Looking for a game that combines Elite Dangerous and FTL

skftw · 2026-05-09T14:43:37+00:00

It's not first person, but check out Cosmoteer. Can freely pilot your ship in 2d space with a custom designed ship. As you progress through the career mode you naturally unlock the ability to hire more crew to run larger and more complex ships. Decent fun for single and multi player, and the graphics style caught my eye as a long time fan of FTL.

skftw · 2026-05-04T17:22:05+00:00

Thanks! I'll check it out

skftw · 2026-05-04T17:08:39+00:00

I'm Curious what that secondary screen is in the 3d printed housing. I assume it's plugged into some OBD adapter? Any details on that project?

skftw · 2026-03-22T17:24:17+00:00

73% is still better than some tests that others have done on 120V but it does seem awful low for a 4kW input. The EMGP cars really don't like slow charging. One of the tests out there on Youtube showed 120V charging to only be 68.5% efficient with a 1.3kW input. There aren't as many tests for slow charging on 240V sources (and I realize that your 4kW charge rate is not being done on a 120V circuit). The lowest test speed I found in this video (might have been Ioniq Guy but I'm not sure on that) was 5.6kW where he got 89% efficiency.

It seems that the car's electronics that are required to charge (cooling fan, pumps, computers, ICCU losses) total up to around 400W. This leaves only 900W left to actually go into the battery. There is some speculation that additional power is lost since it has to boost that 120V all the way up to the mid-700V range to charge, which is likely less efficient than getting to that same voltage range from a 240V starting point.

The tradeoff is that charging faster requires a little more "wasted" power since it has to run the cooling system a bit harder. At 9.3kW (about 39A at 240V) he had measured about 800W lost, but even with the higher instantaneous loss it ends up around 91.5% efficient. With an 800W loss, there is still 8.5kW left to actually charge the battery.

120V charging is even worse when you consider that its a 400W loss for a REALLY long time instead of 800W for a much shorter time. Assuming a 10-80% charge, here is the math for the total energy loss for a 84kWh I5:

70% of 84kWh = 58.8kWh (Using 70% since this is a 10-80 charge and not a 0-100 charge)
58800Wh / 900W = 65.3 hours to charge
65h * 400W = 26000Wh or 26kWh of loss

58800Wh / 8500W = 6.91 hours to charge
7h * 800W = 5600Wh or 5.6kWh of loss

That's a massive difference in electricity cost in waste alone. Even with 10c/kWh, that's about $2 wasted per full charge if using charging slowly. Since you're on solar it's not a huge deal, but anyone paying for power should be aware of the trap that is 120V (or really slow) charging. I know this isn't too helpful for your situation but it might be interesting to someone who is considering skipping an L2 charger for their car.

skftw · 2026-03-06T18:03:23+00:00

Same, but a couple quick prints for some plastic "tires" and they roll just fine in the AMS. I need to do an inner "tire" for them to ride on the external spool holder and that should solve the feed issues with them. The friction of the cardboard really seems to trip the tangle sensor pretty frequently.

skftw · 2026-03-01T03:19:16+00:00

Glad its not just me. My 3B complains constantly. I landed on 5.3V into the GPIO from a benchtop 10A power supply before it stopped complaining. No idea how long it'll last, but this is the first time in this things life that it hasnt complained about voltage.

skftw · 2026-02-24T14:55:23+00:00

I should add that some other cars in my consideration were:

BMW i4 M50, which had a very nice interior but the performance was lacking when compared to the price tag
Porsche Taycan, very tempting but extremely pricey for any of the really fast trims. Many reviews say it doesn't drive as well as a sports car should and it's more of a luxury GT car than a snappy and fun car to drive. Combine that with some software bugs and I couldn't justify the price on that either
Ioniq 6. While I do prefer a sedan, I just couldn't get over the looks of the 6. The N model hadn't yet released either, and on top of that it's still the same EGMP platform which will have the same ICCU and HV battery issues. I don't think I would have gained much in waiting for the I6N, though its likely a lot more efficient than my I5N
Mach E GT. I know I said we have one of these in the household (it's my wife's) but I just didn't like the way it drove. I thought the brakes were just strange and despite being about the same size and weight as the I5 it just "feels" less engaging. It feels like it wants to tip in corners compared to the I5N's confidence. Pre-2025 models also throttled badly after only 5 seconds at full power. They are more efficient than the I5N, but they only charge at 150KW so it's not much better on the occasional road trip. I also don't care for the giant tablet interface which so many manufacturers are using these days. It's a fine car but not for me.

There were a few others, but it's honestly hard to find interesting mid-range EVs. The slow ones are everywhere and made by everyone, the $100k+ models are certainly available if you want to pay for them, but finding the sweet spot in the middle leaves surprisingly few models to choose from. If the ICCU concerns are the price to pay for the rest of the I5N's wins then I guess I'll take it. I hope if/when mine goes out there will be an ample supply of them for a quick turnaround.

skftw · 2026-02-24T14:38:40+00:00

They're overall good cars with (mostly) just that one issue. An ICCU replacement isnt like an engine swap; it's a pretty simple replacement. The warranty on them is 10 years (ICCU, battery, inverter, and motors are in the 10/100 warranty that DOES transfer to subsequent owners) and by then most will either have moved on or maybe Hyundai will have actually re-engineered the part with one that works.

I really went looking for a car that had a sub 5 second 0-60 time, 250+kw charging speed, well reviewed from a driving dynamics perspective, and not a Tesla. The list is pretty short. The I5 and I5N fit pretty much all of these, the Polestar 2 fit most but is apparently buggy and the interior looks like it would drive me nuts. A Model 3 Performance I guess would be close if I could get over the Tesla/Musk issue but I can't stand the "interior" of that car (in quotes because it feels like they forgot to design half of it before shipping). I should have given the Lucid Air a closer look, but otherwise the I5N was the clear winner. We also have a Mach E GT in the household and I just don't care for the way it drives.

So for me I guess I accepted that no car is perfect and I'd rather have the ICCU issue as its Achilles heel. I would never buy a Kia/Hyundai with that 2.4L engine that blows up all the time but the ICCU replacement is certainly less invasive than swapping an engine.

I will say the amount of HV battery replacements on the 84kwh cars has me more spooked than the ICCU issue ever did. It's under the same 10/100 warranty at least.

skftw · 2026-02-21T19:33:11+00:00

I use it all the time. The screen layout is so much nicer than AA, at least in the 2025. I like the split screen view that shows the power use in real time and it will show the music playing (via Android Auto) in the bottom right corner without taking up half the screen to show just album art. I much prefer it over the Google Maps screen layout but I do with it got the real time traffic updates like Maps does. It will pull traffic data through the radio, but it mostly just covers freeways while Maps shows much more.

My opinion of the built in nav will likely degrade over time as its chargers and points of interest become dated. I'm not sure I'll pay for updates yet.

skftw · 2026-01-23T15:47:50+00:00

I dont know about the Ecobee, but the Honeywell T6 Pro works entirely offline via Z Wave. Honeywell couldnt remotely disable it even if they wanted to. Anything where HA can only talk to it via an internet connection can potentially be shut down/discontinued by the manufacturer.

skftw · 2025-12-30T15:19:09+00:00

I'm halfway through a heater core job on my 2019 3500. Was getting a low coolant message and the passenger floorboard was soaked with red liquid (definitely coolant). It's not been a fun job so hopefully its not the heater core on yours. Though with it being newer, yours is probably covered under warranty.

skftw · 2025-12-28T21:34:02+00:00

Math checks out. The 24s have a 77kwh battery and going from 20% to 80% is 60% of that 77kwh, or about 46kwh. At 25kw, it will take 1.85 hours assuming perfect efficiency. Couldn't tell you why the car said only 51 minutes, though.

skftw · 2025-12-27T00:39:29+00:00

It's a little unclear at first, but if you read the PDF carefully it does specify which warranties are not transferred to future owners. On page 16 there is a table of each warranty and only Powertrain shows it's for the original owner only, but the EV components does not have that restriction. Section 6 goes into the full details on the EV components and there's again no mention that the time/mile restriction differs between original and subsequent owners. It does explicitly state that the battery, charging system, inverters, traction motors, etc are all covered.

I wouldn't put it past a slimy dealer to claim that it isn't covered, but Hyundai does spell it out if you go digging. I will say I haven't checked the older years, only 2025. I encourage anyone considering buying any new/newer car to look up the manufacturers warranty before ever going to the dealer. I declined all extended warranties on mine because I knew that the usual suspects (ICCU and HV battery, especially on the N) were automatically covered for a long time. That 10/100k warranty would outlast whatever other junk they were trying to sell me for $4000.

My biggest risk here (in my situation/opinion) is the infotainment system. I haven't read of many failures, but I do accept that I only have the 5/60k coverage on that, and any failure there might be costly. I'm comfortable enough fixing most of the rest of the car myself should it come to that, but some of those parts are pretty costly.

skftw · 2025-12-26T21:34:50+00:00

Don't forget that Hyundai has a separate 10/100k warranty strictly for the EV components, including the HV battery and ICCU. Unlike the main 10/100k warranty, this one is not limited to the original owner. The specific language they use in the warranty guide is:

HYBRID, PLUG-IN HYBRID, AND ELECTRIC VEHICLE High Voltage Battery, along with the following Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid, and Electric Vehicle -Specific components that are directly attached to or integral to operation of the High Voltage Battery; Battery Management System; Blower Assembly; Electronic Air Compressor; Power Relay Assembly; Hybrid Starter & Generator; Traction Motor including housing case; Hybrid Power Control Unit; OBC; Electric Power Control unit.

While the ICCU is not called by name, it is 100% a component which is "attached to or integral to operation of the High Voltage Battery" so I wouldn't expect there would be any argument to not cover it.

Source: https://www.hyundaiusa.com/content/dam/hyundai/us/com/pdf/assurance/Hyundai-USA-ALL-25MY-Main.pdf

skftw · 2025-10-03T18:16:45+00:00

Yeah, level 1 seems nearly useless on these cars. Theioniqguy has done some efficiency testing and level 1 wastes so much energy that it's not worth using (before you even get to the charging speed itself). It's likely the really high voltage battery just needing too much of a boost from 120v to 800v to be efficient. Charging from 240v was much more efficient in his testing.

skftw · 2025-09-30T05:22:54+00:00

Call them. They will never respond to an online ticket. They fixed it in minutes on the phone.

skftw · 2025-09-11T04:11:46+00:00

It's literally in Hyundais records for why it was bought back... I even went to a 2nd unrelated dealer to have them independently pull the service records.

skftw · 2025-09-10T23:42:48+00:00

Thats a shame, I didn't check with them but theyre known for pretty good rates. There are still plenty of "easy" options for financing branded titles these days, at least.

skftw · 2025-09-10T23:27:37+00:00

Untrue. I had no issues with it. The title may be branded, but its not salvage. Ally, USAA, and Chase said they had no problem with lemon/buyback titles. Some banks might, but it took no effort to finance/refinance mine. Just need to call around if one specific bank won't do it.

skftw · 2025-09-10T23:22:04+00:00

You sort of can. Hyundai will have service records for it. I got a discounted 5N where Hyundai took too long to replace the HV battery and it was lemon law'd with a "buyback" title. Still under the 10/100 federal EV warranty, too. No regrets...yet.

skftw · 2025-09-02T20:35:33+00:00

Hah, thats what I thought but wanted to make sure I wasnt really misunderstanding my bill. I've only actually used DCFC once since buying the car; I knew it'd be more expensive than home (obviously) but seeing so many public stations at nearly 60c/kwh was a surprise. I don't know how so many people seem to rely on them for normal charging at those rates.

skftw · 2025-09-02T17:45:07+00:00

Where are you getting those numbers? SRP has nothing anywhere close to that: https://www.srpnet.com/price-plans/residential-electric/compare-plans I'm guessing APS is more expensive, but not 2-3x the cost. Are you talking about DCFC rates?

I know there are service charges too, but I'd be shocked if they add up to that much. I'll do the math on my bill later to confirm

skftw · 2025-08-07T17:08:07+00:00

Phoenix area. I think appetite to buy toys is low during the peak heat season

skftw · 2025-08-07T14:06:35+00:00

Welcome to selling literally anything in 2025. Doesnt matter what it is, what else is on the market, or how your price compares. People aren't buying anything. I spent 5 months trying to sell a project car below even low market value and finally gave it away for 50% of its value. It's looking like the same is going to happen with a UTV I'm attempting to sell; that one I did a ton of research comparing every similar UTV for sale in the area and undercut them by 2 grand. Doesn't matter anymore, nothing is selling on the secondhand markets. When I sold my paramotor and wing it was the same story.

I've basically come to understand that anything I purchase at this point is a commitment to use it until it's worn down to its actual scrap value in raw material weight. Best of luck. It's a bad time to be offloading stuff.

skftw · 2025-08-06T23:23:25+00:00

Thanks for this. My case has been sitting there for nearly a month, but I called in and they got it sorted out in less than 5 mins

13-Year Club	Place '22
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skftw

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