^^^^^They've got an LPG hybrid that would sell in Australia but they have decided not to which is a pity for those into LPG here.

Edited 23 July, 20169 yr by Ryeman

^^^^^They've got an LPG hybrid that would sell in Australia but they have decided not to which is a pity for those into LPG here.

 

One needs to sell a few thousands to make it worthwhile.

 

LPG is half the price of diesel/petrol over here but only a few takers.  

 

Range of 174 miles/280 kms sound optimistic for a 28 Kw-hr battery back.  New 3 series is suppose to get a 90 Kw-hr like the Tesla.

LPG had its 'day in the sun' out here back in the 80s.

I think women fear tank exploding and in any case cars are too economical and tightly packaged for a dual fuel conversion.

I used to Cook, Eat & Sleep right next to my Mobile Bomb, but then it was 'Much Cheapness' running the lovely V8.

(it required 2 very big batteries to fire it up as it had no petrol tank and started just on LPG.

but it would start at very low temps with a fast enough spin. If not at first then the Booster was required.)

Edited 25 July, 20169 yr by GoneOffSKi

I used to Cook, Eat & Sleep right next to my Mobile Bomb, but then it was 'Much Cheapness' running the lovely V8.

(it required 2 very big batteries to fire it up as it had no petrol tank and started just on LPG.

but it would start at very low temps with a fast enough spin. If not at first then the Booster was required.)

 

It is so short sighted that LPG converted cars are taxed at their old petrol CO2 rate so effectively are being priced off the orad this year with road tax going from £300 to £500.

 

I would have loved to keep the Jaag going on LPG and it still had some life left in it but now only left with small engined cars and the prospect of EV.

 

Will be sad not to see these beautiful old cars on the road so often.  

 

Had a couple of SD1s also.  

But you can put a V8 or even a V12 Petrol in an old Diesel and run it on cheap LPG and low VED,

not even need a Tacho if using for gain and reward if there is no other fuel source.   So many good grey areas in the UK Taxation System.

But you can put a V8 or even a V12 Petrol in an old Diesel and run it on cheap LPG and low VED,

not even need a Tacho if using for gain and reward if there is no other fuel source.   So many good grey areas in the UK Taxation System.

Done the v8 v6 inline 6s and now must go for an electric car for the sake of the enviroment. Hottest June ever last month and we cannot go on in this way anymore.

Hottest June ever where, and whats that got to do with anything.  

Have you got Solar Panels and a Battery set up and maybe a Hydrogen manufacturing plant to take advantage?

 

Or are you just going to use Government Incentives and plug into the wall?

 

EDIT,

I see what you mean, the World was hot.

http://bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36851547

Not much use to me, i have only been able to have a few weeks this year with no central heating on.

Edited 25 July, 20169 yr by GoneOffSKi

http://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-races-to-finish-gigafactory-in-time-for-model-3-rollout-1469404142

 

SPARKS, Nev.— Tesla Motors Inc. is scrambling to finish building its massive $5 billion battery factory here years ahead of schedule to meet demand for its coming cheaper sedan and provide power for new types of vehicles Chief Executive Elon Musk says are under development.   Tesla has doubled the number of people constructing the “gigafactory,” which sits on more than 3,000 acres near Reno. Now, 1,000 workers build seven days a week on two shifts in an effort to start churning out lithium-ion cells by late 2016.  The goal is to have the factory operational before the launch next year of the $35,000 Model 3 sedan, which is about half the base price of the Model S. Tesla opened reservations for the Model 3 earlier this year, and strong demand led Mr. Musk to pull a 500,000 sales target ahead two years to 2018. He also raised $1.7 billion through a stock offering in hopes of speeding up battery production expected to lower the cost of the batteries for electric vehicles.

 

As of now, the gigafactory’s structure is less than one-sixth the size of what the final building is expected to occupy. Most exterior walls are temporary and can be relocated. Already finished is a four-story rectangular portion of the facility, housing 1.9 million square feet of floor space.  Tesla already is building battery packs for its battery storage business there, but is importing the battery cells from PanasonicCorp. facilities in Japan.  Panasonic has committed up to $1.6 billion to the factory. Joe Taylor, chief executive of Panasonic North America, said the company is struggling to find qualified workers with manufacturing abilities. “We are running around like crazy hiring people.” The Japanese electronics giant is handling the cell manufacturing and pulled forward installation of equipment.  Mr. Musk in recent weeks has laid out aggressive expansion plans for Tesla, including heavier vehicles and an energy-storage business that marries Tesla’s battery business with SolarCity Corp.’s solar panels. Mr. Musk, chairman and largest shareholder of both companies, has proposed a $2.8 billion merger of Tesla and SolarCity. The roof of the new factory may be covered in SolarCity’s panels. A solar-panel field will be constructed nearby to provide additional power to the factory.  Once completed, Mr. Musk anticipates the new plant could be capable of producing a total of 105 gigawatt hours of battery cells by 2020, or enough to power 1.2 million Model S sedans—though up to one-third of those batteries are slated for stationary battery storage. About 50,000 Model S sedans were built in 2015. The auto maker has struggled to build vehicles since it opened its Fremont, Calif., plant, suffering quality problems in addition to supply constraints. Problems building the Model X SUV have limited sales in 2016. Earlier this year, the auto maker lost both its chief of production and head of manufacturing.  Tesla earlier this month said that it had achieved regular levels of higher production and expected to produce 50,000 vehicles in the second half of 2016. Through the first six months it had delivered fewer than 30,000 vehicles.  “We have to be ready with cell and pack production well ahead of vehicle production,” JB Straubel, Tesla’s chief technical officer and co-founder, said during a walk-through of the factory. “We’re accelerating our construction plans and accelerating our planned ramp up of cell production.”

Edited 27 July, 20169 yr by lol-lol

Tesla's gigafactory open - first stage

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1105219_tesla-battery-gigafactory-opens-as-pace-ramps-up-to-ludicrous

VW plans to produce EV cars in the U.S.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1105182_vw-likely-to-build-electric-cars-in-north-america-by-2020-executive

Lithium Air battery development - I guess this is an example of knowledge doubling every 13 months

http://www.cemag.us/news/2016/07/lithium-oxygen-battery-means-better-energy-efficiency?et_cid=5414282&et_rid=916553762&type=cta&et_cid=5414282&et_rid=916553762&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.cemag.us%2fnews%2f2016%2f07%2flithium-oxygen-battery-means-better-energy-efficiency%3fet_cid%3d5414282%26et_rid%3d%25%25subscriberid%25%25%26type%3dcta

Lithium Air battery development - I guess this is an example of knowledge doubling every 13 months

http://www.cemag.us/news/2016/07/lithium-oxygen-battery-means-better-energy-efficiency?et_cid=5414282&et_rid=916553762&type=cta&et_cid=5414282&et_rid=916553762&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.cemag.us%2fnews%2f2016%2f07%2flithium-oxygen-battery-means-better-energy-efficiency%3fet_cid%3d5414282%26et_rid%3d%25%25subscriberid%25%25%26type%3dcta

 

Silicon, Lithium, Gallium-Arsenide, Moore's Law.

 

Yet vehicle still only do about 50 mpg ie same MPG as 50 or 100 years ago, yes safer etc.

 

"Free" electricity in the UK for some of the weekend to charge the EV up.

Fill up your battery with positive and negative ions at the fuel station.......?

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1105304_electric-drive-cars-should-fuel-charging-is-dead-end-says-nanoflowcell

Three new VW U.S. EV platforms

http://www.autonews.com/article/20160803/OEM04/160809899/vw-details-plans-for-3-ev-platforms-more-suvs?cciid=email-autonews-weekly&cm_ven=ExactTarget&cm_cat=CAN_emlIndustryEvents_20160803205957&cm_pla=Automotive+News+Editorial&cm_ite=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.autonews.com%2Farticle%2F20160803%2FOEM04%2F160809899%2Fvw-details-plans-for-3-ev-platforms-more-suvs%3Fcciid%3Demail-autonews-weekly&cm_lm=davpearn%40gmail.com&cm_ainfo=&%25%25__AdditionalEmailAttribute1%25%25=&%25%25__AdditionalEmailAttribute2%25%25=&%25%25__AdditionalEmailAttribute3%25%25=&%25%25__AdditionalEmailAttribute4%25%25=&%25%25__AdditionalEmailAttribute5%25%25=

Edited 4 August, 20169 yr by Ryeman

VW's ev Golf with serious range

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1105636_volkswagen-to-unveil-electric-car-with-nearly-400-mile-range#src=10065

VW EV infrastructure funding as part of its penalty

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1105605_oversight-of-2-billion-vw-electric-car-funds-required-charging-companies-say

Edited 19 August, 20169 yr by Ryeman

VW's ev Golf with serious range

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1105636_volkswagen-to-unveil-electric-car-with-nearly-400-mile-range#src=10065

VW EV infrastructure funding as part of its penalty

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1105605_oversight-of-2-billion-vw-electric-car-funds-required-charging-companies-say

 

 

I like the quote...

 

Obviously, it remains to be seen whether this new car will actually meet its projected 600 km range when held to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. As you might recall, Volkswagen has effectively blamed EPA regulations for the Dieselgate debacle, saying that the EPA's benchmarks were so high, engineers had no choice but to find ways to cheat on emissions tests. 

 

Which is interesting when BMW and Mercedes have not had these problems.  VW scrimped by not introducing SCR earlier and have relatively poor EGR systems to be the biggest car producer.

 

For VW to get 400 miles/ 600 KMs out of a car like the Golf/Rabbid as it use to be known, would need batteries of the 75-90 KwHr capacity to get this range and therefore the price would be still up around the $35k and that is Tesla Model 3 territory ! 

Edited 19 August, 20169 yr by lol-lol

U.S. 'range' claims are actually required to be achievable so it becomes a serious proposition.

Another step toward battery recycling

http://www.cemag.us/news/2016/08/fungi-offers-eco-friendly-alternative-recycling-e-waste?et_cid=5482250&et_rid=916553762&type=cta&et_cid=5482250&et_rid=916553762&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.cemag.us%2fnews%2f2016%2f08%2ffungi-offers-eco-friendly-alternative-recycling-e-waste%3fet_cid%3d5482250%26et_rid%3d%25%25subscriberid%25%25%26type%3dcta

Tesla's Elon Musk claim new battery tech, increased range between charges

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37171455

The politicians will have to start thinking about disruptive tech and potential loss of revenue.

Hiding under the bed won't deal with emerging issues.

Take what comes out of Musk's mouth with a pinch of salt. His 'insane' cars have limitations if you look into it, like not being able to lap the 'ring faster than a luke warm fiesta!. 

 

"Mr Musk said that in cool weather, a driver could travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles." - ​You don't have to check the weather forecast when using an ordinary car!

 

Just a matter of time before the cult following fails and the subsidies dry up.

 

The BBC pension fund happens to hold £Millions of Tesla stock, which probably explains the endless adverts masking as news.

Take what comes out of Musk's mouth with a pinch of salt. His 'insane' cars have limitations if you look into it, like not being able to lap the 'ring faster than a luke warm fiesta!. 

 

"Mr Musk said that in cool weather, a driver could travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles." - ​You don't have to check the weather forecast when using an ordinary car!

 

Just a matter of time before the cult following fails and the subsidies dry up.

 

The BBC pension fund happens to hold £Millions of Tesla stock, which probably explains the endless adverts masking as news.

Don't confuse publicity with development that goes on in the background on their bread n butter one.

There are major disruptions ahead and it's a high stakes game that no manufacurer can ignore but which will have serious implications for their dealership profit margins if the driverless electric motor replaces a large % of IC ones.

Tesla is literally dragging them into it.

A viable car for Europe it seems

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1105746_2017-opel-ampera-e-nee-bolt-ev-to-debut-at-paris-motor-show

Why always the 'test cycle' doubts, they just need to take a couple of dozen production ready models and from different locations, weather and day or night send them on a trip with 4 full size people, maybe American size and see how far they can travel on a full charge. Then you know actual miles possible at revenue type weight.

Edited 26 August, 20169 yr by GoneOffSKi

So London does have electric busses from China

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1105784_who-makes-electric-buses-byd-mercedes-proterra-and-tesla-says-it-will

The WSJ seems to be onboard

http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-electric-cars-will-be-here-sooner-than-you-think-1472402674