lol-lol

We have had the 1.6 naturally aspirated engined, 90 hp linked to the 50 hp or so electric in the ETECH Arkana for at least a year and the Arkana forum generally like it in urban areas but I have heard quite a few complaints about it perceived over-revving from the petrol engine which, being non turbo has not got much torque and the little hybrid battery will only give it a few seconds of kick and then wants more charging. The gearbox for ICE is only 4 speeds and there have been complaints that the car hangs on to lower gears too long ie it sounds like it is thrashing the engine and just will not change up to the next gear. There is a fix which is changing up sooner but presumably it then just bogs down a bit. Why Renault have not link the ETECH to one of the 1 litre, or 1.3 litre TCE like in my Arkana, might be for keeping the cost low. Relatively we have very few issues in the 140 TCE engined very mild hybrid ie it does coasting and twin clutch opening simultaneously can get the fairly largish car well in the 50s mpg which is good enough for me. Only if i did 90% plus of my driving in cities would I consider the ETECH system when the excellent 1.3 TCE engine is available. 140 hp form usually in Renault, sometime 160 hp sometimes as supplied and used in small Mercs and chippable up to 200 hp. I like the Jogger, as I did the Lodgy which did get the 1.3 TCE engine, hopefully the Jogger will to at sometime soon.

Either that or carry a few of these in the boot....... (With some foldable solar panels). I having issue with getting a proper/good earth but potentially it could give EV drivers some option. Our EV super hero Byorn Nyland has had some fun, as has the guy from carwow, running the cars to absolutely zero battery, oft some 20 miles beyond shown zero, then he has 4 kw of ECOFLOW batteries plus panels and then thinking about calling out the AA/RAC etc. I think motoring organisation support/rescue vehicles should take up the mantle plus gas station get a move on ripping out fuel pumps and installing EV chargers as they are in a dying business if they do not, a few garages have but much more need to follow, sell lecky at 50p+VAT per kWh and coffee etc.

Indeed I would not describe the Zoe seats as a comfortable place to be and a disappointment for me compared to the Arkana and the Clio Nav S I have also. No height adjustment and poorish bolstering as you say make the Zoe more suited to tow, inter or adjacent country travelling rather than the across the country trip. That said I did take the Zoe down to Crawley from Worcester ie about 175 miles, charged up at my Heathrow office and great destination chargers at the client and did not feel to second hand but it is not is the same league as the mild hybrid Arkana which was nearly £10K cheaper despite being about 25% bigger rear seats and boot area and much better seats plus a range of 500 miles instead of 200 of course, 150 in the winter which excluded the Zoe being my only car. Capture is suppose to same as Arkana but Arkana seems nice to be comfy wise. Tall due to the 200 mm clearance beneath the car, designed to cope with Russian, Korean and Australian terrain. Seen petrol at 144p a litre, plus still got the fuel card so petrol effectively sub 60p a litre , still waiting for our Octopus EV salary sacrifice scheme, be interesting to see what a model Y LR comes out as per month. Will avoid trying to pop in for a charge at Tebay recharging at the wrong times, a 6 hour wait to charge sounds like hell on Earth.

Points to under testing of the electric version when it was launched which was always going to be an issue with the e-corsa being an adaption of the ICE corsa and just putting in say 20% stiffer coils is not enough. When I was Dept Transport I recall reading one report which said that the damage to both car and road rose by the power of 4 ie not squared or cubed by the fourth power. I oft wonder, and I know there were probably several reasons why you chose the e-corsa over say the Zoe that I got, but I have followed your frustration with both charging and dealership and wonder how different it might have been if you got the Zoe, which has probably the leader in the B segment electric vehicles back when you got your EV ? Many do not like the Zoe styling, even I think it is a bit Mehh, but that range and just plain sorted out over a decade of development of the Renault Zoe through the 22 kwh and 30 kwh to the 52 kwh Zoe has led to quite a sorted car, EURONCAP issue a part of course, IMO.

Well yes they are 45 Aspect ratio. To me 50 or less are low aspect ratio and on our terrible roads a high risk of rim and tyre damage compared to 55 and above. Happy with my 60 aspect ratio on the 17 inch tyres on the Arkana, handles quite firm even on the 17 inch rim and tyre combination and i have hit some monster potholes are touch wood seems to have survived unscathed. The UK road ways are not a race track and if drivers want to drive at ten tenths take it on the track and i can watch the action on Youtube, must be hundreds or thousands of hours of racing wanabees running out of talent particularly the Nürburgring, very good watch. Like Michelins but also think the Avons are very good value tyres with very decent grip. Just wish UK was much better setup to change to winter tyres for December to February or so.

Motorbikes are so much better today. All registered in the last few years have ABC. Tyres are massively better. Forty years ago we were putting 100 hp through 4 and half inch tyres. My 70 hp Tracer 700 now use a tyre over 6 inches at the rear and the compound is so much better. About three quarters of bike accidents are cars pulling out from the minor road in to the path of the bike on the main road. Always assume car, van, truck might pull out. Bikes are so much fun. I think the Tracer can be A2 restricted and then derestricted. My Yamaha R3 was also a gas. Thinking of adding an Enfield Hunter. Less than £4k, 100 mpg and the essential of motorcycling.

17, 18, or 19 inch, questions answered by Tyrereview..... Confirms all the usual aspect one would think, in the dry, surprise to some, even the commentator, has the 17 inch was faster in the wet. I suspect in cooler and wetter conditions the 17 inch ie wet winter conditions the 17 inch was quicker/faster by a percent or so ! Of course need to consider the car and this is a guide for C segment cars. My Clio Nav S run 17 inch but 40 aspect ratio. I wish I had 16 inch wheels like the Zoe has which is also a segment B car. Arkana runs 17s, rather than 18s,19s, or 20s. In 20 inch it is still 45 aspect ratio so not as at risk rom pothole damage as 40 aspect ratio and below that. Get bigger wheels, use more fuel and pay more tax and go slower in normal British conditions.

The new Model S arriving in Europe from the US have range of 400 miles, super aero efficient, super electrically efficient, what are the muppets in charge of some german brands, principally VW more so than BMW, that shape cannot be aero efficient, and even Merc struggling to be as technically good at anything like at a price those on middle strata wages can afford. Battery size is still quoted at 100 kWh but presumably is the much more useable LFP format which is actually giving more useable battery than the slightly bigger older batteries. More Model X Plaid on the supply boats from the US as well as the batches of Model S not shipped for about 2 years....... Run is 5 minutes in.

If you are talking about the UK then UK sales outlets always have to stuff in substantial margin as the car is going to be sold in that rather little used currency GB pounds and then the money has to be converted back in to Euros which is the base currency for car production at least in Europe. So published RRPs are high but dealers have big scope to offer discounts on the price and even on the finance if you keep pushing them. I would agree a car like my Renault Zoe has/had a massive RRP, think it was around £34.5k for my Riviera spec ZE50. But one pay nothing like that as the price. Government grant was about £2K I think, Renault were doing £5k off, got the finance at very low rate which count as heavily subsidized so the eventual cost was probably like £27k, £20k after I traded in my Old Octy with lots of miles on it. Residual are pretty high, way higher than diesels for same mileage and probably up with the best of efficient petrol cars. Fuel costs are about 2p a mile running on cheap night-time electricity, road tax is zero in 2021 and through to 2025 when my PC runs out, servicing cost are a fraction, I would say about a third, of internal combustion cars. Total monthly cost of ownership ie PCP, fuel, insurance in the region of £300 to £310 I reckon and I expect a good surplus of value in the car at the end of the PCP, despite a large drop in Tesla values as not really competing in that part of the EV market. Shame UK does not get the Dacia Spring yet, hopefully next year, as that would shake up the UK EV market. 20K Euros so about £18k when launched in the UK.

Incredible. Those bought at 2022 prices must be extra shocked but Tesla have previous for this. Serious consider a model "Y" at these prices and especially using salary sacrifice scheme. Richard Symonds, who has a few in his stock must have taken a denting. Our "RHD" imports are Chinese and hopefully lithium phosphate rather than just lithium as be nice to use 100% plus charging and use public charging. Merry Hill shopping centre just opened dozens of charging points across the shopping complex and nine more such super hugs to open across West Midlands that millions drive through each week.

Sure still, after a dozen years, the fast Skoda, now 700 hp, 227 mph......... Looks road legal. Noise might be an issue to some coppers.

A lot to be said for an isolated electrical backup that can be called in to help in an emergency. We carry spare tyres, a light lithium charging battery is worth carrying in winter I reckon, My brothers battery gave up at Collumpton service on NEw Years Eve eve. Called out service and got a new one fitted for less than £100. Sould wrong to me, a start stop battery should be EFB or AGM and a decent size and fitted, for less than a ton, I said he was a lucky man and send me the invoice as I suspect he has had a ordinary battery fitted rather than S/S tech.

I have a couple of largish lithium batteries which I use to down load lecky during my cheap 0030 to 0430 period, primarily charging the Zoe of course but also charge a Bluetti B180 and an Allpower S2000 Pro. The Bluetti only has a 1000 watt inverter with 1200 W surve but the Allpowers has 2500 W constant inverter with 4000 W surge. 4000 watts would be well over 300 amps and these devices are improving with big steps each year. Tried the Zoe's granny charge cable, which is 10 Amps 2.2 to 2.4 kW I gather but Zoe did not lack the lack of earthing. Bjorn Nyland has sold this with the ecoflow delta max he carries around when he runs EVs to absolute zero power sometimes 10, 20 and nearly 30 miles below zerom just like IC cars. Good to see those who get stuck in Rufford using their starter motor to get out of the flood water once their engine stop due to most electricals shorting out but starter motor still cranking from the battery. I especially enjoy the BMWs and Mercs failing.......

Think I have finally found an answer to the "why are Lithium batteries used for motorbikes but not cars" in this article...https://www.batteriesplus.com/blog/power/lithium-starting ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Will LiFePO4 Work as a Cranking Battery? The answer to this question largely depends on the application. If you are looking to use a lithium battery as a cranking battery in your car, truck, RV or boat then the answer is a resounding no. If you are looking for a battery for your motorcycle, jet ski or ATV, then yes, an X2Power LiFePO4 battery is a suitable choice for a starting battery ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I find the answer a bit weak as motorcycles can have quite large capacity and high compression/performance engines. I put a lithium battery in my little 350cc Yam R3 and it worked well and would like to do the same in my 700cc Yam Tracer. My Clio is only 898 cc, the Arkana is 1332 cc and the Zoe, ah that is pure electric 52 kWh. I think it is the Lithiums tend to have Battery Management systems and which limit the amps per second to about what the AH is ie to one C. 100 AH lithium battery, 100 Amp limit. Since one might need 600 or 700 Amps to start an engine when cold. There is our mis-match. Perhaps a Lithium battery would need a charge build up in an super capacitor before blasting the starter motor with several hundred amps. Think they might be using one here...

Think I meant very few cars have moved to lithium for their 12v batteries where bikes have much more. On a motorcycle on already has 4 gallons of petrol between you legs so a potential incendiary devices under ones bum is just a bit more of the same. The weight change in a bike is significant enough to show up in 0 to 60 a mbps and even in a car changing from lead to lithium can reduces kerb weight by about one percent so maybe a tenth quicker acceleration or a couple of miles more from a tankful. Finding lithium battery suppliers is hard. Irene to use Tayna for my battery supply.

What was the end of this tale ? I use Smart battery chargers which go through 8 stages of recharging starting with desulphur and try and nurse the battery back to life. They have digital display as to what they are doing Amps, Volts, temperature etc as well as guessing what percentage of full health the battery is. During early January one can get 20% off new batteries at some battery outlets and prices start at around £54 for a 70AH 650A CCA battery I recall. Some battery chargers and starting device will not even do anything when voltage below 4 volts or so therefore need to have some jump juice from a healthy 12 first to put a few volts in to the dead battery and then one can pop on the smart battery charging device. Recently bought a 10A smart charger for less than £20 from Amazon. If I am worried about my battery I will carry a small solar generator (basically just a lithium battery with a 240AC 200W inverter on it to give the car battery some charge. Some cars are not moving to lithium batteries as we are in motorcycles as lithium batteries seem to have less problems than even standard, EFB or AGM batteries and are so much lighter.

Pop band Aha's story is truly inspiring, maybe even trumps Greta's story. Happy 20th birthday Greta. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63375504 UK still has a charging network not suitable for just taking my 150 to 240 mile range Zoe so sadly I use the Arkana or even the 898 cc Clio. Looks like my company is finally linking up to the Octopus salary sacrifice system. Also here Octopus are doing a special link up to Stellantis. Even with the salary sacrifice system in place cost per month still looks quite high. VAT needs to go down from 20% it to 5% or at least down to 10% IMO for private buyers and for EV PCP schemes.

Have a look at Green Lithium on Companies House... https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/10797976

Should have got a Zoe if she wanted 22 kW charging. I have notice my front tyres are a good half worn with only 9k miles on them and I usually change at 3mm tread depth so I reckon this will only last another 3k or so miles. Heavy footed these EVs.

At least Norway has got it right.............. Recommend looking at the Youtube videos of Bjorn Nyland in just about all the EVs there are. His real world testing in low temperatures are proper tough.

I do not mind paying road tax at the base level, on my Zoe ZE50, if we get decent roads. The UK charge network is still a disgrace, except for the GridServe stations of which there is only a few, looking forward to the one in Plymouth. Happy not to see government bungs on buying electric cars any more but please consider dropping VAT to 5% from 20% so we at least make some proper attempt to keep moving toward net zero for cars. EV cars are making incremental progress but I rejected the Megane-e, not a bad car, as Bjorn Nyland called it, a fat Zoe, would like to try and Ariya 87 kw but the price is currently way too much. There is just about no hope for much of the human race but having kids I do hope we fall in to oblivion as slowly as possible or we find another way to reverse climate change.

Just sold an early mark 3 Fabia that was nothing to insure as it was sub 100 gm/km but then it cost me £750 for a cam belt, water pump and thermostat change and with diesel at £1.90 a litre it did not feel cheap to run,

So if I keep my 2014 Clio 0.9 TCE, 109 gm/km, on the road in 3 years time will I still be paying about £20 a year ie £140 less than my 2021 Zoe at zero emission !!!!

I know a friend who has broken two of the common but clearly not very strong Rolec. The cable locking pins had not been serviced in many a year, so power was switched off at release fired from the car end but now cable released. Tug of War ensued, charge post lost twice, had its facias pulled off. I expect there is still much to do to improve robustness of their designs.

Is there any other car than the Zoe that can charge at 22 kilowatts AC ?