Quite right .Harry Metcalfe has ditched his Tesla. Hacked off at the (real world) range restriction. It came to a head when he realised he wouldn't be able to rely on it to get him from his place to the Murray Automotive place and back. It's only a 200 mile round trip but that's right on the limit of what he'd seen in terms of range when he had it.
He took a V8 instead.
There is only one electric car big enough to tow a caravan.
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MikeInWimbledon
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035 is a long way away. Given the pace of recent change, our perspectives will be very different by then.
Allow for the "average" vehicle life of eight (maybe ten) years, and suddenly we're looking at something which is 25 years forward.
The much overhyped Covid19 might have even changed the way we use Cities - a bit - by then, let alone the changes to all the other kinds of pollution that we create.
Look back to 1995, or 1970, and it would have been impossible to forecast the strange things that we're doing now. I say this because I was working in the tech industry that was creating "something" like the world we're living in now.
Unbelievably the first mobile phone call was made in 1973:
Thirty years ago this was the geeks' choice of Office computer
Allow for the "average" vehicle life of eight (maybe ten) years, and suddenly we're looking at something which is 25 years forward.
The much overhyped Covid19 might have even changed the way we use Cities - a bit - by then, let alone the changes to all the other kinds of pollution that we create.
Look back to 1995, or 1970, and it would have been impossible to forecast the strange things that we're doing now. I say this because I was working in the tech industry that was creating "something" like the world we're living in now.
Unbelievably the first mobile phone call was made in 1973:
Thirty years ago this was the geeks' choice of Office computer
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Tonygw
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Does that mean we can all smoke massive cigars to? nice....
That is just in today’s throwaway society , where so many people don’t bother to look after cars .
Properly cared for , a car can , and many do , last for decades : there are plenty of cars more than 50 years old still around - because their owners look after them .
As part of the environmental shift that is taking place , we need to discourage the throwing away of perfectly good cars and choking the planet with needless manufacturing.
rf065
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No, it means we can drive big Chevy's with Lada engines.
MikeInWimbledon
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Which is a jolly good "normative' view of where we "should" be going.
But consumers have gone head over heels into PCP and lease finance deals on "new motors," ignoring our logic.
And The Industry is obsessed with creating a full service "Rental" model of car usage, where the manufacturer simply rents a fully serviced and repaired motor to the punter or company, on as long a rental period as required.
Mercedes’ subscription service is one of the cheapest ones yet
I've just priced out my latest peccadillo purchase as being worth over £110,000 so I'm delighted with the way the stupid consumer's continuing to pick up depreciation bills on these "new tech car."
Heck, I'll even consider buying a well-specified 2015 Tesla S 85 on 50k miles for £20k in two years time, as long as it includes free charging.
To some extent that's true, but modern cars can't be 'spannered' like older ones and IMHO it's the electronics that will kill them off rather than the mechanical bits. Imagine trying to get a replacement for one of the hundreds of different sensors/SAMs/ECUs etc. in a current car 50 years from now. Or finding someone with the right diagnostic kit and skills to diagnose/fit/code them - that can be hard enough now!
Heck, I'll even consider buying a well-specified 2015 Tesla S 85 on 50k miles for £20k in two years time, as long as it includes free charging.
Come to Scotland - all public charge points are free here .
MikeInWimbledon
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"You learn a new thing every day." Didn't know that. I'll do that. If I ever replace a real car with a plastic battery-powered thing.
Look back to 1995, or 1970, and it would have been impossible to forecast the strange things that we're doing now. I say this because I was working in the tech industry that was creating "something" like the world we're living in now.
Thirty years ago this was the geeks' choice of Office computer
I had one of those , replacement for my Apple II ; then I had a Quadra 800 , G3 tower , and Powerbook G3 Pismo ; G4 Dual Processor and several 17" G4 Powerbooks ; G5 DP , and still running my 2010 MacPro 8 core , alongside my 17" MBP which is about the same age .
Like many others , I shied away from 'the trashcan' and now lust after one of the current Mac Pro ( which can cost as much as a new Mercedes ! ) ; but I think more likely I'll pick up one of the last , pre-trashcan 12 core Mac Pros , as maxed out as I can find for as little money as possible . Although my current kit still does everything I need of it .
How long it will last I don't know , but it is part of Scottish Government's strategy to encourage uptake of EVs .
And yet you still see people PAYING to charge at private points in petrol stations etc
MikeInWimbledon
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I know the argument, but I'm not convinced "for normal use." As idjits like Wheeler Dealers keeping showing, faulty electronics can be cheaply fixed and replaced by specialists, with the help of the Interweb. (see the latest episode on the S4, where a faulty screen is fixed by a TV repair guy for not much money).
The bigger issue, as always, is why would you repair a 500 SL, an E Type, or a Bentley when it's 20 years old and worth virtually nothing? I mean, who would want an obsolete E Type Jaguar or 500SL 40 or 50 years after it was made?
That sounds like it might be a US figure. Mine is 11 years old next month and hopefully has a few more left in it yet UK average car life is more like 14 years so IC cars will be with us for even longer. I'll be in my 90's by the time it becomes a problem so I'm not too worried.
Average Vehicle Age - SMMT
It's a problem that bothers me as I've always worked on old cars. EV's will be no better though, they have lots of electronics and also high voltages to worry about. And that's before the huge amount of bespoke software without which they won't work. Even Volkswagen couldn't get it right.
rf065
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Not a good example, they cancelled that service this year due to a lack of interest.
Haha I suspect they only show the success stories! I certainly had no luck getting the instrument cluster in my Vito fixed by a big specialist that I'm pretty sure has featured on WD. After a couple of attempts (including fitting a new processor) they admitted defeat, gave me a full refund, and said it needed a new cluster from MB
I used these to repair my Audi
kc
Mercedes W639 Vito instrument cluster Speedo. - Cluster Repairs UK
Full professional test, repair and rebuild service on the Mercedes W639 Vito instrument cluster Speedo. Backed with warranties from 12 to 60 months.
www.clusterrepairsuk.co.uk
kc
Um ... that's the company who couldn't fix my Vito cluster.
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