Can You Jump-Start an Electric Car’s Dead Battery?

by Gabrielle DeSantis

There is nothing quite as annoying as getting in your car and turning the key — or pressing the ‘start’ button — just to discover your vehicle has a dead battery. For the average driver, jumping a car battery is no big deal, and even if you aren’t sure how to do it or have the tools, there’s usually someone nearby who is willing to help. But, when it comes to owning and repairing an electric car, owners may be a bit timider with doing something even as simple as changing our jumpstarting the car battery. So, can you jump-start an electric car’s dead battery?

Can you jump-start an electric vehicle?

While you obviously can’t do anything if your car’s electric battery is out of charge, many electric vehicles have the same battery for starting and operating electronics when the motor is off, the more standard 12-volt electric battery that car owners are more familiar with. For the most part, you can jump-start an electric vehicle when it has a dead battery, but it can sometimes prove to be a bit trickier.

Tesla supercharger stations | Mark Reinstein, Corbis, Getty Images

Locating the 12V electric battery

Electric cars don’t have the typical under-the-hood 12V electric battery that is easy to find in standard internal combustion engine toting cars. Different electric vehicles may have their battery located in different places around the car, so the easiest and fastest way to find it is to check out the vehicle owner’s manual.

It is also important that you only connect the jumper cables to the 12V battery and not any other part of the car’s electric system or driving batteries. If you aren’t confident in which battery system you are jump-starting, it is always better to call for help.

Blue Tesla Model 3 on display
Tesla Model 3 | Sjoerd van der Wal, Getty Images

RELATED: You Shouldn’t Take Your Tesla Through a Soft-Touch Car Wash

Can you jump start an electric vehicle with another electric vehicle

One important factor to keep in mind, according to Napa, is that you should not jump-start an electric vehicle by using another electric vehicle as the battery source. This can be particularly annoying as electric vehicles increase in popularity, but there are still plenty of gasoline-powered cars out there to give you a hand.

It also isn’t a bad idea to buy a battery pack to jump-start your car without needing help from a second car. These are also safe for use with electric vehicles, and can even be more convenient

RELATED: BMW Pushes for More Sustainable Lithium Battery Production for EVs

Jump-starting an electric vehicle otherwise isn’t any different than jump-starting a regular gasoline-powered car. Simple attached the positive and negative alligator clips to the correct terminals and follow the standard jump-start procedure.

As long as you know what you’re doing, jump-starting an electric vehicle isn’t scary or any more difficult than jump-starting a normal gasoline-powered car.

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Why the IIHS Is a Big Fan of the 2021 Nissan Altima

by Gabrielle DeSantis

One reason midsize sedans have remained popular is the safety they offer. Though smaller cars are safer than they’ve ever been, it’s physics. A larger, heavier vehicle with a longer hood has a distinct advantage in frontal collisions. And one highly rated midsize sedan is the 2021 Nissan Altima. In fact, it just earned an important safety designation.

So, how safe is the latest Altima?

The Nissan Altima is a 2021 IIHS Top Safety Pick+

The latest Nissan Altima recently earned two major safety designations. It’s a 2021 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick+. Plus, it earned an overall 5-star rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), achieving 4 stars on the frontal crash test and 5 stars on the side crash test and rollover evaluation. These are the highest ratings a vehicle can earn from the two agencies.

In addition to its safe design, the new Altima boasts many advanced safety features. It offers automatic emergency front braking with pedestrian detection, along with lane-departure warnings. The S to SV trim levels add blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and rear automatic emergency braking. And according to MotorTrend, the SL and Platinum models get the ProPilot Assist system. It can guide the car along the road using adaptive cruise control and lane-centering.

How the Nissan Altima earned the top IIHS award

For a new vehicle to earn a Top Safety Pick+ award, it must receive Good ratings in all IIHS crash tests. That includes the new passenger-side small overlap front test, which the organization added in 2020. The vehicle must also earn an Advanced or Superior rating for front collision prevention and a score of Acceptable or Good for its headlights. Trims with optional lights can earn the headlight score, but some lower or base trims might not earn the designations. All Nissan Altima trims earned Acceptable headlight ratings.

The vehicle must also garner Advanced or Superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations for front crash prevention. The vehicle systems can be standard or optional and include features like automatic emergency braking and forward-collision alerts. An important consumer consideration when buying a safe car is which features are standard and which are optional.

More about this sedan’s excellent driver assists

The 2021 Nissan Altima earned such high safety marks thanks to several excellent active safety features.

The new Altima offers standard forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection. The system is designed to let drivers know if they’re too close to a car ahead. There are two levels of alerts, audible and visual, depending upon the situation.

The system activates the automatic emergency braking at various increments depending upon the collision threat’s severity. If a crash is inevitable, the brake assist system will apply maximum brake force. With pedestrian detection, a camera in the windshield watches so that the system can apply the brakes between speeds of 6 and 37 mph if it detects a person.

Nissan’s version of lane departure warning activates when the Altima drifts to the road’s centerline. A steering wheel vibration and a loud buzzing sound alert the driver. Once engaged, it’s not easy to deactivate.

The blind-spot warning system monitors the Altima’s blind spots to let the driver know when another vehicle is present via a light on the pillar next to the side mirror. That light flashes when the Altima detects another vehicle in that lane. An audible warning works with the flashing light to alert the driver when the turn signal is activated and the intended lane is occupied.

Last, when the 2021 Nissan Altima is in reverse, the rear cross-traffic warning uses sensors to detect vehicles approaching from the sides. It warns the driver with side mirror flashes and a chiming sound.

The post Why the IIHS Is a Big Fan of the 2021 Nissan Altima appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

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You Can Look at the Vantablack Ferrari SF90 Stradale But Nothing Looks Back

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Vantablack is the blackest black we have. When the prancing pony people decided to paint a Ferrari SF90 Stradale in Vantablack, they transformed the supercar into something otherworldly. A video shows the SF90 in Vantablack driving in its hometown of Maranello, Italy, and it’s so black that it literally doesn’t look real. 

Vantablack Ferrari SF90 Stradale | Varryx via YouTube

What is Vantablack?

It looks more similar to bad CGI than it does a real car. In the video, the Ferrari is driving around, and it takes gathering some context clues to verify that this is a real car that is truly this fully black. 

How can something be any blacker? Well, nothing can be more black than Vantablack. It achieves its darkness by allowing no light to be reflected. This gives anything painted in this “color” the appearance of being photoshopped but in real life.

There is almost something unnerving about this Vantablack Ferrari. You get the sense that even though you are looking at it, nothing is coming back to you. 

According to CarScoops, this ultimate darkness was achieved in 2014 by Surrey NanoSystems. Vantablack absorbs 99.965 percent of light. This is what gives it its sort of shade of despair. The more literal effect is making 3D objects seem to be more 2D. 

Can you get a car painted in Vantablack? 

RELATED: Crazy Car Colors For 2021: Germany Has Gone Psychedelic

This Ferrari SF90 Stradale isn’t the first car to be slathered in the endlessness of Vantablack. About two years ago, a BMW X6 got the Vantablack treatment first. Other cars went to the dark side, too, like the Mitsubishi Lancer and, of course, this Ferrari. 

The reason for this overly black Ferrari is still a mystery. According to CarScoops, Ferrari has not mentioned anything about it, causing the theories to fly. Some people have suggested that a customer must customize it, while others wonder if maybe Ferrari might add Vantablack to its color pallet. That would certainly feel very Ferrari. 

Let’s take a closer look at the Vantablack Ferrari SF90 Stradale

2021 Ferrari SF90 Stradale in red
2021 Ferrari SF90 Stradale | Ferrari

Aside from the dangers of getting sucked into the blackhole paint job, the Ferrari SF90 is a significant model for Ferrari. The SF90 debuted in 2019 as Ferrari’s first plug-in hybrid model. It uses an electrified powertrain in tandem with a turbocharged 4.0-liter V8. The V8 alone makes an impressive 769 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. 

The electric side uses three separate motors to enhance the performance of the turbo V8. Turning those power figures from 769 hp into a phenomenal 986 hp. The Ferrari SF90 can hit 62 mph in as little as 2.5 seconds and has a top speed of 211 mph. If a driver felt so compelled, they could use the electric powertrain for a total distance of 15.5 miles. 

It is still unclear why this Ferrari is running around in the blackest substance on Earth. There is still a lot to be done with Vantablack. Although it was designed for space use due to its lack of reflectivity, there is no doubt we will start to see more of it lurking around our planet. 

This Ferrari marks the third car to wear the color of the abyss. Does that mean we might see cars wearing this color soon? It still feels unlikely as the safety issues for having this color on a car feel quite long and hard to regulate.

The post You Can Look at the Vantablack Ferrari SF90 Stradale But Nothing Looks Back appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

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Nightmare: Tesla Has Over 10,000 Vehicles It Can’t Sell

by Gabrielle DeSantis

There are over 10,000 Tesla electric cars overflowing in a holding lot outside of its Fremont, California, manufacturing plant on a “containment hold.” A containment hold means they can’t be delivered to dealers, yet Tesla production continues. Tesla sources are not saying what the issue is but it involves Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. 

According to Electrek, all that is known is that one particular part is not able to be assembled onto cars. Musk has said in the past that Tesla is having supply chain issues. That is clearly the case now, creating a logistical nightmare as the cars continue to pile up. 

Some estimates are as high as 20,000 Teslas will be involved in the hold

Tesla Model Y | Tesla

RELATED: Happening Again: Tesla Just Can’t Launch A New Model

Some estimates are as high as 20,000 Teslas are or will soon be involved in the hold. Electrek says there are no fixes nor a timeline when they will be released. It is also not known what happens when the overflowing lot sees its limit. 

Tesla doesn’t sell to third-party dealers. It owns its distribution network so it can produce as much or as little as it wants. Tesla always endeavors to keep its inventories low by delivering as many cars to customers as it can. 

Especially, as yearly quarters come to an end Tesla will make a concerted push to get cars out to improve quarterly numbers. Now employees are said to be expecting the end of June to be especially chaotic as Tesla cranks out lots of product on top of this batch of vehicles it has put a containment hold on.  

Right now demand for Tesla vehicles is very high

a chrome Tesla emblem on a red EV
Tesla Emblem | Robert Alexander via Getty Images

Demand for Tesla vehicles is very high right now. So the fact it can’t actually deliver but is still cranking out cars must be putting an extra strain on the organization. If it is a microchip issue it follows what is taking place at other assembly plants.

Today Ford announced it would keep its F150 pickup truck plant closed for two more weeks over microchip supply issues. Chevrolet production has been halted for weeks while GM shifts microchip priority to its most popular and profitable vehicles. 

Production in the fourth quarter of 2020 was the highest in Tesla’s history

A visitor experiences a white Tesla Model X during the 3rd China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the National Exhibition and Convention Center
The Tesla Model X | Guo Zhihua/VCG via Getty Images

Production in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 are the highest in the history of Tesla. Tesla produced over 180,000 vehicles in each of the last quarter. Its production figures were up over 75 percent year-over-year. 

In 2020 Tesla sold over half a million vehicles. This was an almost 40 percent increase over the same period in 2019. Last year the Model 3 was the best-selling EV in the world. So by all accounts, this hold placed on finished Teslas is coming at a very bad time-not that any time is a good time to have a shutdown.

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