Been robbed

[Gila Man]

I'm not an eeeeC evangelist BTW, but careful where I spend my money and the decision was made before the Mango Mussolini decided to play silly buggers. It now makes even more sense; My old Merc would do about 35mpg on a run meaning that trip would have cost me about £90 each way, now it's £105. Charging at current rates will cost me £60 each way.

If my Dream Car Giveaway tickets come up tomorrow night I'll be having to decide between taking the RS6 and £600K or taking the full £660k and buying something really silly with a big V8...

Oh, and @Hobo Mikey's Pikey Palace for weekend trips away.

If I lived in the UK I’d probably have a EV since it’s a fairly small country geographically with a decent size population. We live in the western part of the US and outside of the metro areas or along major roadways, there’s no guarantee of charging stations. Once the wife retires, we plan on touring the US and there’s areas with very little resourses in a lot of rural areas. A hybrid or ICE vehicle makes more sence for our needs. Plus, we live in the “Valley of the Sun” where temperatures above 110 are not uncommon during the summer. Regular car batteries only have a life expectancy of 2 to 3 years. It’s one of the reasons I got the Levo with an easily removable battery. The battery will stay in my house when the garage is in the 90’s.

 

[Stihldog]

There’s always a solution.

 

[Hobo Mikey]

You should buy it anyway Doomanic, It’s got a full tank of fuel already to go away. By the time you have been on a road trip with your bike the fuel will be cheaper.

 

[Hobo Mikey]

That's pretty cheap to buy a garage. You should go for it, settle down, become a petrochemical billionaire.

OK, you're present quality of life is better than that life, but quality of life isn't everything, greed, control, power ! That's where it's at at the moment - jump on the wrecking ball whilst you still can

Sold that camper yet ? I showed it to some friends, she almost wet herself over it, then he poo poo'd it because he wanted less than 3.5 tonnes for lots of their euro destinations.

Camper still for sale, 3.5 ton or 5 ton they all go to Europe. We used to do France, Spain and Portugal every winter. Tell them to make me an offer. I need it gone because I have seen a VW I want.

 

[Gila Man]

There’s always a solution.
View attachment 180448

How many jigawatts does that generate or, should I hold out until Mr. Fusion comes out with a new model.

 

[Bufort]

I read an article on the ‘net recently stating ALL UK registered petrol or diesel cars registered before 2015 will automatically fail their next MOTs due to being non compliant.

100% fake news.

 

[MountainBoy]

So now we’re waiting for our new Hybrid (HEV)to arrive in 4-6weeks. But I’m starting to have regrets about that. I’m thinking the PHEV might make more sense.

We could be fuel-free other than some fuel for longer drives. A trickle charger is easy for the garage, but I could install a wall-charging- station in the garage fairly easily.

The rising cost of fuel might be the push that changes our behaviour. After all, I’m use to a EMTB now.

Once you try an EV, you will never go back to buying gas or diesel (unless you are one of the few motorists who uses a diesel truck to tow large trailers long distances). But don't go EV without a charging solution either at home or work. Charging with 120 volts is marginal enough that it doesn't count as a charging solution. Now that all EVs in N. America are going to the North American Charging Standard, you can install a NACS charging station without worrying about whether you will be future-proofed. After you make the leap to an EV, you will wonder what took you so long!

My wife and I went electric 8 years ago (for the convenience factor of filling up at home just as much as the responsiveness and driving dynamics of a Model 3). At the time we still had a gas car but found all of our road trips were better in the EV. So we didn't take the gas car on any road trips after getting the Tesla. For camping and eMTBing in the wilds, there is no better solution than the Cybertruck with it's 16" of free ground clearance, large covered cargo vault, and 20A 120V outlets (and 240V if you need it for cooking). You could charge multiple eMTB's multiple times while barely denting the 123 kWh battery.

That said, with Canada's retaliatory tariffs on American made trucks and cars, it's probably too expensive for most Canadians, at least until the tariffs are dropped.

 

[Hobo Mikey]

I am into my Hot Rods and American muscle cars etc and really can’t imagine life in the EV world without the rumble of a big V8.

 

[MountainBoy]

I lead the Sustainability Office of a large institution and have published several studies on climate change, so these days every time I start an engine or board a flight, I can’t help feeling a twinge of guilt…

That’s also why I stick to a very small car and rely on my e-bike or regular bike whenever I can. Beyond the lower environmental impact, it’s also great for both my fitness and my wallet.

P.S. If you’re curious about the real footprint of electricity where you live (unless you have your own PV system or a certified green energy contract), this is a very useful resource: Map | Electricity Maps. There are several settings available on the bottom of the map.

That's an interesting map (if you care about emissions). But I wanted to point out that even in areas with the highest coal component to electricity generation, an EV is still more environmentally friendly compared to a gas or diesel car (because they use the fossil fuels so much more efficiently). However, coal as a source of electricity continues to decline (and thus an EV keeps getting cleaner every year, unlike a gas car).

We buy EVs for multiple reasons, the most compelling being convenience and performance, but the lack of tailpipe emissions is great too. I'm looking forward to the day that over half of all cars on the road have zero tailpipe emissions, especially when stuck in dense traffic.

 

[MountainBoy]

I am into my Hot Rods and American muscle cars etc and really can’t imagine life in the EV world without the rumble of a big V8.

Once I got a Performance Tesla, I realized that "Muscle car" didn't mean what I thought it meant. Now when I hear the rumble of a V8 I can't help but associate it with slow and awkward. Old fashioned and outdated. And that's coming from someone who previously liked performance street bikes, in part because I could blow away American muscle cars with V8s like they were impotent. Now I just feel sorry for how much their gas bills are (if they want to drive them much further than the neighborhood market or cafe).

 

[Doomanic]

I am into my Hot Rods and American muscle cars etc and really can’t imagine life in the EV world without the rumble of a big V8.

Here you go, best of both worlds...

https://www.maxhaust.com/en/active-sound

 

[MountainBoy]

Here you go, best of both worlds...

https://www.maxhaust.com/en/active-sound

What's particularly sinister about these fake, piped-in motor noises on many new EVs is there is no way to turn them off permanently! Some EVs, like the Chevrolet Equinox EV and Blazer EV originally came with a method to disable the fake noises but a software update removed that ability leaving the owner with permanent fake noises with no way to silence them! Other EVs, like the Kia EV 6, offer a way to turn them off but it automatically defaults to "On" each time you put it into drive! The Nissan Ariya in both Sport and NISMO acceleration modes pipes in the fake engine noises with no user-accessible way to turn them off. Want pure silence? There goes your superior acceleration!

That would drive me nuts! One of the nicest things about our EVs is the quiet acceleration, without vibrations and rumbles. In fact, since owning two Performance EVs, and one Cybertruck, all of which have crazy good performance, I've started to associate engine noises and transmission shift points with crappy performance, it sounds like the engine is struggling and revving high simply to accelerate at a slower rate than EVs do quietly, seamlessly without shift interruptions, seemingly effortlessly.

This is another thing Tesla got right in a long list of things that differentiates them from other EVs. They have always known there is no point in piping in fake engine noises. It's what most people want to get away from when they move to a pure electric drivetrain.

Interesting factoid:
Tesla's "Emissions Testing Mode", AKA fart mode, was a direct response to the first EV to introduce fake engine noises, the Jaguar I-Pace, introduced in summer 2018. By the 2018 Christmas software update, in only 6 months, Tesla already developed and released "Emissions Testing Mode", using farts to make fun of Jaguar's decision to pipe fake engine noises into the cabin. Of course Tesla has never admitted Jaguar's dumb move was the instigator of "Fart Mode", but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to put two and two together and realize it equals four.

 

[Doomanic]

It’s not piped in, it’s piped out!

 

[MountainBoy]

It’s not piped in, it’s piped out!

I guess that's better for the occupants, but worse for anyone in the vicinity!

 

[Joecrow]

I guess that's better for the occupants, but worse for anyone in the vicinity!

Not if you are a pedestrian who only relies on their ears when crossing the road.

 

[MountainBoy]

Not if you are a pedestrian who only relies on their ears when crossing the road.

True. There is probably an exception to just about any rule you can think of.