17 minutes ago, mjt said:

And yes, until we can manage without fossil fuels we should use local assets and nationalise them.

To nationalize the UK Oil and Gas sector would cost hundreds of billions, cutting off funds for any sort for government help for renewable development, and dis-incentivise private investment (why spend money in development if the government will just take it off us afterwards)

We need to stop the use of fossil fuel not develop more,  it would be  just another short term policy that would delay the transition and in the long run end up costing us more.

12 minutes ago, Mark-UK said:

To nationalize the UK Oil and Gas sector would cost hundreds of billions...

 

I mentioned before at how our government is an expert on squandering telephone numbers of cash. HMRC admits that £6 Billion was given out incorrectly in furlough payments, £38 Billion was wasted in 'track & trace', and the National Accounts Office state that in excess of £370 Billion was spent on 'covid' so far.

If the government had the b*lls, they could easily invest in a secure reliable energy policy for this country...

By the way, I'm not advocating nationalisation - government has the same expertise in running companies as it does in spending money wisely! 🤣

Who is going to fix all These electric cars when they need fixing?? 

24 minutes ago, iantt said:

Who is going to fix all These electric cars when they need fixing?? 

Maybe Maplins will make a come back??

50 minutes ago, iantt said:

Who is going to fix all These electric cars when they need fixing?? 

Market forces / supply and demand, there are some trained people and as the demand increase there will be more, just the same as happened with every new tech that came along and needed repair, probably the person that unbolts a part on your ICE car and then bolts a new part on will be able to unbolt at part on an EV too.

In 2007 I bet someone was asking who'll fix my iphone/smart phone screen if I drop it , in 2022 well just about every town has a few shops that'll do it some while you wait and for a just a few quid

43 minutes ago, Mark-UK said:

Market forces / supply and demand, there are some trained people and as the demand increase there will be more, just the same as happened with every new tech that came along and needed repair, probably the person that unbolts a part on your ICE car and then bolts a new part on will be able to unbolt at part on an EV too.

I was chatting to the lads in our village garage where I have the Mrs's car serviced. They tell me they already have several customers bringing older EVs (usually Nissan Leafs) for service/MOT. They say brakes, steering, suspension, etc are pretty much as ICE vehicles. Other faults are, they say, rare but normally it's a case of swapping out components as you mention.

IMI forecasts 38k shortfall of technicians by 2030 as EV rollout accelerates

I'm not shouting. It's how it copied and pasted  🤣

1 minute ago, iantt said:

IMI forecasts 38k shortfall of technicians by 2030 as EV rollout accelerates

I'm not shouting. It's how it copied and pasted  🤣

There's a major shortage of technicians anyway to service and repair ice vehicles. 

The company I work for are constantly trying to recruit techs. In the trade, more are leaving and going into other trades. It's not about salary.80% of the techs I work with say there next job will be in another trade/ occupation. 

 

15 hours ago, iantt said:

80% of the techs I work with say there next job will be in another trade/ occupation

If it's not about salary do they say why?

Risen to 194.9p per litre at our local BP garage ☹️

23 hours ago, mjt said:

If it's not about salary do they say why?

I suspect for many older mechanics it has lost the interest appeal,  the investigative skill to hunt down that problem has mainly gone, now plug the laptop into the OBD port and bingo, part no. xyz need changing or software section needs an update.

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/13/1085707854/how-a-handful-of-metals-could-determine-the-future-of-the-electric-car-industry

On 3/11/2022 at 10:21 AM, mjt said:

If it's not about salary do they say why?

Various reasons the ones I work with.  the culture at large dealerships, profit over customer satisfaction, pressure to upsell,  cost of own tools to do the job for the employer. ( Not many professions you spend £10k+ on tools to do the work for employer) poor support from the manufacturer. Poor diagnostics to fault find. Frustrating all round on a daily basis.  Basic Pay is an issue at some garages . Can be qualified for number of years and still on £20-24k . 

As for getting apprentices into the trade, the school leavers don't want to get there hands dirty and dire wages for 4 years when there's other opertunities out there. 

I know no one that I went to college with who stayed in the trade except for one who worked for his dad's garage.

Techs who I've known over the years at garages I've worked at mostly left the trade also. I'm the only mug round here who stayed in trade . You don't see many older techs. I've only got another 8-9 years then that's it for me. I physically couldn't work in a proper garage now, too many aches and pains now. 

Been a tech shortage since the early 2000's . Advantages of shortage was you were never unemployed. A couple of times I've walked out of jobs on the spot to walk into another the next day pretty much. 

Company I work for are looking for minimum  60+ techs at the moment 

 

Just to add, tech shortage is not a UK only issue. Pretty much worldwide. Read an article about shortage in USA, and author wrote a piece about a real take on a potential tech reqruitment advert 

Become a technician! You can expect a rewarding career in which you will work long hours (but may or may not get paid for all of them), you will work in a modern facility built in 1925 with three inches of oil dry on the floor in an area in which everything is dirty and you cannot find anything you are looking for and may get hurt tripping on something looking for the thing you will never find. The general public will assume you are a crook trying to fix things that don’t need to be fixed just to get more money from the customer. Your manager will second guess everything you diagnose and repair. You will receive factory training each year so you can try and better recoup some of the hours you don’t get paid for on flat rate. You will eat or starve based off of which service writer you get (and you better hope you get one that can actually sell or you’ll never make any money). The rest of the dealership will ignore you, never consider you for promotion, and rarely even acknowledge your existence. You will bust your fingers, knuckles, head, develop back problems, and more! Almost forgot, and you need to spend about $30,000 dollars on your own tools! Good Luck!

6 hours ago, iantt said:

Just to add, tech shortage is not a UK only issue. Pretty much worldwide.

I don't understand

If there's a tech shortage, surely they will be in demand and able to negotiate their own rates and working conditions

That's always how it has worked in my profession (IT)

2 hours ago, Carl123 said:

I don't understand

If there's a tech shortage, surely they will be in demand and able to negotiate their own rates and working conditions

That's always how it has worked in my profession (IT)

Unfortunately it doesn't work like that most of the time. Garages would rather let someone leave than negotiate. Then struggle on and wait until someone comes who will accept what's on offer. 

That's why the talent pool diminishes and the garage ends up with sometimes only semi skilled workforce 

Like I said ,it's not always about money. Usually it's a combination of issues. 

 

Back to the high cost of electric. I've been told I'm using too much electric while making a cuppa tea. Blah blah blah. Her indoors said only to boil enough for my cuppa tea. So I've done as I'm told. And only one cuppa tea while sat in the hot tub 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I can save energy. 

Northern Ireland prepares for battery car revolution...

Have just returned from NI's second biggest city, Derry. Right in the City Center there is the one & only electric car charging point, though it now seems to have been cordoned off as some pseudo pedestrian zone.In addition, the installed sign (when it was operational), certainly looks like you had to get a wiggle on to get your car charged LOL

One hour to charge you car 🤣

 

I count a lot more than just one in Londonderry 😄

https://www.zap-map.com/locations/londonderry-charging-points/

9 minutes ago, Mark-UK said:

I count a lot more than just one in Londonderry 😄

https://www.zap-map.com/locations/londonderry-charging-points/

Sorry, was just counting the actual 'city center'... (where many would use the opportunity of going shopping and leaving a car to charge)

4 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Sorry, was just counting the actual 'city center'... (where many would use the opportunity of going shopping and leaving a car to charge)

What!  you can drive a car into the city centre, lucky sod. So much predestinarian and bus only cites these days 🤣

On one of my daily walk routes I go past the local canal marina, noticed diesel has gone up there form 109p to 129p in the last week.  There was a boat filling up and not sure if it was 97L or £97, but at around 10 mpg it won't get you far 😮

13 minutes ago, Mark-UK said:

On one of my daily walk routes I go past the local canal marina, noticed diesel has gone up there form 109p to 129p in the last week.  There was a boat filling up and not sure if it was 97L or £97, but at around 10 mpg it won't get you far 😮

That is awfully cheap! Drove past a Sainsbury this morning in Belfast, and diesel was £1.89/liter!

17 hours ago, StephenFord said:

That is awfully cheap! Drove past a Sainsbury this morning in Belfast, and diesel was £1.89/liter!

For the canal boats, it'll be red diesel, the nearest garage forecourt to the marina diesel is £179.9

Prices have only dropped by 1p a litre round here.