lol-lol

I was interested to see that the D&G Extreme site was earmarked for pump storage but the topography did not look great to me as the height differential of the two lakes look rather small to me. I thought it had a go ahead last year but still no turf cut getting it under way it seems. I think it is problematic when loads of generation and even battery pack are coming on line, only take a month or three to install as compared, I presume, to 1 to 3 years and more to get these pump storage schemes up and running. A bit worrying when the actual Scottish renewal site writes and states a figure of 7.7 GW storage capacity when this figure is not a capacity but a flow rate. DO they mean 7.7 GWh or what ? Six projects currently under development in Scotland will more than double the UK’s pumped storage hydro capacity to 7.7GW, https://www.scottishrenewables.com/news/1295-six-pumped-storage-hydro-projects-to-create-up-to-14800-uk-jobs-new-report-finds I fear that projects that require big investment and long term delivery may not happen as battery storage, possible use of hydrogen made from solar and wind and mini nuclear reactors will make pump storage dubious and investment therefore will not happen as to so much uncertainly as to the shape of tech in the energy future.

Such a bizarre move by TESLA and a real kick in the teeth for those countries who drive on the left. Overtaking lorries on single carriageway roads will have another level of jeopardy added to driving, wonder if something clever can be done with the camera system to look forward from the right hand of the vehicle to electronically check if it is safe to overtake ? Perhaps until a big country like India embrasses TESLA we may not get RHD Model S and X etc ?

Yes the Zoe has it pluses but the lack of seat height adjustment and those seats being just OK rather than good as they usually are in Renaults put one off have the Zoe as one's only longish range/journey car. Megane-E is a nice place to be and would suit me quite well but with so many changes happening in the EV market one would have to absolutely think the styling and features of the Megane-E is what you want as there is so much happening with:- Prices of EVs falling like stones Battery chemistry changing from Lithium ion to Lithium Iron Phosphate and even Sodium Cars currently on finance on great rates and most new offers on high higher rates So Renault, and all the other European manufacturers, need to get their act together to meet the challenge of TESLA and the Chinese offering else their products will not look competitive in terms of spec but then Renault are going to play on the heritage aspect by bring back the Renault 4 and 5, worked for Mini so should work again on some buyers. On another subject I have been watching some great Youtube vids and researching the amount of electrically generation on the Scottish Islands. OMG, so much power being generated and the electricity board ned to get them plugged in to the National Grid ASAP. Big big numbers of power creation nearly 2 GWs from Hebrides, 600 MW from Shetland, 200MW from Orkney and 10% of the population generating their own via their own wind turbines, highest percentage of EV in use anywhere in UK. Impressive.

Oh I feel the shame of driving an ICE car, even when it calls itself a hybrid, as I am always thinking of the pollution it is creating out of its tail pipe but it is difficult and I can blame the business system. My employer, a French mega company, provides me with a fuel card for the hydrocarbon poison that my engine turns in to a deadly gaseous cocktail and we are, slowly, turning toward the whole EV thing, salary sacrifice as tax efficient scheme, chargers at our offices and somehow of compensating us from charging at home using the nuclear base load provided by EDF for much of Western Europe plus the rapidly increasing wind generation of course. Anybody who cares for their fellow man would advocate EVs to reduce the massive death toll created by ICE vehicles, closely followed by our home gas boilers I suspect. If the other giant French transport company, CMA, who also own CEVA, does in fact buy my employer then hopefully we will surge forward with more green measures, ships running on hydrogen and only EVs on the road, or some hydrogen if they can make it work and then we can only worry about the full National Speed limits without them being reduced because levels of pollution have hit dangerous level. Well done France, and Denmark and Norway, for producing so much surplus electricity they can sell it to other European countries during the night so we can run our EVs for a couple of pence a mile and hopefully keep on going at the NSL levels rather than being slowed down as we are polluting so much !! https://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/france/

I do not know whether this muppet caught for speeding on the motorway at 69 mph was playing the percentages of 10% + 2mph, or thereabouts, and pushing his luck but I am seeing these 60 mph limits due to high pollution levels more and more. https://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/23500217.m1-speed-camera-catches-driver-69mph-motorway/ Whenever I see these speed limits, I alter my displays to digit deadout to be as accurate as possible for speed but if I am in the electric Zoe I think this speed limit should just be for the ICE cars and not for EVs which should be allowed to do the full National Speed Limit of 70 mph as we are not producing pollutant at anything like the shame level as ICE vehicles. With number plate recognition combined with speed measuring should be do-able and could encourage the migration from ICE to EV.

I did like the Megane-E, lots of nice features and a nice size ie more C segment than B segment than the Zoe and good to hear Renault are doing some deals as £38 to 42K is not cheap. To me, compared to my ZE50 Zoe, the range was not enough of an improvement and despite having well over 200 hp I thought it did not feel that quick. There is due out a 130 hp version and with just 40 kWh battery, price unknown, but if still Lithium ion rather than Lithium Iron Phosphate then hard to imagine it will be a success. Like most Europe makers Renault seem to be a year or two behind the curve as to choices from China or even USA.

Well done Fenton Seabright to put himself on the front row of the WSB300. Makes me miss my R3 but then I have not been the right size of 65 kgs or so for many a year. Go well Fenton as the only Brit in WSB 300, beat those Kwackers on this fastest of tracks, Barca. ============================================================================= Nice to know ambulances are at the track but on the track is not so good....

Charging at Buckfastleigh !!! That is a real tonic !!! I think I can use Osprey with my Electroverse Octopus card so it goes on my monthly lecky bill. Bank of Grideserve chargers at Xecteter (Exeter) services and a few in Plymouth but needs much more along the A38 and probably the A30 as well and the A360 N.Devon link road. Progress.

Model Y, if one gets a good one, is a better car on paper in virtually every respect it seems but then the Mustang-E, even as it is a raised up pseudo shape of a ICE Mustang, some people will want that shape rather than the futuristic jelly mould model Y. I hope Ford have sorted out the reported "characteristic" that Mustang-E could stay at full power for more than 5 seconds as the internals started to fry so system backed of the power massively. Can happen to any car but was clearly what one might expect from a Beta version rather than a full production version. Perhaps we can treat this Mustang-E Mk 2 as the first proper version.

Good on you Ford at least trying to compete..... (Cheaper, fast charging, more range, charge to 100% no bother, more power in AWD) The Ford Mustang Mach-E has been in a constant state of flux in the burgeoning, ultra-competitive EV crossover market, receiving multiple rounds of price increases until improving commodities costs led to a drop earlier this year. However, the Tesla Model Y – the Mach-E’s chief competitor – still has a massive price advantage on its Blue Oval counterpart, while order banks for the latter recently closed temporarily as the automaker works to ramp up production. Now, FoMoCo has not only dropped the price of the 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E again, but it’s also offering a new lithium-iron phosphate battery for the crossover and reopening order banks for its EV crossover. 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E Price Changes Model/Options 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E Price – May 2 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E Price – May 1 + / – May 1 Price Select RWD Standard Range $42,995 $45,995 $-3000 Select AWD Standard Range $45,995 $48,995 $-3000 California Route 1 AWD Extended Range $56,995 $57,995 $-1000 Premium RWD Standard Range $46,995 $50,995 $-4000 Premium AWD Standard Range $49,995 $53,995 $-4000 GT AWD Standard Range $59,995 $63,995 $-4000 Extended Range Battery For Premium RWD $7,000 $7,000 $0 GT Performance Edition Package $5,000 $6,000 $-1000 BlueCruise 1.2 $2,100 $1,900 +$200

I have one of my employers, who provide us with company cars, say the would replace tyres at 2mm of tread left, ie 0.4mm above the legal limit. Knowledgeable people know summer tyres start strongly losing performance around the 3mm tread depth, 4 mm for winter if I recall correctly. I was glad to leave that firm and its car scheme and choose myself when to change tyres.

Always worked on true speed plus 10% plus 2 mph so geniune 79 mph is nickable and I got nicked at 80 mph just rolling down the air balloon hill by one of the new very long distant speed measuring vans. Some police regions were going to do a smaller tolerance nicking. Think how many drivers Bedford police would catch on the m1 if the camera was set to 73 ? Been doing much more driving in Wales at driving at 20 mph in urban areas is tough, particularly in an Auto I find, less so in my Clio manual by sticking it in second gear.

Very positive thinking. In my recent experience it has been that the car dealer / service shop is looking to fleece you on selling you brakes part or tyres as this is where they make much of their profit. I share you concern that the local servicing site does not have enough EV technicians and this leads to both waiting for them to get round to the work and perhaps the quality of the work done on EV as car technicians oft do not have the training or experience. My lad has done his automotive level one and two in the least few years but almost no coverage of EVs despite the many thousands of EVs on the road ie LEAFs and Zoes.

First Zoe owners would dream about 80 kW, 66 kW in the first ZE22, weight still up round 1.5T unladen, wow. Range nearly a hundred miles on a good day. 0 to 30 probably around 4 seconds which is no bad. LEAF was always quicker. I wanted a 64 kWh one but could not get one year and half ago, only 39 kWh available. NIssan probably lose less money on the smaller battery ones.

The power output, I find, is quite nominal, perhaps it is for ICE cars to. Changes in ambient temperature, the temperature of the "engine/motor" and the sophistication of the control system for the power seem to have a considerable effect on the power output. The Zoe ZE50 has power display, which I have seen the digital displaying show 112 kWs ie 12% more than the quoted which is 150 hp compared to the quoted 100 kw/136 hp. The Enyaq 52 kwh kerb weight is quoted at just over 1.9 tonnes and torque from this 109 kw motor is also quoted as 220 nm which sound a bit low to me and hence acceleration is about 11 seconds to 60 mph which may put off some potential buyers perhaps. One wonders if a tuning industry, as with rechipping turbo petrol cars, might emerge. Cheaper insurance as a plus as well. Shame to lose that fun aspect of EVs of that initial surge of acceleration but perhaps would suit many a commuter driving in mainly urban areas for people do not have much need for travelling cross country distance. Hope it is successful as the Czech people deserve successful well picked models to manufacture as does SEAT in Spain from their masters in Germany.

Skoda CZ announce 52 kw version of their Enyaq with a less powerful motor, a potential winner or desperate attempt to compete with cheap Chinese imports and TESLAs. Be interesting to try one as this car has almost exactly the same battery size and power to weight as my Zoe, which is adequate in those respects but is that what will satisfy an buyer paying some £36k approx for the car. Be nice to know if one could pop in another 10 or 20 kwh of battery in to the empty battery bays if one could pay to upgrade the battery pack ? https://www.skoda-storyboard.com/en/press-releases/affordable-e-suv-skoda-enyaq-iv-50-for-less-than-40000-euros/ › New entry-level Enyaq iV powered by a 109 kW (148hp) electric motor › Ample range of up to 365 kilometres on the WLTP cycle › Charging peak of up to 110kW › 19-inch bi-color alloy wheels, 13” navigation system and rear-view camera as standard

VW is dithering on its battery factory locations as it looks to maximise any subsidies going whilst the Chinese steam ahead on multi front is Lithium Phosphate, Sodium ion, different battery forms such s blade packs and time waits for no man or auto manufacturer. VWs, and other European based manufacturers seem slow to react just what a comprehensive threat the Chinese, and TESLA, are threatening to their existence. The EU can only do so much in terms of Ad Valorem tariffs and the existing 10% is not impacting MG/SAIC it appears, the EU maybe forced to introduce Anti-Dumping levies to help Nissan-Renault, Stellantis, VW Group etc stand any chance of surviving. BYD are setting up plants in India and Thailand so may be able to benefit from lower rates of import duties from those places rather than directly from The People's Republic of China. Dolphin price in China is half of what is being quoted as the estimated launch price in the UK...... https://carnewschina.com/2022/12/29/new-2023-byd-dolphin-launched-in-china-price-starts-at-16700-usd/ New 2023 BYD Dolphin Launched In China, Price Starts At 16,700 USD This is the new 2023 BYD Dolphin, a compact electric hatchback aimed at young tech-minded folks. Three models were launched with a price range of 116,800 – 136,800 RMB (16,700 – 19,600 USD). The Dolphin is based on BYD’s e-platform 3.0, powered by the BYD LFP Blade batteries. Even cheaper than that with some discount codes currently, so when converting USD to GBP we acre actually talking about less than £14K !!!!

And my Arkana little bit shorter than this but still well over 500 litre boot but not ideal for woof woofs. But great value, range etc. Mad range of cheaper cars on their way. Model Y for less than £40k should be here soon.

I had many octavia estates and felt that was spot on at around 4.75 M. OK for city car parks but plenty of room for dogs and double prams etc.

Good car and good reviews on YouTube. Only two criticisms and that it is a bit short for an estate, should be another 20cms longer and secondly the driver interface is not as good as western IT. Otherwise ticks boxes. Needs a bigger brother.

Both the bunch at Banbury Cross, which is someway in to the town of Banbury, but the mass of Instavolt one are literally a few hundred yards off the M40. No stupid apps or RFID cards just wave ones credit/debit card, even American Express we is my preferred card of choice (due to the kick backs of course) Reminded me of the Not the Nine O'clock News sketch. Apologies to anyone offended by the non-PC humour of the time......

Banbury, wow. Population just over 50k people, a hundred mostly high powered DC chargers. The Instavolt site just off the M40, something else. Costa a stone throw away.....

Skoda might survive in some countries, if German government bail it out, but which models in which country to achieve a necessary volume level of model and marque to continue selling when competing against TESLA and the BYD, MG/SAIC etc inflation of cars that are considerable cheaper than VW-AUDI-SEAT-SKODA due to their economies of scale rather than relatively small/tiny volumes of sale per model in many markets ???

I really like the SEAT styling and favour the SEAT look of the various EVs platform. What I predict is probably going to happen is that, much like when the e-up was launched and the Mii and Citygo EV not all 4 flavours will survive, maybe only one or two, and that is if, or how the VW Audi Group will survive with its 400B Euro debt. TESLA has just passed the entire sales of the Audi brand, knocked the Golf off the best selling car in Europe and looks set to decimate all Europe volume producers over the next 3 years or so whether the 4 mainstream VW-Audi brands do bring these models to market, or have to be very selective as their volume are just not there is more the likely case. Like the Born and like the looks of the above. Had a Leon Cupra, bit hardcore for me on reflection and prefered to drive the Octavia VRS we had at the same time. Good luck to SEAT, and Skoda etc, they are going to need it to complete with TESLA and the wave of Chinese car the have started to arrive in the UK which will be much less money with at least equal performance, range etc.

I had seen several articles that the figure was under question and I do like some of the other ways of putting a number on the figure like the 340,000 years of life number this study also mentions. So whether it is 29,000 or 60,000 as also mentioned it is many thousands per year and much put down to NOX and PM 2.5 which mainly come from ICE powered vehicles. It is a ball park number which these studies have generally come up with numbers in this area of several tens of thousand of lives ended and third of a million years of lives ended earlier whether that is a young child dying from an asthma attack or an elderly person losing a few years of the end of their life. Despite some considerable improvement in air quality over the last few decades still a long way to go and getting ICE cars out of cities and to me preferable out of the country is a target of both local and national government in the UK.