|
1 members (sprinty),
280
guests, and
58
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
Forums39
Topics49,860
Posts837,486
Members9,596
| |
Most Online1,063
Jun 14th, 2026
|
|
|
|
|
| by howard |
| howard |
SWMBO's Smart Roadster is getting on a bit now - we have had it for 18 years or so. Thinking of buying a small EV because they all say that depreciation is really high so a 3 year old one should be cheap . Thats the theory, but cheap where? I cant find them - at 3 years they seem to be 50% 0f new price which is what I would expect of any car.
Any recommendations? Thinking Korean or maybe Jap - not interested in French and its a bit early IMO for Chinese.
|
|
|
|
|
| by Image |
| Image |
CLPlusFour ... however, the car was gradually introduced over an existing transport system geared round the horse and walking (plus trains and boats) ... that kept on being used until the car matured into a widely available alternative (I even still have a horse! 🙂) ... to just legislate ICE cars away over a short time span while EV is yet to mature or be available to the wider public is different altogether ... big sections of society will be denied personal transport ... and in a world of out of town shopping and work no longer at the end of the street thats a serious issue for anyone priced out of EVs.
K
|
| 3 members like this |
|
|
|
| by howard |
| howard |
A word of caution Howard. Most of the cars that have the better self driving aids sadly don't do so well with many of our UK roads. I had an ID5 which did brilliantly on a dual carriage way but once on a narrow A or B road, well, let's just say I thought it was out to kill me!
I always had my hands on the wheel and actually was doing all the driving, but the car couldn't distinguish what was what on a narrow road and often I had to take action to avoid being forced into a verge or the soft shoulder.
Same car had an advance back up system where it will break if it thinks you are about to hit something. Sadly, it mixed up cars 2 rows behind me and slammed on the brakes with full force!
Tesla seems to have things sorted the best from the last drives I've done, however it's easy to get caught out.
Perhaps you know but all newly registered cars from April must have traffic sign recognition and warnings if you go over the limit. Some even have gone so far as to retard throttle response if you are at the speed limit which can be quite disconcerting. It can be turned off but it's back again the next time you get in. I've been living with it since July and it's a massive PITA. Something to keep in mind. Got some of that on a 2019 Merc estate - speed limit warnings that are useful when I notice them not least because limits change every 50 yards. Plus "following too close" bongs not needed if SWMBO is on board. And I suspect some level of auto braking if the follow too close gets really close. Only thing I always turn off is Radio2, which SWMBO turns back on again
|
| 1 member likes this |
|
|
|
| by Neilda |
| Neilda |
I have an EV that weighs less than a BMW 3 Series, I rarely use the brakes (they should last the lifetime of the vehicle) and the last set of tyres travelled 35,000 miles (far longer than those on my Morgan). It costs about ÂŁ6 to fill with volts and doesn't need servicing. But I do understand there's a lot of confusion about them.
|
| 1 member likes this |
|
|
|
| by Neilda |
| Neilda |
I didn't buy my EV to save newts but the fact that EV's become carbon neutral after about 13,000 miles (according to Reuters) will be a benefit to some. Before EV's came along, nobody particularly bothered about brake dust or carbons - now it's all the rage. Funny.
As a daily driver an EV is hard to beat - I have other cars for when driving pleasure is the sole purpose.
|
| 1 member likes this |
|
|
|
| by DaveW |
| DaveW |
I just watched a Tesla (model Y?) reversing into a neighbour’s drive.
There was the most almighty scrape!
It appears that it bottomed out over the downhill lip of the drive!
I didn’t go across and look closely, but it sounded expensive.
I wonder what damage was caused?
Bud
4/4 - Stanley Not the exhaust............................... 
|
| 1 member likes this |
|
|
|
| by Image |
| Image |
Of one thing I'm sure is that once ICE is as good as dead it won't matter what the successor power is, it will cost us exactly as much as it does today ... exactly what the 'market' (ie you and me) will bear .... subsidies will melt away and the industry knows we have been willing to pay 'X-amount' for personal mobility so it won't matter if it's run on renewables, hydrogen or Zorg-energy extracted from an adjacent reality ... one way or another we will end up fleeced for the same coin! 🙂
K
|
| 1 member likes this |
|
|
|
| by howard |
| howard |
K I completely agree with you. It's probably my bad English again.
I wanted to present exactly your argument. Politicians must finally realize that it takes time to be able to produce affordable EV cars for everyone. Not even a rich country like Germany can afford to achieve this through subsidies, and depriving a large part of the population of mobility creates major social tensions.
But the time will come and EVs will be the cheaper option. Deprive them of mobility or of a planet? Of course its not as simple as that as we all know. But the level of moaning about this change is frustrating. There are times in life when hard decisions have to be taken and this is one. A car isnt a human right and indeed when I was a youth, most families didnt have a car. They walked to work, or took the bus, or used a bike. The doctor had a Rover. The shopkeeper a small van. The "businessman" maybe a Jag. My three uncles all had motorbikes and sidecars. Your English is excellent and a damn site better than my German ! P.S. To add one constructive comment, current vehicles are wildly bigger than necessary - just look at the size of an Audi SUV! Maybe if we went back to cars the size of the original Mini and with a corresponding weight reduction, they would be way cheaper to build.
|
| 1 member likes this |
|
|
|
| by sospan |
| sospan |
What irks me is the filling up of cars with so much tech, "extras", convenience gadgets. Enhanced safety features are ok up to a point. There are a lot of potential distractions in a car that can encourage use, drawing your attention away from road awareness.
These add cost, weight, complexity, increased chance of failure. OK, manufacturers tend to design in common parts with options for extras based on model version but there is scope for reducing things. Quite often to get a feature you want/need you go up a level (s) in model spec but then get all the rest too. It helps the production lines in flow of vehicles. My CX Morgan has significantly fewer such add-ons then our Kia but with low volume manufacture there is scope to enable it. Spare wheel, heated seats, aircon cover my extras list for year round driving.
Are memory electric seat adjusters really needed? Electric windows? Multi zone aircon?
Fill the car with tech but take away a spare wheel to save weight!
Aluminium and plastic replacing steel for weight saving. Replaced weight by tech.
|
| 1 member likes this |
|
|
|
| by Morganmike |
| Morganmike |
Gosh Howard, it sounds like Shangri -La !
How I miss going to my Uncle in Leeds, having to use the pee pot at night and then later go to the 40 unit toilet block 30 yards down the road. Newspaper or hard toilet paper if the Mill owner had given a shilling bonus . . Back to back houses. Then luxury, a trip to York Road Baths for a scrub up and then to church 3 times on Sunday Newspaper .
Thank god when Filey army camp opened …sorry Butlins - and I had a holiday in 1953 (?): oh how we doffed our hat and enjoyed the beauty pageant.
I simply cannot understand anyone wanting to live in a barn conversion, highly insulated with a heat pump…….?
Surrounding one with a modern car heading to the office , listening to the awful news.
Beats me . MM
PS God forbid they had an au pair to take the children to school whilst both parents proudly March off to work.
This is a dilemma that I certainly would not wish to tackle and feel sorry for a government of any colour.
|
| 1 member likes this |
|
|
|
| by Ruut Bianchi |
| Ruut Bianchi |
My father bought a Citroen 2CV new in 1958. There were only a few car in the street in Amsterdam, where we lived. Born in 1957, I remember the 2CV! With a turn knob for the wipers when it stood still! I think it was 1962-63 he bought a Morris Minor traveller! Good memories! In the winter he was always 10 minutes ahead of us, because there were some starting procedures....! At present I preheat our EV when it's cold in the morning.......!! 
|
| 1 member likes this |
|
|
|
