Readers of my blogs will recall that, in February, I expressed concern over the introduction of electric cars. Charging at home, charging points to meet demand, who will be able to afford them, and pedestrians not aware of their presence. I have just experienced another unexpected problem.
The other morning, at about 7.30 a.m., I heard an alarm sounding in the locality. I assumed that it was some house alarm nearby. My wife informed me that she thought it was our car. Sure enough, it was. My second-hand Toyota Auris Hybrid was making a hell of a din. It does not have accompanying flashing red lights to help identify the offending vehicle should it be in the company of other cars.
I went out to investigate with the key. I could see no reason for the alarm to trigger either outside the vehicle or inside. On a previous occasion the dashcam had fallen off the windscreen setting the off the alarm.
I sat in the car unable to close down the alarm. I opened and closed all the doors to no avail. I reached for the manual in the glove compartment.
A book of 788 pages to trawl through for the solution to my problem, one the salesman forgot to mention! Fortunately, our next-door neighbours were away on holiday, but the other neighbours must, by now, be rather fed up with the din. Especially as they saw me sitting in my car reading a book.
Eventually, at page 769, the solution to this situation was unearthed. Switch the car engine on, let it run for a few minutes, and the alarm will stop.
I returned indoors and noticed that the microwave cooker had zeroed itself and in one of the bedrooms the two bedsides ‘touch base’ lamps were on. At the same time, my wife had brought up the local news on her ipad and announced a brief power cut had been reported in our area.
Around 9 am, as I was preparing some belated breakfast for myself, another power surge occurred with a brief loss of the under-cupboard lights. Immediately, my car alarm went off again!!
This confirmed it, my hybrid car sitting on the drive, close to the bungalow, had been affected by the power grid fault. Was my car sitting over the underground cable? Would an electric power surge occurring near an electric/hybrid vehicle elsewhere set off the alarm, such as at a petrol station or in town?
My local Toyota garage customer care lady told me that she had heard of this occurrence.
Now, the motoring chat is all about driverless cars. At the moment all I wish to say on this development is that we will surely need driverless car roads. More road works to come! Concerns I hold on other modern-day developments can be read in my book of POEMS BY AND OLD CODGER, published in December 2020. For further details how to buy a copy of my book, go to my website www.oldcodgersbook.co.uk