28 minutes ago, eddie eastwood said:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/failing-ban-hybrid-cars-without-000100410.html

You need read no further...

Representative body Electric Vehicles UK (EVUK), which made the claim, said allowing sales of the vehicles to continue would have a “profound” impact on consumer confidence in the Government’s commitment to electric motoring....

Always follow the money.

Just looking at the relevant snippet:

"Representative body Electric Vehicles UK (EVUK), which made the claim, said allowing sales of the vehicles to continue would have a “profound” impact on consumer confidence in the Government’s commitment to electric motoring."

how many of us have any confidence anyway? That said, if they actually say for definite what type of hybrid they will allow to be sold 2030-2035, that would a least provide a morsel of clarity to the motor industry and the customer in this muddle.

 it continues to annoy me though, that the assumption continues to be made that "zero-emission" automatically means EV, when other technologies are continuing to develop.

The recent wind generation experience highlights the issue. We had several days when wind only supplied around 6% of electricity demand, while on "good days" we can see 60% or more. It is not hard to see that continued expansion of the wind turbine fleet will provide massive overcapacity on those "good days". This will have to be stored in some form (pumped storage, batteries, or green hydrogen production).

Battery electric is great for many applications, but for some users hydrogen (fuel cell or ICE) may yet turn out to be equally valid. 

 

 

 

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/01/only-5-percent-of-us-car-buyers-want-an-ev-according-to-survey/

2 hours ago, eddie eastwood said:

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/01/only-5-percent-of-us-car-buyers-want-an-ev-according-to-survey/

5% of Americans want an EV?? Who knew it was that high LOL Can't wait for Trump to start his reign, all this EV nonsense will be tossed in the recycling bin...

Given that the Biden administration used taxpayer dollars to pay for the promotion of EV adoption without expecting their cohorts to actually use the money to build out a rudimentary infrastructure for charging the government promoted EV growth is a testament to how much of the “plan “ was actually a lie and a scam.

Now the taxpayers are getting a much clearer picture of the mechanism of the government funded scam. Many government agencies are in desperate need of being completely abolished. The jig is up for all this green agenda nonsense. I have no issues with hybrid vehicles and EV cars if that person doesn’t have any problem buying one. But I don’t want to pay for any of them through taxes.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/long-ev-last-replaced-guide-111902523.html

4 minutes ago, eddie eastwood said:

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/long-ev-last-replaced-guide-111902523.html

A very valid concern. My own 20 year old petrol car is well maintained, I'm a car enthusiast, just last week it got it's annual oil/filter change. I notice no difference at all in the car operation, it's not faster, or quieter, but I know it'll add to the longevity of the engine.

Most car owners are not enthusiasts, for goodness sake, most don't even know how to operate their rear fog light!

There is a ticking time bomb being enacted in EVs when folk charge their car up as and when needed, without a second thought on how to intelligently charge for longevity. They'll just wonder why after a few years, their car that use to take them on a round trip to see their grand kids, is now on the hard shoulder waiting for the breakdown guy with a can of electric to get them going again.

Interesting times ahead, almost sad I'll not be around to see them...

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

Interesting times ahead, almost sad I'll not be around to see them...

My desire to see what happens is what keeps me going!😀

4 hours ago, StephenFord said:

A very valid concern. My own 20 year old petrol car is well maintained, I'm a car enthusiast, just last week it got it's annual oil/filter change. I notice no difference at all in the car operation, it's not faster, or quieter, but I know it'll add to the longevity of the engine.

Most car owners are not enthusiasts, for goodness sake, most don't even know how to operate their rear fog light!

There is a ticking time bomb being enacted in EVs when folk charge their car up as and when needed, without a second thought on how to intelligently charge for longevity. They'll just wonder why after a few years, their car that use to take them on a round trip to see their grand kids, is now on the hard shoulder waiting for the breakdown guy with a can of electric to get them going again.

Interesting times ahead, almost sad I'll not be around to see them...

You will be glad to know that the AA are now taking delivery of EV ford customs. Who'd have thought it. 🤣🤣🤣 Enjoy. 

1 minute ago, iantt said:

You will be glad to know that the AA are now taking delivery of EV ford customs. Who'd have thought it. 🤣🤣🤣 Enjoy. 

Maybe the RAC are gearing up with special EV chargers to get their competitors out of trouble 😂

If the AA vans aren't doing a big daily mileage, and can get an overnight charge, I can see the logic.

I think the official range is around 160-200 miles? I was having a play with the calculator on the Ford site, and in the sort of weather we've had lately, though, that drops to around 100 in mixed driving.

54 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

that drops to around 100 in mixed driving.

......and if they were to tow a broken down car that probably drops to 10 mile, provided they don't switch the lights or the heater on 🤣

25 minutes ago, unofix said:

......and if they were to tow a broken down car that probably drops to 10 mile, provided they don't switch the lights or the heater on 🤣

That's what   heated seats and steering wheel are for. 🤣

Have a play with Ford's calculator here, I found it very interesting. Obviously it works both ways and I can see it would be helpful in figuring out how to get the best from your EV.

https://www.ford.co.uk/vans-and-pickups/e-transit-custom/range-calculator

We paid a visit to one of the big retail parks recently, where there is a big charging hub. I always have a look around these out of interest. 

I found that the area with rapid chargers, tethered cables and the option of contactless payment was very busy indeed, though about half the customers were actually local council vans.

There is another area though, with a bank of 30 chargers and not one was in use. There was no indication of what kW they were, nor could I see any means of payment other than using an app, and none had tethered cables.

I assume, as they had no contactless faclity, they were somewhere between 8 and 50kW, which is a grey area left by the latest EV charging regulations*

I find a similar story at my nearest public charge point at the P&R terminus. The rapid chargers with tethered cables and contactless option are in constant use, the rest are empty.

Goes to show that if charging is rapid, easy to use without mucking about getting cables out of your boot, and payment is simple, people are far more likely to use it, and people for whom home charging is not an option would be much more likely to go EV.

(* https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-public-charge-point-regulations-2023-guidance/public-charge-point-regulations-2023-guidance)

25 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Goes to show that if charging is rapid, easy to use without mucking about getting cables out of your boot, and payment is simple, people are far more likely to use it,..

If only someone could design a car like that, quick to re-fuel, easy to pay 🤣

If the charge point has no tethered cable , more than likely it wiil be any where from 3-11 KW. Normally 7kw though. Not somewhere I would ever use unless it was at an overnight hotel stop then and that would be useful I guess. 

Just checked on the Council website for the "mystery" ones I mentioned. They say they are: 

"Fast Charge points which are slower than Rapid or Ultra-Rapid charge points)."

but don't specify what kW they are, which is not very helpful.

29 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Just checked on the Council website for the "mystery" ones I mentioned. They say they are: 

"Fast Charge points which are slower than Rapid or Ultra-Rapid charge points)."

but don't specify what kW they are, which is not very helpful.

To be fair what would council know about EV charging points?? 😂

35 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

To be fair what would council know about EV charging points?? 😂

It's their Park and Ride site, and their charging hub (amongst others), which they have invested £2.2 million* in, and which they promote heavily. Other than that, nothing, I guess!😀

(*with a large contribution from the European Regional Development Fund, and the UK government)

1 minute ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

...which they have invested £2.2 million* in...

Don't forget, that is YOUR/our money. Council's only income is from taxation whether from local or central government. Even the EU grant (which is closed to us now) was only a mechanism to get some of our own money back again. As with all government, local Council have little clue on how to spend money wisely and for value...

2 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Don't forget, that is YOUR/our money.

 

I don't!😀

4 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Just checked on the Council website for the "mystery" ones I mentioned. They say they are: 

"Fast Charge points which are slower than Rapid or Ultra-Rapid charge points)."

but don't specify what kW they are, which is not very helpful.

The KW rating should show up in zap map. What park and ride is it?

I've never done park and ride , what's that? 🤣🤣🤣

Ok, I checked and it's a thing near cities. So you drive in your warm car to the edge of city then wait in the cold for a bus( had to check what a bus was too) . Sit next to strangers in this bus . Hope this is done in silence. Not a fan of spontaneous chat. 

2 minutes ago, iantt said:

Ok, I checked and it's a thing near cities. So you drive in your warm car to the edge of city then wait in the cold for a bus( had to check what a bus was too) . Sit next to strangers in this bus . Hope this is done in silence. Not a fan of spontaneous chat. 

Crikey, that is so cynical against the EV experience, it's like something I might have said 😂