No new diesel cars after 2030

[otherclive]

I also drove through a flood near Pickering with a Skoda Yeti with no problems

July 2007 left Coventry and transited several flooded bits until we came to Moreton in Marsh which was totally flooded. Headed west down back roads towards Evesham and had to transit several where water was now waved into the bonnet. Eventually joined the M5 but police had stopped the southbound carriageway due to severe water run off from fields. This was about a mile north of Strensham. The Sorento had done its job superbly and undoubtedly would have had minimal trouble continuing south. The Highway Agency removed the central barriers for us to go north. Mass resistance no one moved. We all just slept the night. Next morning police started to open the lanes and let people head south. But many HGV drivers were still asleep so cars and others had to weave between the sleeping HGVs. Memories are made of such adventures.

 

[Hutch]

Memories of Nigerian, Bush roads travelling in a Volkwagen 1600, Igala, a brazilian assembed Estate car, gentle nosediving into a 30 meter wide Water hole, powered through it ,water over the bonnet and the folk behind thought we were almost submerged, totally soaked inside, as the water came in through the front vents, engine kept running lovely. Good old VW.
But back to the UK.

 

[Beachball]

July 2007 left Coventry and transited several flooded bits until we came to Moreton in Marsh which was totally flooded. Headed west down back roads towards Evesham and had to transit several where water was now waved into the bonnet. Eventually joined the M5 but police had stopped the southbound carriageway due to severe water run off from fields. This was about a mile north of Strensham. The Sorento had done its job superbly and undoubtedly would have had minimal trouble continuing south. The Highway Agency removed the central barriers for us to go north. Mass resistance no one moved. We all just slept the night. Next morning police started to open the lanes and let people head south. But many HGV drivers were still asleep so cars and others had to weave between the sleeping HGVs. Memories are made of such adventures.

otherclive enjoyed reading that nice to have Memories

 

[Buckman]

July 2007 left Coventry and transited several flooded bits until we came to Moreton in Marsh which was totally flooded. Headed west down back roads towards Evesham and had to transit several where water was now waved into the bonnet. Eventually joined the M5 but police had stopped the southbound carriageway due to severe water run off from fields. This was about a mile north of Strensham. The Sorento had done its job superbly and undoubtedly would have had minimal trouble continuing south. The Highway Agency removed the central barriers for us to go north. Mass resistance no one moved. We all just slept the night. Next morning police started to open the lanes and let people head south. But many HGV drivers were still asleep so cars and others had to weave between the sleeping HGVs. Memories are made of such adventures.

Remember it well. I was ill at the time and had been given a lift to work and wife had to collect me. She picked that day to use the also new Toyota Yaris to come and fetch me instead of the Toyota 4 x 4. What a hassle to get home as most roads even back roads were blocked. Took about 4 hours to get home instead of 30 minutes.

 

[otherclive]

I watched Guy Martins programme on the "World's Fastest Electric Car" and was quite amazed at what a small company in mid Wales were doing to convert vehicles to electric drive. Guy had old Beetle converted and wow did it go, but his problem was that on the Santa Pod drag strip it put so much power down that they could not prevent wheel spin no ,after what was tried, so it didn't beat the world record. However that is a aside. What should be a worry to the industry is the unrelaiblty and cost of commercial charging points. He drove an EV, not the Beetle, to John O Groats and back. 50% of commercial charging points were either not working or did not put out the required level of charge. Thats something the industry really needs to get a grip on, as one of the main factors influencing people's decision to buy electric is range anxiety linked very much to ease of charging. The other factor was that he spent £204 on electric charging whereas his diesel car would have required £140 of diesel for the trip. I would hope that as charging point numbers increase cost will reduce, otherwise the CMA may need to step in and investigate.

 

[Raywood]

The charging costs are something of a worry but motorway services charge way over the odds for petrol and diesel as well. I gather this is being looked at at the moment though.

 

[Dustydog]

I thought the charging points were either free or very cheap.🤔🤔🤔VW are installing 600 chargers at Tesco stores for free use👏👏

 

[Tobes]

I cant (and won't) defend out of order and slow charge points. That is unacceptable. Some companies are MUCH better than others at maintenance and reflecting the state of their chargers in their app. I too have suffered this, with a Shell charger showing as available when it was dead. But as much as I loved the program (until the closing remarks which infuriated me and many other EV drivers), Guy didn't do himself any favours with the trip. Using the technology available, he could have seen that the chargers he tried to use were off line before he got there. The 1st Genie point (which is showing problems in ZapMap) would have been slower than the Instavolt he then went to. Then he only charged enough on the Instavolt to get to the planned Ionity (Ultra rapid) which was also already showing issues on Zap map.

He also based his trip on the idea of high speed motorway driving giving the same range as WLTP. Thats like getting in an ICE advertised as doing 50mpg combined, and then being surprised when it only does 30mpg driven all day on the motorway. Finaly the cost. So - yes - he was charging on the road, and was specifically targeting the Ionity ultra fast chargers (77p per kWh), but even that was daft. I used Ionity with a subscription through my car at 30p for the same chargers. My last big trip was over 600 miles, for £50 all in, including 400 miles of towing. Thats £100 for the same 1100 mile journey Guy did - with 2/3rs of it towing a caravan!

With reflection, my honest takeaway is don't drive to some silly stunt location with an weird target (100 miles in 24 hours) to prove that EVs can be used for every day life. That is not an every day journey - its a once in a blue moon or even once in a lifetime journey. Basing the experience of 95% of car ownership on the 0.01% outside case is a bit bonkers.

 

[Tobes]

I thought the charging points were either free or very cheap.🤔🤔🤔VW are installing 600 chargers at Tesco stores for free use👏👏

There are charging points and charging points. The Tesco located points that VW sponsor are "slow" or mostly "fast" chargers. These are designed to slowly top you up while you are busy doing something else for a few hours. They are typical the same speed as you would charge with at home - 7kW. If I go to a store with one in my EV and will only be there for 5 mins, I would not bother plugging in. However, if I would be there for 30 mins or more (many allow you to stay for up to 2 or 3 hours) then its worth it. 2 hours would get you of the order of 60 miles additional range (about 30 miles range an hour)

Rapid chargers are a different breed. They range from 50kW to 350kW. Almost no cars can take advantage of the ultra fast chargers yet, but some do better than others. 50kW will add up to 220 miles in an hour. 150 (the max my car can use) over 600 miles in an hour, 350, well over 1000 miles in an hour. You pay for the connivence of the speed.

Slightly ironically - the faster the charger, the longer you spend waiting to charge. If you are on a slower charger (at home or a top up at tesco), you start your charge knowing you have ages before its full. You are not waiting to charge, so much as doing something else while charging is happening. I NEVER wait to charge at home, the car charges while I am doing other things (mostly sleeping).
If the charge is rapid, I want to be around when it finishes so I can let someone else use the spot. for 40 or 50 mins, that might be having a coffee or taking a walk or eating somme lunch. If the charger is fast enough I might just get time to pick up a takeout coffee. By the time you are down to 10mins or less, you are back to the waiting to fill like you do with petrol. Its 10 mins just dedicated to opening the cap, setting up the pump, filling, closing up and paying. I love slower charging - especially at home!

 

[otherclive]

There are charging points and charging points. The Tesco located points that VW sponsor are "slow" or mostly "fast" chargers. These are designed to slowly top you up while you are busy doing something else for a few hours. They are typical the same speed as you would charge with at home - 7kW. If I go to a store with one in my EV and will only be there for 5 mins, I would not bother plugging in. However, if I would be there for 30 mins or more (many allow you to stay for up to 2 or 3 hours) then its worth it. 2 hours would get you of the order of 60 miles additional range (about 30 miles range an hour)

Rapid chargers are a different breed. They range from 50kW to 350kW. Almost no cars can take advantage of the ultra fast chargers yet, but some do better than others. 50kW will add up to 220 miles in an hour. 150 (the max my car can use) over 600 miles in an hour, 350, well over 1000 miles in an hour. You pay for the connivence of the speed.

Slightly ironically - the faster the charger, the longer you spend waiting to charge. If you are on a slower charger (at home or a top up at tesco), you start your charge knowing you have ages before its full. You are not waiting to charge, so much as doing something else while charging is happening. I NEVER wait to charge at home, the car charges while I am doing other things (mostly sleeping).
If the charge is rapid, I want to be around when it finishes so I can let someone else use the spot. for 40 or 50 mins, that might be having a coffee or taking a walk or eating somme lunch. If the charger is fast enough I might just get time to pick up a takeout coffee. By the time you are down to 10mins or less, you are back to the waiting to fill like you do with petrol. Its 10 mins just dedicated to opening the cap, setting up the pump, filling, closing up and paying. I love slower charging - especially at home!

Thank you. Do the car/chargers tell you via phone when they are nearing completion so you can head back to the car?

 

[Tobes]

Thank you. Do the car/chargers tell you via phone when they are nearing completion so you can head back to the car?

Generally yes, but different cars differ. Both my PHEV (Volvo) and BEV (Polestar) show the percentage and the estimated time of completion on a phone app. Rapid chargers generally have a screen that gives you the same information, but slow and fast chargers (like Tesco) don't know how much charge you have, so you need the car to tell you or estimate.

 

[JezzerB]

As Tobes says the public charging network is a nightmare of different companies/methods of payments/charging structures and patchy reliability-the EV forum is littered with people struggling to charge due to petrol cars taking up EV charging spots too. Yes TEsco and some points are free but as above tend to be the slower ones-sprat to get you caught into shopping there maybe but effective! Tesla once again seem to be ahead of the game-if you block a Tesla charger ie if your car is charged after that -you get a warning of course usually via the car but the car does tell you when it'll be fully charged, you get fined! Very clever.

 

[Hutch]

All very nice, good stuff , but as 69 year old, I am not ready to throw out half of my available savings on an EV. I will give up caravanning, and get walk to the pub and then invest in a Tandem mobility scooter for me and Mrs. H.
Especially as HMG wants me to get rid of my 39 year old cast iron gas boiler for a new one ( 6 year warranty) or a heat pump £12 k. .

 

[Dustydog]

All very nice, good stuff , but as 69 year old, I am not ready to throw out half of my available savings on an EV. I will give up caravanning, and get walk to the pub and then invest in a Tandem mobility scooter for me and Mrs. H.
Especially as HMG wants me to get rid of my 39 year old cast iron gas boiler for a new one ( 6 year warranty) or a heat pump £12 k. .

All very nice, good stuff , but as 69 year old, I am not ready to throw out half of my available savings on an EV. I will give up caravanning, and get walk to the pub and then invest in a Tandem mobility scooter for me and Mrs. H.
Especially as HMG wants me to get rid of my 39 year old cast iron gas boiler for a new one ( 6 year warranty) or a heat pump £12 k. .

Don’t do it Hutch! You’re too young. Not sure about the boiler or tandem. Forget the heat pump! Absolute rubbish as my sister experienced in Norfolk. Best advice mate is have another imbibement and chill😁😁😁

 

[Hutch]

True my kid brother , invested £12k in one two years ago, rubbish, paid more in electric to run it and defrost it, the heating was rubbish. He was very Upset. Rather invest in a AGA .

 

[Dustydog]

True my kid brother , invested £12k in one two years ago, rubbish, paid more in electric to run it and defrost it, the heating was rubbish. He was very Upset. Rather invest in a AGA .

Now then my boy are we going for buggy races next spring? My Grandmother had a coal AGA and always had a “stewpot” on the go all year round. When we were ill she gave us her broth.

 

[Hutch]

Chicken Broth I hope, Thinking about , hitting Waterrow in October when Bill and Belinda might be there, Lunch in The Rock. ???

 

[Dustydog]

The Rock is a must. One of the best Woosie eating places we have ever experienced

 

[Gafferbill]

Booked at Waterrow for a week in October and will have to try the Rock.
Not putting dates on here but good to meet other Woosies.....WhatsApp is good!

 

[ProfJohnL]

I suspect if you approach the idea of EV's with the mindset of a petrol/diesel head then all you tend to see is how you won't be able to make it work, It requires a readjustment of the habits and processes we have all become used to.

It certainly isn't helped by the shambles of a charging network that we presently have in the UK, It's go to get much better, simpler and more reliable. Why you can't simply use a credit or debit card to pay heaven only knows. In theory the government has made that a requirement, but its not necessarily retrospective for charging points that were installed before the policy came into force.

Network providers need to be far more reactive charger failures, perhaps the Gov't could put together a service standard, something to teh effect that if a public charger is off line for more than 12 hours they should be fined.

 

[JezzerB]

Am now very concerned rec heat pump. Heard a lot of stories like this. 12-14k heat pump 5k oil boiler. Think we'll have stick with new oil if it goes.

 

[Buckman]

Am now very concerned rec heat pump. Heard a lot of stories like this. 12-14k heat pump 5k oil boiler. Think we'll have stick with new oil if it goes.

We have air source heating and if we could we would change to gas tomorrow! We normally have it on 20C, but if you increase it to 21C your bill rises substantially. We did it once and never again. On cold days it frosts over totally and becomes inefficient as it has to constantly run to keep home warm using a lot more electric than normal.
Consequently we have a gas heater in the home for those times when it gets really cold. Unfortunately for safety reasons you cannot have a gas heater running constantly.

 

[JezzerB]

Good grief. We won't go down that route then!

 

[Buckman]

Good grief. We won't go down that route then!

We had gas in our previous residence which was slightly smaller than our current home and needed a lot less power to keep it warm. The big advantage is that you always had hot water with gas. The air source heats up the water at 3am and that needs to last you the day. If you run out of hot water you can switch on the boost, but then while it is on for the hour no heating.
Machine has to then work to warm up the home again. Admittedly the drop in temperature may only be about one degree, but machine kicks in anyway. IMHO a very inefficient way to heat a home. Might as well have a 2 bar fan heater!

 

[ProfJohnL]

Good grief. We won't go down that route then!

Before you discount it completely, I think you should be made aware there are several quite successful installations here in the UK. I frequently visit an suite of offices which are entirely heated (and cooled) by air sourced systems, and they are far from unique, you will find an increasing number of high street supermarkets using full cycle heat recovery systems that integrate the heat generated by their chillers and freezers and air sourced heating and cooling into a combined heating and energy control package.

Buckman has previously commented extensively on his system, and from his description it certainly doesn't seem to do what he want's it to do. There are several possibilities for that:-

It may have not been specified correctly
It might have been installed incorrectly
One or more parts may have failed
Or it may not be being used correctly

Whatever is the cause it all comes back to having a competent person specify the correct system in the first place.