Graham Butcher

@Ootohere correct, but more is being made from my statement then what should be. Do you not agree then that classic cars such as those making the London to Brighton runs annually 50 or 60 years from now will not be featuring many of the current ICE and more than likely no EVs,? The reason for that is more than likely to be down to electronic failures rather than mechanical drive trains.

Believe what you want to, but I hope that one day when it really sinks in just how such a small thing can ruin your plans and dreams that you'll have the manners to admit I was right, oh and for the record, it DOES not only apply to EVs but all modern cars that rely an gadgetry to make them run and drive. Including my new Kodiaq but I'm aware of this and not burying my head in the sand. Dish washers and TVs etc etc all fall foul of this, try getting control parts for out of production appliances. Hoses and such parts are for the large part replaceable as people can often make work around, including most of us here, think about it.

Quite right, and to add insult to injury, these parts are also hidden away in sealed cases and also in inaccessible locations and the sealed units are many and nondescript and are not even available to the ordinary person, only authorised dealers, who also do not have the skilled staff to even understand which parts do what and if they will even attempt to repair the car, they go through a trail and error of swapping parts, of which all parts are chargeable. Even if they don't cure the problem which can cost thousands of £ and the upshot of it all is, that the actual failed part, if you could pin point it and replace it, could be a simple SMD resistor or a capacitor costing just pence, and a modern car has thousands of such electronic parts.

Just couldn't help yourself then, I had already agreed about the mechanical components, but it is all the really complex control, electronics and software that makes EVs overall way more complicated then an ICE. That is one reason why there is a shortage of skilled people to work on them beyond doing the simple things like normal servicing. Most normal people can actually see a problem with something mechanical, and with the right tools could more than likely also fix it, can you see faults with electronics, software, etc? Yes there is a certain amount of those elements in modern ICE vehicles, but go back a few years there was none of those things was there? Look at the classic vehicles at rallies etc that are still to this day usable and could be everyday drivers and are are the most part, cared for by their owners. The same thing will not be happening with EVs in the future and if you want a even more clear illustration, take a mechanical calculator and an modern day electronic one.

Indeed, and that is exactly what that video is saying, it states that the battery has been redesigned and indeed it shows it is a blade, it is no longer a collection of cylindrical sealed together in a large metal can. Are you sure that as EV user yourself that you are not reacting to the video in a negative fashion and just automatically rubbishing it out of principle? I have said countless times, I'm not anti EV, I'm just concerned about the way that some countries have chucked all their weight behind the technology which is still in its infancy and there is still much to learn about it and we can effectively negate some of the batteries bad parts. Like I have said, diesel, CFL lights etc, we have as humans trod this path many times before and then discover that the once acclaimed magic bullet is like a scorpion with a really nasty and vicious sting in its tail. I have heard the argument so many times that an electric car is far more reliable than an ICE car, it has less to go wrong etc., really??? There are thousands of battery cells to make up a battery, to say nothing about the cooling and heating system for the battery, the numerous BMS systems required for each bank and the load/charge balancing systems for the cells for their own protection, the invertors and all the required control systems. In reality, the EV is far far more complicated than the ICE version, where an EV is less complicated than an ICE is is in the actual moving parts, but they are way more complicated overall.

Is the the myth finally becoming a liability , has the blade battery reached the end and the truth coming out?

Having just switched from a Superb to a Kodiaq, I like to drive in ECO mode and I find it a bit frustrating having to select it manually each time I start the engine, is there a way to select a default mode and have the car remember that setting?

Is EGR only applicable to diesels then?

Modern Heros is not having great time of it of late, here is his latest problem, brand new Citroen Ami, broke on day 1 and is now waiting on a fix.

I have sent you a message with my email address as I know that you said you couldn't send any yet due to not having enough posts, but you should be able to receive messages, have a look.

Hell yes, that is my old car but it is in fact petrol blue, not lava blue. Is the seller offering any form of warranty with the car? 2016 Blue SKODA Superb 2.0 TDI Laurin & Klement Hatchback 5dr Diesel DSG Auto 6Spd Euro 6 (s/s) (150 ps) for sale for £6,495 in AMERSHAM, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE I can tell you that the service history is extensive, I have spent a lot on it myself, it has had a new alternator, 4 new tyres, new pressure sensor on the number 3 glow plug, New N/S/F shock (DCC) new O/S/F coil spring, new front suspension bushes, new headlight leveler control unit.

Yes. I did sell my car and recently, where was the car that you were looking at and do you have the registration plate details?

Well that certainly looks like that is what it is, I never knew that it even had one. Thanks

While trying to iron out a few bugs in the setup of my new to me Kodiaq and give it a good thorough clean in preparation of taking some photos and posting them here, I came across some bits that have me puzzled. 1/ Not all of contacts have made their way into the phone settings, what going on? It reports reports 63 out of 63 contacts have been imported but some are not visible. 2/There does not seem to be a way of scrolling up and down the list of calls and or contacts other then through the touch screen, not safe in my view. 3/ Sometimes it is impossible to make a phone call from the car, and you can at other times? 4/ I have discovered this cable laying loose in the spare wheel bay, with 2 pads connected at the end, separated by a piece of foam, any ideas what this is for?

I think that you are getting a little confused here, the first Superb I had with cruise control would keep the set speed going up or down hill as well as on the level , what it would not do is react to slower vehicles in front, thus requiring me to either overtake them or to alter the set speed of the car. Later models came with adaptive cruise control that would slow the car to match the speed of slower ones in front unless I overtook them when once again my car would maintain the set speed regardless of it I was going up or down a hill. Hill descent control is something very different and is designed for use on very steep hills in particular if you are off roading in an off road vehicle like Kodiaq 4x4, Land Rover, Range Rover, Jeep etc and will get you safely to the bottom of the hill with each wheel being independently braked to maintain a safe slow speed and keep the car safe. There are loads of videos on YouTube that show and explain how descent hill control works and it is completely different to cruise control.

If that happens then you don't actually have a working cruise control. That is the entire point of it, to maintain a set speed.

Despite the Luton Airport fire being started by a Diesel Range Rover, diesel was not responsible for the subsequent destruction of the other cars and the structure itself, all of that was done to the presence of other far more dangerous fuels such as petrol and electric car batteries which ignite for easier and burn at far higher temperatures. As this video shows, diesel itself can even be used to put fires out.

I have just joined the bear club with a 19 plate 150hp TDI DSG7 model and I have noticed that sometimes the ECO and coasting takes place and yet other times, given the same stretch of road and also the ECO mode has been selected but the car is not coasting or the ECO light does not light up, even with the car rolling down a slope. This is for me is even more pronounced as I have the virtual cockpit which will display for instance E7 etc the E is for eco mode and the number is the gear the DSG has selected, and at other times on the same section of road and speed, the revs can be seen to die down to idle and the display just shows E with no gear in use? This is in stark contrast to the TDI DSG Superb which would always,given the same road and condition's, light up the eco light and revs drop to idle, so there is in my view something going on here the system.

That in itself is welcome change as for years we seem to get bogged down with dull an interesting colours where your car just hides away among other cars of similar dull and bland colour and indeed same looking cars.

Yes, I'll pop some photos of the bear up here soon, just needs to be cleaned a bit before then as the sellers plot was a dusty location so the car has dusting over it from the all the cars entering the business park he is located on plus all the grim it accumulated on the journey from High Wycombe, back RAF Fairford to pick up my son and then the drive back to Chelmsford. I have some errands and hospital appointments to do today, so hopefully the photos will be done sooner then later.

OK, I now have my Kodiaq and I have driven about 120 miles in the dark and I have to say the lights seem to be good. But I'm not seeing the swivelling like the Xeons did, but I have yet to get to grips with everything. I did see the option for them to switch on in auto mode, with, early, normal or late settings, went with early. What I also noticed on switching ignition on was a message in the instruments showing horizontal bars like get with the ACC for distance setting. When these appear the message says you have 10 secs to adjust the headlights for dipped beam distance. I have yet to play with that but is done with the scroll wheel. Cruise set at 65mph, car in normal mode and averaged 51.8 mpg, impressive for the size of it, has a large frontal area for sure.

Mine come on early enough.

Do have the driving mode in Eco? If yes then that is the first mistake as it stops full function of the lights. Second mistake could be not leaving the light switch in the AUTO position and manually switching them on.

It sounds likely that they need to be correctly adjusted, they are great lights when properly setup.

Interesting, mine has had a similar effect, saving me around 25 to 30%, not worked it out properly yet, will do that tomorrow when I get back home. Not 100% sure if the car is doing the saving or insurance has come down in general.