Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

look into leasing options. also - no C-Charge (at the moment at least).

Having unavoidably driven around your immediate area for a few days, I would find any possible alternative to driving. As to the 'school run', this is entirely unnecessary for any distance under (say) a mile and a half.

Prime hypocrite that I am, my Z4 has just cost me cash for the first time in 2 years, a new battery and bonnet cable.

All very good points and a constructive conversation. Thanks!

BTW, Coin Street is the wrong Tate, so all of your arguments are totally worthless. I will buy a Range Rover immediately.

Is this due to engine braking or your journey just happens to not involve stops/traffic etc?

"Engine" braking. The motor spins backwards as soon as you lift off the throttle and, if the battery is up to temp, the regen is enough to bring the car to a complete stop from motorway speeds in the same way normal (not emergency) braking would.

Essentially unless you're a shit driver or there's a genuine emergency situation that couldn't have been anticipated, you don't need to touch the brake pedal at all.

At a stop, the electronic handbrake is also automatically applied so hill starts etc do not require the brake either.

I went riding so the convo has moved on significantly since then but yeah, brake dust, tire wear etc..

Pollution from tyre wear can be 1,000 times worse than what comes out of a car’s exhaust, Emissions Analytics has found.
Harmful particle matter from tyres – and also brakes – is a very serious and growing environmental problem, one that is being exacerbated by the increasing popularity of large, heavy vehicles such as SUVs, and growing demand for electric vehicles, which are heavier than standard cars because of their batteries.
What’s more, vehicle tyre wear pollution is completely unregulated, unlike exhaust emissions which have been rapidly reduced by car makers thanks to the pressure placed on them by European emissions standards. New cars now emit very little in the way of particulate matter but there is growing concern around ‘non-exhaust emissions’.
Non-exhaust emissions (NEE) are particles released into the air from brake wear, tyre wear, road surface wear and resuspension of road dust during on-road vehicle usage. No legislation is in place to limit or reduce NEE, but they cause a great deal of concern for air quality.

I'm in the same camp as Tommy 6pt. Car owning hypocrite, however I drive mine once every 5-7 days so maybe not as bad. Would love to not have one really but getting 2 kids from A>B is a right PITA without one.

My Leaf is to the best of my knowledge on its original pads and discs at nearly 70k miles. It has required new front tyres nearly every year!

I went riding

what a wanker!

i did a TiK loop yesterday was hoping to see you; england game meant literally ONE car passed me on layhams; unbelievable scenes.

Ergh, I didn't ride. The weather beat me.

Some blind arse drove into the GTV in tescos trying to put his shitty pug 308 through a gap that wasn't there . I saw and heard it from 100 metres and chased him until he stopped 6 rows back . Got his details and drove straight to the body shop and when I got there and I had calmed down I realised there wasnt a mark on her !
By the time I got home his insurance company had called to say he had admitted liability , even the body shop manage couldn't see / find anything except a scuff that will polish out.
I was fucking cross at the time though

Thanks for that insight. It’s all news to me and rather interesting.
Chance of me buying an electric car is zero due to lack of charging points here but maybe that will change in the future.

lack of charging points here

Where is here, out of interest?

Booked https://www.wechillanycar.com/ on the strength of their thorough check list and that they come to you. I'm sure VW would collect the car, but then it'd no doubt be out of action for the whole day. Plus this is half the price for an A/C service and check, vs someone plugging in a code reader.

You get a 2hr window. Service is 30-40min. Then if your A/C doesn't hold, shows a leak, etc. they quote you and you can get them back out.

Will report back.

Just taken delivery of a Kona ultimate 64kw on a rolling 1-month lease. Have trips to Wales and Cornwall planned, so will see if the 300 mile range is realistic or not.

Maybe a spectate “electric car” thread is in order…

Expect around 260 miles at motorway speed (max 70, weather dependant). Pretty decent for a fairly large vehicle vs battery size

Northern Ireland and not in Belfast or Londonderry.
I think there are 6 charging points in my town. Population 50,000+

so will see if the 300 mile range is realistic or not.

You won't get 300 miles on the MWay. You will around town.

For distance driving, you should be thinking about 240 to 260 miles, depending on right foot and whether you have strapped bikes etc to the car.

Also, plan to start the journey with 100% but for en-route charging work on the basis of charge at 20%, up to 80%. The charging speed below 20 and above 80 are a lot slower.

So, first charge after about 200 miles, then the next one after a further 150 miles. Repeat until you reach destination.

Another thought on the car ownership culture conversation:

For me, public transport / cycling will never be the route to significantly reducing car ownership and reclaiming road sides, house frontages etc.

That goal lies with the ubiquity of driverless cars and them becoming a shared resource that people use by the journey, not by the car purchase. The classic Demolition Man model.

It seems to me that the companies that are pursuing innovative EVs are the same ones that are pursuing AI driverless tech. And that I'm on that tech path by driving an EV.

Longest journey is 230 miles, and we won’t be doing that in one hit with an 8 year old, so as long as it can do 230 miles with 1 stop (and say 30-40 mins charging) and then have a sensible charge left to go find another charging point the next day, then all good. I think.

Alternatively it may be a nightmare and I hand it back after 4 weeks…

Yeah you'll be absolutely fine with that.

Get Zap Map installed and get subscribed to Source London and BP Pulse.

For your Wales journey, if it's North Wales, the Moto Rugby services are fantastic and have loads of super fast contactless payment chargers.

Yes, let's make an EV thread. Done

They do naff all for congestion in built-up areas though.

An EV is just a car with a less (locally) polluting drive train. Everything else is marketing wank.

They do naff all for congestion in built-up areas though.

You're replying to my post about driverless cars?

They do loads for congestion, once you move to a model where people don't own cars and park empty, stationary cars on the side of the streets anymore.

That goal lies with the ubiquity of driverless cars and them becoming a shared resource that people use by the journey, not by the car purchase. The classic Demolition Man model.

Where do they go? Idle in giant car parks when not in use? Algorithmically prowl the streets anticipating demand? Head, empty, out to their next user in the suburbs to shuttle them in (zero-occupancy traffic somehow superior to single-occupancy vehicle use?!)? A city that accommodates either of these scenarios on a scale to provide mass utility isn't much different from today's car-choked mess.

Everyone hailing a roaming car to go into a city still leads to a city filled with cars; reducing the need for cars in a city in the first place leads to 'better' cities (whatever that means).

Old Kent Road, 2052:

nah, rather not.

Algorithmically prowl the streets anticipating demand?

This. With existing parking garages used for when demand is lower.

Imagine all the streets without parked cars. Those parking spaces lead to cycling space.