lol-lol

I am developing a theory that car manufacturers are lowering the point at which cars shows 100% charged. Now they are being forced to give 8 year battery warranties where the battery must still have 70% capacity. Manufacturers will assume the worse I think where an EV is charged up to 100% every night for several years. So those of use who only charge to 80% usually, 100% occasionally are probably being too soft on the car. Will go for 100% on R5 during the week for a little trip to South Wales, changing to 95% i got back with only 3% abd tgat was with choosing the A road route back rather than Motorway. Doing the 100% i will see if it adds more than 5% of related mileage and diesel a cell balancing which i understand they do. My R5 has 93 of the 3.7v L ion cell blocks, 52 kwh R5 has 186 cells but in two rows of smaller cell packs. My Urban 40 kw R5 can get 81 kw charging so not too bad a delay if I gave to splash and dash or zap and bolt i suppose. Not regretting going for tge 40 over the 52 kwh yet by the cold weather is invoking some thought.

Thank God the cold spell seems to over for a few days. I have my Renault 5 Evolution model, 40 kwh battery nominal, 43 kwh actual, repkacing the good old Zoe which was 52 / 55 kwhs battery size. Here in middle England where we do not get much sea temperature moderation we had -5c at night and not really above zero by day. R5 and Mini showing 120 mile range when charged to 80 to 80% OMG. Just charged the 60 / 65 kwh Scenic abd that is showing 165 miles at dawn. Trip to stag do in Bournemouth is going to be a challenge as is about 130 miles cross country or 160 miles using faster motorway and charging stops not great in Dorset and Wiltshire. Challenging.

The Chinese cars are so well appointed and safe in the main brands. A few things I worry about like their real range ie less range buffer. But also as the EU investigation into state subsidies and the consequential countervailing duties mean that it is that China is involved in under mining the EU and possible UK EV production to eliminate that competition. Fortunately we have Korea doing its bit and maybe we will see Vietnam and other SE Asian countries to challenge Chinese dominance. Their historic 1 child policy can come back to bight them and India might also become more of a chalenge too.

COP 30 had just finished with a very weak declaration as the Saudis and other oil producers would not even allow the word fossil for describing hydro carbons. It gas been. Increasingly obvious to nany of us that the transition to EVs and Geat Pumps has to simply be an economic choice rather than banning etc. Fortunately EVs are becoming cheaper and cheaper and more bass production of Heat Pump devices will bring prices to change down further. Heat pumps running from off peak electricity via LFP or Sodium batteries sound a good blend of tech. Interesting angle is EU protectionism by levying Countervailing duties on Chinese EVs to help protect their own EV industry that is struggling to compete.

Just following the ship fire in Los Angeles as it is a hybrid vessel of mainly container holds but holds 1 and are for cars apparently. Locals told to keep windows closed. Hopefully all firefighters ok.

Local Renault dealership sending me a V2L adapter FOC ! Had a bit of a moan about something on the PDI of my Evolution Urban range Renault 5 and they are sending me the V2L adapter FOC. It will run at up to 3.7 kw, 16A of course but has the uk 3 pin plug output so really 13A sort of 3 kw. Would be really good for blackouts or charging one of the other EVs if it was not around to charge at the cheap time but the R5 was !

I am pleased with my recent EV acquisitions and the improvement in EV technology ie narrower battery packs. My first EV was the Zoe and whilst not a SUV it was tall and energy consumption was highish at high speeds. Generally well fitted out but the lack of seat height adjustment a pain as i like to adjust the seat up and down, back and forth to change the seating position for comfort. The Scenic Renault describe as a Famiy car rather than an EV, not as tall as most SUVs, do have trouble seeing it in car parks sometimes but again not great energy consumption at higher speeds. The Mini Cooper E is low and handling great and energy consumption pretty good at higher speeds but small battery. Renault 5 picked up last week,again not very tall, not a SUV but a City car specially in the Urban 40 kwh version i have. Very good handling with its multi link suspension at the back. Lots of seat adjustment but like the Mini very little room in the back seats. So I have managed to avoid the ubiquitous SUV though all but the Mini are not great at National Speed Limit for energy consumption. If one wants a EV motorway car then probably between the Model 3 or Polestars and more Chnese cars coming thru that contend. Blade battery packs and just thinner ones dropping from around 150 mm to more like 100 mm are allowing EVs to not be SUVs by default thankfully.

A somewhat weird one. The Mokka GSE. 275 hp, 0-60 in 5.9 seconds, sub £37.5k so one gets the EV grant, quite well worked suspension. As someone from the Opel Manta GTE appreciation club had to have a look but its an SUV shaped and just who is the target audience ???

The testing is to match similar journeys with an average human driving to the autonomous drivibg system. In my tests the computer already outscored the human. The Tesla optical system worries me and I prefer the systems that use radar I think. Many already rely on it for adaptive cruise control though I don't personally believe in it 100% but there will come a point i suspect. Auto parking and more and more features demonstrate how well onboard driving systems can work. Emergency braking for a large leaf blowing across the road has given me some doubt but as Emile Coue said, I thought it was Yogi bear, "Every day in every way I am getting better and better"

Just had near tearful goodbye to the Zoe after 4 years of cheap motoring and noe gave the Renault 5 and the Scenic, 5 even cheaper to buy and run anfmd got an EV grant like the Zoe did. If there is only 2 5 years of the really cheap motoring then that is fair enough. Will always appraise the situation abd make choices accordingly. ICE xars could do over 100 mpg if designed optimally and I do not completely rule out getting something with a little ICE. More Lilley have no car at all and just dial up a driverless one I see as the future.

This guy has one of the most monotonous voices of any presenter on the internet / Youtube but his video below is the best I have seen on the impact of pay per mile for pure EVs an which ever hybrids, presumable PHEVs, that the tax changes bring about. Bit of a spoiler alert but he shows that a 3p per mile tax is taken in their stride for EV owners. It would be nice is the flip side on the coin of us EV drivers paying PAy Per Mile if we got a cut in VAT on Public Charging which would help adoption by those with driveways at home to charge on. The big point also made is that the 5p per litre reduction brought in for Covid is due to end in April 2026 ie only 4 and a half months away. Pay per Mile is not due until 2028. Very comprehensive mathematical modelling, with some admitted flaws but generally looks a fair model.......... EVs will continue to be have far lower running cost even in a post Pay per Mile scenario, certainly at 3p per mile but logically this could go to 4, 5 and even 6p per mile in the next decade.

Well got my R5 Evolution model Very good at low and medium speeds, near NSL and above, not really impressed but it should help me keep my licence. Gloucester police are pretty hot. Eco button works well as a licence keeper. Better than the Zoe, which sadly left for pastures new after 4 years, where Eco turned it in to a slug. The Mini Cooper Eco still has the car accelerating PDQ and topping out at indicated 100 mph. Think the graph below is about 8 mph per 1000 revs so echoes great up to 40 mph and then slow diminish until the motor hit 12,000 rpm at about 94 mph speedo probably indicate 97 or so with the usual overreading error. Best not to do in Gloucestershire where they will nick you for 80 mph on the A417 or M5, me and Princess Anne.

Indeed I think there is a place in the software to but the account details but I don't think there is or was such a feature in the Scenic or so. Like the new name George, my R5 i am picking up in a few minutes is called an Evolution model. Insurance has gone down from the Zoe to the R5, just a few quid but all helps. How long would car makers require to make the adaption ? There is relatively few volume car makers in the uk, Nissan, Toyota, a few in the luxury sector. Think it would be a manana response.

Like Ionity. 6 good ones at Magor and a Subway 100m a way. Plinths for 6 more there. Waiting for 4 to go live near Gloucester, wish it was 6 or 12. Gridserve reliable. Rugby is awesome site. Frankley services also good, Gridserve and Tesla V4s.

Hopefully VAT on public chargers going from 20% to 5% or Zero rate fly will be a significant help. Cheaper sourced electricity for the public charge operators, some already give cheaper off peak charging costs ie when electricity is effectively about 7p per kwh instead of costing them 28p per jwh. Lots deals for much lower rates. Think my R5 has talk to charger capability so less faff with RFID cards. Tesla had forever of course Slower than the progress it should be but that just seems to be the poor rules concerning public charging. Portugal was well good and cheaper.

Hybrids, particularly PHEVs, about to be super whacked as their road tax becomes real. EV road tax will get water down. Wonder if I get some really big high profile tyres I can get the odometer to move slower ?

Lots of new reviews for cheaper EVs. Grand Panda and updated e C3, both Stellantis but decent efforts to appeal to families wanting runabouts.

The voltage drop is to move closer to the 220v European nominal voltage. Gradual indexing it down, ia m guessing to see which electrical devices start failing with this lower voltage. Thought my fridge freezer was dying but electually worked out it was something in the moulded plug, not the fuse of course. Thinking of sawing it up to see why it failed. Interesting times as am I going to get less than the 7.2 kws from my main EV charger and less than 3 6 kw out of my smaller EV charger. A 9% lowering of average voltage it gets could mean longer charge times needed. Sure I will find a technical solution but another somewhat unexpected challenge. Engineer and ingenuity have the same Latin root.

France, Germany, Scandalised countries gave high percentage of 3 phase at residential properties.

Aye I know what 3 phase is as it is what we had at sea. It means motors can be smaller and more powerful for their size. As i understand it 3 phase is common in many countries and they don't have significantly more electrocution. Ring main on a single phase but heavy duty items would be 3 phase to benefit from the inherent efficiencies of over single. Car charging is a biggy of course allowing commonly available 11, 16 or 22 kw chargers to be then used. On a related note is everyone aware our magnificent is starting to slide our voltage down from a nominal 240cmv towards 220 v I hope they tweak meter readings as I gather it is current that is mainly read and we could getting charged more for less power ie. Watts = Amp x Volts.

The level of ignorances about is simply incredible considering it is such an important choice, mainly the positive aspects of EVs but a couple of negatives too. The near instant warning up, being able to thrash from cold without fear one is damaging the engine. The running costs which are a fifth or less if one can charge at home, something we hope will be massively narrowed in the budget in a couple of weeks. The rarely spoken point that if you arrive home low on charge you ain't going onward for about 3 hours to get a decent chunk more charge, just wish 3 phase was in most houses and that problem would be vastly reduced. One sort of needs a second EV to have on hand. Big like cage early days if Formula e when one had a second car for the secongmd half of the race. Overall an absolute positive transition. Having a car nearly as simple as a dogem car to drive, one pedal driving. So relaxing compared to ICE.

Typical sadly. When I had an A4 and then an A3 I did like going to the Audi dealership. Meet and Greet Audi staff would look you up and down seemingly to check if you were the right calibre to deal with. Mechanics for Audi, SEAT, SKODA and VW all trained in the same place up at Tamworth butcAudi garages seem to be charging about half as much again hourly rate than Skoda. Can understand that if they were working on a R8 or R10 but on doggo cars what gives. Feel same way about BMW and Merc but have usually found Mini staff good oddly. People I have known who have the several million quid actually mainly I have found don't make a huge effort in dress code going in to the dealers. Premium German brand snobbery I cannot stand but they are getting their just desserts now for their complacency.

My company continues to push the boundaries of what EVs are thought they can do, in comparison to diesel, and our roll our continues at a pace., we did the test with Windrose Tech for our cargo, driver etc and are due to get bunch of their trucks (Algeciras is down by Gibraltar and where we pick up containers etc from North Africa to come up thru Europe). 1400 hp ! Capable of actually hauling two trailers and up to 64 tonnes ! Chinese truck maker Windrose Technology has successfully completed a long-haul test in Spain, covering 1,383 kilometres between Algeciras and Madrid with its fully electric R700 heavy-duty truck........... Windrose’s first EU-homologated trucks are expected to arrive in December 2025, with European deliveries and UK operations starting in the first quarter of 2026. The Chinese manufacturer has incorporated a Belgian subsidiary and is currently building factories in Belgium and France to support regional production and service. The Spanish trial saw the vehicle complete the round trip in 19 hours using only two rapid charges. Fully loaded at 31 tonnes, it achieved an average energy consumption of 1.26 kWh/km and a range of around 670 kilometres per charge, according to data.... Windrose Technology chief executive Wen Han told Freight Carbon Zero that the Windrose R700 is the company’s sole heavy-duty model, which is already deployed in 20 countries across five continents. The vehicle is equipped with a 700+ kWh battery pack and delivers 1,400 horsepower peak output. It supports both LFP and NMC battery chemistries, though Windrose recommends LFP “for its double lifespan, lower cost and higher safety”...... truck charged twice en route using 300 kW+ chargers supplied by Zunder (in partnership with Kia) and Ionity, located near El Pueblo and Pinto in central Spain. The R700 supports dual-gun charging up to 870 kW, enabling a 20–80% charge in roughly 35 minutes. According to Han, each charging during the test took under an hour, and according to the company’s data, the truck completed the route faster than a comparable diesel vehicle.

No did not mean to infer that EVs number are any more reliable or unreliable than pure ICE, or hybrid etc, just that Autotrader is numbers are not a bible to cars availability or stock levels. Car dealers are not exactly known for their candour car sales, like other sales areas are known for dirty tricks. That said my local Renault dealer seems one of the best I have found and if the product is also good and good value one cannot ask for much more.

Autotrader is not a reliable source of data on cars available and people in the automotive trader know that. The same car gets quoted as being at a dealer so they hope they get the sale and acquire it from the dealer that actual has it. The number of enquiries and then orders that end up that the car was not theirs but one they hoped they could get hold of. I think probably the reverse also happens. Over stock might gets described as las one or few left when there are lots of them. Both cases are common occurrences. VIN records are probably the only reliable source of quantification and that would be DVLA database with access for the police and officers like myself when a customs officer and we had access to the places below as well. Massive sites like Bristol docks with up to 90k cars ready to be called off, Southampton is another big site with up to 60k cars, not actually in the UK system but on UK land ready to be called off. When I was one of the Officers for Bristol docks there was up to 35k cars I recall, it is nearly 3 times that size now. Not in UK free circulation but physically in the UK. Some cars, I seem to remember, could have been stored for up to 2 years on some huge UK inland sites such as old airfields. Americans, oddly, are much more aware of the Model year they are getting which UK Brits seem not to be so switched on to. Bristol LiveAerial images show thousands of electric cars arriving in...In a significant development last week, the Port of Bristol welcomed its largest ever single shipment of cars, predominantly consisting of Chinese-manufactured MG EVs.