Graham Butcher

@EnterName you hit the nail on the head, if the EVs were made attractive enough by making them more fit for purpose etc and the actual running costs could be seen to be much lower to everyone, then people would migrate to them naturally. That would get the air pollution cut with more speed then all the rules and laws could ever hope to achieve and then, if they do turn out not to be the magic pill after all, politicians would not be guilty of yet another failed policy.

Sometimes these people do make some good points, you shouldn't always automatically dismiss what people say based on what they previously said.

I'm getting unconfirmed reports that this same car also had to get the police involved in the early hours of December 22nd when it just decided to drive itself along the M60 motorway at 100mph and he could not slow it down, and it has been in the dealers on 4 separate occasions for faults, not sure as to the time span of those or the age of the car currently. Hopefully by the morning we get some further clarification so we can then know if the reports are true or BS. Edit: Apparently he was able to get the car into neutral and bring it to a halt, with a police in front and another behind to keep others away.

I think all cars have a physical brake connection and it might even be a legal thing, but I suspect the difference is that ICE has a servo powered by the engine and I'm guessing that an electric car has power assistance powered by the traction battery and so if there is a malfunction in the circuitry or a total power loss (unlikely) that the brakes lose any assistance and need extra grunt from the drivers foot to stop the car. I don't know, and I may be wrong on this, but could it be that because the electric car is so quiet that the driver maybe not aware that anything is wrong until they try to stop and apply normal pressure to the brakes and then freeze when the car does not respond in the normal fashion? Compared to a ICE car, the problem more than likely makes itself known with all kinds of strange bangs etc and applying extra pressure just sort of kicks in subconsciously?

Well OK, not everyone, that was a typo, I was rushing to go and collect my son, but some did indicate to similar effect. I would have expected that there would have been a full investigation last time with the MG, just as there was supposed to similar with the Tesla crashing and killing the driver.

I thought that following the recent MG problem which was supposed to have had no brakes, that everyone here was saying that was impossible as they have to have a dual circuit? Maybe it is linked to the regenerative braking system? Maybe the car has been driven in one pedal mode for so long that the actual brakes had seized up. Hopefully all will be revealed soon.

@Rooted I have been looking on the DVLA site for details about the numbers of electric cars on the road and those scrapped, and as you said, you'd expect them to know the figures. Well it seems that they don't or they don't want to publish them for some reason. What they do publish is huge great spreadsheets of data with loads of info dating from 2007 to 2022 of numbers of cars registered and ranked in the levels of emissions, and it would appear that some 560,000 electric cars are currently registered 26,760,000 hybrid and ICE cars in England and it does seem that the numbers the worst polluting cars is dropping i.e., those with over 255gm/km CO2 has dropped by 31% in 17 years. Need to dig into these figures a bit more yet.

This is interesting reading but however it does not tell the complete story, the example I gave was for the USA and this one is for the UK, and it fails to mention the fact that speed limits in urban areas have been reduced in some areas from 40 to 30 and in loads of areas, the 30 has now become 20, so that alone will have a dramatic effect on fatal accidents, and it also fails to take account of the average speed in most towns and cities has really tumbled as a result of the increased traffic-calming, bus lanes and cycle lanes that have been introduced over the last 5 years as well as general increase in the number of vehicles on the road. Here in my home city, they have deliberately reduced road width, built cycle lanes and introduced floating bus stops and also slowed traffic driving into the centre be extending the time traffic lights are on red for, to try and curb people driving in and encourage them to cycles, walk or bus into the centre, and this has been done in other locations as well.

It looks to be an interesting car, the centre screen is not really an issue with the mini, we have got used to that with the original mini, however the hands-free driving option probably won't make it into the UK, or will it? Why don't they build a small frunk to house the charging cables, who wants to have to perhaps unload the boot in order to dig out the cables when and if they are needed?

TBH, I would have thought, if it was not news to anyone, then no response needed. I look at forums as a convenient site for gathering information on a topic, both video and text as I like to think that similar minded folks have already seen it and present to others as something that may be of interest and could save me a long trawl through various sites to find the info, in other words a time saver🙃 . The rise in Chelsea Tractors does also impact on EVs as many of them now are electric.

I did have something, I'll see if I can find it again, I never posted it because I honestly did not think anyone would be interested. Oh I see you have found something on it already.

Is it? The last I heard was that following pressure about this aspect, the government was backing away from changing the tax loophole as it would seriously impact many businesses as a result.

Well that is not how your message came across ref the DVLA and scrapped cars. As to new news, well to me that was new news with regard to the switching of the focus (pun intended) from tailpipe emissions to that of tyre emissions to try and pry us away from our cars, so sorry for that.

Lets see if we can get any sensible response to this article then where the rise in SUV and 4x4s and pickup's is causing more deaths of pedestrians then normal family type cars, shall we. Its only a 3:32s video so is not taking up much of your time @wyx087 https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingas****/comments/1b7d59m/grille_height_kills_509_people_in_the_us_every/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

None of the figures you quoted are a surprise, given that EV's (including hybrids and BEVs) only account for around 7% of all cars, so be simple deduction, it must follow that 93% are ICE and are also going to be far more older cars among them that are being scrapped. Ford Focus, been around since 1999, Vauxhall Astra, since 1980, Vauxhall Corsa, 1983, Ford Fiesta since 1976, VW Golf 1974, Vauxhall Zafira 1999, and lastly, Renault Clio, 1990, all self-explanatory so they will be the most scrapped cars in 2023 by default.

Well I did not think that I would have to spell it out as the real clue is hidden in clear view and Geoff managed to pick up on this aspect and indeed most of his vide was centred around the TYRES, which all cars have. I really have zero idea why you picked up on the BEV,s lasting only 3,5 or 10 years?? and questioning it when it should also have been relatively clear where that was coming from, the Daily Mail and also the fact that it is becoming increasing common now for BEV's to be written OFF following many accidents, whereas cars like his Renault, 55 years old and still going because there is not the fear factor associated with them. He was thrusting at the suggestion that there is no another agenda at play here, that as more BEV's hit the roads, there will less ICE cars, so they are now possibly gearing up for an attack on the pollution aspects coming from the tyres as BEV's are heavier than ICE cars and so it is being claimed that BEV's are far heavier on tyres than ICE cars, and that is something Geoff does not buy into because he has been checking forums etc and there are equal claims both saying that tyres do and do not last as long. You really need to stop seeing every thing as being anti and look between the cracks and reading between the lines, which Geoff had already done for you in that very same video.

I know that many completely dismiss anything that this YouTuber has to say but please, don't too quick to kick his latest video into the long grass and also ignore the banner on his thumbnail, it might be well worth your time to watch this one, it is NOT about bashing EV's at all despite the impression given on the thumbnail. We might find out in the future that there is some merit in what he is saying about all cars includes ICE.

There is another issue with all of what does sound like exciting possibilities of using the cars battery pack in other ways, that is that it also needs some reasonably expensive hardware I believe that has to be fitted both to the car and the house which also needs to be factored into the equations.

I'm reading all of this stuff about charging rates, standing charges, running cables across lawns etc to their neighbours cars etc and can't help but think that it is all sounding just too idyllic and nobody has stopped to actually consider the other side of the coin so to speak. Surely nobody is that naive to think that the supply authorities and the government are going to allow the ducking of standing charges and high KWH charges, do they? If people go for this V2H and V2G I can see changes being introduced to make sure that any advantage is rapidly wiped out or diminished to such an extent that the extra inconvenience of all the fluffing about plugging in etc will become less attractive that many will just will not bother about doing it, don't forget we are not called "Rip off Britain" for nothing. This idea of plugging in a "Granny Cable" which I take is yet another term for an extension cable is also fraught with problems in its own right, it needs to maintain its protection against water ingress, as well as condensation from frost or snow causing internal damage to the connections. Also the cable would add further resistance into the cable causing temperature rise in the cable and also a possible fire hazard and a reduction in current carrying capacity. Once people are converted over to electric, you are then in the hands of profiteers and even if you have solar and or wind generators, there will be times when they are not producing sufficient power if indeed any at all, and I would fully expect that new laws would be passed that require a meter to be installed in every building, regardless if you used any power from the grid, and then a standing charge would be applicable.

I did kind of have my doubts that it was going to be viable long term and thought that the whole might just be a bit of marketing hype in order to bolster up electric car sales as part of the electric narrative, maybe designed to help the UK become of the countries with the greatest adoption of electric, but that may be incorrect as I have almost zero knowledge of this.

The levels of stock of standard models in most makes was why I always went to some non-standard colours and factory options when I ordered my new cars, so I would be certain of getting one that had not sat around in some stockpile for a while and it also the latest software etc fitted. Downside of that was, however, that I had to wait for months on end to get it. I used to get regular updates on the cars progress in build planning.

Will leafspy tell you how many charge cycles it's had as V2H will effectively double them and hasten the battery demise to the point that's not cost effective?

If you can afford to buy one of the last models, it makes good sense to buy it new surely? It will more then likely come with loads of extras free as is the norm with run out models, and the battery will have a warranty, whereas 2nd hand is a lottery as there is no foolproof way of judging how battery has been looked after.

Still some way to go yet to really make decent electric cars affordable so people can get out of their middle class ICE and into the equivalent spec and size electric cars.

In case anyone is wondering about the DRAX comment @Rooted posted, here is the link Drax: UK power station still burning rare forest wood - BBC News, and it confirms what I claimed a while ago about the so-called Green Energy and Renewable Energy that some suppliers offer at a higher price. You really cannot trust anyone who claims that they can and will supply it, where there is a chance of extra profit to be made, ethics will often fly out the window I'm afraid. By way of example, look at their obscene profits they are and have making while our bills have risen way above other countries.