lol-lol

Great to see innovation so alive and well in the automotive industry and leading the European model sales last year and first half of this year ie Dacia Sandero, closely followed by the Clio, with a Peugeot in third, the Dacia brand sounds like it is on to another winner, or winners as is for the Duster and Bigster, maybe the predicted death of ICE cars is premature ? Shame UK LPG sourcing is so poor as this is how mainland Europeans are achieving low running costs UK drivers miss out on. https://media.dacia.com/a-new-powertrain-range-for-duster-and-bigster-with-hybrid-lpg-4x4-and-automatic-transmission/ A new powertrain range for Duster and Bigster: with hybrid, LPG, 4x4 & automatic transmissionAnnouncing the all-new hybrid-G 150 4x4 powertrain:Hybrid, up to 60% full electric driving in the city;Bi-fuel petrol / LPG with two tanks of 50 litres each for a WLTP range of up to 1,500 km and 30% lower running costs;All-wheel drive delivered by a rear-mounted electric motor coupled to an innovative 2-speed gearbox with a disengageable clutch;Responsive 6-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox;The hybrid-G 150 4x4 powertrain will be soon available

It is young people choosing not to get a driving licence in think that will be the telling factor. The youngsters in my family are not getting manual gearbox licences ie only can drive autos. Covid had a big hit particular on number of licences in the under 25 age group. Just going to be no reason to have a driving licence next decade. What that will do for car production and I presume insurance will be part of the hire charge.

In some UK places, poor areas with old terraced houses, there is not the need for cars as use of The Tube or other public transport systems. Current generations are the last to own specific transport as it will make no economic sense to do so once, in a few years time, cars will be called to ones home via am App and take you where you want to go and then go back to a car pool and you call on the App again when you wish to return home. No of cars in the UK could drop from whatever it is now, 30M or so, to a fifth of that ad that would be all that is needed.

A car should be designed ad either EV or ICE and to use the same chassis you end up with abominations like the original EQC. The different components require different allocation of space. 3 years ago I chose the Renault Arkana over other cars. Quite spacious, capable of 60 mpg on average and cheap to buy ie a bit over £26k. Now EVs, in most mainstream marques are similar RRPs to the ICE equivalent in the manufactures range, ie Austral and Rafeala, but far cheaper to run and as companies have to aomim to hit the 28% of sales EV mandate they offer low of zero percentage finance like i am looking at with the Megane e. Currently pulling 14 kWs during this free electricity period and expect to add 60 miles of range to the Scenic and 30 miles to the Zoe plus the charging of the home batteries so expecting a credit of a fiver or so. Suppose I am powering those devices ie fridge and TV, only wish I could watch the cricket ODI, BSB, F1, MOTOGP and WSB at the same time.

What you say in the first paragraph is why I went for the Scenic, loads of space but also very reasonable price and that's why it won European Car of the Year last year. Now I gave been surprised with both the Renault 5 and R4, R5 winning Europen Car of the Year this year because video find them compromised in space in the back which to me excludes them from being COTY cars. Mercedes are premium brand cars and I would not even put them on my potential buy list for a host of reasons, value being high up the list. Audi and BMW the same but I do understand why Germans buy them particularly. I was in Berlin last year, taxi back to the airport and the driver, Turkish of course, laughed at electric cars as they were unsuitable for the autobahn unless in a high spec which usually means 2 speed gearbox instead of single speed like most EVs. I get it. EV tend to need to be designed from ground up and not ICE chassis conversions, that does not work. Original Merc ECQ was a mess, chassis had a pipe tunnel, weighed far too much, not a good car IMO. I am more interested in mainstream cars and even hybrid ones and not just EVs. Be interesting to see how the new petrol electric Qasqui does as it is getting rave reviews. Sunderland made up to a quarter million a year in the past and that was great for uk jobs. If the new LEAF is a success too that will be great for UK and hopefully they are roomy cars and not cramped for taller than average people like the R5 and R4 are. We are approaching the time when few us will have cars let alone EVs. If you want a car for a short or long journey then one will hail it via an App, it will turn up driverless and take you to your destination and you will probably sit in the back. I will be trying again the Megane e as a second car, tried one a couple of years ago, pretty nippy with its 220 hp but now it it's revised form it is now one peddle driving capable, bit more range and can be had for £29k on zero interest finance for 4 years. Roomy in the front, not do good in the back but better than R4 and R5. I like the SEAT Born and will benchmark the Megane against the Born which was looking expensive but everybody has sharpener their pencils but Audi, BMW and Mercedes look increasingly out of touch so unless one is prepared to pay 1,2 or more hundreds a month for what is oft an inferior product than mainstream brands, other European, Korean, Tesla or even Chinese brand. Be interesting to see which hybrids can compete with BEVs and these ones with 80 miles and more electric range are enticing buyers it can be seen.

I was jealous of people who had a Costco card, or had an Asda with slightly cheaper fuel but we are not just talking a pence off few a litre. A Fuel card was a mega benefit for the holder as it effectively made fuel either 20% of full price or 40% of fuel price. Only with the 20% rate of full for diesel or petrol does ne get near the 2p a mile running cost when filling up on cheap overnight electricity. Later today with the Octopus 2 hours of Free Electricity that will be 14 kwh of electricity on my main EV charger, we get 4.5 miles per kWh on each of the Mini Cooper E, Scenic 63 kwh and Zoe 52 kWh. With the 3.6 kwh Pod Point this will be increasing free tine usage by half again. Could use a 3 KW Granny cable for the 3rd EV but will probably just whack on the immersion for some free heating of the hot water as well as put a couple of kWh into the home batteries. Home will be running on chap or free electricity all day, fridge freezer, big TV etc, and only starting using Grid lecky again at 0030 hours tomorrow when lecky price drops below 9p an hour. All linked to getting and EV and a corresponding tariff.

Going to be two hours of free lecky tomorrow, Sunday, might be just for those on Octopus who have been partaking in the Free Sessions. Think Octopus think that if they get users to use in early afternoon when lecky virtual free to them, less than a penny per kwh, we will use less day time, 27p per kwh, or even Night time, 8p per kwh and save them money too. My average for last month was 12p per kwh for that which I did use from the Grid. For the solar I generated myself just the capital cost of panels etc.

3 Best not have a VW Group car. The SOS system has been around 6 or 7 years and VAG are the ones who have been proven to hold this data rather than discharge it under privacy laws. Don't matter if BEv, Hybrid or Wiesel or other Dino juices all all cars with SOS xan be tracked but VAG, not governments are ones using the data.

I heard VW Group software was holding information on car location but not Renault. Of course EVs, even my 4 year old Zoe, have their own phone contract, usually with EE from what I have seen, and that is possible to trace of course if gathering it was deemed required by UK government. I thought all new cars of all types have to have SOS phone set up just in case you roll it down a bank and cannot get out. They do go wrong and then a fault code comes up to fix but I know people who don't have it fixed, quite expensive I gather, so people just leave it off line. Expect there will be a way to take the SOS system off line if one does not want to be traced at all times. Emissions during the running part of the EVs life time is zero, a few tonnes when being made, very low for French cars as the production plant in France run mainly on French nuclear base load power. Some CO2 to scrap the car in two or three decades time I suppose bit that will reduce as by then even cutting them up should be zero carbon methods.

I use both my EV chargers during free electricity times ie the Indra one which came free with the Scenic and a Pod Point that was subsidized when the subsidized Zoe arrived nearly 4 years ago. I have had £16 of credit added to my account this summer. Don't understand how you say you get free with diesel or petrol. Use to get Tesco points, even when using Company fuel card, and would get my 1% kick back on the bit of private fuel I put in to certain cars on my Am EX card and I use to spend as much as £5K a year on fuel, doubt I spend £1k a year on electricity for the 3 EVs and that includes the occasional public charge of 10 kwhs or so. Vast difference and saving.

Problem with that is masses would start taking the journey short cuts. When I go to London sometimes instead of going M5, M42 and M40 I cut thru the Cotswolds, saves many miles. Now those folks of the Cotswold would not be so happy with lots of people not using the motorways but cutting through their green and pleasant areas. There are a whole load of cut through one can use ie Aylesbury and A41 rather than M40 and M25. Use A49 going from South Wales to North Wales rather than M4, M5, M6,M54 etc. Some unscrupulous people even claim for the longer route but do the shorter route, tut tut. That's why I think pay per mile is doomed, doomed

More free lecky tomorrow, 6th Sept, usual slot 2 pm to 3 pm so have to set up the EVs to auto charge themselves. Is there a way you can do this with diesel or petrol cars ? Another good step forward with the latest SMTT figures with diesel and petrol cars declining and full electric and hybrid electric both up significantly despite the slow emergence of which EVs are getting which of the two levels of EV grants, or not getting it but the Asian companies are slashing prices to match a similar reduction anyways. Bang. Bang go the nails in the ICE coffin. Just worried where UK government are going to plug the cap with the diminishing of the excise duty on fuel ? At least those newly bought hybrids will be paying some excise duty for many a year to come. Br interesting to see what happens to the 5p a litre excise reduction that came in with covid and whether fuel duty also goes up in line with inflation.

Range of my own "wee" tank is even less than the Mini Cooper E we have. Public charging needs sorting out as it is spending fractured and expensive. We need Ionity, Mer and of course Tesla Public V4 charging just to take over from the shower of the rest of them, undecided if Gridserve should be a survivor or a Zombie fit for the cull, sk we only have about 5 suppliers and get more of these non motorway places with coffee, loos etc at the sites, it's the model that works.

Doo love these Carwow videos. An earlier one from a couple of years ago helped confirm my choice for the Zoe as a decent ranged car. Like Matt's intro ie drive them with no care for range until the warn of low battery then ECO drive. In reality semi to full intelligent drivers back off at battery three quarters to half full if range is a bit short. Drop down to a true 65 mph, probably still indicating about 67 mph and one will get more range than driving at 70 mph but lose little time. If one wants to drive long distance frequently then a Polestar or Tesla seems the logical choice or there are some stonking Chinese saloons here now and more on the way. Driving SUVs, electric or non electric, is not ideal if more than half of ones driving is Motorway or fast A road. Always interesting and the improvement year on year is staggering whilst the range of ICE cars has been going down year on year mostly due to smaller fuel tanks. The days of my 1,000 mile A4 with its incredible 1.9PD engine are long gone. Well done Nissan with its e-power but need to look in to that as it sounds too good to be true. John O'Groats to Lands end with 100M still in the tank, wow.

Indeed after having Skodas for quarter of a century, from Falicia through to Octavia and Fabia VRSs, even a crappy Superb mk1, a couple of very nice L&K Octavias i saw Renault as the new Value brand where Skoda had vacated this area about a decade ago. I have a very rare 60/65 kwh Scenic ad now discontinued, fine for the 250 mile journeys I have been doing. Both the Renault 4 and 5 may be fine for Snow White and 4 of the Dwarves but looking at a Megane-e as a second car or even equal to the Scenic as it will be slightly longer range, quick with its 220 hp and less drag and weight. R4 and R5 just did not make economic sense compared to the Megane-e Techno edition. Be interesting to see which Sunderland Nissans get the full £3750 grant.

After I eliminated the R5 as nice but no cigar, way to small in the back seats I have just come back from looking at the R4. Sam issue in the back seats, slightly better but not good getting in an out for those of us over 6 ft. So if to stay with the Renault stable it is looking like a Megane-e. Test drove one over a year ago and thought OK but nothing special even though 220 hp ie more than my Scenic. Need to try the back seat access and comfort, hopefully better than R4 and R5, will not be as good as the Scenic of course but will check if acceptable. MY2026 Megane-e's have one pedal driving now and range is up to 285 miles now for the 63 Kwh battery pack like I have in the Scenic but only 267 miles of range under WLTP. Pair that with 4 year 0% finance and the £1500 EV grant and the R4 and R5 just look silly options IMO.

My panels to batteries feeds my seperate circuit and not connected to the Grid for export to. It has been getting challenging as to where to put all the kwhs generated in PM period for use in the evenings. Notice some degradation. In one of my batteries, ie a L ion one, other one of my bigger batteries, LFP, seems to be standing up better. Mega bargains for solar generators seem to occur not until Black Friday - Cyber Monday. Will be looking out for one with a 3 to 4 kW output and around 4 kWh storage or bigger but one with trolley wheels and will take with me when I move house.

Here in leafy Worcester Warndon Villages sweet suburbia I would say it seems about half the houses solar panels on the roofs, some even on NW,N or NE facing, how does that work out ? Some good (ie bad) solar sale persons there. Impossible to tell how many have home batteries coupled with their solar. We need a good long power cut to see who is lit up like Crystal Palace and who is on candles. (even more dangerous than batteries I would be reckoning?) EVs between 1 and 3 per household, the odd ICE dinosaur juice car still around sadly, waking the neighbours when starting off. Not like my Jean Michelle Jarre singing car. Love Skoda advert..... Same geniuses who did the fantastic VW adverts of the last decades past it seems.....

It is home generation that is surging as this recent report states. More than 1.5 million households in the UK have solar panels, according to the latest government data. That means 5.5% of the UK’s 28.6 million households have gone solar. As recently as December 2020, fewer than a million UK homes had solar panels – which shows how far we've come in relatively little time...... More than 1.5 million households in the UK have solar panels, according to the latest government data. That means 5.5% of the UK’s 28.6 million households have gone solar. As recently as December 2020, fewer than a million UK homes had solar panels – which shows how far we've come in relatively little time..... South West England has the highest percentage of homes with solar panels, as you can see in the map below. 8.5% of households in the South West have gone solar, which puts the region well ahead of its closest competitors. Wales is second with 7.2%, just ahead of the East of England on 6.7%. Wales is also the most enthusiastic about solar of the four UK nations, ahead of England on 5.2%, Scotland on 5%, and Northern Ireland on 3.8%. How many homes have solar panels...How many homes have solar panels in the UK? [2025]Here's how many homes have solar panels in the UK, which areas have the most, and how the UK compares with Europe.

We know how the electricity supply to residential works via Octopus's Agile tariff which tracks the market and sometimes goes very low, zero and even negative. We know that almost £1B of electricity gas been lost by switching off generating sources. It's cheaper to give away this power than actually get the generators to stand down and then power backup again when the next peak occurs. Octopus customers, and other electricity suppliers, can pass on power and not charge customers and everyone benefits. Greg Jackson has been asked to work with UK government to improve the UK' electricity supply even more than the revolution he fas already implemented.

Looks like the long battery warranty and after market issues must be meet not just clean production Renault etc will need to up their warranty to what it was, if worth adding that and it is less of a cost than getting the extra 2250 EV grant.

Completely wrong. Free Electricity sessions occur when a combination of good wind in the North Sea and UK solar means it price drops to zero or below so Octopus can give electricity away without financial cost to themselves..

Hour of Free Charging today between 2 and 3. I was at the Cricket watching worcestercestershire stuffing Zummerset. Watched by free charging going in to the EV at the cricket. And tomorrow wr are going to do it all again with another hour of Free Charging. Is the something similar with ICE cars ?? Car filling itself with diesel or petrol when one is miles away from the vehicle ? One day maybe one we have robot drivers doing the filling but not Free Fuel I suppose. Have to give robot one's credit card but no different to out it on smartphones !

Well done. Hopefully cheap night time charging will stay for many quarters and years to come. We do need some wallies to buy ICE cars, the hybrid con cars too so they keep paying the excise duty and VAT on diesel and petrol to keep up as far as possible that £25B a year taxation contribution. Hopefully with more and more solar and wind coming onboard for the UK, plus the nuclear, wr will enjoy cheap electricity so we can fill up our vehicles for about a fiver rather than £75. Relaxing driving, traffic light bursting off the lines and the cheaper running costs all great.

Not that I know of as it is mainly FTSE 100 and Gilts ie UK government debt. One can find the recent half yearly hear.... https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/financial-reports-18134# Other numbers quote 52,000 workers to go. Tough for all the European car companies of course against the Chinese impetus with EVs and EU Anti Dumping Duty providing some protection and one wonders if that is needed for hybrids as well at some point so ie similar levels of customs and ADD to protect that European sector too. Volkswagen Says 20,000 Workers A...Volkswagen Says 20,000 Workers Agree to Early Departures (2)Volkswagen AG said about 20,000 employees will voluntarily leave the company by the end of the decade as the carmaker restructures its German operations to cope with uneven demand for its vehicles.