Dieselgate

Tax breaks are not subsidies. My original point was around if there was no such thing as tax.

There are no fossil fuel subsidies in the UK, rather the opposite.

Indeed. A question I often ask: if there was no such thing as tax in any form, would EVs even exist?

Do you have any links to these cheap solar panels & batteries please? Especially interested in portable battery storage as I've been holding back on putting this in as I'm likely to move house within a normal payback period but if I could take it with me that could move the dial somewhat...

Interesting, it would certainly be more useful if it did though wouldn't it? I.e. in an ICE car you always expect the mpg to drop when sitting in traffic.

I thought it said on the article that they were sticking at around the motorway speed limit of 130kmh (81mph) though it said somewhere about one of the EVs reducing speed at one point to try and eke out enough miles to get to the next charger. 35mpg certainly does seem low, it's what I normally get in a worst case scenario on a trip to Germany which means car fully loaded plus a roofbox and cruising at up to 105mph where possible. With a little planning it would have been possible to reduce the cost of the ICE car substantially by utilising PFS close to but not actually on the autoroutes where the fuel price would be quite a bit less. I always use the Shell station at Aachen Brand in Germany which is literally at the end of the slip road (so no additional diversion to a 'proper' services) and where fuel is typically 40 cents a litre cheaper (and the toilets are free) than the 'proper' services at Aachener Land just a few miles on (also Shell). Obviously can't really comment on the 2.6 miles/kW/h but probably noteworthy that it seems this was measured 'brim to brim' so to speak (the trip computer said 4 miles/kWh).

Yes I agree, they are expensive. For us the advantage in taking the car is the simplicity of being able to just load up the car with everything you want and just go. We are also only 45 minutes from Dover which is an added bonus.

Surely not that far to Newcastle or Hull?

I may have some slightly useful information to add to this thread as we were the unfortunate victims of a burglary a few months back. I've always been slightly security conscious and installed a Simplisafe alarm system before moving in which I always set. Has motion sensors, glass break sensors, indoor and outdoor cameras plus a few other bits as well as motion detection and monitoring. We left the house one evening to go to a friend about 15 minutes drive away. Shortly after leaving I got a notification to see that someone had rung the doorbell a couple of times. It wasn't someone I knew but I wasn't unduly concerned. Then a few minutes later two chaps headed down the side of the house which I thought didn't look good so decided to head back (although we were unfortunately nearly at our destination by then). A couple of minutes later got an alert to say the alarm had triggered, I was instantly able to view footage of the intruders entering our house and rifling through drawers so knew it wasn't a false alarm. I immediately called the police who fortunately were quite nearby and arrived a couple of minutes before I did (probably arrived about 6 minutes from when the alarm was first triggered). Further review of the footage shows that they were only in the house for about 30 seconds and didn't steal anything so my only financial loss was the cost of replacing some broken glass which fortunately wasn't too much. I have some pretty clear videos which I gave to the police but unfortunately due to them being masked and gloved up then I don't believe they ever identified a suspect. I was very happy with how the alarm performed overall and whilst obviously it didn't prevent the break in in the first place I'm sure it cut short their visit quite substantially.

I see it fairly frequently by the side of motorways too these days🤦‍♂️

Cold comfort if you are one of the 5%. Me neither. The difference is I would probably arrive at my destination a lot earlier.

Of course not, it's not as if anyone ever drives their car outside the UK or tows a caravan etc😃

Correct, you will have to pay the follow on rate. But the dealer will have had to pay the first year rate which will push prices up.

My car which is also a 200 TDI has now done 41k miles at just over 2 years old. The low oil light came on after about 13k miles so I added a litre but have never needed to do it since between services so I'm hoping it's not going to be necessary in future, perhaps just higher consumption while the engine is bedding in.

Yes I'm pretty happy with that overall. Once the Eagles are worn out I'll probably just leave the 4 Seasons on all year round. Switching tyres and storing them costs a bit and I don't reckon the 4 Seasons are really much worse in summer than the Eagles. But I should get at least one more summer on the Eagles so they will be on 40k or more by the time I'm finished with them🤞

I'm still on the original Goodyear Eagles (though I've had to replace 1 or 2 due to punctures). Done around 28,500 miles on them and still plenty of life left but my miles are mostly motorway. Car has done 41,500 but the other miles were on my Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons that I swap over to during winter.

My oil temperature fluctuates quite a lot during a drive, even at the same speed. Can't remember the highest it's been but would be at least 115 I think - at high speeds, never particularly near the 'red'.

There will be an equivalent of fuel duty on the horizon in future as well of course, I'm sure you're looking forward to that.

Similarly I can hardly believe that the WLTP mpg of my car is only 47.1mpg. Upper 50s at a constant 70mph is quite normal and my record is 78mpg with a mix of mostly motorway at 65mph and B roads at 30-40mph.

Perhaps drop a line to the CCP in case they want to reconsider their plans for 120GW of new coal power.

I'm very happy with my 2.0TDI 200. It spends most of it's time on the motorway which is probably it's most natural habitat though and it couldn't be happier on longer runs. 41k miles so far and averaging 50mpg, and that's with a few thousand miles of autobahn driving included. Plus it's the 4x4 which probably hurts efficiency slightly. Can easily get 60+ on the motorway at more moderate speeds. I would worry about keeping a PHEV in the long term due to the additional complexity. You might be glad of the additional boot space in the non-PHEV versions too, if you are using it for holiday runs.

I appreciate this is drifting somewhat off topic but does the same apply to your hot water? 45c sounds quite low to me.

You could have a look at a diesel 4x4 as well - another example on Autotrader I just found: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202409304647762?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&body-type=Hatchback&drivetrain=Four Wheel Drive&fuel-type=Diesel&make=Skoda&model=Superb&postcode=me101yg&price-to=12000&year-from=2016&year-to=2017&fromsra Seems quite a good price considering it's only done 75k miles. I have a newer diesel 4x4 and do like having the extra two driven wheels, the fuel economy is also very good (at least in my opinion). But obviously it's not as quick as the 280.

There's a lot of investment going into public charging. The main issue as far as I can make out is getting the necessary grid connections which can cause huge delays, such that there have been occasions when charging stations have had to be opened using power from generators installed on site as the operator was losing so much money waiting for a grid connection.

OK very good, looks like some progress is being made!