lol-lol

I am not the biggest fan of Dave Takes it on but some salient points here for people to plan for the future. The decline in fossil fuels, at least for motive power rather than plastic etc, could be more like a very steep slope rather than a gradual one. 2025 appears to be peak oil, gas, coal production and looking like quickly downwards from here. China leading the way of course and expect to see even more shadowy ways Russian oil makes its way to European markets.

Also glad to say my allIgator defence system is working as I have not seen any alligators around here at all !

There is no shortage of torque on electric motors abd it is more at the top end that is the reason to have 2 or 3 gears to avoid overspeeding. In most EVs one gear is fine. Massive torque from 5 mph up to a typical 100 mph when the single geared vehicle is quite suited to the massive torque at 5 mph and then the torque will typical be backed off in the upper half of the rev range. Only really for German Autobahns where one might want to drive at 125 mph, 155 mph on needs a second gear to stop that electric motor going past 12,000 ram and bring in a second gear to drop the motor revs by half or so to allow the electric motor to drop the revs back to 6k revs or so and go again up to 150 mph and beyond. My company uses lots of electric trucks, mainly BYDs I think. My old company provided some of the tech for Mercedes EV buses and trucks, still have the patents I think. Of course EV motors have none of the reciprocating losses of ICE cars, ****el engines aside, so spinning at high revs is not exponentially rising the losses. All the low down torque on would ever want and much easier to get the power to individual wheel than ice cars with all the differentials and transfer boxes. Easier to control power / torque allocation i expect too.

Never smelt any gases from any of the numerous lithium or lithium iron phosphate batteries I have. Never had any problem with any of the BMSs which all seem to work well without any overheating. I have little lithium batteries of 5 wh righ up to ones of 2 kwh. All have worked faultlessly over the upto to 5 years I have had them include the ultra large car ones. Charging lead acid batteries I have detected the smell of the gases produced when charging and they are most unpleasant. It is shame most EVs still have lead acid 12v batteries. I gather Tesla have gone to lithium batteries for their 12v system and even plan to go to 48v architecture for their ancillary services. I concerted my Yamaha R3 bike to a lithium battery from the lead acid and i expect this is what most race and high performance vehicles do. 12v lead acid batteries is one of the weakest links in EVs as it is with ICE cars. Hopefully we will be able to banish lead acid batteries as we also do with ICE engines (maybe a small single cylinder range extended engine there is a bit of a case for) si it is lithium, LFP, Sodium batteries for both traction and ancillaries systems and get rid of this 19th century tech of internal combustion and lead batteries in favour of 21 st century tech which is safer, reliable and cleaner.

Still happy with my Evolution / Urban R5 choice over the Inster and C3e. Inster does well but FUGLY in my opinion, C3e thirsty...

Same with Temerife. Relatively little EV as petrol is very cheap. Not so the case in Greece but their electricity, single rate tariff has been around 23 Euro cents in the first half of the year but has gone up by half since August.... They can get good Night tariffs for as little as 10 cents per kwh similar to what we get in the UK and one can imagine. Athens is 38 degrees north latitude so not far outside the golden 35N to 35S great solar latitudes so individuals, businesses and governments can invest in solar and get a good return if prices of natural gas look expensive which they relatively are doing compared to solar. Not a great deal if wind generation possible there but solar would be good. Greek City TimesElectricity Prices in Greece Surge 52% in Just Three Mont...Electricity prices in Greece have surged by 52% in just three months, reaching €112.25 per MWh in October amid calm weather conditions and higher natural gas use. As costs rise, more households are....

Thought ICE was now less than 50% according to SMMT monthly figures. Acceleration to 30 mph tends to be most important ie where lanes go 3 in to 2 or 2 in to one. Cannot count the times some wannabe ICE driver goes to the outer lane and I am in the Scenic or Zoe and they are left for dust as the instant torque means one if 5 or 10 metres up the road before the ICE car has even got to max torque in first gear. With my FWD EVs wheel spin can be the problem from the get go. Scenic is well managed in traction control if not over managed, Zoe less so and will be interesting to see how the Urban R5 handles full blown starts from the lights. My favourite performance data site, French of course but uses data from numerous European publications. Kodiaq 150 hp true 0 to 100 kph over 10 seconds. Scenic EV60 also lost a few tenths and came in at just over 9s to 100 kph...... https://zeperfs.com/en/duel7347-12689.htm

I like Ionity, good chargers near Magor services and a fresh bunch due to open soon at South Gloucester next to Maccie Dees so less like likely to be vandalised, cable stolen by the scum.

£8 credit from Octopus for the 3 hours of free electricity a few days ago and another £3 for the hour of free just before that. Nearly £500 in credit so well good for the winter ahead. See what deals there will be for Black Friday which seems to last most of November now and another solar generator on the agenda i think. Need to get one that can charge the EVs. Renault 5 has vehicle to load but have to get the adapter as not included in the 40 kwh version I am getting. Budget month too !!

But only 4% of charging is done on Public charges abd if you need to then one gets a monthly subscription deal with a Public charger network of choice. Tesla the obvious one if one can stomach buying lecky from Elon but other deals like all you can eat from Octopus for £30 a month so £360 for the year. Massively less than I putting in my ICE cars even hyper efficient 1.4 wiesel car that was pretty dull to drive compared to any of the EVs I drive.

Love the bit where Patrick, great name, McGoohan drives his Lotus 7 (?) underneath the barrier before it even goes up. Then there is the beautiful Portmerion is the final seconds of the clip.

Many of us, of a certain age, know of the Parliamentary car park as there was a car bomb with killed NI Sec as he was driving out .... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Airey_Neave Was not the opening sequence of "The Prisoner" filmed there ? (Below picture)

So applies to 84% of the UK population, you are of course technically correct but new law will apply to the vast majority of the UK people.

Happy with GO and paying the little bit more. Just worried it will end sometime and not be so cheap hence continuing to up rate my solar and batteries.

Or just use GO, gain control of your own charging, no smart charging requirements, slightly less advantageous cost per unit but I like the control and simplicity even though I trust Octopus on most things (notable exception is DD forecasting).

Is your a Skoda / VAG EV ? Rumours swirling that there could be a new Vehicle Excise Duty system based on Gross Vehicle Weight. If you are in a newer VAG group car presumably the software is ok now after much complaints heard of ID 3 to , Battery Life guy did much on the issues. I do like the Goggle based system in Polestars and Renaults though my Evolution Spec R5 does not get the Google Nav so I will just use Android auto. But for barely more than £20k, a chunk of 0% finance i am not grumbling.

You can keep it simple with EVs if you want to, don't have to use the App that talks to the car at all. I don't bother with the Renault one. As I am on the simple Octopus Go rather than the more complex system Octopus Intelligent Octopus Go I just program the car sat out of the drive way. I set the charge time rather than Octopus and only real downside is I pay 8.5 p per kwh rather than 7p per kwh which both are so much cheaper than the 27-28 p per kwh people pay on normal day rates and I still get the Free electricity sessions which I can quickly adjust the car's programmed time slots and milk that too. I dont use the manufacture app and dont find it much of a hardship in fact still get all, or most, of the benefits of owning an EV but non of the App hassles. My reliable Octopus Energy App shows me when it is charging, how much the energy has cost, adds my UK and European EV charging on to my household billing and monitors the home charging ever 10 seconds. It was a nicety when the manufacture App was working ie with the Zoe, it seemed to struggle having 2 EVs on it but maybe when I get the Renault 5 and will try again to get in working all tickety-boo ahh go spiff but if not, no worries as still getting the mega benefits of running EVs just without yet another annoying App on the smart phone which is the curse of the modern age.

HMRC are increasingly using Big Data tools so expect much more out of the blue tax demands as they identify more and more sources of income and tax them accordingly. Still don't see a way it can work for Pay per Mile as even the SOS system, whilst mandatory on new cars, is oft stopping working and reporting mileage is not part of its function and introducing that is not going to be easy and as we have seen this is always driven by what the EU wants to do and not the UK as a much smaller market.

The EU has shown that China is giving substantial subsidies to some of its companies so puts Countervailing duties on Chinese companies ranging from Tesla and BYD being the least to SAIC ie MG, Maxus being the most, Ad Valorem... https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/news/eu-commission-imposes-countervailing-duties-imports-battery-electric-vehicles-bevs-china Chinese exporting producers are subject to the following countervailing duties for a period of five years: BYD Group: 17.0%. Geely Group: 18.8%. SAIC Group: 35.3%. Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.: 7.8% (upon application for individual examination) All other cooperating companies: 20.7%. All other non-cooperating companies: 35.3%. UK does not levy this, yet, China appears to be focusing even more on hybrids now as they do not get the BEV CV levy. One needs to add another 10% duty to the above figures as there is 10% normal car duty.

Renault one is / was so bad. Had the Zoe running OK then added the Scenic and lost both. When I get the Renault 5 just going to go along Renault dealership and ask them to setup. Son does not seem to have problems with his Mini and its App but then it is probably Chinese written. Does not help when the car's own software is pants.....

I am finding the nuisances of retiring. The tax minefield I am trying to avoid is pension recycling. I have told my employer I am going and am in the process of crystalizing pension pots. Trouble is I am still banging a grand or three a month in to pension savings as I work thru my notice period which will add up to about 3 months. Pensions and retirement is a complex as any tax scheme I have worked on with HMCE, HMRC or pwc !!

A knuckle dragging diesel drongo drove in to the car park not realising his car was in a dangerous state and had caught fire. Should have got him to pay for the damage perhaps. Parked in Luton airport last week and surprise surprise not a mention of any worry parking my mobile potentially fire hazard EV. Clearly Luton Airport cared somewhere between a rats ass and a monkey's cuss that it was an EV.

Started watching the Alpine A290 video with Tiff, frankly I was thinking he has started to enter his 7th age (See As you like it Quote below), did not even watch it thru. We know the Alpine 290 is luke warm rather than hot, even if fine handling, packed with gimmicks which do not translate to real performance. Mini rather than a A290 even the base model Mini E my son has. The old Twingo EV was very limited, the new Twingo on the Ampere S platform should be massively better. Wonder what battery they can pack in to the new Twingo, like my R5 ordered if it is even smaller, and like the Cooper E we have, range down to 100 miles on a cold day and blasting down the motorway might give shockingly short range. One just have to chill out and cruise at 60-ush to get a reasonable range. Like in the Oil Crisis drive at the Double Nickel "55". Even my R5 has a heat pump, R5 95 hp is due not to get one to save cost and maybe Twingo will not either, extra layer of clothing required maybe. Changed my R5 order to Pop Green as they found one at the Import Centre. £800 less so £320 less for the deposit and less than £92 aa month including 2Y 30k miles servicing, can live with that. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Not getting my State pension until mid 2028 when I turn 67 but the fiscal drag introduced by the Con party is due to be still in place. As we know HMRC work with income providers, ie the pension funds and I see my recently setup Drawdown fund has the generic 1257L allowance showing on the webpage. Suppose when I do start to get state pension there will be a need to allocate my tax code against one of these income streams and I think the drawdown fund might be the best place for the code to sit. Take out the tax free allowance on April 6th each year, have all my private and state pensions apply a 20% tax rate and then if I do take more money out of the drawdown fund get HMRC to apply a 20% rate if I am only drawing out say less than £20k in that year or ask them to set at 40%. Probably wise to take the exact amount to take it to the £50,270 in that year applying the 20% and then if more wanted do that as a second withdrawal and ask them to apply the 40% tax rate but I will look to avoid that of course with such a painful tax hit. Borrow money to tied through the year and withdraw what would be up to the £50.27K on April 6th and go from there. In other news, EV pertinent, Renault dealership called and they can get me a Pop Green R5 Evolution saving me £800 on the car bringing it down to £20.5k with the EV grant. Will need to sort out cup holder, possibly an arm rest and the V2L adapter as one does not get those with the poverty spec Evolution R5. Not bothered about bonnet change indicator display, built in Google maps and beep beep rear parking sensor rather than camera. Performance is not much less at all than the 150 hp version, range is a bit shocking at motorway speeds, In France at their speeds they can empty the battery in about 150 kms ie about 93 miles, oops, but then that is doing about an indicated 85 mph which is dangerous for one's licence in the UK as I found out a few years ago. Thought the battery was LPF but now gather it is also Lithium ion, ah well. Actual battery is 43 kwh, will probably charge to 85% or 90% normally then and olny 100% before longer journeys but then that is not what this car is for but it should still do the 135 miles round trip from Worcester to Chepstow no bother.

More Marxist rhetoric ? Yes there should be a good financial safety net, Social Security is a good name for such and the UK state pension should be adequate for standard of live which includes being fed Ok and being able to kept warm. Government tax policy is, and has been for decades, crafted by politicians and my ex colleagues to raise the revenue needed to provide a decent society. Not helped by acts of vandalism as the last government did in its dying days to lower NI from 12% to 8%. This aided most those being paid £40k and above and did nothing for pensioners. Using taxes, as the Cons did with large EV grants, which was £5k in 2017 in the middle of their reign of terrible policies, no wonder the country is in so much debt. £5k in 2017 is more like £7k in todays money due to the massive inflation that happened during their watch. The £1500 I am getting on the Renault 5 is tiny compared to that grant. I perhaps will be allowed my 2025 Budget thread shortly as we have less than a month until RR's budget. Despite the dire financial state left by the last government I am hoping for some positive changes. The nominal level taxes is started to be paid to £13k I hope to see. The £50k start on higher rate is going to stay but that is not going to worry be as I am planning to be retired in a few days. Even on my cheapy version R5 the VAT is going to outweigh the EV grant I get so a net figure collected on the "sale/ pcp acquisition". Been talking to one of the daughters about her firm doing salary sacrifice for pensions and general a great thing as it has helped me put an additional large sum in my pension pot but also help the UK government sell its Gilts. Of course the negative side is less money visible in ones pay packet which does not help when buying a house !