I can’t remember how many car-related articles I have written. I thought I had covered all the topics related to a car that has been on the market for more than a year. However, in communication with car enthusiasts, we were able to discuss so many creative ideas together, and I also learned about the usage confusion of some detailed functions. Today, I will summarize the top 10 questions that new Ideal ONE owners have asked me since its delivery in 2021. I will do it in the most efficient way to make driving more convenient and comfortable for everyone.
“Why does my new car make a noise of rubbing brake discs at low speeds?”
It is not the sound of rubbing brake discs, but the sound of a low-speed pedestrian warning, which automatically opens when the speed is lower than 20 kilometers per hour. As the Ideal ONE is the first electric car for many car enthusiasts, they are not familiar with this unique vehicle setting, so they mistakenly think it is a fault sound. At the same time, it should be understood that the low-speed pedestrian warning is used to remind pedestrians on the road, not to remind the driver of the presence of pedestrians outside the car. Do not confuse the two.
Some car enthusiasts do not like this sound. How can it be turned off? Here, we do not recommend everyone to turn it off because electric cars are relatively quiet when driving, and there should be a reminder for pedestrians on the road. However, if you must turn off the sound, you can put the pedestrian warning sound switch in the shortcut function bar on the air conditioning screen by “editing the central control screen”. According to the latest legal requirements, the pedestrian warning sound of new energy vehicles produced is set to default to the “on” state. Therefore, in 21 models, it can only be turned off by operating it every time when getting on the car, while in 20 models, which were produced earlier, it can be turned off all the time.
“What does it mean when the progress bar in the upper left corner of the dashboard turns gray, white, or green?”
The “progress bar” above the energy consumption information card on the dashboard is the power bar of Ideal ONE during operation. The power bar is divided into two parts by the white vertical line in the middle. The left side is the power bar for regenerative braking, and the right side is the power bar for vehicle driving. The available power is displayed on the top of both sides of the power bar.
The power bar has four colors to indicate the state, which are light gray, dark gray, white, and green. The light gray bar is the maximum value of power, with a maximum regenerative braking power of 100 kW and a maximum vehicle driving power of 245 kW (240 kW for 20 models). The dark gray bar is the maximum available power currently. The white bar, which changes with the depth of the throttle, is the instantaneous power of the vehicle. The green bar, which changes with the depth of the brake or with the gliding, is the instantaneous power of regenerative braking.People’s biggest question about vehicles is the available power, which can vary greatly. What is it related to? The available power of the powertrain is mainly related to the remaining battery level and battery temperature. Simply put, the higher the remaining battery level and the closer the battery temperature to the optimal working temperature, the greater the available power and the stronger the powertrain.
The available power for regenerative braking is also related to the remaining battery level and battery temperature. The lower the remaining battery level, the higher the regenerative braking power, and the lower the battery temperature, the lower the regenerative braking power. In actual situations, regenerative braking is almost non-existent when the battery is fully charged, and the regenerative braking is also weak when the car is parked outside in minus ten-degree weather and then driven. This is all normal.
“Why can’t I reach NEDC’s range?”
When it comes to NEDC, many old car owners are familiar with it, but new car owners still ask, “Why can’t I reach the NEDC range?” To understand this issue, first we need to understand what NEDC is. Its Chinese name is New European Driving Cycle, which is currently the commonly used range testing standard for car companies worldwide.
The testing conditions of NEDC are quite different from the actual driving environment, but because car companies use NEDC to describe their range, the strengths and weaknesses can be compared under the same standard. However, car owners find that they cannot reach the NEDC range after they receive the car. It is understandable that the difference from the actual situation is significant. Let’s take a look at the testing environment of NEDC through a picture.
As you can see, NEDC is tested indoors with the air conditioning turned off, and even the car headlights are not turned on. The testing process is somewhat complicated, so we won’t go into depth here. Car owners just need to know that the NEDC range is discounted by 20% in the summer and 40% in the winter, which roughly reflects the actual situation of electric vehicle use.
Returning to the Ideal ONE, in addition to NEDC, there is also WLTC as a range standard, which is the World Light Vehicle Test Procedure in Chinese. WLTC is much more accurate than NEDC because its testing process is closer to actual use conditions, often simulating rapid acceleration and deceleration, and the proportion of urban road conditions is higher. Therefore, we recommend that everyone use WLTC as a reference.
How to switch between the two? Go to the car’s control screen – Display – Customization – Range Display Conditions – WLTC, and switch between them.
“Why can’t I remove the charging gun sometimes?”
As the owner of my first electric vehicle, I was both curious and nervous about my first charging experience, especially when using a public fast charging station. The power cord was thick and heavy, and it was plugged into the charging port very tightly. It was difficult to remove. What should I do?
Based on my experience, there are mainly two reasons why the power cord is difficult to remove. First, the connector may be too tight, and the force applied may not be enough to pull it out. In this case, you can try pressing the switch and pulling it harder. Second, the cord may not be fully disconnected from the power source. Therefore, to successfully remove the cord, you must end the charging session first.
“My wife and I often switch cars with different settings. What should we do?”
This is a common scenario for family cars. Ideally, the ONE car infotainment system supports multiple account logins. On the central control screen, click on the avatar icon in the upper left corner. A pop-up option to add accounts will appear below. Family members can register an ideal car App account and link their accounts to the vehicle through the App by scanning the QR code accessible from the App’s community section. Up to three accounts can be linked. In the future, family members can set their own seat position, driving mode, power strength, and other preferences tailored to their own usage habits.
“The angle of view is off after the right side mirror tilts downwards. How do I adjust it?”
During reversing, the right side mirror will automatically tilt down, which is a very useful feature that enables the driver to check blind spots on the right. At this point, the angle of the mirror is crucial. The specific steps are as follows:
Turn on the automatic downward tilt feature of the right side mirror – Shift to R gear – Wait for the mirror to tilt downward – Press the mirror adjustment button located on the driver’s side – Adjust the angle to suit your preference – Shift to D gear to finish the setup.
“With so many screens and apps, are there any quick gesture shortcuts?”
In Ideal ONE’s four screens, in addition to the dashboard display, the other three all have quick gesture shortcuts.
Central control screen: 1. Pull down the upper part of the date and time display to quickly access the account, signal, brightness, and other settings. 2. Swipe down with three fingers to quickly return to the home screen.
Air conditioning screen: 1. Swipe left or right to adjust the air conditioning wind speed. 2. Swipe up or down to adjust the air conditioning temperature.You are a translator in the automotive industry, responsible for English translation, spelling correction, and wording modification, and you should answer me with more elegant and refined English, ensuring that the meaning remains unchanged. Only correct and improved parts should be written without explanation.
Translate the following Markdown Chinese text into English Markdown text professionally, retaining HTML tags inside Markdown and outputting results.
Passenger entertainment screen: 1. The video playback interface allows you to adjust brightness by sliding up and down on the left side, adjust volume by sliding up and down on the right side, and adjust playback progress by sliding left and right in the middle. 2. Swipe down with three fingers to quickly return to the main interface. In fact, the quick operations of watching TV dramas in landscape mode on our car screen and mobile phones are the same, with seamless integration.
“Why is the actual amount of electricity I charge more than the amount of electricity consumed?”
A car owner has found that the amount of electricity charged into their charging pile is more than the amount actually used, why is this so? The charging process is an energy transfer process, and there are actually charging losses in the middle. The amount of losses is related to the length of the cable and the current temperature of the battery. Therefore, the actual amount of electricity charged is larger than the actual amount of electricity used, which is normal.
At the same time, our display shows only the driving energy consumption, while non-driving energy consumption, such as air conditioning, varies from person to person and environment, and is not reflected in the energy consumption table. Therefore, the actual amount of electricity consumed is greater than the amount of electricity consumed by driving, which is also normal. To sum up: Charging electricity amount > Actual electricity usage > Energy consumption of driving.
Some car owners may also ask, “My battery is at 40.5 degrees, why can’t I charge so much electricity even if I use it up?” This is mainly due to the characteristics of electric vehicles. The battery’s electricity is used differently in each interval, and the displayed 0% to 100% is only a part of it.
“Can the various cards on the central control screen be moved?”
Many car owners wonder what the positions of the various functional cards on the central control screen are when they pick up their cars, and they remain the same until now. Actually, you can hold down a card and drag it to adjust it, just like adjusting the position of each app on your phone. Personally, I put the navigation on the far left because I can see the thumbnail map. I put the music on the left of the navigation to facilitate viewing lyrics, and I put vehicle information, such as tire pressure, on the far left for convenience in monitoring. This is entirely personal preference, so just arrange it as you like.
Also, when you slide the central control card to the far right, you can see the WeChat entrance and the driving recorder entrance. These two entrances can be hidden, and you can operate them in the vehicle settings.
“I just want to listen to songs via Bluetooth, not to answer calls. What should I do?”Some car enthusiasts value their privacy and do not like using their Bluetooth system to make phone calls, but they still want to listen to music from their phone via Bluetooth. So how can they handle this dilemma? In the vehicle settings – Bluetooth, locate your phone and click on the exclamation mark to adjust. There are multiple options available, allowing you to only select Bluetooth for music or phone calls, according to your preference.
These are the top 10 representative questions from car enthusiasts that I have compiled. Feel free to leave a comment and exchange ideas with me if you have any other questions. If you are interested in understanding any specific aspect of the automobile industry in a systematic way, let me know, and I will present an article on interesting topics to you. I wish you a pleasant driving experience.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.