Leaderboard

Sometimes I do wonder about people's ability to think logically. We have yet to buy a replacement for the written off mini. It is really my partner's car and she flatly refuses to drive a manual. Which is a pain in the UK, because most cars - even luxury ones - that are sold are manual. So, after fruitlessly searching for a replacement for her that was in budget and auto, I took a look at some EV cars - as they are all "autos". Used car sellers here work a bit dfifferently to Aus (at least when I last purchased a used car in Aus, which was admittedly about 20 years ago). If you know what you want, you can buy online unseen from a reputable seller and if you're not entirely happy with it whtin 2 weeks or something like 1000 miles, they will refund you in full and take the car back. In addition, most offer 12 month warranties under similar terms to new car warranties. And of course, if the car they sell you has a balance of a new car warranty, that transfers to you (as long as the previous owner/s have kept to the terms of the warranty) and they will make up the difference if the balance of the new car warranty is less than the 12 months. There is also statutory protections as well that the larger used car dealers adhere to without resistance because they work on a model to stack them high and kiss them good bye. They don't make much on the sale of a car, but on the finance. They don't much like cash buyers, but to ensure they get the volume, they do a lot to preserve their reputation. Some of these are not venturing into making the used EV purchase a virtually risk free proces as they see a big market of better value cars and better demand. So I was looking at autotrader.co.uk for cars with bettter than 250 mile range. I selected a few, of which the MG ZS 72.x KW was one, and checked out the ads. The reputable dealers have RAC or AA battery tests performed. Fore about £9K, I was looking at 2021 - 2023 models of varying mileage, but averaging arount 30k miles (50k kms). So much for 10% degradation per year of the battery - most were showing 98 - 99% of life left in them, and the lowest was about 96%. I did some research and, ironically, apart from the mini, the real world ranges were not far off the claimed range - probably on average 10% less than claimed range. The batter checks also stated claimed range and provided estimated real world ranges at 0 degrees c ambient temperature and 25 degrees C ambient temperatures. At zero degrees, it was about 25% less range than at 25 degrees. OK, for the cars I was looking at, and taking into account the decreased range at motorway speeds, I should still be able to get to London without needing a charge and have some in reserve. Sticking it on a charger overnight would have me right tor the trip home and assuming it would be 0 - 100% charge. cost me about £35 - half that of the Volvo and about 2/3 that of the now dead mini. Not to mention the generally lower servicing costs, less to go wrong and therfore more reliability, etc. it sounds like a no-brainer - especialliy when you consider partner's driving - glorified shopping trolley and occasional run to pick up the daughter - on A roads as she doesn't do motorways/highways. So, even then, her range will normally be longer than the average. So, I decided to broach with her the subject of getting an EV. I was met with a resounding "no" at every turn. But no logical argument to say why not. Just "I want a petrol car..." I was flabbergasted.. Why? Eve3rything she read was about EV fires and lack of infrastructure. Also, when we sell this house, she may end up in a mid-terrace house with no guarantee she can park outside to connect the car to charge. OK.. the infrastrcutre down here is not what it is in London. But there is good infrastructure. First the chances she won'[t have a driveway are pretty low. But even on that assumption, I explained the area she was looking at has a public charging point and there is no petrol station for about 10 miles or so heading towards Exeter. So, it would be easier for her if she was low on fuel to get the battery topped up than petrol in her car. Then she said she would use it only hopefully once evry couple of weeks and the battery woudl discharge.. I could have put any number of stats in front of her to say that it would take anything from 6 months to a year to discharge a 72kw/h battery not in use.. and that she could expect the lead acid battery to discharge enough to make the car unuseable loing before that. Still she wasn't having a bar of it. Oh well, she will have to live with it and the costs. But the research I did made EVs even more compelling to me than they were beforehand. [Edit] I forgot to mention, most of the batteries still have 5 years of warranty left and a lot of the cars still had 2 - 3 years of warranty left, too.. Don't get that with the petrol cars of the same age.

Well, at least we know how Trump sees South America - simply as the southern part of North America with the Gulf of America in the middle.

Trump has invaded Venezuela simply because Chavez nationalised multiple billions of U.S. oil companies assets when he was in control. These billionaires running the oil companies are Trumps main backers, and they want their oil assets back (and the oil output and revenues of course), and everything else is just incidental. Trump and his lackeys will simply install a puppet who supports Trump and the U.S. oil companies, and the puppet will ensure the armed forces of Venezuela will keep the civil protests under control - because they're "the enemies of the countrys democracy". We're right back to the "good ol' boys" 1950's style of world domination! And don't forget, we've got a World War going with all those Christian-hating Muzzies, too! One can only hope Russia moves a heap of war materials and armed support to Venezuela, thus hampering their current efforts in the Ukraine. Zelinskyy supports the Trump move into Venezuela, now I know why.

Laughing on the assumption it is a photoshop or similar, and just a joke.

The actions of the USA in South America have been empire building under the guise of protecting South American countries from becoming parts of the empires of European countries. It all stems back to what is caled the Munroe Doctrine of 1823. I am short of time this morning to post about the Monroe Doctrine and history arising from it. I'll post something tonight (5/1/26).

Have these idiots not seen Avatar one, two, or three? Or Afghanistan, Vietnam, or Iraq? Foreign invaders seldom get along well with the invaded. Buy more popcorn folks! We all thought it was winding up, but the story has just begun.

I have found similar EV advantage here in AU, too. Our Mitzi is getting a bit wheezy, with 340,000k on it, and dropping a new (s/h) motor into it will cost more than she is worth. There are some nice new EV's coming onto market at last. But the market is not settled yet - who knows which brands will still be around in a few years? The S/H market looks quite good. And battery degradation (as you noted) doesn't look like being an issue. Next car will definitely be EV.

It's generally accepted that Maduro was every bit as bad as his reputation suggested and his demise is welcomed by most of the population. However, Trump is far more interested in getting his hands on Venezuela's oil than in restoring democracy. He will prop up whoever he thinks will facilitate access for American companies to get their hands on the oil reserves. Like Canada, Venezuela has the heavy crude that US refineries are set up to process. The US produces a lighter grade that doesn't suit their refineries and most of Venezuela's current limited output goes to China which is another reason he wants the oil. His biggest problem will be that US companies will be very wary of pouring a lot of infrastructure development money into a country that is politically unstable. Even if they did, it would take years to get a significant increase in production because the existing infrastructure is in such bad shape.

They are, but a lot are celebrating very quietly because Maduro's regime is still in control and nobody knows what's coming next, least of all Trump.

The ironic thing about what Trump has done is that the majority of Venezualians are celebrating the arrest of Maduro. But remember that a lot of Sudeten Germans celebrated when Hitler annexed the Sudatenland.

AKA...Organ donors.

Those kind of bike owners usually have a very fast and very short life. We call them "temporary Australians".

I've actually been looking at a 2022-2024 Nissan Leaf as a trial used EV. They're very reliable and well built, but their battery technology is now obsolete, as they don't use inbuilt battery cooling to deal with heat buildup in the battery, which shortens range and battery life. In addition, they use the CHAdeMO charging protocol, which is also becoming obsolete (primarily due to the inability to handle large amperage, as I understand). The Leafs resale is relatively poor, making them a bit a bargain, IMO. Of course, that poor resale is aided by the fact the Leaf is now obsolete, and no longer produced, but every report from Leaf owners that I've perused, says they have spent virtually nothing on Leaf repairs, often after having travelled high kms. I'd rather buy a used Japanese-built EV than a new Chinese EV, as I'm not convinced the Chinese EV build quality is up to scratch yet - and the worst part of Chinese EV's is the lack of parts, and the even lower level of factory backup and support. The Chinese essentially regard their EV's as toasters - it craps itself, don't fix it, go buy a new one. There's a quite a few people making a killing here, buying low km wrecked Chinese cars and selling parts, panels and components off them, because people with Chinese EV's that have been pranged or have developed faults, are finding out they have long waits for parts, there's a multitude of confusing models, language difficulties, a lack of properly-written manuals, and a general "couldn't care less" attitude from the major Chinese manufacturers. BYD, here's looking at you!

02/02, 03/03, etc are the same... I often hear January the first and similar for other dates

What will Xi do now that Trump is taking the Venezuelan oil?

The Yanks simply have to differ from the rest of the world in most things. One of those is how they write dates. While the rest of the world goes DD/MM/YYYY, the Yanks go MM/DD/YYYY. There is only one day of the year (I think) when the Yanks' format is the same as the rest of the World's - the first day of the year 01/01/YYYY. Also have you noticed that the Yanky way of saying a date is becoming more common? How often are you hearing a date spoken of as Month/Day/Year, as in January First?

Should read doing democracy a favour? Hmmm.. A war about oil? I am getting a sense of dejavu

Nothign to be sad about, @nomadpete - these bikes are known for stator issues and I am looking forwad to getting my hands dirty again...

Sorry to post pics but these, if true, are very sobering. Not so much about 'What He has done now'. It's about war and what he has not done, at this point in time. We might really forget about the Epstein Files?

Just trying to interpret.... Doming is a new concept. Did you mean dooming? Anyway, donold has never before done anything that is in the interests of anyone other than himself. 'Tis but another interesting space to watch the unintended collateral damage unfold.

OK.. back to the Bike... The model/series (both Mk I and Mk II version) are know as "Biffers" over here. I understand this to be slang for unattractive woman. Well, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, because most people remark how good they look.. Anyway, with the Mini immobilised, the Volvo crapped its pants yesterday - only slightly. It sounds as if the rear brakes are in dire need of replacement - with the grooved discs all but confirming it (booked tomorrow). But, I know there is some drivetrain issues at the rear and hoping it isn't the driveshaft about to fall off. So, I decided yesterday to look harder for the second car (read the EV thread). As the weather was nice, I got geared up, even with this persistent lurgy and headed about 30 miles to a car yard that had a petrol car that fit our bill advertised. It was one of a three-showroom company. Guess what.. they haven't got it yet - they are expecting it within 10 days. However, he did point out to me another example - later model with less miles, but better appointed for only £500 more - which is £500 more than my budget. These dealers rarely move on price because they make their money on finance, of which I am not availing to myself. Google maps told me it was about an hour a way my A roads or I could go back about 15 minutes to the nearest motorway junction, and it will still be an hour away. Unf, I don't have a phone mount on the bike, so I memorised the way as much as possible, and headed off. About 2.5 hours later, I finally found it. Bristol is a big city and has some wonderful spots. But, it is an old city and that patchwork of road infrastructure is nothing short of a labryinth which is impossible to navigate without real time sat nav capability. Every few blocks, I had to find a legal place to stop, pull out the phone, and inevitabley retrace some of my steps. Finally, I found the dealer, but they had a queue a mile long so I visually inspected the car - it looks good... may just buy it. Got on the bike and rode back using as much oif the M5 motorway as possible. But I struggled to feel a smidge of heat on the heated grips on the hands, and they were quite cold all the way. That didn't impress me much, to say the least. The I noticed at below 2,500rpm, the heated grips status light would flash green. What the hell did that mean? Would have to wait to get home and look it up. I had worked out though, that it was cutting off the heat and learned that if it thinks the bike doesn't have the engine on by reading the voltage coming out of the regulator/rectifier. This was backed up with the bike virutally shutting down when I stopped to pick up some groceries. While turning the key lit everything up (it was dark now), pressing the start button was met with a resounding silence. F!. So, did the trick that older European cars needed, switched the ignition right off and right on again, prayed a bit, and it fired up. I rode it the rest of the way home and was thinking oh my, how big will that bill be? From my research so far, it could be the stator, the reg/rectifier, just loose and corroded connections or a combination of all three. The stators are a known issue with that model (2006 - 2010) and an upgraded electroset stator will set me back about £140. However, the stator flywheel was modified to allow more oil to flow through, and they are around £500. Sheep! The weather is pants this week, at a forecast of -3 degrees c when I would normally take off for work. The weather has been dry until today, so there is a possibility of black ice - which means, if I can manage to score a car, I will be driving in, otherwise an expensive train ride in this week unless I delay my London commute by a day in which the weather is forecast to get materially warmer. The plan is to empty our my dilapiidated garage this week, which I have to do to make space for the son's bike anyway. Then, after picking up his bike, I will first inspect the connections and run voltage and ohms tests (I forget what they call ohms tests these days) to try and isolate the issue. I am hoping it is just the connectors, but if not, it will probably mean a new electoset stator (about £150), but apparently second hand reg/rectifiers off Yamahas from about 2009 are the bees knees.. though will find the actual part it is and get new. The battery is a Yuasa installed new about a year ago, so if it is gone, it is likely because of something else causing it. Glad I bought a new multi-meter about 6 months ago.

Yes.. maybe I should have said unintended consueuence rtaher than [over] olptimistally wishful thinking.

I have to admit, I haven't been following this closely so really can't comment too much. But I did note a headline on The Age's website yesterday that the Aussie Vebeuelan population were cheering Chump on. I haven't read the article so going by the headline, Chump may be doming demoicracy a favour? Optimistically wishful thinking, I know.

Anyone tell her she shouldn't play with her food?

Someone told me John Revolta was a hard charger in Greased Lightning.

My son's partner is Chinese, although now a New Zealander. We met her for the first time when they visited a couple of years ago. We cooked a meal together. She taught us how to make traditional Chinese veges and this great spicy mashed potato and we showed her how to cook kangaroo correctly. Being her first time in Australia, she was keen to pet a kangaroo and eat one.

Yep, what a great move. A special military operation to remove a threat to stable Govt - which Govt, only the invader can provide. Straight out of his best mates playbook. The only thing missing is the Nazis that were threatening the countrys democratic stability.

The main problem with recycling EV batteries in Australia is that there have not been enough of them to warrant the creation of a recycling plant. This will of course change as more EVs are added to the Australian vehicle fleet. The early recycling plants in the US (there are a number of good You tube videos) have proven that almost all of the critical minerals are recyclable. We just do not have the volume at this stage & that is all lithium based batteries able to be recycled. At this stage old EV batteries are still quite valuable for use as home or commercial energy storage but there are few available & mostly they are from early BMW or Nissan Leaf EVs as well as those recovered from crashed EVs. I imagine the federal and state governments battery subsidies will have the effect of reducing the value of these as well. Once an EV battery gets to about 70% of its original storage capacity, it still has many years of home storage left even though no longer useful in the EV. Add to that the fact that EV batteries are lasting considerably longer than original predictions. I have done just over 35,000km in my 2023 MG4 & battery health is still showing 100% The good thing about all of this is that batteries have a circular life with 96% of materials being recovered during recycling. Compare that to fossil fuels which are used once & then they are gone.

This reminds me of the days when Farcebook was young and people would post pictures and details of a great day they had doing something fancy - and then they would be fired as they took a sickie to do whatever it was they did because their boss found out by... looking at their Facebook page., Though, I have to say, the young muppet seems to be a pretty good rider (Those speeds are mph, not kph)