26 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Well, there seems to be a real schadenfreude-fest in today's media for those folks who don't share the EV vision, example: 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11579649/Tesla-owners-blast-Christmas-car-charging-chaos-dozens-forced-wait-THREE-HOUR-queues.html#:~:text=Tesla owners blast Christmas car charging chaos with,a Tesla driver who was stuck%3F Email dan.sales%40mailonline.co.uk

Now, if only some folk with common sense could have foreseen something like this, oh, wait a minute...

I also had a link sent to me for a 'Telegraph' article on the impending doom of the EV, but as a non subscriber, I can't read it LOL

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/12/29/energy-crisis-risks-dooming-electric-car/

Oh, and just for a bit of fun...

 

42 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I also had a link sent to me for a 'Telegraph' article on the impending doom of the EV, but as a non subscriber, I can't read it LOL

Nor me, but I got the gist before it kicked me out. I see it mentioned Mr Toyoda, I've been reading a lot of his very wise words elsewhere recently. 

Tesla owners have got nobody to blame but themselves. They should have bought a longer cable 🤣

58 minutes ago, unofix said:

Tesla owners have got nobody to blame but themselves. They should have bought a longer cable 🤣

Or a spare battery.

The long waits for access to a charger is going to be the future pastime for the EV owner! 
People can wax eloquent all day about short charging times to get your batteries “Juiced up” to around fifty percent. But, that becomes a moot point when you are third in the queue and each car will need about thirty minutes of sucking on the 480 volt tit of the fastest current generation supercharger.

here in the States, Tesla has already been limiting the use of superchargers  By ride sharing service drivers, taxis ,government agencies and delivery companies. So they not only can decide who is charging, they can decide if and when the access is available. So nobody should have any illusions about how tightly they will control the frequency of charging and the range of your EV based on your useage profile and wether you are deemed worthy of mobility.

I see Fifth Gear Recharged  is back for another series on Quest. I found the last series pretty interesting and and found it quite balanced, rather than being a cheerleader for EVs as I'd half-expected.

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I see Fifth Gear Recharged  is back for another series on Quest. I found the last series pretty interesting and and found it quite balanced, rather than being a cheerleader for EVs as I'd half-expected.

Saw the trailer for that but thought all the cars they featured were EVs?

Vicki butler Henderson doesn't seem to have aged much since I last saw her on top gear!! 

52 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

thought all the cars they featured were EVs?

They were but they were quite critical in many cases last series on matters like range, charging time, chargers not working, etc, etc.  Anyway, I found it interesting and I quite like to know about this stuff even if I don't necessarily like it!😀

23 minutes ago, iantt said:

Vicki butler Henderson doesn't seem to have aged much since I last saw her on top gear!! 

No, I thought that when I saw her most recently on The Car Years. Don't know what magic youth potion she uses but I'd like a few bottles!😀

4 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

No, I thought that when I saw her most recently on The Car Years. Don't know what magic youth potion she uses but I'd like a few bottles!😀

And she's half a century old. 

1 minute ago, iantt said:

And she's half a century old. 

That's young to me these days😀

4 minutes ago, iantt said:

And she's half a century old. 

She still has fabulous legs! Is that politically incorrect? I don't know these days what I'm allowed to say LOL

20 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I don't know these days what I'm allowed to say

Nothing !

Now be quiet 🤣🤣

 

No intent to stop comments about VBH, but going back to the Tesla queues, it is another reason why I'll never give up my ICE car....

Oh, wait a minute, just remembered this from last year:

“We are seeing many stories of key workers such as teachers or nurses being unable to get fuel for their cars, meaning they cannot get to or are late for their essential work.”

Ministers announced on Monday that soldiers were being put on standby to deliver fuel, amid concerns a shortage of tanker drivers was threatening the ability of the oil companies to maintain supplies.

It came as many filling stations have run dry after drivers made a dash for the pumps amid fears a shortage of tanker drivers would hit supplies.

“We are aware that some petrol stations have had to temporarily close in response to localised spikes in demand but this is not in response to a national shortage, as there is plenty of fuel at refineries and terminals.”

Yep, 40 years of failed (or non-existent) energy policy have left us pretty much up sh*t creek without a paddle!

My walk this morning took me past my nearest public chargers (Tesco and P&R site) so, as usual, I had a look to see if anything new was happening.

Despite Government pledges, I noted that only about 30% of them took contactless debit/credit cards, the rest still need you to download an app or use an RFID card.

The app/RFID chargers had cables/connectors attached (still at least 3 different types) while the contactless ones required you to use your own. Imagine having to carry your own hose and nozzle in the boot to be able to use a petrol or diesel pump.

Whatever your views on EVs, this really does need sorting out.

 

2 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Yep, 40 years of failed (or non-existent) energy policy have left us pretty much up sh*t creek without a paddle!

Thatcher (Conservative) proposed at the beginning of her premiership that one nuclear station should be built every 10 years. Sadly this never transpired because at the time their cost outweighed the cost of fossil fuelled power stations. Of course, Nick Clegg (LibDems) famously boasts that in 2010 he stopped the building of nuclear power stations as they would have taken 10 years! I hope he has the same effect on the running of FaceBook!

6 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Thatcher (Conservative) proposed at the beginning of her premiership that one nuclear station should be built every 10 years. Sadly this never transpired because at the time their cost outweighed the cost of fossil fuelled power stations.

Indeed, and it needed to be the right sort of fossil fuel too (ie not coal) this being the time of the "dash for gas". As an aside, I had involvement in a couple of gas fired power station projects which effectively involved forward buying the output of an entire gas field.

I've been boring my Mrs for years on this topic, as well as repeating it on here. If the forward plans that existed when I joined the electricity industry over 50 years ago had come to fruition, we'd be well supplied with nuclear by now supplemented where sensible by renewables.

 

I never believed that privatising the energy supply industry was a good idea because it was always going to result in long-term planning being sacrificed in the dash for a quick buck. You can see a similar lack of investment in the water industry resulting in our rivers being treated as open sewers.

3 minutes ago, mjt said:

I never believed that privatising the energy supply industry was a good idea...

Of course, privatising the railways was a stroke of genius... LOL 

14 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Of course, privatising the railways was a stroke of genius... LOL 

Don't get us all started on that one!😀

OMG, over 2 years ago on this thread I stated that EVs were the 'betamax' of car evolution. Now, it's in B&W, I am not alone LOL

https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/20942130/government-should-scrap-electric-vehicle-deadline-economic-disaster/

 

3 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

2 years on this thread I stated that EVs were the 'betamax' of car evolution.

can you PM me the winning  Euro Millions numbers for 2 years time please 🤣

Your predictions seem like you have insider information or is it what we used to call common sense ?

3 hours ago, StephenFord said:

over 2 years ago on this thread I stated that EVs were the 'betamax' of car evolution.

Where we lead, others follow.....!😀 

I've seen quite a few articles in the last couple of weeks in both mainstream and motoring specific press recently on a similar theme, so perhaps the world is waking up. All we need is for governments to follow suit!