How Your Battery Can Help Generate Power During a Power Outage?

In the United States, everyone will experience at least two hours of a power outage during the year. While this is a considerably low number, a power outage can come in various ways: from standard maintenance to natural emergencies like storms and blizzards. It can be said that electricity is an essential part of our lives. It is the lifeblood for many of the activities that we do daily, and now, even our vehicles.  However, your electric vehicle is essentially a large battery on wheels. Thus, one surprising advantage of your EV battery is that you can have the ability to use it to power your home in case of emergencies. Even though your electric vehicle can be charged using your home’s power. The opposite can be done to power your home by using the energy left from your car’s battery. Or, simply, a generator as a backup power source.  EVs now have battery packs ranging from 40 to 65 kilowatt-hours. That means a fully charged battery from your electric vehicle can power your home for two to three days. Maybe even four days if your battery capacities reach beyond 65 kilowatt-hours.  Even though this is a relatively new concept,…

Review of Any Blind Spots Experienced When Driving a VinFast

Blind spots are a part of every driver’s life and a key concern for any driver looking to get into a new vehicle.  If you’re considering investing in a VinFast electric vehicle but are concerned about the driving experience with blind spots, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to learn more about what you can expect regarding blind spots with the VF8 and VF9 models. Blind Spots Experienced When Driving a VinFast Model The construction of modern vehicles creates natural blind spots, even for VinFast models. We need thick A-pillars and C-pillars to house airbags and electrical cabling and hold up the roof. It’s also important to note that modern SUVs are higher and have taller hoods than older vehicles.  This construction naturally creates several blind spots:  Immediately in front of the front bumper  Immediately behind the rear bumper  Outside rear corners  Through the A-pillar How These Compare to Other Models  These blind spots are normal for all vehicles, and not at all unique to VinFast.  However, VinFast works to mitigate these blind spots with radar-based blind-spot monitoring and lane-change assist that alerts you to other vehicles in the blind spot. VinFast also offers radar-based park assistance to…

How to Improve Your Road Trips

Road trips can be divisive: for some, they’re the best part of a vacation. For others, they’re long stretches of agony between places they want to be. For still others, they’re an abyss of unknowns that leave them intimidated at best and paralyzed at worst. If you live and want to travel within North America—particularly to nature spots–it can be hard to avoid road trips. and that thought can be distressing enough to push someone into paying for a ticket on a cramped, uncomfortable plane.  But, road trips don’t have to be stretches of agony or abysses of unanswered questions. The fact is that, for many, these apprehensions are rooted in ignorance of how to approach traveling by car. It’s possible to learn, and rid yourself of any apprehensions. Partly because of my job, I’ve spent literal months driving across the US: from East Coast to West (and back, several times); from Southern California to the Canadian border; from Colorado to Chicago… the road is a second home, my car more well-worn than some peoples’ shoes. As a result, I’ve picked up a bunch of tricks useful for anyone traveling long distances by car, whether it be a four-hour day…

Trust Your Eyes… Not Your Map

It happens in Minnesota. It happens in the maze-like city blocks of Manhattan. It happens in the deserts of Southern California, and the frozen wastes of Russia, and the mountains of Colorado. It happens everywhere, because we use it everywhere… perhaps, more than we should. I’m talking about instances where your GPS leads you astray. Sometimes by taking you up a road that no longer exists, sometimes by thinking you’re on the freeway instead of the city streets, and sometimes by sending you into the middle of nowhere. At best, these incidents are inconvenient. At their worst, they cause “death by GPS.”  There is a common misconception that these issues are completely due to user error. Occasionally, people point to the responsibility of the map-maker—these days, that’s usually Google. But rarely is it acknowledged that these incidents are a part of a wider group of human error that, while natural, should be monitored and corrected!  Here, we delve into human-GPS error not in the context of specific stories, but as a wider phenomenon. We’ll explore the various kinds of human-GPS errors that are most common, and explain why they occur. Finally, we’ll make an argument for why and how to…

Why (And How) to be Nice to Cyclists

For many drivers—particularly in the US—bicyclists are seen as a nuisance. They take up valuable space on the road, slow down traffic, and seem out of place in our automobile-focused landscape. Some even want to remove bicyclists from roadways altogether, and relegate them to the realm of athletics and children’s playgrounds. But this is short-sighted. Disdain for bicyclists comes from a few select places—none of which have a deep connection to the reality of the situation. The incredibly minor inconvenience of making space for a bicyclist, and the odd mentality that they’re somehow being “uppity” are both petty and stupid reasons to dislike bicyclists. And while jokes about bicyclists do make for good comedy, the fact is that we, as drivers, need to start making room for them. There are several good reasons to do so, too. Some are based mostly in ethics, while others appeal to a degree of self-interested practicality. A few drift into both.  We hope to convince you to rethink your disdain for bicyclists. Below, we’ve compiled a few good reasons to be nice to bicyclists… and some actionable ways to do exactly that. To start with, let’s help you with a common misconception. More Bicyclists…

How to Make the Most of a Long Commute

Over the last year, daily commutes have often changed from long stretches in public transit to long stretches in a cramped car. Sometimes this happened because the pandemic forced people to move or change jobs, sometimes because it made public transit unsafe. In other cases, people moved to a region where trains and buses weren’t available. Whatever the reason, many people are now stuck in their cars for an hour or two every day, and it’s making them crazy. After all, some people just aren’t used to long drives. They may have grown up with public transit or may have thought they’d never be able to afford a ride of their own. Now they’re trying to figure out how to stay sane—and healthy, given how a long car ride can strain one’s back and neck. Things to Do Fortunately, there are many things you can do to take the edge off a long commute, and even make it fun and something to look forward to. Listen to Podcasts There’s more to the world of podcasts than The Joe Rogan Experience and NPR. The variety of podcasts has surged enormously over the last decade, and these days you can find a…

How to Make Your Ride More Comfortable

For something that costs so much money to buy and maintain, cars can be incredibly uncomfortable. Not just physically, but in terms of convenience and “creature comforts.” This isn’t always the case—manufacturers do invest a lot of money into ergonomics, fancy extras, and quality materials. But, they also have to balance those concerns with safety, economics, and varying tastes across their markets. As a result, the driving experience can sometimes feel lacking for the individual. But what if you could fix that? What if you could amp up your driving experience, tailor it to your individual needs, and make your car as comfortable as your apartment or bedroom? Well, there’s good news: you can! It just takes knowing what to look for. Creating a comfortable driving experience means different things to different people. And, courtesy of the unholy union of a car gadget market stacked with useless junk, the lack of readily available advice on enhancing the comfort of your vehicle, and the fact that some just view their car as a way to get from point A to point B, many people can’t figure out where to start making their car comfortable.  That’s why we’ve created this. It’s a…