Graham Butcher

@lol-lol Hmm.... As to the cost of energy coming down as more solar, wind and storage is added on the grid, I seriously doubt that either of us is ever going to see that in our lifetime. Perhaps now you've retired, you might take time to explore more investigative channels that explore and explode so many myths about the promises that are made. Then discover about just who is benefitting from the policies and how when it is time to deliver said promises, ducking and diving before doing a U turn.

Oh, come on, you have to admit on the running costs you had a few years of cashing it in big time; even with that PPM, surely you're still going to be better off than running an ICE car? Anyway, I thought you always claimed that it was all about saving the planet and less about the cheapness of running and maintenance costs?

More roadblocks on allowing homes with no off-street parking, installing a gully across the footpath to allow them to drop a cable in the gully and then charge their cars. As I fully expected, it is getting loads of opposition on the grounds of safety to the public, not just from cables being a possible trip or entanglement hazard but also a real possibility of fatal electric shocks from earth problems. It seems I was right that the big push and rush towards getting electric cars to become the major means of personal transportation are being driven by the policymakers who do NOT fully understand the implications of their policies.

Personally, I'd rather have more sedate progress but longer range in an EV.

Looks like a great fun car to have, and it demonstrates the point I made above about ICE cars with the soundtrack, this car tries so hard to emulate a ICE in so many ways that Matt Watson loves it.

This is a bit of good news and shows how batteries are improving.

Hills?? The cars I would expect would be as near to fully charged as it is possible to get, in order to maximise the amount of traction power they can draw down. Don't forget that a fully charged one weighs just about the same as a fully discharged battery, unlike the equivalent fuel tank on an ICE vehicle. A full tank is so much heavier than an almost empty one; advantage EV. That Goodwood Hill is only just over 1 mile long, and the elevation only rises by 93 metres, so it's not that onerous, is it? As to that torque being there almost from the get-go, well, that is one aspect that insurance companies are wary of as that is the possible reason why so many older people are crashing into rows of parked cars, through walls in multistorey carparks and even into shops when they attempt to exit a parking spot.

No surprise there at all, electric should dominate, certainly on the hill climb, but speed is not the only thrill factor at play which is why so many electric performance cars have fake sounds in their speakers to replicate the missing ingredient.

When I go on a longish trip, that is exactly how I see many EV's being driven: tailgating large trucks, sitting in their slipstream and thus broadcasting that they are prioritising range over time. That spot, however, is also the most dangerous position to be in; they risk being crushed between the truck they're tailgating and the one behind should the front one become compromised. I accept that in the case of reps, that is how they drive because of time constraints.

Yes, that is much the same with ICE; if running really low in an emergency, that is what any sane person would do. All that I was attempting to demonstrate was for those EV drivers who show and deploy that scrooge mode time and time again that it is perfectly possible to come unstuck when a sudden massive diversion is imposed upon them and then the vulnerability exposes itself, with possible chargers not working, as @Evolution13 has discovered and documented on many of his trips; some had not been working for some considerable time and were awaiting repairs or, of course, were at remote locations or in the middle of the night, so thieves might have struck and nicked the cable for the high-value copper, leaving such persons possibly stranded. Whereas a sensible precaution of doing a zap and dash earlier when they knew that would be cutting it fine would have been the wise move. That way, if such a diversion is forced on them, as it only takes a second for an accident to cause such an event, they would still be able to make it home with ease and then top up with cheap leccy. A sort of insurance policy on being able to complete one's journey and get back to their loved ones. These problems tend not to normally affect ICE drivers, as the hosepipe has zero value to thieves so thats an issue that an ICE driver does not have to worry about

As we saw in that Johnny Smith video, life in the slow lane: everyone else is overtaking and getting to their destinations quicker.

That's where the type of car you have may come into play to a larger extent. If you have something like a Leaf, basically a city car, and you take it on a longer run, then range anxiety is going to weigh massively on your mind as opposed to, say, something like a Tesla, I expect?

I honestly don't know how many or where they are, but then again, even knowing where they are could be cold comfort because, as we have already seen, you can never be 100% certain if the one you select is going to be functional even or if thieves have been and stolen the cables. If that happens, would you have enough left to make it to another location? Fuel hoses are of no commercial value to thieves, so to my mind it's just like you're playing Russian roulette but with added bullets in the magazine if you don't always try and keep about 100 miles of range in reserve all the time. Oh hang on, there is a large Gridserve hub at Braintree, which is about 15 miles from the start of the diversion.

A while ago there was a discussion about how far your electric car could go beyond an indicated 0 mile range left, in order to get back home and take advantage of your low EV home tariff rather than top up at an expensive public charger. I didn't think that it was ever really worthwhile taking the risk because you can never be sure that something else is not going to happen and force a longer route on you. Well today EssexLive has posted up a planned diversion for drivers on the M11 travelling south between the A129 and the A414 when that 9.5-mile section of the M11 will be closed from 9pm to 5am on July 20 and 21st for resurfacing and a diversion will be put in place as follows: Full diversion route:Drivers will leave the M11 at junction 8 via Birchanger Green Roundabout; At the roundabout, take the first exit onto Thremhall Avenue; At Priory Wood Roundabout, take the third exit and join the A120 eastbound; Continue on the A120 to Great Notley; At the interchange, follow the A131 over the A120; Continue southbound on the A131 towards Chelmsford; At junction 19 of the A12, join the A12 southbound; Continue to junction 15; At junction 15, follow the A414 Three Mile Hill towards Hastingwood Interchange; Rejoin the M11 at junction 7. This diversion is 50 miles long; this is why I seriously don't believe that it's worth penny-pinching in order to try and limp home and save a couple of quid on charge costs. Ok on this occasion there has been a heads-up posted, but this kind of event does indeed happen pretty frequently when there has been a bad vehicle fire and the Highways Agency deems the roads to be resurfaced urgently, so there would be no advanced warning.

Now, back to the main thrust of this topic, electric cars. I see people commenting on how good the Chinese electric cars are, knowing personally just how poor some Chinese products can be after spending most of my working life in the electrical industry (I had a few years lorry driving across the UK). I see no reason to change my suspicions that things are not quite what they seem to be. I have seen content from independent motoring journalists and vloggers alike who refuse to attend Chinese car launches and other such events because they are not free to say what they want, regardless of if it is positive or negative; they are controlled events. I like Johny Smith and the Late Brake Show, but he did one of these, and the video of it is here. It has since been mentioned on both the JayEmm on Cars channel and also the Geoff Buys Cars channel; here Jay addresses the problem head-on and fully explains just why he flatly refuses to get involved in such events unless he is free to give his honest opinion about the cars. Geoff also refuses to take part in any such staged events as he wants to present his honest opinions.

I think it is not the result of the higher currents as much it's caused by bad connections giving rise to heating of the connections and subsequent fires. Maybe also due to incorrect sizing of the cables in some cases?

DC is deadly; it is far worse than AC, which passes through the zero point each cycle/hertz, which does make it easier to disconnect yourself from the live power. DC does not and will make you grip the connection so that you cannot break it. This is part of the issue with electric vehicles, and you can see the high degree of danger with DC traction batteries with voltages sitting around 400V and most of the newer and performance models somewhere around 800V by watching the YT channel OGS & Mechanics and observing the PPE that they wear while working on them. DC is also extremely difficult to control, requiring special equipment to switch circuits on and off, as breaking the connection can draw a pretty hefty arc and so the switchgear costs considerably more.

@lol-lol don't forget that there is a major difference between the USA and UK, voltage. Our 230V is far more likely to cause electrocution than the 110V of the USA is. There is is another angle on this, insurance. It would not surprise me to see any claim be refused if it is clear that plug-in solar had been fitted, or any solar/storage system had not been installed by a qualified electrical engineer.

CEOs of companies want that, yes but at what cost to the countries economy, when all of that home grown profit flies out of the country into the foreign owners banks. Even the camera controlled carpark at your local shops, pubs etc, all making massive profits and all owned by foreign companies. Just follow the money and you will be shocked, and all aided by successive UK governments, hence why the UK is broken.

But that is the cancer that industry suffers from, either bringing everything in house to make greater margins, or the opposite.farming all production out to subcontractors who are only intreasted in maxing profits.

Agree, but it would seem that Skoda must have been early adopters of these aids as my car is 2019 and the Superb before that had them on a 2016 plate.

All of these driver assist aids can actually work against you at times, especially if the software has a glitch. This morning in traffic, the car in front of me slowed because of a jam. I also braked, but somehow, my car thought I never braked hard enough, and slammed the anchors on hard and the ABS cut in. While it was bringing me to a complete halt, all the traffic in front of me had cleared, and there were several car lengths ahead of me, empty. It was a good job; the car behind me was far enough back to avoid ramming me.

Some MG electric owners are reporting that their cars try to steer into parked cars so they only follow white lines anything between them is apparently invisible to the system?

Sorry, but the fact millions, as you say, do it does not make it ethically right or safe. OK, so there is some sort of protection built in to cut the solar panels if they lose mains supply, so what if that fails to operate and someone were to extract the 13A plug top that is feeding the solar power to the house from the socket? That would leave the exposed pins of the solar installation still happily connected to 230V AC supply via the panels and inverter. What if one of your children or wife were then to touch that plug and get electrocuted? This is the reason why the industry is refusing to do the installs for their customers; they are the professionals and can see the real dangers the system poses to life. It does not meet the criteria for public safety; it is what happens when things get rushed through development. and governments (who don't have any clue or experience) get involved chasing an idealistic dream. There are loads of things where the government gets it so wrong time and time again. You think they are your side? Think again; they aren't. They are simply attempting to implement what they are told to do by those where the real power resides, and all the time the UK is being bled dry, and all money flows out of the country into the banks of overseas companies and individuals, and it has been for decades. As for the Chinese electric cars, they are not better at all, just better priced with corners being cut and overall poor quality. Have you ever looked at the MG electric car owners' forums, for example, and seen just how unhappy people are with their cars? The same goes for the others: Ommoda, Jeycoo, BYD, etc. The other person's grass is always greener, except it really isn't.

The plug-in home solar system hits yet another problem, with the IET saying it is dangerous and electrical contractors are refusing to install it. The system has to be installed by qualified electrical contractors, leaving some customers who have already managed to purchase the kit complaining that they are unable to get anyone to actually install the system.