factory Ford Ranger EV pickup back in the late ‘90’s – it had a 75 mile range at best, 25 on a cold rainy day with the defroster and windshield wipers running. Not good.

      • Hi Keith,

        This whole EV thing only makes a twisted kind of “sense” if (a) we’re facing a “climate crisis” or (b) we’re running out of oil. Neither, of course, is the case – which is why EVs are being forced on people and people are being conditioned to accept (or just not talk about) the fact that EVs will increase the cost of driving massively as well as reduce the convenience/ease/spontaneity of it.

        And: The fact is that EVs will not salve the “climate crisis,” either. If the totality of their C02 “emissions” is considered, they “emit” as much or more of that as a typical economy car.

        This fact proves that the whole EV thing is about something else.

      • A Ford ranger weighs 2900 lb. so converted to electric it is way over weight so won’t go very far.

        That 200 mile homemade car started with a Geo Metro, the lightest car available, it was then stripped out to a shell so probably 1500 lb or less then had electric motors and batteries added. It was light and had great aero so could have long range on a warm day with no accessories on, in ideal conditions.

  16. This is the main reason they want to get rid of the older vehicles that can’t be shut down, controlled remotely, or that can be fixed by fabricating your own parts (see 1950 era cars in Cuba, no parts supply so you make your own), these modern vehicles require fragile, short life span microchip based components that come through a supply chain from china 7000 miles away, you can’t fabricate these yourself.
    The very old steam powered cars were 100% mechanical so parts can be fabricated.

    The other reason is the older diesel powered cars can run on multiple fuels so you are independent from the fuel supply chain.

    The old ice cars can be converted to run using wood for fuel, lots of places have a supply of wood, sometimes for free, you can travel around the world with an axe and a saw. These globalist planners might be smart and want to get rid of all independent means of transportation so they can control everyone, no freedom of movement, thought or speech.

    Vehicle converted to run burning wood:

    https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/01/wood-gas-cars.html

  17. Tesla and, to a lesser extent, Ford have succeeded in fetishizing EVs similar to how Disney has fetishized everything they touch, including the Marvel movies featuring Iron Man at the core of the storylines.

    Elon Musk is a real Tony Stark to many Americans right now.

    The way the bloom comes off the EV rose is for one of the upcoming F150 equivalent wannabes to lay an egg in the marketplace. Seriously bomb. First on deck will be the F150 Lightning.

    • I agree Roscoe, especially if/when ‘real’ truck owners try to do real truck things with them. Of course you’ll see from many “I love this truck” BS/propaganda, from the people who plopped down $60K+.

    • Most likely be when the sucker…er owner uses the truck to power his tools on the job and then discovers he hasn’t got enough charge left to get back home.

  18. ‘Any Wrongthinkful thought expressed online can trigger a punishment meted out via anything else that is “online” – such as … your money.’ — eric

    Or dollar reserves belonging to Russia’s central bank, which were frozen for political reasons.

    In retrospect, this seizure is a game-changer. Russia, China, Iran and others disfavored by the US now understand that their dollar reserves are dangerously insecure — totally conditional on ‘good behavior’ as defined by the US president.

    ‘Money’ that can be frozen or disappeared at the whim of its issuer is not money at all.

    It’s mere scrip, of highly contingent value.

    Without the exorbitant privilege of printing currency that can be exchanged for oil, wheat, semiconductors, and the like, the future US will be a much poorer place than today, as it is obliged to earn foreign exchange by the sweat of its brow like everyone else.

    ‘Biden’ shit the bed, to bipartisan approval.

  19. This is a dumb argument, as far as EVs go.
    Because they can shut down any modern car. It’s been done before when law enforcement requests it.

    • Hi Nate,

      Actually, no – only cars with connectivity can be remotely shut down – and that’s not all of them. It’s most recent model year ones, certainly. But – as an example – they cannot shut down my ’02 pick-up remotely.

      • I said modern car. An ’02 is twenty years old!
        Anyway, pretty much all modern cars have connectivity. I remember several years ago they had a guy from Hyundai on Autoline After Hours and he was going on about how they shut down a guys car because his girlfriend called the police on him.

        • Hi Nate,

          My ’02 is modern- if one defines that as being a car with computer engine controls/EFI and so on. Cars made through the early 2010s were generally the same…

        • “Modern” is a word that is by definition subjective. One could reasonably state that the internal combustion engine is “modern”, since it replaced beasts of burden.

  20. Man, I really need to buy an old car as back up for this kinda stuff…. Dunno about going older than 1996. The OBDII is very good as a diagnostic tool. Or, go so old that your car engine tech is like a lawnmower…

    • Tom, a 60’s or 70’s car that you can work on yourself is a great thing to have. I have one modern car and two antique vehicles. To me the most practical antique vehicle to use for a back up is a 70’s F-150. They are readily available, cheap to purchase, plenty of resources for parts, and easy to maintain. My 79 F-150 4×4 has the 300-6 and a manual transmission. It’s simple and solid. It’s fun to drive and reassuring to know it’s there if and when I need it.

      • Problem with 60’s and 70’s cars is that they handle a bag of crap and unstable at speeds above 50 mph. They also have carburettors and points ignition which are notoriously sucky and unreliable.

        • I have a 1978 Super 7 clone, it weighs 1200 lb., it will out handle just about anything on the track or narrow winding road, it has a 4 cyl. 2.0 litre Lampredi twin cam hemi engine with a Weber 40 dfi 5 carburetor, it has points and condensor, no computer, no power steering, no brake booster, no vacuum lines, no doors, no heater, a cable clutch and throttle, it is dead simple, easy to work on, good fuel economy, it is mechanical art made to go fast only, it is more fun then any other car made.

          A Super 7 clone example

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBrzpayx-zw

        • Hi Swamp,

          Many ’70s cars can be made to handle quite well, actually. My Trans-Am being an example. I replaced all suspension bushing with polyurethane and added larger diameter sway bars. It has WS6 coils up front and leafs in back. It is mostly limited by its stock 15-inch tires – which I could easily upgrade if I weren’t hung up on not altering the stock appearance!

          The nice thing about these cars is that their suspensions are pretty simple as well as similar. My Trans-Am’s suspension is very similar to that of pretty much any other RWD GM car of the same era and many parts easily interchange; thus you can make a Nova (or a Ventura) handle as well as a Trans-Am and all of hem handle well enough to be fun to drive, fast, today…

          • In traffic congested areas, very important is braking ability. My ’70s and ’80s vehicles had terrible, unpredictable brakes – locked up, long stopping distances, and drum brakes were annoying to maintain.

            I continue to marvel at 4-wheel discs with ABS. Then again, I’m also a fan of push-button start, along with Formula 1 drivers :). My vehicles are all 2012s – free of the many, more recent, undesirable features:
            Auto stop/start, CVT, AFM, direct injection,
            4-cylinder engines, turbochargers, 9&10
            speed auto transmission, automated
            manual trans, nagging “safety” reminders,
            computerized everything, or a fiery
            house-burner (electric vehicle).

            Re all newer vehicles – No Sale.

            • Those older cars, with drum brakes, were more maintenance intensive, but they could be maintained, by the owner. Unlike an ABS failure. There are great advantages to ABS brakes, but one aspect that is not necessarily an advantage is that I cannot fathom a more powerful breaking system than ripping off tire parts in a lock up on dry pavement. Couple that with a skill to manage the braking without an ABS system, and I’m not certain how much advantage they offer, except to those who prefer not to learn how to drive.

            • Most 1960s and 70s cars can be upgraded to either front wheel disc or 4 wheel disc brakes fairly easily. No ABS without considerable effort.

              The cheapest way is usually to simply use the brakes from a late 70s or early 80s model. For example for Mustangs and Mavericks with 4 wheel drum the front discs from ’76-77 maverick or ’75-80 granada work. Beyond that there are aftermarket kits and so on.

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