I must stop reading the papers while having a cuppa.

Today I spot the headline "Used electric car saves you £5,600 on petrol equivalent" and go on to read "Used electric cars are up to £5,600 cheaper to buy and run than petrol and diesel equivalents, with the price difference growing each time they are sold on".

The article (based on research by the Green Alliance think tank) continues in similar vein. Basically the point is that at present used electric residuals drop like a stone, so all we have to do is find some mug (the first purchaser or the taxpayer) to fund the initial new purchase (at over £10,000 more than ICE equivalent) and feed the market with second and third hand electric cars that lower income households can afford to buy to save them from being "trapped into owning more polluting vehicles for longer than they need to be". Simple!

6 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

 

The article (based on research by the Green Alliance think tank...

I wonder if the same think tank have managed to equate the current UK weekly usage of 100 Million disposable face masks to the energy/pollution saved by one electric car! 🤣

12 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I wonder if the same think tank have managed to equate the current UK weekly usage of 100 Million disposable face masks to the energy/pollution saved by one electric car! 🤣

Lol don't get me started on face masks! There must be 100 million of the things strewn around my area!

1 minute ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Lol don't get me started on face masks! There must be 100 million of the things strewn around my area!

You can get started if you want, just like 'lockdown' there is absolutely no evidence that they make a difference. Indeed, the WHO never requested their implementation, just another useless government edict to make it look like they are doing something. They have had an enormous success on funding and rolling out the vaccine, yet seem to have little faith that it works (when there is ACTUAL evidence that it does!). It's all so depressing...

3 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

You can get started if you want

Lol, no need Stephen, you've said it all for me there!

well, its started. had a ship load of mustang mach e arrive end of last week and today. 

1 hour ago, iantt said:

well, its started. had a ship load of mustang mach e arrive end of last week and today. 

I see the Ford website is taking pre-orders. With prices from as low as £41330 for a 75kwh 2wd up to only £58,080 I'm sure there'll be a big rush, better get your order in fast @StephenFord!😀

The standard or "free" colour is "Absolute Black" (as opposed to fairly black or slightly black, presumably,) everything else is £800 to £1150 (except on that £58,080 First Edition).

 

I see the Mustang Mach E wins this comparison:

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/comparison/2021/ford-mustang-mach-e-vs-vw-id4-vs-volvo-xc40-recharge-vs-hyundai-kona-electric-/

I believe the next Ford EV will be on the same underpinnings as the VW id4 which comes second here. 

26 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I see the Mustang Mach E wins this comparison:

 

I see they have a sense of humour!

"And there are no exterior door handles: push the button and the door pops open – unless somehow the car battery's flat..."

I'm sure the AA/RAC are working on a solution as we speak... 🤣

11 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I see they have a sense of humour!

Yes, you certainly need one!

Meanwhile, in other news. Those of us who wonder where the electricity for our carbon free Utopia is coming from, may have noticed that Dungeness B is closing 7 years early due to safety concerns (cracking of the cores). Torness and Heysham 2 (which were due to stay in service to 2030) may also be closed early for the same reason, Hunterston B, Hinkley Point B, Hartlepool and Heysham 1 are all scheduled to close by 2024, leaving Sizewell B as our sole nuclear generating capacity until Hinkley Point C is commissioned (2026 at the latest guess, I think?).

 

 

8 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

...until Hinkley Point C is commissioned (2026 at the latest guess, I think?).

 

Hope you have been watching BBC's, 'Building Britains' Biggest Nuclear Power Station", an amazing 2 part series behind the scenes!

4 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Hope you have been watching BBC's, 'Building Britains' Biggest Nuclear Power Station", an amazing 2 part series behind the scenes!

Yes, recorded that, still to watch second part. Perhaps in view of the news I mentioned, they ought to have called it "Building Britain's Only Nuclear Power Station"!😀

4 hours ago, StephenFord said:

I see they have a sense of humour!

"And there are no exterior door handles: push the button and the door pops open – unless somehow the car battery's flat..."

I'm sure the AA/RAC are working on a solution as we speak... 🤣

Had a glance at one and did wonder about the door handles. There's a bit of plastic that sticks out I assume you touch. Doesn't look too sturdy. Will have a closer look tommorow

13 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Meanwhile, in other news. Those of us who wonder where the electricity for our carbon free Utopia is coming from, may have noticed that Dungeness B is closing 7 years early due to safety concerns (cracking of the cores). Torness and Heysham 2 (which were due to stay in service to 2030) may also be closed early for the same reason, Hunterston B, Hinkley Point B, Hartlepool and Heysham 1 are all scheduled to close by 2024, leaving Sizewell B as our sole nuclear generating capacity until Hinkley Point C is commissioned (2026 at the latest guess, I think?).

Not a problem, we have lots of coal reserves in the UK to generate the electricity we need for our environmentally friendly, carbon neutral, non-polluting electric cars

48 minutes ago, Carl123 said:

Not a problem, we have lots of coal reserves in the UK....

Oh goody, I do hope it's the dirty black variety that gives off tons of dark smoke when burned! LOL 😁

I did have a chuckle at VW's humorous new ad last night...  Showing the free charging points in Tesco, with all other brands of car covered.

However...there's one with an L-plate Kangaroo-ing on the pull-away...  Are there any manual plug in hybrids?  

17 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Yes, you certainly need one!

Meanwhile, in other news. Those of us who wonder where the electricity for our carbon free Utopia is coming from, may have noticed that Dungeness B is closing 7 years early due to safety concerns (cracking of the cores). Torness and Heysham 2 (which were due to stay in service to 2030) may also be closed early for the same reason, Hunterston B, Hinkley Point B, Hartlepool and Heysham 1 are all scheduled to close by 2024, leaving Sizewell B as our sole nuclear generating capacity until Hinkley Point C is commissioned (2026 at the latest guess, I think?).

 

 

Sizewell C is due to open after the 2030 deadline currently...so that's useful.    I am a bit surprised that it still takes over a decade to build a nuclear plant with all of the tech we have nowadays though.

5 hours ago, Carl123 said:

Not a problem, we have lots of coal reserves in the UK to generate the electricity we need for our environmentally friendly, carbon neutral, non-polluting electric cars

But no power stations to burn that coal, there are currently only 2 on the UK network, with the first to go by 2022 and the last, Ratcliffe-on-Soar by the end of 2025

In summer 2020 the UK went for over two months without burning any coal to produce electricity.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Sizewell C is due to open after the 2030 deadline currently...so that's useful.    I am a bit surprised that it still takes over a decade to build a nuclear plant with all of the tech we have nowadays though.

Nothing, absolutely nothing gets done quickly in the nuclear industry. 

24 minutes ago, Mark-UK said:

But no power stations to burn that coal, 

No mines to extract it either. The last deep mine (Kellingley) closed in 2015. 

There are proposals to open a new deep mine in Whitehaven specifically to produce coking coal which is still used in steelmaking. That now looks doubtful due to opposition from the green lobby even though the alternative is importing coal from overseas.

Well, this all bodes well for the UK battery car industry - maybe we should all buy individual petrol generators to charge them LOL 🤣

On 5/22/2021 at 10:42 AM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

. Very interested to see that JCB are trialling a hydrogen powered combustion engine derived from, and sharing many components with, their diesel engine. JCB are not convinced that batteries/fuel cells are the answer for trucks and plant, so have developed this with claimed zero CO2 and "virtually unmeasurable" NOX etc.

Also seen this week that Toyota are working on a hydrogen fuelled version of the engine from the GR Yaris. I have seen reports previously that Akio Toyoda, the Toyota corporation boss, is not that keen on fully battery electric vehicles (despite their history with hybrids) and still sees a future for the combustion engine, so this is interesting.

 

44 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

maybe we should all buy individual petrol generators to charge them LOL 🤣

That was my plan when I'm forced to buy a battery operated car. Just bung a petrol generator in the boot and crack on. The flaw in the plan will be the (non) availability of petrol once the petrol stations close due to lack of demand.

There have been several periods recently where the UK has generated all its electricity from none fossil fuel sources.  We are an island, we are surrounded by wind and water so let's get on with using it to get all the electric we need. 

We get electric we can then crack water for hydrogen.  I find the Mirai an exciting idea, I'd have one if I could get the fuel.   I'm 51, I remember the good old days of v6s and v8s but petrol is dead.

Interestingly too nissan claim 99% of a Leaf is recyclable, even the batteries for their global storage initiative.

2 hours ago, Guy Heaton said:

We are an island, we are surrounded by wind and water so let's get on with using it to get all the electric we need. 

We get electric we can then crack water for hydrogen.  

Yes, the two go very much hand in hand. A frequently mentioned issue with wind is having no means of storing surplus energy when demand is low but wind is high. Using it to produce hydrogen is one solution.

It's ironic that hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element in the universe but extracting it in useful form is pretty difficult.