lol-lol

Crazy the number of places with water shortages. North Africa and Southern Europe one can half expect but SW England and Scotland, two places where one really does not expect such occurrences. Water magazine predicting gradual worsening situation.... https://www..watermagazine.co.uk/2023/06/07/seven-regions-in-england-will-face-severe-water-stress-by-2030-as-brits-significantly-underestimate-their-daily-water-usage/

Use of Cobalt is a rapidly dying usage in EVs as there is a rapid transition to Lithium Phosphate as car batteries. I would have thought you are more likely to be buying items with Cobalt in your mobile phone and other items using Lithium ion items camera, shaver and numerous other small electrical items but not for many current EVs and for the future EVs which are and will not be using cobalt and rare earth elements. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery#:~:text=LFP batteries are cobalt-free,of LFP battery type production. LFP batteries are cobalt-free.[7] As of September 2022, LFP type battery market share for EVs reached 31%, and of that, 68% was from Tesla and Chinese EV maker BYD production alone.[8] Chinese manufacturers currently hold a near monopoly of LFP battery type production.[9] With patents having started to expire in 2022 and the increased demand for cheaper EV batteries,[

Big improvement over previous model and US journalists have been generally positive. One good thing about Japanese manufacturers is Japan is also RHD cars but surprised Ireland getting the car and UK not. Wonder how many grey imports there are going to be, lots I would guess. US government has rated the 2023 Prius at 155 grams per mile, which works out 97 grams per Km which is still above EU target. Not sure how I feel about it really, better car than last version, taxi drivers love them, as said 5m sold is hard to argue with but should we have thousands in our cities, I am still undecided but it is quite practical one should accept.

They will be bothered by their tumbling sales and disappearing of profit in the world biggest car market ie China, which they were doing well at until last year. Japanese auto firms are being marginalised in sales terms all over the world, China, Europe US, their products tumbling down the sales charts, bankruptcy looming for many of their franchises in several countries, fields full of unsold product which most people do not want any more. Love much of the Japanese product of the last decade to three. Daughter's man has a GT86, was talking to him about getting a fun run around, a square shaped MR2 or maybe a RX8, absolute beauty but now just part of history. They need to be looking at the Cyberstar, Polestar, Volvo, BYD and TESLA and wake up and smell the coffee, or look at the market and see what is selling ie not the Camry any more but cars like the Model Y.

Oh I was there, Japanese versus British and the Japanese were smart ie making speedometers that over read by 10% rather than were built to be accurate like British one. Great way to sell bike to muppets who believe the mis-information that their inaccurate instrumentation tells them. Had many Japanese bikes from Kwacker H1, Honda CB900s, Yamaha XJs to numerous to mention, Suzukis numbering well in to double figures, mostly proddy tuned 250 two strokes yet the most memorable bike I can recall is a ex-police Norton Commando 750, Paul Dunstall tuned. Also liked my Enfield Bullet and must go and try one of the newer ones as getting good revues and so much better value than Japanese offerings. Currently have a tracer 700 but looking to go electric with that too ASAP. The Chinese will dominate the electric bike market soon too, wonder why no TESLA motorcycle come to think of it, come on Elon !

Do not like this type of review. Give me Bjorn Nyland everytime, even Toyota listen to him rather than this lightweight review above.

Toyota has become a laughing stock with those who look closely at the disruption of good EVs hitting the car market and then Toyota (Subaru) offering in that space. The launch of the BZ4X was one of the most noteworthy disasters of all car launches in the last few years. The battery range was much less than published as well as recharging issues as mentioned in the video below. It was so bad, ie as if the car was actually a beta launch, Toyota rewrote the Battery Management Software and effectively relaunched the car after a few weeks. They "released" battery capacity buffering from the car and got closer to the actual range published but damaged was done to their reputation. Toyota are a massive company with huge resources but like the other Japanese car companies they just do not seem to get the transformation to EVs. I would not buy shares in any Japaneses car company until the look like they are understanding what the Chinese seem to already get. Japan has wonderful people but it looks like the head bird of the flying geese has lost its way sadly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_geese_paradigm

I am a fan of Birmingham and am constantly surprised that so many believe Manchester is a greater city than Birmingham despite it being less than half the size although the whole Black Country is oft regarded as a separate city/area. Birmingham has many poor areas but also some quite wealth areas. Drove through back areas of Solihull and it has some very wealthy areas. Worked in the financial area of Birmingham ie around Snowhill and some opulent building there. After 13 years of Conservative rules, well 5 years with the Lib-Dems, it is no surprise that social inequality has risen and the lack of care for the poor is very evident from our government over that period. Proper minimum wages and benefits whilst they continue to pander to the well off. The introduction and then dropping of the extra 1.5% NI benefit high wage and the continued and even extended tax relief on very high amounts of annual pension contributions has long been an area where some expected a change in tax laws to reduce that 42% tax avoidance percentage. The lack of compassion by the UK government on the massive hike in interest rates, partly through their own incompetence ie the Truss/Kwatang debacle, shows little regard to both mortgage holders and those indirectly affected rents who are being asked to pay the mortgages of their landlord's higher buy to rent mortgages. An unbelieve lack of empathy in my view. Much more pain to come for these people but hopefully a change in government next year will start to easy this rampant capitalism.

Octopus make a good point. My Go Tariff finishes mid September so I will be able to change from the start of August if the deal look tempting. Some suppliers will charge you an exit fee for leaving your contract early but an important note on this — if you apply to leave your old supplier within 49 days of the end of your contract, they are not allowed to charge you any exit fees. You can see a more detailed explanation on the energy regulator OFGEM's website. The bit you need to know is highlighted below: "Suppliers will be required to notify customers that their current fixed-term is coming to an end between 42 and 49 days before the contract ends. Between this notification period and the end of the fixed term contract, suppliers will be banned from charging a termination fee should the customer decide to switch." If you do think you're still liable for an exit fee, then let us know — you can defer your switch to us by up to a month — just drop us a line to *****@*****.tld

A neighbour had one but sent it back after a few days. The software ie for the music, sat nav etc was pants compared to modern European stuff, well Google etc not the substandard stuff that VW have been trying to peddle from what some say. Odd my neighbour rejected the MG4 but went for a XC40 recharge, lots more money I presume but a much nicer car, still Chinese made but with European designing and better software I gather. Some might just prefer saving a good few thousand with getting the MG4 and just use Google on their smartphone without connection to the odd MG software. Cheap, quick, rear wheel drive, decent range car for the least money, just the software being the Achilles. Bit like a VW except for the price.

New MG4 coming with Lithium Phosphate batteries. Price less than or close to £20k..............

Well I am asleep for much of those hours. I am thinking of switching off the internet but some on the house would object. Fridge freezer is the biggy I find and it is often not the running wattage, as I fridge freezer much of the time is using zero lecky but it oddly it is the kick in off these devices. Two of my solar generator battery boxes have wattage display and when a fridge freezer starts up it does not only draw the 100 watts or so when it is is do cooling but it will whack up to almost 1kW which trips many of the solar boxes but this is something these boxes are getting better with and now we are seeing Lithium phosphate batteries, rather than Lithium, the price should go down even further as well as all the electronics of charging and the invertor in an ever cheaper and smaller box. The Chinese and Amazon will see to that, and us in international logistics of course.

Thanks for the compliment, close and definately Celtish origins but a mixture of Cornish and Irish and when you have had family being allowed to starve to death as my family did in Ireland in the mid to late 1800s as the English allowed to happen to the Irish then. No wonder Joe Biden has little time for the English but all the time for the Irish, hence no UK-USA Trade deal, unless the UK perhaps rejoins the EU and maybe there is a chance.

There is an immense range of electricity generating equipment, £50 for couple of small solar panels, solar unit with battery, three LED light bulbs. Extreme on the small side but from this upwards worth a look. I would say do not spend thousands on solar on one's roof that misses 30% of solar energy as it is fixed and not tracking. Move the panel, get more solar. One can spend from £50 to a few hundred to get quite a bit of solar that one can use during the night. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Station-Generator-Outdoor-Emergency-dp-B0BC6YH4BP/dp/B0BC6YH4BP/ref=dp_ob_title_hi?th=1

Works for me as I easily get two thirds of my power in the cheap period and therefore only a third in the more expensive period which is only a few pence more than the standard rate whereas the cheap rate about a quarter of full rate. Reckon it saves me about a third on what I would pay if I was on a single tariff. It is the EV charging that is most of the night charging ie about 14 kW when I do charge but then maybe 2 kW in to the solar generators and then a further 2 kws got from solar panels during the day. Main issue is getting Octopus to reduce my DD which I will have another go when I pay then next week and will try and get my DD back down to £100 from £200 and pay off any excess when winter comes on my credit card and get kick back ie Am Ex.

£7,000 for 20k of business miles which I get no recompense for ie 10k at 45p a mile and 10k at 25p a mile, £7,000 and the £310 of working from home allowance so actually £7,310 which on top of the standard £12,570 code gives me £19,880 tax free. In previous years I try and get my total year's earning to hit just under the 40% bracket so that would be £57,380 so that means fine tuning to dump about £30k via salary sacrifice in to my pension pot but this year, due to the Cons crashing the UK economy I have bitten the bullet and accepted being a higher rate tax payer, especially as putting money in to pensions which buy a lot of UK Gilts is bad currently as UK Gilts have tanked so badly although the annuity one can get per £100k pension is the highest I have seen for decades, virtual 5% today for the first time... https://www.marke****ch.com/investing/bond/tmbmkgb-02y?countrycode=bx HMRC are bit of a shower at the moment and due to me getting a six monthly bonus in my pay they interpreted that I was in the 45% tax bracket and then, last month, coded me down to around 600/6k tax free allowance, muppets, just because of a one off bonus. Thankfully a quick call down the "Tax Agents" dedicated hotline it was sorted and I got my sorted 1988L tax code back. Therefore looking for a redress this month where my tax might even be negative. The public service is dreadful and I have waited an hour or more to get thru sometimes. So not quite £8k, more like £7.31k due to those two factors. Nice to get the mileage allowance tax code adjustment especially when using a private EV which still get the 45p/25p a mile but one is using fuel/energy at less than 2p a mile, happy days.

I come from an engineering background, marine engineering being by apprenticeship, British Merchant Navy, so I Iike most things engineering wise, including electrical but it is not my stronger suit I admit. If I demonstrate and expound the easy and even fun of making one's own electricity I hope others take it up. I have been buying the Eco-worthy solar panels off Amazon, using at less than £1 per watt of max generation, they have their own voltage output which is usually about 20v open voltage but about 15v when loaded and so easy to plug in to a little solar generator ( available from about £50) and then just stick the panel outside, hang it out the window one can, and see the free electricity pour in. Simples. If I generate some of my lecky for free then the suppliers have too much and the price drops. If more people do this then lecky become even cheaper as has happened with natural gas now, lots of supply, relatively little use price goes down low. Difficult bit it obtaining renewable energy at home in mid winter when there is little sun. Hopefully as solar panels rise from 20% efficiency to 50% and beyond it will become easier to get better solar in the winter, at least down in Southern England where there is still several hours daylight even in the winter. Was thinking of maybe doing solar installs in my retirement. Nothing like being independent from grid supplies where they have us by the short and curlies. Octopus have been a major disruptor, as have EVs to the travelling on negligible or free energy instead of expensive and death inducing hydrocarbon fuels. A life choice the evolved embrace.

Case of foot in mouth and sad an intelligent man as Sir K ws not informed properly by his aids but I find this endemic of many who speak on the subject, or their researchers, that have not done their homework. Scotland could be an absolute key for Labour gaining a majority in Westminster with up to about 30 seat being estimated that Labour could get in Scotland but not if my party makes such fundamental errors. Wind generation, and possibly tidal, particularly in the Scottish Islands, is looking likely to become a major industry for those areas. I will try and have a word with my prospective MP Tom Collins who is a zero energy expert and Westminster energy debate informer for Labour. Be interesting to hear what he says. "I’ve dedicated my business career to building the green economy by decarbonising heat. I head Bosch’s innovation team developing hydrogen-ready boilers, and I am an industry leader in hydrogen and zero-carbon heat. I speak publicly at various conferences informing the Westminster energy debate." https://vote.labour.org.uk/tom-collins

Much of the UK housing stock is of an age where the motorcar was not a commonly owned item and in these high density areas, unlike the countryside areas or post 1950s housing design it is the car that has not been considered not specifically EVs. Some of us you may regard as wealthy are actually from poor backgrounds and remember being poor.

Good but why out the two chargers in adjacent bay so limit the number of cars that can charge to two rather than 3 or 4 ??

Governments use Compulsory Purchase Orders all the time, particularly for road building but can pretty much buy any land they deem for the greater good....

I had heard that Somerset was going to win it but with half a billion of subsidies.

But I dont. It is quite common for companies,particularly London ones, especially linked to finance but many others too, get a week, a month or even a year or two worth of salary as soon as the new tax year begins. I got about an extra months pay and that was HMRC thought was a new salary, with my car allowance and despite siphoning off a grand to pension as tax avoidance still had me north of £130k pa pro data but this was a complete error and I wonder just how many thousands they also messed up which meant many had less money to spend which will mean much less money going in to the economy but then maybe a bit less UK government borrowing. BREXIT has been good for some, but potentially really bad for the 800K UK automotive jobs. France is building several battery factories and may even get a TESLA factory though my guess who be Spain. EU lucky to get the chance to buy the Dacia Spring which is proving to be a great seller behind the Model Y.

If it does I will add to my half a kilowatt of panels that I have, double, triple quadruple plus get some more batteries so less grid electricity will be sold. I can see a point arriving when some users give up on grid power and just make their own via solar, small wind turbines and maybe gas powered generators.

Less than 24 cms. Even my 2014 Clio mark 4 Nav S looked quite similar. Back in the days of either DVD or solid state memory maps rather than realtime Google maps in my Arkana and Zoe. I do agree the 17 inch screen in the TESLAs look overkill but these 10 inch screen, even maybe 12 inch, measured corner to opposite corner look OK to me. My near eye sight is not so good as it was so a nice sized screen is helpful to me, whether it is a tablet format or a bit wrap around, not that bother but flat is cheaper of course. I have had some petty big sat nav unit screens 7 inch and more I recall, did the job and nice and cheap.