Over the next few months, if you’re the sort of person who closely follows advertisements of cars, you’ll notice a veritable stew of abbreviations. You’ll hear of ESC, VSM and HDC and what not. All of them will promote either convenience or safety, but what do they all mean?
So the most common abbreviation you will hear about is something called ESC or ‘Electronic Stability Control’. Sorry to prick the marketers bubble, but carmakers will not be doing you a huge favour by installing this feature. You see, ESC is something that manufacturers will be forced to install on all cars if they want a three-star or above rating in the new Bharat-NCAP safety tests.
But what is ESC all about?
To give an aircraft analogy, most aircraft, both civil and military, are fly-by-wire these days. That is, there is no ‘physical’ linkage between the pilot controls and the ‘control surfaces’ of the aircraft. So when the pilot makes an input on this stick or yoke, an electronic signal is sent to actuators and motors on the wing or tail, that move the aircraft’s surfaces. However, if the pilot inputs a maneuver that is too aggressive, the computer will override the pilot. This is known as ‘envelope protection’.
ESC does something similar on a car. While the steering wheel is still physically connected to the vehicle’s wheels, ESC does manage the throttle and braking controls to a degree. That is to say, if as a driver you give too much throttle while exiting a corner that can unbalance the vehicle, the electronic system will kick in and ensue the car doesn’t get out of control. Understeer is when the car does not turn as much as the steering input the driver gives. Well, the ESC will prevent excess throttle, because while the steering is still physically linked, the accelerator and brake pedals do not have physical linkages on most cars anymore and operate within a ‘safety envelope’.
You might not like it, but ESC and VSM – Vehicle Stability Management (which intervenes even more in the driving process) actually help in emergency conditions. Thanks to the growing number of dashcams in India, several videos of cars sliding off during the monsoons on highways are available on the internet. The instant reaction most drivers would give to such a situation would be to brake hard, which could lock the wheels and actually lead to a worse accident. So VSM, which coupled with ESC and all the way down to Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS), works towards mitigating an emergency situation. Again, a word of warning, all these electronic aids can help you, but they do not stop the fact that you, the driver, has ultimate responsibility for your vehicle.
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How much electronics is too much electronics
As safety standards improve, these features will soon become mandatory on vehicles. But this leads to the inevitable question, how much electronics is enough? In Europe for example, the Euro-NCAP tests now mandate that for a five-star safety rating, a vehicle must be installed with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) such as Lane-Keeping Assist (LKA) as well as systems for collision avoidance and mitigation. Such systems are available on an increasing number of non-premium vehicles in India as well such as on the Honda City and Elevate, the Hyundai Verna, Kia Seltos, Mahindra XUV700 and MG Hector. In fact, Hyundai just introduced a variant of the Venue with ADAS.
I know that I have cribbed about ADAS and particularly the collision mitigation systems in past columns. But truth be told, after living with cars with ADAS for almost a year now, I’ve become rather used to them. I often dial down the intensity of the assistance and switch it off when driving slowly through crowded areas. But are electronic safety features needed for safety ratings if a car is structurally safe? After all, if a car has an accident all these electronic aids come to naught.
Well, this is an interesting debate and I’ve heard both sides from car manufacturers and my peers in automotive journalism. Yes, it is true that some of these electronic aids can help prevent accidents, on expressways, for example, the Lane-Keeping Assist function along with Adaptive Cruise Control can help not only keep a car dead centre in the middle of a lane but also a safe distance from the vehicle in front. Great, but what if the road markings suddenly disappear? This happens even on expressways, particularly when a stretch has been recently resurfaced. But a dashcam video of an accident I saw on X (formerly Twitter) recently made it clear that ESC and VSM might have mitigated the accident.
I also believe that so many electronic aids make us lazier drivers, and often worse drivers. There are enough social media posts by influencers showing how some cars with ADAS are ‘driving themselves’ while the poster is doing something else. Back in the way, when I learned to drive, we were taught how to always brake in a straight line and to let the steering unwind before getting on the throttle. Today, with ABS and ESC systems, you don’t need to do that. That doesn’t make today’s kids ‘worse’ drivers. And while I am not someone who clamours for the ‘good old days’, far from it in fact, pulling off stunts with a car to make social media posts is a sign of bad driving.
Then again, on the whole, mandating electronic aids is desirable and improves the lives of a vast majority of passenger car buyers. Of course, some manufacturers might complain that forcing electronic aids is going to increase the price and what is the purpose of such aids when Indians drive on the wrong side. But the actions of a few should not become an excuse to not take action. It is inevitable that ADAS will become mandatory for high scores in safety tests within the next few years just like ESC today.
But on an aside about safety tests, everyone who is reading this must remember that all safety tests, including Bharat-NCAP, are conducted at urban speeds. Few cars are designed to survive impacts at speeds above 100 kmph. Keep in mind that impact speeds are calculating the speed vectors of all vehicles involved in an accident. So five-star ratings or not and with or without electronic aids, please drive carefully.
@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)