classic

Absolutely spot on Dave and the government should be doing something to rectify that. They probably would say they are, but I don’t see it. Build more charging stations, bring the price down, put in 7kwh ac chargers in as many places as possible. People that want EVs but are restricted by infrastructure should write to their MPs etc. We are at the point where the government is only really playing at it so their bit in the history books doesn’t look too bad, even the Tories brought in pro EV legislation, I reckon 25 more years of limbo maybe less if technology produces a mega fast charging battery that does 500 miles and can tow a 2000kg trailer.

PHEV’s are borderline pointless you literally get the worst of both worlds. The facts about fossil fuel use are out there and people have a choice and have still got years of that choice. It would be nice if legislation wasn’t required but unfortunately it is, as is the case with most things. History will have a chapter on where we are now, where people who’d only ever known the petrol and diesel way were reluctant to change. Future generations will have more of an incentive.

I’d vote for it Graham, but can you imagine the meltdown if Reeves announced in the next budget a complete shake up where EVERYONE paid their fair share ?

I thought that was an image of Starmer counting all the fuel duty and vat you’re giving him.

It is interesting what puts people off EV. The reality for most EV users is that use of rapids is not very often, so overall running costs are low, but I can see how if you were more dependent on them it would tip the scales towards staying with petrol or diesel. I’ve been interested in cars and engines all of my life and went to work in the industry as a mechanic and have done various jobs on all types of vehicles. I’m still fascinated by them and love classic vehicles (I could happily spend hours just listening to a Gardner 6LXB engine idling !) but driving around all day today in modern traffic in an EV is just a way better experience than petrol or diesel whether manual or automatic in my opinion. That is just driving around and not including the reduced fumes and CO2 and cheaper running costs. And what is interesting is that I am the most tech-phobic Luddite in most other respects. It’s clearly a human thing like old trainspotters loving steam engines and hating diesel’s and electrics or people loving Spitfires and DC3s more than the Airbus they go on holiday in.

OVO have already doubled their 7p charge anytime rate to 14p (for most users) . In any case even 24p per kWh is around half the cost of petrol/diesel.

I think the “Truth” was discovered quite a while ago unfortunately some people are struggling to accept it. You made an interesting point earlier about tax Graham. I knew the fuel cost of my petrol car was £0.15 per mile to run, I realised that a fair amount was fuel duty but until your post about tax paying I had no idea how much that was. Fuel duty is 52.95 pence per litre and then there is 20% vat on the whole cost of the fuel and the duty, so you are paying tax on tax. That’s the truth you need to worry about, not whether a lorry fire was caused by spontaneous combustion of an EV or the lorry brakes overheating and how EV hire cars will exploit holidaymakers.

I guess people who have to drive to a destination hundreds of miles away and then need to return hundreds of miles in one go will have to keep away from EVs until their range improves. As for tax, I pay a fair amount to HMRC and my ev will be £195 ved (I think). There’s no doubt that some sort of pay per mile road tax will come in the future or maybe smart meters will calculate tax to replace fuel duty. As it stands that isn’t the case which makes this the absolute sweet spot to run an EV. You, Barrie Crampton, the MacMaster (who is actually taking the p*** out of the anti EV crowd), and the other obsessed characters are just doing EV drivers a favour putting people off, so many thanks 👍.

These problems do not exist at the level you believe them to be. I’ve done 1500 miles in 3 weeks with no issues whatsoever. This has cost around £30 in electricity compared to £225 in my previous Superb. On two journeys of just over 200 miles round trip I planned a short top up charge but actually didn’t need it (probably same journey in winter I would ). I’m no evangelist, there’s still a lot to improve, but there isn’t anything to prevent an ev being a perfectly capable car for most users.

Enjoy ! Looks great

I can only say that it works perfectly with an iPhone. No issues whatsoever.

The blanket is probably an EV specific thing maybe to contain it if there’s some kind of reigniting, I don’t know. Dragging things away to prevent fire spreading or further damage isn’t EV specific I’m sure. In fact the firefighters were right up to the vehicle whilst the battery was burning. They wouldn’t do that with an ice vehicle fire, thermal runaway on a petrol tank is an explosion…

I think you’ll find there is a decontamination policy for firefighter clothing and equipment after dealing with most fires, particularly vehicles of any kind not just EV. I know a few uk firefighters and have heard this talked about before. I’m sure someone on here probably knows a lot about it. I don’t doubt EVs will add to the list of things to be decontaminated but you’ve worded that as if on an ordinary ice vehicle fire they would just put the fire out and walk off, they would definitely (at least in the uk) bag up exposed clothing for decontamination.

I know he did, I’m a subscriber since you introduced me to his channel. It helped me decide to get an EV. He blew his pcp mileage by thousands of miles and they’ve done him a deal. He loves them Graham, the guy is laughing his head off driving that Taycan !

The Macmaster has got another EV 😂. Nottingham Porsche come out of this really well.

I have gone electric, back to ice and now back on ev. Not a taxi driver but doing a minimum of 20k miles per year. I can tell you that in my experience EV is better, currently charging at home for me costs 7p per kWh which equates to 2pence (£0.02) per mile. No oil and filter changes, no air filter, fuel filter, ad blue or timing belt. Brake wear is hardly measurable but probably every couple of years strip and clean front pads and calipers. Insurance cost exactly the same, road tax now the same. Driving experience vastly better, quieter and easier - especially for taxi work. Yes rapid charging is expensive but if the majority of charging is at home the overall cost is less than diesel or petrol. I will parking in Manchester today and will top up at a car park 7kwh* charger which is £0.72 per kWh. I’ll arrive with 50% and could probably get home but I’ll top it up to 80% to be on the safe side (bad weather tonight, could get stuck or diverted etc). Even that expensive public charger only works out at 5p a mile more than petrol or diesel cost. Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation that is bombarding everyone thinking about EV which makes people play safe and stick with what they know. *Edit : car park charger is 22kwh ac, but car is 11kwh max on ac charging.

Barrie Crampton….. I’m out.

I don’t know about that, I am getting a new car and anyone who knows me would collapse laughing if designer label clothes and my name were mentioned in the same sentence. Everyone has different ideas and different needs. If I’d bought tailhappys Fabia in 2005 it would now be on 400,000 miles, would it have done that - probably but with a lot more bits wearing out obviously. I always been interested in cars but my interest didn’t end with the one I bought 20 years ago. Tailhappy is doing a brilliant job with their Fabia, I applaud that and it is exactly the car I would be interested in looking at if I went to a car show but on a day to day basis it’s horses for courses. Probably a lot of those saying time for a new car are blowing their money but some are probably looking from their own view point that a 20 year old Fabia wouldn’t work for them.

Brilliant, just shows that taking care of a car just the basics of keeping it clean and good maintenance works. Out of interest, what mileage has it done ?

Enjoy Amigos

I will wrap myself in tin foil just like I do when using any modern day electronic device. Isn’t everyone doing this ?

I guess they quickly realised that it might spontaneously combust and even if it didn’t the batteries would need replacing in a couple of years at massive cost. Add to that the lack of that lovely HDi Diesel sound and boredom of not being able to change gear it is no surprise they quickly gave up until the EU deep state forced them to look again in order to control everybody’s lives and prevent freedom of choice and travel.

They are absolutely fantastic, Mrs DSL will love it !

They are freaking ace ! Enjoy 😀