The EV fact thread

[MikeInWimbledon]

The car with the (CHAdeMO) charging system that is being phased out.

Now who's the EV fanboy?

Yes, CHAdeMO hich obviously wouldn't be a problem as you're charging near or at home. No need for a high speed motorway charger.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Feel free to send her round

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As I keep saying, each to their own requirements.

The EU hasn't issued a CO2 reduction strategy to convert all lawnmowers to manual...

Hold on, I'd better just check....

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

You've been pressing the case for convenience of recharging at home for 2p/mile pretty heavily. Anyway, tiresome, lets leave it at that.

For journeys where ICE doesn't hit operating temp - ideal. But limited to Leafs and their soon to be discontinued public charging system? Why not the Focus? No obvious reason not to - but we know the intention is to phase out ICE. What we don't know is the method(s).

We just don't know what will transpire and deadlines may well be extended. But of little use if no one has ICE to offer and I'm pretty certain ICE development has stalled and how long before the production lines are scrapped?

Yes, I said it convenient to charge cheaply at home. Which it is. And that's where the majority of EV's are actually charged, most of the time.

(Remember when people said home Internet would never catch on because there was no way of cabling people's homes for it?)

There’s maybe a case for a less than £10k used EV as a low annual mileage runaround, as I said, " but seriously, why not get a glorious used Ford Focus?

What makes you think BMW is going to be shut down Harris Hall any time soon, while Europe's in uproar about the CO2 reduction goals, and while every other continent is saying "No, not quite yet

 

[BTB 500]

As I keep saying, each to their own requirements.

The EU hasn't issued a CO2 reduction strategy to convert all lawnmowers to manual...

Hold on, I'd better just check....

We have a couple of other ride-on mowers that are more eco-friendly and can even run in fully autonomous mode ... definitely not zero emissions though

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

We have a couple of other ride-on mowers that are more eco-friendly and can even run in fully autonomous mode ... definitely not zero emissions though

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Aren't they more expensive pence per mile?
As if anyone ever choice transport on pence per mile.
I learned to ride in the Royal Mews a very long time ago. I'd need at least a shire horse to carry the weight these days.

 

[Bellow]

Yes, I said it convenient to charge cheaply at home. Which it is.

For some - not everyone.

As I said, for low annual mileages - let's call it 5k a year, then maybe a cheap EV, BUT as I very clearly said, get a Focus. £8k and 60mpg: what's not to like? (Other small petrols are available)

Uncertainty over future ICE taxation and petrol prices?

So, Harris Hall is producing one BMW petrol engine a minute. What makes you think it's going to be shut down any time soon, while Europe's in uproar about the CO2 reduction goals, and while every other continent is saying "No, not quite yet."

For how much longer? And, more to the point, when that production line is scrapped (the deadline for the last of ICE is 2035) and it transpires that there's a need for ICE, where will it come from? AFAIK, ICE development has been stopped. No new designs pending. New tooling to resurrect an old engine?
Forgive me, but I'm not sufficiently aware of what you are referring to re Europe - but after dieselgate do any of the European manufacturers have any say in the future or are they still compliantly sat on the naughty step? The latter is my guess.

 

[BTB 500]

Aren't they more expensive pence per mile?

Definitely not - in fact we get free fuel. The sun shines, the grass grows, they eat it, job done Once a year a local farmer cuts the end field for hay - we keep 75 bales for winter and he takes the rest as payment.

The steering & brakes can be pretty dodgy though.

I learned to ride in the Royal Mews a very long time ago. I'd need at least a shire horse to carry the weight these days.

We rode them in Windsor Great Park when we lived down South, which was nice (apart from needing an expensive permit) . The downside was paying a fortune to rent a tiny paddock in Ascot that was deep mud all winter.

 

[ALFAitalia]

It isn't the wear aspect (the oils I use have tackifiers so there's oil present at the turn of the key - merely not at pressure) that bothers me..

It should be....tackifiers or not, over 90 percent of your engine wear happens in the first two minutes of a cold start... more if you are one of those that increases wear by trying to warm up their engines with a long tick over before driving ..... but tbh this will never be an issue for most people at its been decades since engines wore out before the rest of the car fell apart!

 

[Bellow]

It should be....tackifiers or not, over 90 percent of your engine wear happens in the first two minutes of a cold start... more if you are one of those that increases wear by trying to warm up their engines with a long tick over before driving ..... but tbh this will never be an issue for most people at its been decades since engines wore out before the rest of the car fell apart!

Can't fully agree with that but, as for acidity - plastic and elastomer failures are common place. Cam chain tensioner plastics break, seals leak - acid is not kind to those components. At least the cold start damage ceases after a couple of minutes. Oil acidity is for much longer.

 

[BTB 500]

Can't fully agree with that but, as for acidity - plastic and elastomer failures are common place. Cam chain tensioner plastics break, seals leak - acid is not kind to those components. At least the cold start damage ceases after a couple of minutes. Oil acidity is for much longer.

Condensed water left in the exhaust system after a short run also isn't great.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Water forms in your exhaust after every run... long or short. That's why you get the steam after a cold start. Water is also a by product of the catalytic converter process.... along with oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen.

 

[BTB 500]

Water forms in your exhaust after every run... long or short.

Of course. The point though is that if only run for a short time this water condenses in the cold exhaust system and is left in the boxes after the engine is shut down. On a longer run the entire exhaust system heats up and the water evaporates.

 

[Mactech]

I only have quarterly data for the solar panels, so take the best as 'summer' and the worst as 'winter'

We get paid for the unused power we export so losing that would be a (modest ) cost if we consumed it instead. I guess you are like us and don't have battery storage? We pay under £400 a year for electricity (cost of import less income from export), so couldn't justify it.

Our house as a number of other small differences such as the whole house heat recovery system feeding back into the heat store, and the solar water tubes on the roof to supplement the heat store. Our solar panels produce about 700 kWh more per year than we buy from the grid and the tariff we are on assumes we use half the energy we produce, so using more of the solar energy is effectively free to us.

So we do now have battery storage so we can take advantage of that. I just happens to have a BMW i3 fitted on top of it.....

 

[chic0821]

I learned to ride in the Royal Mews a very long time ago

You did what???? Oh sorry, just read the whole thing, a horse

 

[BTB 500]

Our house as a number of other small differences such as the whole house heat recovery system feeding back into the heat store, and the solar water tubes on the roof to supplement the heat store. Our solar panels produce about 700 kWh more per year than we buy from the grid and the tariff we are on assumes we use half the energy we produce, so using more of the solar energy is effectively free to us.

So we do now have battery storage so we can take advantage of that. I just happens to have a BMW i3 fitted on top of it.....

Sounds good! We have solar water heating too (although to a conventional hot water cylinder) - it doesn't do a lot at this time of year but we don't run the boiler at all for most of the summer (when it's warm & sunny the heat exchanger can reach 100C). We're on an old style feed-in tariff for the solar panels so we get paid for all the power they generate regardless of whether it's used or exported, then also get paid (at a much lower rate) for what we export. Same as you this was assumed to be 50% of what we generated, but we actually export about 80% across the year so I got it changed to use the real export figures instead.

The annual income from the solar panels is almost exactly the same as we pay out for gas and imported electricity, so the net energy cost for the house is zero. Pretty happy with that as the original part was built in the late 1700s (hardly a modern eco house!), and we have five outbuildings with electric power & lighting as well.

 

[Smiley]

I don’t urge anyone to get an EV, unless it’s a company car or if they foolishly think it would save the planet. (It won’t.) And I don’t urge anyone to get a hybrid either.

There’s maybe a case for a less than £10k used EV as a low annual mileage runaround, but seriously, why not get a glorious used Ford Focus?

The Traffic Light alliance is forcing us down the road of a fast EV transition, but it’s not that fast. Will EU deadlines slide? Of course they will. It took a decade of delay before they all signed up to a Federal Europe with five Presidents. The deadlines will slide on EVs and all the other CO2 stuff. (Check European News for details of the strikes and demos.)

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The Focus is an under rated car imho; a bangernomics gem - but would be better with the older 1.8 petrol camchain in Ghia or above trim - not the 1.0 ecoboost it is a disaster of an engine

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

You did what???? Oh sorry, just read the whole thing, a horse

Trust me, It was an impressive experience

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

The Focus is an under rated car imho; a bangernomics gem - but would be better with the older 1.8 petrol camchain in Ghia or above trim - not the 1.0 ecoboost it is a disaster of an engine

It was always brought down by the whole company & rental car, sold in volume thing. Good ride quality, well thought through, like its little brother the Fiesta. Which it sold by the million.

Agreed on the engine, but to save the planet that easy 60 mpg thing makes a strong case.

Other choices are available…BMW 318i, VW Golf petrol, Toyota whatever it’s called. (Only kidding Corolla). Hondas Jazz and Accord). All compact light and frugal.

Killed by a combination of Euro 7 legislation and the threat of £15,000 a pop regulatory fines for selling too many, starting 2024.

 

[Bellow]

What makes you think BMW is going to be shut down Harris Hall any time soon, while Europe's in uproar about the CO2 reduction goals, and while every other continent is saying "No, not quite yet

What point in producing ICE when fuel production is disappearing?

Shell to Produce Group III in Germany - Lubes'N'Greases

Shell last week announced plans to convert a fuels refinery in Wesseling, Germany, to produce API Group III base oils. The company will cease fuels production but will use an existing hydrocracker to make base oil.

www.lubesngreases.com

Eni to Shutter Livorno Base Oil Plant - Lubes'N'Greases

Italian refiner Eni stated Monday that the base oil plant at its Livorno, Italy, fuels refinery will close permanently when the site converts to refining plant oils. The fate of the base oil plant was confirmed as the company announced it is proceeding to convert the overall refinery, an...

www.lubesngreases.com

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

What point in producing ICE when fuel production is disappearing?

Shell to Produce Group III in Germany - Lubes'N'Greases

Shell last week announced plans to convert a fuels refinery in Wesseling, Germany, to produce API Group III base oils. The company will cease fuels production but will use an existing hydrocracker to make base oil.

www.lubesngreases.com

Eni to Shutter Livorno Base Oil Plant - Lubes'N'Greases

Italian refiner Eni stated Monday that the base oil plant at its Livorno, Italy, fuels refinery will close permanently when the site converts to refining plant oils. The fate of the base oil plant was confirmed as the company announced it is proceeding to convert the overall refinery, an...

www.lubesngreases.com

That's funny. Good one !

250 million internal combustion cars in Europe, and you're worried that the Oil companies will stop producing fuel because there's no demand for it !

You old teaser.