Inflation was 2.8% in April. This is May which there is not an inflation figure for yet. But coming soon.

17 hours ago, Evolution13 said:

Inflation was 2.8% in April. This is May which there is not an inflation figure for yet. But coming soon.

May figure from the ONS due out on June 17th so a while yet. The upcoming hike in energy costs, overall 13% but only about 5% is electricity and over 20% is gas due to the ME war should not effect EV running costs very much but gas is going inline with the big rises in Diesel, petrol ie liquid, STP ie ambient temp & pressure.

UK government could do more to keep fuel and energy prices down, remove even more of the policy levies which still make up 6% of the retail price. List of the 125 food imports which are having their duty removed I will list over on the Cost of Living thread. Lots of thing government can do to keep downward pressure on inflation and we should not see similar to the over 11% in one year and 22% over 3 years we saw earlier this decade but always a battle with factors external to the UK.

---

Inflation forecasts

The conflict in the Middle East and the associated rise in energy prices is expected to lead to higher UK inflation. Prior to the conflict the CPI annual inflation rate was expected to fall to around 2% from April and remain around 2% for the rest of 2026. On 30 April 2026, the Bank said, based on energy market pricing in mid-April, that CPI was projected to be 3.1% in Q2, 3.3% in Q3 and “to rise somewhat further in Q4”, due to higher energy and food prices. For more see the Library briefing on the conflict and UK supply chains.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sets interest rates in the UK. The government has given the MPC a remit to target an inflation rate of 2% over the “medium term” – usually thought of as a few years’ time. For latest information on interest rates, see the Library briefing, Interest Rates and Monetary Policy: Key Economic Indicators.

Peoples domastic gas usage has dropped through a warm for many May. So any increase in May, June or July on something not used is Zero increase. Food is still bought, fuel is still bought. Industrial gas and electric users mean cost of so much rising.

Edited Monday at 12:012 days by Evolution13

44 minutes ago, Evolution13 said:

Peoples domastic gas usage has dropped through a warm for many May. So any increase in May, June or July on something not used is Zero increase. Food is still bought, fuel is still bought. Industrial gas and electric users mean cost of so much rising.

You're right, I can see food prices rising almost weekly and the official inflation figures are only meaningful if people are actually buying all of the things in the basket being used for the sample set.

4 hours ago, Evolution13 said:

Peoples domastic gas usage has dropped through a warm for many May. So any increase in May, June or July on something not used is Zero increase. Food is still bought, fuel is still bought. Industrial gas and electric users mean cost of so much rising.

Had a good few days of not having the heating on overnight but night temperatures dropping back into single figures. My lad does not use his, or my, car until midday so battery has some time to warm up a bit but EV have such large Thermal Mass as AI (Gemini for Google ?) explains below....

With the Octopus Agile tariff rather than GO tariff ie more mid day charging rather than mid night charging this may help battery temp before journey before journey.

Heating back on Thursday maybe. With the gas price for next quarter it maybe that using electricity become at least as cheap as gas !!

---

An average electric vehicle (EV) battery has a thermal mass of approximately 1.15 x 10^5 J / Kg....

This is determined by the battery pack's typical weight ( \(300 \text{ to } 600 \text{ kg}\) ) and the specific heat capacity of lithium-ion cells (typically around \(1,000 to 1,150 J / kg K

Breakdown of the Calculation

To find the thermal mass (\(C_{th}\)) of an EV battery, the formula is: C_{th} = m x C_p

Where:

• \(m\) (Mass): An average EV battery pack weighs between \(300 \text{ kg}\) (e.g., a city car or a standard Nissan Leaf) and 600 kg (e.g., Tesla Model S or Y).

• \(C_{p}\) (Specific Heat Capacity): Lithium-ion cell structures and housing generally range from 1,000 to 1,150 J/(kg

Thermal Mass Examples

• City EV (e.g., \(40 kWh}\) battery, 300 kg - approx 3.45 x 10^5 J / K

• Long-Range SUV/Sedan (80 kWh}\) battery, \(500 kgs 5.75 \x 10^5 J / K

Why It Matters

Because of this massive thermal inertia, the battery pack requires substantial amounts of energy to either heat up or cool down.

This is why Electric Vehicles (EVs) rely on robust Battery Thermal Management Systems (BTMS) to maintain the optimal "happy zone" of 15 to 35 C

5 hours ago, lol-lol said:

Had a good few days of not having the heating on overnight but night temperatures dropping back into single figures. My lad does not use his, or my, car until midday so battery has some time to warm up a bit but EV have such large Thermal Mass as AI (Gemini for Google ?) explains below....

With the Octopus Agile tariff rather than GO tariff ie more mid day charging rather than mid night charging this may help battery temp before journey before journey.

Heating back on Thursday maybe. With the gas price for next quarter it maybe that using electricity become at least as cheap as gas !!

---

An average electric vehicle (EV) battery has a thermal mass of approximately 1.15 x 10^5 J / Kg....

This is determined by the battery pack's typical weight ( \(300 \text{ to } 600 \text{ kg}\) ) and the specific heat capacity of lithium-ion cells (typically around \(1,000 to 1,150 J / kg K

Breakdown of the Calculation

To find the thermal mass (\(C_{th}\)) of an EV battery, the formula is: C_{th} = m x C_p

Where:

• \(m\) (Mass): An average EV battery pack weighs between \(300 \text{ kg}\) (e.g., a city car or a standard Nissan Leaf) and 600 kg (e.g., Tesla Model S or Y).

• \(C_{p}\) (Specific Heat Capacity): Lithium-ion cell structures and housing generally range from 1,000 to 1,150 J/(kg

Thermal Mass Examples

• City EV (e.g., \(40 kWh}\) battery, 300 kg - approx 3.45 x 10^5 J / K

• Long-Range SUV/Sedan (80 kWh}\) battery, \(500 kgs 5.75 \x 10^5 J / K

Why It Matters

Because of this massive thermal inertia, the battery pack requires substantial amounts of energy to either heat up or cool down.

This is why Electric Vehicles (EVs) rely on robust Battery Thermal Management Systems (BTMS) to maintain the optimal "happy zone" of 15 to 35 C

What a faff, and this is the future?

1 hour ago, Graham Butcher said:

What a faff, and this is the future?

I think itvis reasonable to assume, as it is happening in other advanced societies, that with more properties having smary meters, that there will be some times when suppliers charge less for electricity late evening to early morning and mid day, sometimes higher charges, ie the tea time slot, prices coukd be half as much again or more than currently single tariff rate, some times similar to current standard rates mid morning and later in the evening.

One can choose to ignore when these changes occur or exploit the cheaper TOU rates. Up to the user !

27 minutes ago, lol-lol said:

I think itvis reasonable to assume, as it is happening in other advanced societies, that with more properties having smary meters, that there will be some times when suppliers charge less for electricity late evening to early morning and mid day, sometimes higher charges, ie the tea time slot, prices coukd be half as much again or more than currently single tariff rate, some times similar to current standard rates mid morning and later in the evening.

One can choose to ignore when these changes occur or exploit the cheaper TOU rates. Up to the user !

I think we can take as a given in order that they can balance the grid more but I can also see that as people shift their usage times to take advantage of the lower prices on offer, those price will slowly be withdrawn. The grid will then become tuned to the demand and they will fail to keep on top of the supply. In other words we will always be claiming that demand is greater then supply to justify higher prices, and so the circle of life begins again.

Edited yesterday at 06:021 day by Graham Butcher

So i did 120 miles for £3. Then i put in £7 charging. Then another £19 and have done 170 miles. Now at 98%. Showing 175 mile range but in my 160 miles to get home i will put in a £5 charge on the way. So £34 for 330 miles and there will be maybe 30 miles range once home. No charging issues with last 2 chsrges @ 65 pence and 55 pence a kWh. Real life EV travel like this maybe half the time, or more when using familiar charging places. When it is crap experiences is often when in a hurry ,or during bad weather and when i lesst want the hsssle. A 300 mile plus range and home charging is obviously more sensible than a low range BEV. EDIT. Stopped for dogs to stretch legs, plugged in for 5 minutes and put in 4 kWh. £2.69. Got home with 30 miles range. (Average speed including stop 50 mph. Half was Motorway.)

Edited yesterday at 12:221 day by Evolution13

16 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

I think we can take as a given in order that they can balance the grid more but I can also see that as people shift their usage times to take advantage of the lower prices on offer, those price will slowly be withdrawn. The grid will then become tuned to the demand and they will fail to keep on top of the supply. In other words we will always be claiming that demand is greater then supply to justify higher prices, and so the circle of life begins again.

I think balancing is different things to different people, companies and the government. We need a reliable supply and we pay big time for that with the "marginal pricing" is the system of choice.

https://www.energy-uk.org.uk/publications/energy-uk-explains-why-marginal-pricing-is-the-cheapest-way-to-run-our-electricity-market/

Seems most people want a simple, single price per KWh per quarter of the year but that is difficult , as we have seen, with electricity actually costs very different prices from tea time on a dull and windless day to mid day on a sunny and windy day hence the massive margin companies allowed to run ie many many times cost to consumer to average buy in price.

Clearly a massive business opportunity for companies to spend and buy battery storage facilities and hydro energy storage (hydro was 90% of the storage system but that is falling I would guess until the Great Glen hydro scheme gets built). There are suppose to be massive battery energy storage plants in many places over the UK but Uk planning and objectives seem to stall all these projects incredibly. We are so different to China, Australia and some other countries who are rolling these things out at scale.

So it seems to be largely down to individuals to do their own thing. We have discussed previously and it does seem very localised but adoption of batteries and solar at home. About 80% of home solar have batteries with the install. So over 1.6M homes have solar, about 6%, but that growth is accelerating "fueled" by higher energy cost and it is going to jump much higher in 4 weeks time.

As more EVs have Vehicle to Load, Home, Grid the solar and battery setups will more and more link in with the home's EVs. Don't think we can rely on business and government too much as they are just too slow to adapt.

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/residential-solar/how-the-uk-ireland-solar-pv-and-residential-bess-market-compares-with-australia

GOV.UK

Britain continues to break clean power records

Households across the UK continue to embrace solar power as the government accelerates its clean power mission.

Today again there is talk of concerns over Energy Security and attacks on infrastructure in the UK by terrorists or enemies of the state. What seems to be an issue is Battery Storage and how easily that can be attacked physically or by Internet. Just like the Pipelines then for Oil / Gas / LNG / Aero fuel, marine fuel & road fuels and depots for these. But then it has always been so. Substations vulnerable also. But what very quickly would bring the UK or just London to it's knees would be attacks on drinking water and sewage infrastructure. All so much sh!te to deal with. Such a lot of the 4 countries infrastructure owned by other than the UK, and money out and not enough back in. On the horizon is El Nino. Brace yourself.

18 hours ago, Evolution13 said:

Today again there is talk of concerns over Energy Security and attacks on infrastructure in the UK by terrorists or enemies of the state. What seems to be an issue is Battery Storage and how easily that can be attacked physically or by Internet. Just like the Pipelines then for Oil / Gas / LNG / Aero fuel, marine fuel & road fuels and depots for these. But then it has always been so. Substations vulnerable also. But what very quickly would bring the UK or just London to it's knees would be attacks on drinking water and sewage infrastructure. All so much sh!te to deal with. Such a lot of the 4 countries infrastructure owned by other than the UK, and money out and not enough back in. On the horizon is El Nino. Brace yourself.

Super El Nino.

One of these killed 50M it is reckoned due to crop failures etc.

Very much thinking of getting a mobile heat pump unit as the thought of temps hitting going on for 40C is horrible.

In other news i gather oil inventories are continuing to get drawn down and replacement stock not arriving at a level which has been warned that prices must rise to further reduce demand so it is in balance with supply. Will this further push the move to EVs where this is not an issue ?

Edited 8 hours ago8 hr by lol-lol

3 hours ago, Stonekeeper said:

Would have like to see if he could drive much past 0% SoC.

£68k to £86k more than just would want to spend.

Nice though and prefer ro TESLAs, presume there is a Polestar of similar spec.

4 minutes ago, lol-lol said:

Would have like to see if he could drive much past 0% SoC.

£68k to £86k more than just would want to spend.

Nice though and prefer ro TESLAs, presume there is a Polestar of similar spec.

Tomorrow a red letter day for EV charging on TOU tariff such as Agile as prices are low ie sub 10 p per KWh between 0000 and 0630 and then from 1330 to 1530 are virtually zero or even a bit negative.

I love it when a plan comes together !

Little Donkey meets the basic criteria, and tbh an EV is what really suits my needs now.

3 minutes ago, Stonekeeper said:

Wow, very little distance past 0% SoC which seems to be the norm for Geely and other Chinese cars. Think i prefer the Renault and TESLA fatter margins that Bjorn Nyland has tested and shown.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by lol-lol

Nothing wrong with 0 % / Zero miles range meaning 0% left and Zero miles possible IMO. Actually 'Simply Clever' to save people from acting stupidly and pushing on regardless because they read or watched somebody telling them how far you can go beyond. #'One step beyond' Madness.

44 minutes ago, lol-lol said:

Wow, very little distance past 0% SoC which seems to be the norm for Geely and other Chinese cars. Think i prefer the Renault and TESLA fatter margins that Bjorn Nyland has tested and shown.

Surely it doesn't really matter either way if you treat zero as zero... Which is what most sensible people do

42 minutes ago, lol-lol said:

Wow, very little distance past 0% SoC which seems to be the norm for Geely and other Chinese cars. Think i prefer the Renault and TESLA fatter margins that Bjorn Nyland has tested and shown.

I still think it is foolish to allow your battery to get that low in the first place just to avoid spashing a little cash on public charging to give that extra margin of safety. Just the other day there was an incident on a local road that resulted in a 32 mile diversion so if caught in that you would have got stuck.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by Graham Butcher

14 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

I still think it is foolish to allow your battery to get that low in the first place just to avoid spashing a little cash on public charging to give that extra margin of safety. Just the other day there was an incident on a local road that resulted in a 32 mile diversion so if caught in that you would have got stuck.

Carry one of these in the boot

1 hour ago, lol-lol said:

Wow, very little distance past 0% SoC which seems to be the norm for Geely and other Chinese cars. Think i prefer the Renault and TESLA fatter margins that Bjorn Nyland has tested and shown.

Model Y only did 19 miles in the same test

2 minutes ago, Stonekeeper said:

Carry one of these in the boot

That'll be one person in this thread... 🤣

5 minutes ago, Stonekeeper said:

Model Y only did 19 miles in the same test

Better than 3 or 4 !

My smaller batteried Scenic did 11 miles past 0 % SoC before even a warning of limited performance and that is gradually, Aria 60 did 38 km if memory servers, Renault 5 46 kms.

I intend to get Carscanner software and OB2 port device as Bjorn does as that seems key to see the actual data than the manufacturers vageries which seem to vary hugely.

Maybe the new VTOMAN dual portable battery unit i just got which is saving me money during the expensive electricity times. Bluetti unit still working well and the Ecoplay unit to. Allpower unit gave uk the ghost but then it was Li NMC and not LeFePO4.

Will look up Bjorns zero miles spreadsheet, perhaps it was a LR or a 3 that did better than 31 kms. Weather can be a big factor as we know even with Octovalves etc.