lol-lol

The money they make trading their EV/carbon licences is in the billions on its own. If I would have even half considered a Tesla a month or so ago I certainly would not after he joined up with Trump. I get so much more stalks with a Scenic than a model 3.

I think what Bloomberg and the bodies that forewarn of the decline in the use of hydrocarbons for motive power could be a very steep decline based on data that most cars being bought in China are now electric. Whilst there will be diesel and petrol vehicles around for another couple of decades and the percentage of such cars registered will look quite high the actual number of miles run by non electric vehicles compared to electric vehicles will tell a different story. The "driver" being that electric vehicles are being run on the road at a fraction of the cost compared to those vehicles running on diesel/petrol. It increasingly becomes an economic imperative to use EVs, particularly for businesses hence the mass adoption of EVs by parcel carriers, the PO as well as individuals who see the initial or PCP cost has been a bit higher but the running costs are a fraction to what they were paying out with ICE vehicles. I would put in the best part of £200 a month, sometimes £300 to £400 a month but with an EV the energy costs are less than £100 a month plus servicing costs are less than half of ICE servicing. I would anticipate, and I think Bloomberg and the energy experts who are extrapolating the effect of the vehicles on the road doing the miles been increasingly EVs rather than ICE that the graph of Coal, Oil and gas will have a similarly quickly drop as they have in the rise over the last 50/60 years. Solar and Wind are so cheap to produce, batteries have become a tenth on the cost they were in the last ten years that the economic argument, quite separate but running alongside, the pollution argument in cities will see ICE vehicles become the minority on our roads within the next 15 years I expect and that will see the Arab producers, Iran, Russia etc seeing a vast fall in their revenue.

In other news........... Fossil fuels, the Beginning of the End according to Bloomberg etc..... Good riddance to the Earth killing muck.

£5.72 credited, happy with that as was easy to do in that 7am to 9am time slot. Hope there are more of them. Think the day was shown as costing me just over £7 so basically just over a pound for my lecky that day which included adding about a hundred miles in range to the two cars and running the fridge freezer that day for about 25p instead of 75p I reckon. If only I could do this with the gas but I would need to move over to a heat pump to do that.

I think the Scenic is every bit as much a computer station as a car. Even likes to be rebooted if one of the 12 inch screens need, or music/sound needs rebooting. I think ICE drivers would be surprised just how much a smartphone is integrated with the car, not just charging but the information about the car history, servicing requirements etc. Digital everything, nothing analogue i can think of anywhere.

If i get free power does that equate to infinity mpg ???

Thought "downloaded" is a more appropriate term as i am not using the vast majority of the power today but will be using later in the week. Bit used in real time to do the washing and drying, about 10%, 90% of the power for later. Free is great, presumably lots of wind rather than lots of solar and not many users so Octopus can give a couple hours for free.

Downloaded 25 kwh. 14 for the Scenic, 7 for the Zoe and r for the house batteries and clothes washing and drying. Happy with that, apparently got to wait for a few days to see the credit but suppose it will be about £6. Not bad for doing something one would do anyways. More please Octopus and keep Octopus Go night time rate at 8 5p per kwh.

At least some of those 90% ICE cars that BMW make are being delivered by electric trucks. Electric Viking says BMW have bought electric trucks but I suspect it is a contract logistics arrangement between my company, CEVA LOGISTICS and BMW. In all we deliver about 4M finished cars and that can by multiple modal methods ie electric trucks as seen. We also increasingly use LNG powered ships to do sea movements of goods too in the effort to decarbonise.

2 hours of 7.4 and 3.7 kws of charging so 22 kwh for the cars and should be able to get 3 kwh in to my batteries,might do some washing and drying. Will be drawing about 60 amps i reckon and those National Grid guys changed my main fuse down from 100 A to 80A but I gather the 80A actually needs about 3 minutes at 160A to blow. I am looking to build a 7 kw charger for home as the portable chargers are now very cheap, not much more than £100. Need to plug in to twin 13a or convert to a 32a commando socket. Son in law is an electrician so will get him to help.

Octopus giving free electricity for two hours, not their usual one, between 7am and 9am tomorrow the 24th of November. Greg Jackson for knighthood !! Not sure if petrol and diesel station are doing anything similar or gas powered homes. Fill your boots, or car traction batteries and home batteries !!!

Looking like another quarter, Q1 2025, of cheap charging for the EVs hopefully if night rates follow these day rates figures ........... Need to look at using my electric immersion heater more rather than using the gas boiler to heat water, especially between 0030 and 0530 when lecky on cheaper tariff. Electricity up in line with inflation and wage/income it looks like.. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/get-energy-price-cap-standing-charges-and-unit-rates-region Standing charges and unit rates by Direct Debit, 1 January to 31 March 2025 - People who pay by Direct Debit for the energy they use. Prices include VAT and are rounded to two decimal places. Electricity standing charges and unit rates paid by Direct Debit, single rate. People who pay the same price for the electricity they use at any time of day, called a ‘single rate’. Region Daily standing charge October to December 2024 Daily standing charge January to March 2025 Unit rate October to December 2024 Unit rate January to March 2025 North West 52.04 pence per day 52.03 pence per day 25.01 pence per kWh 25.36 pence per kWh Northern 72.10 pence per day 72.09 pence per day 23.19 pence per kWh 23.51 pence per kWh Yorkshire 68.32 pence per day 68.30 pence per day 23.51 pence per kWh 23.86 pence per kWh Northern Scotland 61.98 pence per day 61.97 pence per day 24.96 pence per kWh 25.28 pence per kWh Southern 64.28 pence per day 64.27 pence per day 24.62 pence per kWh 24.98 pence per kWh Southern Scotland 64.17 pence per day 64.16 pence per day 23.96 pence per kWh 24.31 pence per kWh North Wales and Mersey 67.89 pence per day 67.88 pence per day 25.39 pence per kWh 25.76 pence per kWh London 41.59 pence per day 41.57 pence per day 25.69 pence per kWh 26.06 pence per kWh South East 57.84 pence per day 57.83 pence per day 25.24 pence per kWh 25.60 pence per kWh Eastern 50.84 pence per day 50.84 pence per day 25.21 pence per kWh 25.57 pence per kWh East Midlands 56.90 pence per day 56.89 pence per day 23.77 pence per kWh 24.12 pence per kWh Midlands 63.62 pence per day 63.60 pence per day 23.83 pence per kWh 24.19 pence per kWh

I love pylons. I think the French do them better. Prettier. Uk government just approved £2.5B interconnector from Scotland to England going under the sea, que Little Mermaid song. Lines can be buried underground. This is done from Minor Dinorwig, through Snowdonia national parks until it joins the National Grid near the coast. As a bonus you get several sheppards hut with free heating where the cable cooling is done every kilometer or so. Probably only kicks in a breakfast and tea when Dinorwig goes from tickover to about 2 GWs.

Five of the seven cars to make it to the European car of the year are pure EV or have an EV version (C3)..... Even the beautiful CUPRA, as well as the Duster, are available as Hybrids though I would have rather see the Duster with the 1.2 turbo than the 1.6 NA engine, this setup works well in the Clio but Duster should have a turbo I reckon. Putting Alpine A290 with the Renault 5 is odd to me as the A290 share much with last years COTY winner ie the Scenic, and the Megane on underpinnings but shape and battery pack size with the R5. European COTY Winner annouced at Brussel motor show in January after more testing etc. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- https://www.caroftheyear.org/ The list of the seven finalists for the 2025 edition has just been published, and the 60 jurors from 23 European countries have had to choose from among 42 models those they consider most likely to win the continental award. The winner of The Car Of The Year award will be announced on January 10, during the Brussels International Motor Show. In September, the first big test of the candidates took place at the Tannistest in Denmark, and now, after the first vote was closed, the seven chosen were (in alphabetical order) Alfa Romeo Junior, Citroën C3, Cupra Terramar, Dacia Duster, Hyundai Inster, Kia EV3 and Renault 5 / Alpine A290 (considered as the same model). From now on, the jurors will have 8 weeks to thoroughly test the candidates and forge a vote that will allow them to choose the best in Europe. Finally, all seven car models will be brought together for a joint test at the Mettet Test facility in Belgium right up to the final vote for the title The Car of the Year 2025. For the final choice, each jury can distribute 25 points, offering a maximum of 10 points to a car, and being obliged to vote at least five vehicles of the seven finalists with a winning model. Last year's continental crown went to the Renault Scenic, which won the final vote over six other contenders - BMW 5 Series, BYD Seal, Kia EV9, Peugeot 3008, Toyota C-HR and Volvo EX30. The Renault was the most voted with 329 points, beating the BMW 5 Series that got 308 points, followed by the Peugeot 3008 with 197 points. Fourth place went to the Kia EV9 (190 points), fifth to the Volvo EX30 (168 points), sixth to the BYD Seal (131 points) and seventh to the Toyota C-HR with 127 points. The seven finalists for the Car of the Year 2025: Alfa Romeo Junior Citroën C3/ë-C3 Cupra Terramar Dacia Duster Hyundai Inster Kia EV3 Renault 5 /Alpine A290

I have been hoping to see even more container, ie 40 footer packs, boxes as we all them in the trade, of both charger banks and battery mega packs just drop in to locations with minimal fuss. With the megabucks they can charge up at times when grid demand is low and supply the chargers at the peak times. Must be great buying electricity at 7p a kwh and selling it for 77p or so per kwh, good business model. With battery energy density improving several percent every year but the cost falling several percent each year, or even month, it is a great cost model.

I think we need to stop calling 50 kw Rapid. Now I am not snobby about this as for 3 years just had the Zoe which maxed out at 46 kws but with a Scenic that can do 135 kws, and that is not regarded as very rapid, I think we should call rapid 100 kws at least. Ultra rapid is also a bit of a misnomer. 1000 kws or so would be ultra rapid for a car. It will be a standard to electric 45T, 32T trucks etc for what is required.

Also missing the big recharging station at Salmons leap i think it is called in South Devon which has a couple of very long bays for EVs that are towing or just very long. For people coming down to Cornwall or South Devon.

Perhaps car companies need to make more of their Nordic/Scandinavian packs available. There are the various bits and pieces every manufacturers have in their parts list but getting them available in what they deem as warmer climates seems too difficult for them. Which is a shame when areas like the English Midlands and Northern Scotland can see these temperatures not much above 250 K. In Alberta where I was a few years ago temp can get down to -40. The place where Farenheit and Celsius are the same.

Good reminder that winter is arriving now with sub zero temps and freezing conditions. An area EVs have brought which I heard only cars like Rolls Royces had which is to be warmer up with clear windscreens and side windows as most EVs talk to smart phones and can device themselves ready for the off time. The full hybrid Clio does not have prewarming like the Scenic and Zoe does sadly. Must start using the neat screen wash just in case we have the -20c we had in the last decade, even EVs need screenwash even if the do not need engine cooling fluid. Lithium does like temperatures well below 273 k so let me hope to see some of these other battery chemistry ie sodium etc which is less temperature sensitive. I always get my overnight charge to finish as late as possible so the traction battery is as warm as possible at journey offset.

I echo what Mr annoying voice says about the Zoe, at least the ZE50 with its 52 kWh, 55 kWh actual battery size. If I hammered it on the motorway in the depths of winter I might get as low as about 160 miles before the turtle appears on the digital dash. But I do not hammer it, just cruise along at an indicated 60 ish and as seen a couple of days ago I do 245 miles to Liverpool and back without charging. Yes arrive back in Worcester with only 3 % but charge it up to 70 % overnight, for the princely sum of about £3 and it will get used for my next journey to Liverpool, London or Manchester after a top off charge the evening before to take it to 100% charge cost another pound or round about to be ready for those 210-240 mile round trips. If the temperature was -5C, -10C or -20C in the morning I might ask to borrow my son's Clio etech hybrid with all the waste engine heat being used to keep me toastie even though with a 400% or so efficient heat pump in the Scenic and Zoe the energy usage the heating power consumption rarely seems to get up to even 1kWh but in a 5 hour drive that would be 10% of the battery barring I will get back a few kWh from my regen which usually seems to cover what I might use for heating. I sometimes think I should have gone for the 370 mile WLTP European Car of the Year version with the 90 kWh battery but hey ho, Renault would not take back the Zoe as it was so much in negative equity but that seems to be turning around as I think it has actually gained a £k or two since summer time, ironic when we are always told that EV are best between late spring and early autumn. Perhaps the upcoming hike in VED and the continual news that EVs are generally cheaper to run with energy costs, servicing and VED is filtering through to the general public psyche ?

Not sure I would want to be part of the consortium who put quarter of a billion in to Gridserve. They need to smarten up and quick. First thing to do is to agree to accept the Octopus Elelectroverse card and really with the little but significant 5% discount that Electroverse normally has. The nice thing about Electroverse is not that little 5% but the fact it just goes on to Octopus house billing system, shows up quickly but I am probably in credit and effectively it is not going to specifically pay it as it gets rolled in to my Octopus account along with my referal bonuses, DD, wheel spins, not won big yet, free electricity day credits etc etc. Come on Gridserve, get with the program. Come under the one card to rule them all. You too Tesla.

The 80% for pure Lithium is just a warning not to keep doing as it will eventually harm the battery's capacity but doing it one a week/weekend, over night, before that long trip seems to cause no perceptible effects in the first 1100 days I have had the Zoe ZE50 and that does not even have the more advanced systems of the Scenic where you go in the car before charging and set it to 80, 85, 90, 95 or 100 % the night before a substantial journey. Going to 100% once a week seems fine of Lithium, just not good to charge it to 100% every night and leave it for day or days, that is not so good. As said above with LFP just charge it right up and have it sat their on full charge. LIke Lithium the batteries are getting several percent better every year on energy density but Lithium seems to maintain a bit of a lead over LFP fairly constantly. I always have one of the cars sat on the drive with 80% ie 200 miles range if I need to go somewhere and on occasion we have used my son's full hybrid Clio, little 39 litre tank but with 500 mile range. I think we will keep a hybrid until 80% battery is 300 miles plus, which it would have been if I had gone for the 87/92 kwh but that is not 300 motorway miles. Renault are very honest and if one really bats it purely on the motorways, probably in technically illegal speeds, say indicated 80 mph in UK, indicate 130 kph plus a bit, then I don't think one would get 200 miles or about 300 kms. The Scenic comes with a modular battery pack, in about a dozen chunks, and with the every falling price of battery packs, LG Chem in Renault case for the Lithium batteries, mot LFP come from the People's Republic of China. we need that Cornish Lithium mining being ramped up ASAP and the Somerset battery factor also got on lines ASAP if the world is to enter Trade Wars as predicted under the Trump era.

Just a pointer outer that Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries are cobalt free. Renault have been slowish to adopt LFP batteries but in 2025 the R5 and R4 will have LFP options that might take about half the sales. TELSA and BYD are already massive LFP battery users. LFP batteries are much safer upon piercing that pure lithium but have a lower energy density, not massively, something like 20% but they can be charger to 100% no bother whereas Lithium pure are advised to only be charged to about 80% on a regular basis. The future appears more LFP, and maybe sodium and other base materials rather than what we call NMC, Nickel Molybdenum Colbalt ie Lithium batteries which are still popular to use due to energy density but LFP and other are expected to become the major EV battery over the next year or so.

Octopus now allow the thousands of their clients on the GO tariff to export back to grid and they can earn 15p a kwh. So GO customers can now download power at 8.5 p per kwh during the night period and sell back to the grid at 15p therefore making 6.5p per kwh a few hours later. This is effectively turning us GO client's as micro battery storage for the grid. Whether we use our batteries or cars, if V2G capable, this should have a positive effect on stopping using gas etc peak demand hydrocarbon plants. Not worth it for me yet as I think one needs lithium iron phosphate or similar batteries as pure lithium batteries deg would outweigh any marginal payment between import and export values. Wider differential might occur. I recall reading that lecky production could sell for up to a £1 a kwh at some times and as we know Octopus will sometimes supply lecky for free and Agile customers have even been paid to take surplus lecky.

Pity the fairer sex.