Graham Butcher

Down this part of the country there some large blocks of flats and apartments where EVs are banned from as the insurers will not provide cover for the buildings unless there are no EVs. Also many blocks etc even houses which cannot install their own chargers so people have no options other than public ones. True I have never driven a pure EV, but there are EVs in the family so I'm not just relying on YT videos. That said though when some of them make no secret of the true public cost by showing you the cost of their charging on screen of the chargers, it is plain to see the coat per KW and convert that into miles per KW. Don't for a single minute run away with the notion that I'm anti EV because that is not correct. I can see that for some people they are the perfect solution for all kinds of reasons, just not for me given the purchase cost's etc. As an OAP I just don't have the necessary funds to purchase one and with type of journeys I make means that when I reach my destination, there is zero chance of there being a charging point on a remote airfield and if there was it useless with hundreds or maybe thousands of others at an airshow also wanting to charge. That would then mean I'd have book into a hotel overnight whole the car charged, again a big drain on a pension. It seems that an EV suits you and that is fine, it was your choice to have one and that is how it should be. But I disagree that people should be forced to switch from ICE to EV, it would be the same if people were forced to switch from diesel to petrol or vice versa.

True, and those who are saving money, they are the ones who are able to do most of their charging at home, but the reality is that is not possible for most of the population so they are forced to use public chargers whose rates per KW are expensive as they will be required to pay for themselves and also make profits for the operators.

I've seen reports that also say that the actual rate of recharging would also depend upon the current level of charge the battery has. They suggest that a low battery will start off at a far higher rate than a battery which is approaching full charge. This is just basic electrical physics, i.e, good old-fashioned ohm's law in operation. As the battery charges up, it voltage rises and that voltage is effectively pushing back at the voltage of the charger and as the battery voltage increases, the difference between battery voltage and charger voltage gets smaller and therefore less "pressure" to push the KW's into the battery. So the same thing happens with cars equipped with the CCS (DC superfast), they all have to obey physics.

To answer your previous question about a 5 hour driver, yes I used to be that and longer and even now I'm retired, I still do journeys like that and the example above is not that uncommon even with ICE cars. For example, I brought my current car from a dealer all the way up in Mansfield and when I collected the car from them, it showed a range of 53 miles in the trip computer. This was enough I thought to enable me to reach one of the many petrol stations on the A1 where I noticed that the fuel was less expensive. Not surprisingly, once I had the car rolling along at a nice steady 50mph ish that range began to increase slightly before it started to come down again and I got to Bar Hill on the A14 and it was predicting approx nearly 60 miles of range and I had 49 to go still. With it being a new car to me I decided that I had better at that point play safe and pulled into the Tesco filling station and filled up, that was some 96 miles away from Mansfield, a far cry from the predicted range in Mansfield of just 53 miles. All your example and mine are showing is the predicted range at the start of a trip is based upon previous journeys and those may have been uphill for example. My trip home was for the most part very slightly down hill so with the car in ECO mode, I was able to coast for long spells, and you in your EV might have been doing some regen and so topping up your battery, so neither are real examples of actually beating or getting close to the WLTP figures because for that to be correct, we'd both need to the same drive in the opposite direction to average the results out.

I think you would certainly have to driving a lot slower than 40mph and coasting a lot and hardly ever needing to touch the brakes. While that style of driving might well be possible in some very remote parts of the country and also of course the driver needs to have all the time in the world to make the journey. When in reality life is very seldom like that, we have time to keep, other drivers etc that cause you to brake, people tailgating you, because you're driving too slow, even if they can see your approaching a hazard. Oh, sorry, my bad.🙄

Over here in UK, new cars tend to only come with a pump and a can of gunk unless you specify that you want a spare at the ordering stage. When I ordered my new car back in 2013, it was a company back then and my colleagues all just assumed that the cars would have all come with a spare. Most thought that I was just stating the obvious and laughed at me, it turned out I had the last laugh as some had irreparable failures due to punctures that the sealant gunk was incapable of sealing due to the sheer size of the hole and they got stranded at the roadside waiting for roadside assistance. 🤣

Hmm, odd that because I'd have thought it was essential to get some idea of just how close you can get to the WLTP claimed figures and he has also done the same kind of tests with ICE cars in the past, only difference being that they can all be done in much less time by draining the tanks and putting just 1 gallon back in as ICE cars are quoted in terms of MPG.

Thanks, my 2013 Superb I ordered a full sized spare so it had a deep wheel well to accommodate it, my current 2016/7 Superb came with a skinny space saver wheel, so the wheel I kept from my old write off, won’t fit in the boot so I'm stuck with skinny wheel as a spare.😒

I think you can still order a spare if you want to when placing your new car order. I don't think its an option that you can buy a spare at a later date as I think they fit a different boot floor to car with a spare, but I could be wrong on that point as the last new car I ordered was in 2013 and things may have changed since then.

I think Matt Watson was testing the cars to see how close you can get in normal driving to the makers claimed range, which is nearly impossible to match in most cases. Here is the requested link. (360) I drove these NEW electric cars until they DIED! - YouTube

What about the times when you know that you're only be there for a short time before returning again? Or are you really saying that you only do short journeys in and around N London, in which case I agree.

Eh? what? the car in the story was a Renault not a VW.

6. They said it was a brand new EV car costing £22,000. 7. A new car with a 2014 number plate 🤥 8. There is so much to this story.

Correct, why does that make a difference? If I recall without that feature it only made about £100, I was looking for the same cover as I currently have.

I just had an email from Aviva inviting to get a quote for my car insurance, now I need someone to restart my heart again after that shocker, they quoted me £992 with 10 years NCD, WTF.

That reminds of this

I used to know someone with that name, I was sent to this company to collect some special leads for lighting controllers and was told to ask for Wayne Kerr and that he was expecting me. I was apprehensive, thinking it was a wind up, but it wasn't, it was his real name and he was director of the company, which I discovered when he gave me his business card. Another time, many years ago I had to call on a company in Witney, and the contacts name was, according to the records I was given, Jack Pratt.

No, it is a genuine thing, the links in my post are clickable and only refer to their own site and also the UK.gov site for motor law regarding the driving of a car with no airbag.

That was also my understanding, maybe not all cars are equal?

It was a genuine message from my insurer, Better by Miles, I have pasted it in my original message.

I just received an email from my insurer advising me to be on my lookout for airbag theft. Apparently so they claim that while it is as common as catalytic convertor theft, it is on the increase apparently and they claim that you may not be aware of this until the first time they are called upon to operate, and they can't because they're not there! Are they right? I'd have assumed that the thieves would not have replaced everything so the car normal. I'd also have assumed the ECUs, would try to communicate with the airbags and when not getting "I'm OK" response back, it would have flagged a warning on the dash? Has anyone any experience this actually happening at all. This the email, copied and pasted here. Preventing Airbag Theft. Will Kerr 14th April 2023 Airbags do a great job of keeping us safe, so it’s only fair to repay the favour. Here, we’ll talk you through some tips on preventing airbag theft. First things first… Is airbag theft a big problem? In terms of raw numbers, airbags are stolen a lot less often than catalytic converters. However, it can be a lot more dangerous for the victim. That’s because, in both cases, you may not even know the part has been stolen. Driving without a catalytic converter is bad for the environment (and therefore illegal). But driving without an airbag increases your chances of serious injury or death. Why are people stealing airbags? To sell on. Disruption to supply chains is creating greater demands for car parts, so criminals gangs are focusing in on car crime. Some garages will pay £200-£500 for a stolen airbag. This spookily-lit garage seems a bit sketchy. How long does it take to steal an airbag? An experienced thief can have your airbag away in around 6-8 minutes. Which models are most at risk of airbag theft? Airbags are manufacturer specific. That’s to say, you can’t put any old airbag in any old car. Thieves will therefore want to target: Airbags from very common models that they can expect to sell on. Airbags they already know there’s a demand for – the more expensive the better. Reportedly, some thefts are being carried out ‘to order’ on behalf of garages looking for a particular type of airbag. This suggests the latter option is probably more popular. How do I keep my airbag safe from thieves? Get a steering lock. This is a visual deterrent that will often put thieves off just by being there. Check out our guide to steering locks and make a wise investment. If you can’t park in a garage (which is probably the best way of preventing airbag theft), choose somewhere well-lit, preferably in view of a camera. Only use reputable garages. As well as buying stolen airbags, it’s not unheard of for dodgy repair shops to steal airbags themselves, simply removing them in the course of doing other work. What should I do if my airbag is stolen? As with any crime, you should call the police, report what’s happened and get a crime reference number. You’ll also need to contact your insurer to get things moving with your claim (assuming you’re on a policy like ours which covers theft). Taking as many pictures as you can will be helpful, both for the police and your insurance claim. Can I still drive my car if my airbag has been stolen? While it’s obviously a risk to your safety, there’s nothing to say you can’t legally drive without an airbag installed. Of course, not all thieves are subtle about their work. Some simply rip the airbag system right out, damaging the car – or even removing the steering wheel altogether. In that case, you may not be able to use their car at all until repairs are done.

Just how would that work on car carriers, you need the blanket to seal the air out you can't do that on car carriers, be they road, rail or ship, you cannot do that. Road and rail transporters all have open floors to the trucks as well as securing straps and on sips, you do have flat floors but loads of securing straps tieing the cars down as well as proximity of other vehicles and their securing straps all of which make getting access to the fire impossible and also getting the fire blanket to form a seal with the deck.

You beat me, I was just about to post this myself 🙃🙃

Yes, I did mean the electrolytic capacitors, or sometimes they use small super capacitors to hold the settings in the NVM ram chips that typically store the user data, hence the mention not of leaving the battery disconnected too long as these would drain away and data once again lost. In my defence, it was late last night, and I was tired 😉

Like @Breezy_Pete said if the sparks are only as result of attaching battery charger leads etc, not a mayor problem, but if the sparks occur as a result of a live cable touching ground while taking power from your partner's car via jump leads, there could be some nasty consequences, there is a tremendous amount of power stored in car battery if being jumped from another car, there is no safety fuse to blow. Equally, with the power lead that plugs into the onboard OBD socket, should the life battery lead make accidental contact with ground, then the fuse designed to protect your electrical gear that needs to be permanently connected will blow, which will hopefully return you to the same state that you would be if you just disconnected the battery without have the temp supply connected, but now you have to find the fuse and if needed input the radio code again. The choice is yours to make at the end of the day, but I think I would be wrong if I did not point out the possible problems to you that you may face.