Toyota to begin steer-by-wire production in 2024

I feel like a lot of people who have the basic “fan and blue/red” climate controls assume that people in Teslas are swiping all over the place while they drive to change climate settings, but in reality you step in and your driver profile loads your settings and you probably never have to touch the climate control.

Then again I swear that everyone I know who owns fancier cars than me refuses to hit the “auto” button and use the feature they paid for.

To me, the ideal “Jetsons” climate control system never needs to be interacted with.

Or a hacker setting steeringWheelGain_S16 to 0 and turn full left.

Many mild hybrid cars use a 48V system for the motor. It's probably going to get more common over time.

The safety differences between 12V and 24V are largely trivial. Mostly comes down to wire sizing as 24V can use smaller wires to carry the same power, which some may argue is safer than 12V as the current is halved (but I wouldn't)

Modern chemistry batteries are VERY good at providing their stored charge instantaneously across their terminals. Lookup videos of someone dropping a wrench on a car battery for a real life example (spoilers: the wrench welds itself to the terminals immediately and spectacularly.)

Humans, as big bags of ferrous liquids, literally have only our skins to help increase our impedance against electrocution when touching ANY metal in series with a battery short. A measley 100 _milli_ amps is enough to stop our hearts. Let's not pretend DC batteries are safe and treat 12V and 24V batteries with the same caution they deserve.

I would hope emergency responders are trained against electrocution risks regardless, as fuses can be bypassed when crushed metal is involved near battery compartments in any crash.

As for fire concerns it's more about battery chemistry than voltage. Lithium ion being more combustible than lead acid, nickel cadmium.

British cities are not so nice to cycle in, and a lot of that infrastructure is hard to retro fit

These days (in the UK) the thieves have battery-powered angle grinders to defeat locks. A fancy new bike, especially a costly e-bike, won't last long in many places. And nobody is going to confront a thief armed with an angle grinder.

A battered old bike may last longer, but you still often see the carcasses of bike frames locked to railings where wheels and other parts have been stolen, and the rest of the bike was then abandoned. It certainly doesn't encourage the adoption of cycling, even by those who can cope with the hills, weather, and traffic.

Cities just to have an obvious purpose, but can successful cities be sustained in an era where so much retail has moved online, and jobs are being automated or done remotely, and the extreme costs of living or doing business in a city centre are getting harder to justify.

Similarly, you can always spot an Auzzi because they steer while keeping thumbs outside of the steering wheel. In a country with a greater offroad tradition, kids are taught to keep thumbs outside the wheel in case it jumps.