Emergency Override options

[Zeltakka]

This idea comes from Tesla, actually. Recently there was an active shooter situation near where a driver was charging at a Tesla charging station, and of course they couldn't just drive off because the charger disables the vehicle. In response to this incident, they made a feature that allows drivers to override the car when it's charging, so instead of being stuck in park, the driver can escape a dangerous situation. They make it clear to the driver that the car and charger will be damaged, and will have to be serviced after, but in some situations these features can be life saving. I'd really like to see this idea expanded, especially for vehicles like scouts that are made to be extremely capable.

For Scout, I would love to see similar overrides for wherever the vehicle can disable itself or limit its own capability without approval from the driver; things like overriding turtle mode, or even dipping into battery reserves to get a little extra range in an emergency, or things of that nature. In some climates, that small range difference could get you to warmth or shelter you couldn't reach by foot. Of course, these kind of features would come with a lot of risk for damage to the vehicle. But in emergent situations, giving the drivers the ability to make an informed decision would be a fantastic safety feature. It's rare that a feature like that would ever be needed, but the when it is, it could save a life.

P.S. I didn't find a similar thread when I searched, but I apologize in advance if I'm yapping about a covered topic

 

[cyure]

This idea comes from Tesla, actually. Recently there was an active shooter situation near where a driver was charging at a Tesla charging station, and of course they couldn't just drive off because the charger disables the vehicle. In response to this incident, they made a feature that allows drivers to override the car when it's charging, so instead of being stuck in park, the driver can escape a dangerous situation. They make it clear to the driver that the car and charger will be damaged, and will have to be serviced after, but in some situations these features can be life saving. I'd really like to see this idea expanded, especially for vehicles like scouts that are made to be extremely capable.

For Scout, I would love to see similar overrides for wherever the vehicle can disable itself or limit its own capability without approval from the driver; things like overriding turtle mode, or even dipping into battery reserves to get a little extra range in an emergency, or things of that nature. In some climates, that small range difference could get you to warmth or shelter you couldn't reach by foot. Of course, these kind of features would come with a lot of risk for damage to the vehicle. But in emergent situations, giving the drivers the ability to make an informed decision would be a fantastic safety feature. It's rare that a feature like that would ever be needed, but the when it is, it could save a life.

P.S. I didn't find a similar thread when I searched, but I apologize in advance if I'm yapping about a covered topic

Welcome to the community. I don’t think this has been covered anywhere. Sad that something like this would be needed, but it’s a good idea.

 

[maynard]

This idea comes from Tesla, actually. Recently there was an active shooter situation near where a driver was charging at a Tesla charging station, and of course they couldn't just drive off because the charger disables the vehicle. In response to this incident, they made a feature that allows drivers to override the car when it's charging, so instead of being stuck in park, the driver can escape a dangerous situation. They make it clear to the driver that the car and charger will be damaged, and will have to be serviced after, but in some situations these features can be life saving. I'd really like to see this idea expanded, especially for vehicles like scouts that are made to be extremely capable.

For Scout, I would love to see similar overrides for wherever the vehicle can disable itself or limit its own capability without approval from the driver; things like overriding turtle mode, or even dipping into battery reserves to get a little extra range in an emergency, or things of that nature. In some climates, that small range difference could get you to warmth or shelter you couldn't reach by foot. Of course, these kind of features would come with a lot of risk for damage to the vehicle. But in emergent situations, giving the drivers the ability to make an informed decision would be a fantastic safety feature. It's rare that a feature like that would ever be needed, but the when it is, it could save a life.

P.S. I didn't find a similar thread when I searched, but I apologize in advance if I'm yapping about a covered topic

Welcome!
That’s an amazing idea!
And as @cyure wrote - it doesn’t look like it’s been covered to date (and it is nonetheless a sad requirement)…

 

[speedrye]

How about the vehicle not make these decisions for us to start with? I'm tired of vehicle programmers that think they know better than the driver in all, or even most, situations. Let's go back to people paying the stupid tax if they do stupid things. In this situation specifically, is it any different than driving off from a gas station with the hose still in the car?

There are plenty of situations where I'm willing to damage my vehicle to get myself and my family out of harm's way. I don't care if my parking/distance sensors say there's a car 8' in front of me, if I want to push them out of my way to escape, I should be able to do so without the car thinking it knows better and making me immobile. I remember a specific incident years ago when I stopped for a traffic jam on the interstate and an 18-wheeler behind me didn't see the stopped traffic until it was too late. He slammed on the brakes, jack-knifed and plowed into the stopped traffic. I would've been the first one hit if I hadn't been watching my mirrors and floored it off into the field next to the road. Thankfully, I had an escape route, and usually always try to have at least one when I'm driving, but I don't want a car stopping me from pushing a RAV-4 out of my way, or stopping me from leaving the roadway if need be. I definitely don't want one forcing immobility in one of the most vulnerable of places like a charging station or gas station.

Likewise for the protective modes in the vehicle like the aforementioned turtle mode, etc. I've mentioned before that I want better fail-safe programming up front, utilizing more of the vehicles sensors before making the vehicle less than 100%. My current daily driver had a failure in the electronic power steering system where it gave me a literal second of warning before turning off the power steering. Modern cars with quick steering ratios do NOT turn like old cars with manual steering when the electronic boost is disabled. That failure would've been catastrophic for any driver with less upper body strength than me. There's no reason a failure in a drive system sensor, steering sensor or brake sensor should do this when the car can use other sensors as backup. I definitely don't want to be one of these EVs that goes into Turtle mode on the highway with traffic running 80mph.

 

[6-ScoutFamily]

Welcome to the community. I don’t think this has been covered anywhere. Sad that something like this would be needed, but it’s a good idea.

I agree and think this is about as essential as… coolant.

 

[J Alynn]

This idea comes from Tesla, actually. Recently there was an active shooter situation near where a driver was charging at a Tesla charging station, and of course they couldn't just drive off because the charger disables the vehicle. In response to this incident, they made a feature that allows drivers to override the car when it's charging, so instead of being stuck in park, the driver can escape a dangerous situation. They make it clear to the driver that the car and charger will be damaged, and will have to be serviced after, but in some situations these features can be life saving. I'd really like to see this idea expanded, especially for vehicles like scouts that are made to be extremely capable.

For Scout, I would love to see similar overrides for wherever the vehicle can disable itself or limit its own capability without approval from the driver; things like overriding turtle mode, or even dipping into battery reserves to get a little extra range in an emergency, or things of that nature. In some climates, that small range difference could get you to warmth or shelter you couldn't reach by foot. Of course, these kind of features would come with a lot of risk for damage to the vehicle. But in emergent situations, giving the drivers the ability to make an informed decision would be a fantastic safety feature. It's rare that a feature like that would ever be needed, but the when it is, it could save a life.

P.S. I didn't find a similar thread when I searched, but I apologize in advance if I'm yapping about a covered topic

Welcome to the community. This is a fantastic idea and appreciate you posting it early on there were a few for beacon location and ideas like that but never for this mindset and it is a great idea, especially in light of the latest school shooting this week

 

[J Alynn]

How about the vehicle not make these decisions for us to start with? I'm tired of vehicle programmers that think they know better than the driver in all, or even most, situations. Let's go back to people paying the stupid tax if they do stupid things. In this situation specifically, is it any different than driving off from a gas station with the hose still in the car?

There are plenty of situations where I'm willing to damage my vehicle to get myself and my family out of harm's way. I don't care if my parking/distance sensors say there's a car 8' in front of me, if I want to push them out of my way to escape, I should be able to do so without the car thinking it knows better and making me immobile. I remember a specific incident years ago when I stopped for a traffic jam on the interstate and an 18-wheeler behind me didn't see the stopped traffic until it was too late. He slammed on the brakes, jack-knifed and plowed into the stopped traffic. I would've been the first one hit if I hadn't been watching my mirrors and floored it off into the field next to the road. Thankfully, I had an escape route, and usually always try to have at least one when I'm driving, but I don't want a car stopping me from pushing a RAV-4 out of my way, or stopping me from leaving the roadway if need be. I definitely don't want one forcing immobility in one of the most vulnerable of places like a charging station or gas station.

Likewise for the protective modes in the vehicle like the aforementioned turtle mode, etc. I've mentioned before that I want better fail-safe programming up front, utilizing more of the vehicles sensors before making the vehicle less than 100%. My current daily driver had a failure in the electronic power steering system where it gave me a literal second of warning before turning off the power steering. Modern cars with quick steering ratios do NOT turn like old cars with manual steering when the electronic boost is disabled. That failure would've been catastrophic for any driver with less upper body strength than me. There's no reason a failure in a drive system sensor, steering sensor or brake sensor should do this when the car can use other sensors as backup. I definitely don't want to be one of these EVs that goes into Turtle mode on the highway with traffic running 80mph.

Ironically my wife and I watched a lady pull away from a gas pump while still attached to not as much damage to car as I expected but stripped the pump break away off very quickly. The attendant came out to deal with it and told it it happens way more often than people realize. So from that point having an override or driver ability would be great. This was a great post

 

[ScoutbyScoutwest]

This is a great idea. I heard a story in the past where a young lady was charging her vehicle alone at a public charging station and a person she felt uncomfortable with kept loitering around her car and trying to talk to her through the window. She tried waiting things out in hopes the person would finally go away but wound up calling a friend to help provide a feeling of security so she could end her charging session.

I think that in an emergency you should be able to both place the vehicle into drive and that the charging port should unlock and eject the plug to prevent damage to the vehicle and the charger. I saw in the past YouTuber Kim Java talk about an aftermarket breakaway device called EVject that tries to solve this problem.