I won't name the company, but I was on a team in the late 90s and into the early 00s that was looking at ways to swing-arm, rotate, or otherwise move engine blocks/transmissions away from occupants during a crash in small vehicles.
We found many ways to accomplish getting the engine out of the way, but even swinging a huge hunk of metal 3 feet to either side of the car had so many risks for additional injury or accident potential.
Throwing part of your vehicle and causing even property damage would be a pain for insurers and courts to figure out. I don't think this is remotely viable.
Kaibeezy•1h ago
It mentions in the article about using sensors to avoid ejecting it into people.
leakycap•48m ago
Fine, so let's say they put a sensor on that detects... what? "People?" That takes a lot of computing power and sensor trust.
What about houses with people in it? Do we shoot the battery toward those houses?
What about drop-offs, where the battery shot out the side of the car off a bridge is going to fly down and land on top of a building full of people under the overpass, a sidewalk with people, etc?
What about animals? Do we just jettison the fiery ton of batteries if it is a cow? What about if it's a dog? What if it's a trained companion animal?
What about fields of dry material, forests, or even wooden structures? Should we shoot the battery 20 feet, 50 feet, or 250 feet into the pile of dry material that will start the next mega-wildfire?
This idea is insanity and there are so many reasons that shooting a battery out the side of the car will never be the solution.
leakycap•1h ago
We found many ways to accomplish getting the engine out of the way, but even swinging a huge hunk of metal 3 feet to either side of the car had so many risks for additional injury or accident potential.
Throwing part of your vehicle and causing even property damage would be a pain for insurers and courts to figure out. I don't think this is remotely viable.
Kaibeezy•1h ago
leakycap•48m ago
What about houses with people in it? Do we shoot the battery toward those houses?
What about drop-offs, where the battery shot out the side of the car off a bridge is going to fly down and land on top of a building full of people under the overpass, a sidewalk with people, etc?
What about animals? Do we just jettison the fiery ton of batteries if it is a cow? What about if it's a dog? What if it's a trained companion animal?
What about fields of dry material, forests, or even wooden structures? Should we shoot the battery 20 feet, 50 feet, or 250 feet into the pile of dry material that will start the next mega-wildfire?
This idea is insanity and there are so many reasons that shooting a battery out the side of the car will never be the solution.