kgwilson

Well they have reportedly lost a million men & a lot of them were in military equipment. The cost in human resource doesn't concern Putin, it is the economic cost and opposition is ramping up possibly due to relatives of a million men talking to others, access to foreign media through underground processes, high inflation getting worse & disgruntled lackeys. He hasn't been seen publicly for ages so he must be pretty concerned.

All UAE has to do is wait for the right time to activate the self destruct system they left in the aircraft.

Most towbars have a removable ball assembly these days so the actual main assembly is recessed behind the bumper. I only put mine on when I am using the trailer. I think most people do this now otherwise they risk getting it stolen.

I recently got a towbar fitted to my MG 4 & I bought a new 6 x 4 trailer. You don't even notice the trailer is there as the elcetric power adjusts so if you put your foot down it accelerates as if it isn't there. There is a noticeable difference in power consumption though. I found at 110 kmh with the trailer & a load on it was sucking about 22 kWh/100km compared with 15-16 without the trailer, but at 80 kmh there wasn't much difference. It cost about $1,500.00 fitted but I know some people have negotiated to get a towbar fitted for free when they purchased the car (or probably they could have negotiated a lower price if the towbar wasn't fitted).

Most people have only owned them for a few years as the uptake was very slow to start with. In the MG forum there are lots of owners of MG4s who have owned them since they came out in 2022. I got mine new in 2023 & intend to keep it for at least 10 years so long as I live that long.

I have had my MG4 for nearly 3 years now & Have no regrets other than the price of the facelift 2026 model is 10k cheaper than what I paid. Still another 4+ years of warranty. I have had 2 problems, the first was a drooping rear undertray & the second was the drivers door window stopped working. The undertray is a known issue & is the cover for the electric drive motor. The window issue was just a poor connection. All new models have a 10 year warranty or 250k whichever comes first. Mine was 7 years but unlimited km warranty. I am 168 cm so no issue with fitting in. I like the edgy styling of the 4. It was actually designed by the Royal Academy of Arts & engineered by SAIC UK. It has sold very well around the world except in China. 50/50 weight distribution, low CoG & RWD gives really good handling better than most others anywhere near its price range. All the new models have LFP batteries so a bit less energy dense but no nickel or cobalt & they are cheaper to produce so that is reflected in the price drop. The new model has a bit less power but slightly better economy & a nice updated interior & a single piece spoiler, though I prefer the split spoilers of mine. The urban is FWD and has a bigger boot as there is no motor there. It has less power & range but unless you are doing long trips is a good buy for the price. For you i reckon the MG5 would be best. True SUV size though does not have the range of the MG4 nor the performance. Price depends on the spec level. I have the Essence with a 64 kWh battery so am biased but all the extra features were worth the extra money iIMHO. I'd go for the best offer without compromising your requirements. Do they still supply a granny charger? A lot of EVs no longer come with one. One thing I'd advise not to do is get talked in to one of their 7kW home chargers unless you get it thrown in for free. There are much better ones for much less on the market. I bought a ZJbeny for less than half the price & it is fully adjustable with app control, RFID, plug & play & OCCP capability. ZJ Beny make lots of chargers right up to massive super chargers. Also their V2L cable is over $200.00 & has a limited output of about 10 amps plus it is bulky. I bought a V2L adapter on line for $45.00 delivered & it has a max output of 32 amps but you need a big cable to take that load. Most of these are now limited to 16amps. Good to see another forumite joining the EV revolution. You won't regret the decision. I certainly haven't

It is not surprising that Ford are pursuing the EV pathway. Their earlier efforts were not that flash but the CEO Jim Farley went to China and airlifted a Xaiomi SU7 EV home which he uses as his daily drive. AI Overview Ford CEO Jim Farley has heavily praised and personally driven a Chinese-made electric car—the Xiaomi SU7—for over six months, describing it as a superior product and a "game changer". While calling it a "shocker" that Chinese EVs are ahead of Western rivals in efficiency and software, he is focusing on keeping them out of the U.S. market to protect domestic manufacturing. Key Takeaways Regarding Ford & Electric Cars: 1. The Daily Driver: Farley stated he did not want to give up the Chinese Xiaomi SU7, stating on the Fully Charged Podcast that he didn't want to switch to a U.S.-made EV. 2. The Competitive Threat: Farley warned in 2025 and 2026 that Chinese automakers are "completely dominating" with superior products. He called their competition an existential threat on steroids compared to the 1980s Japanese auto boom. 3. Ford's Pivot: To compete, Ford has created a specialized, independent "Skunk Works" team in California tasked with developing a new, lower-cost EV platform to compete with Chinese competitors. 4. Upcoming Focus: Ford is planning a $5 billion investment in EVs, focusing on a new midsize pickup truck. Despite his admiration for the technology, Farley has urged the U.S. government to prevent Chinese carmakers from bringing their vehicles to the U.S. to prevent a massive hit to American, and specifically Michigan, manufacturing jobs.

Interesting as the types of crude oil is not something I have taken much notice of in the past. At least the market is not something Trump has got any control over but I bet that is something he wants as well as being King of the world. The other thing about prices of everything in the US is that is not what you actually pay. States impose their own sales taxes added on at the point of sale & there are even POS taxes for local authorities projects or even schools & churches.

If the US has so much oil why then has the price of petrol there gone up 46.5% in the last 3 months. That is the national average at $US1.26 a litre. It is 50% higher than that in California. California also has the most renewables and largest EV percentage of all States as well as the largest GDP much to Trumps disgust as it is run by a democratic Governor..

NRMA also have a battery on their vehicle to transfer energy to an EV. Battery to battery can be very high speed so it does not take long to get enough charge into the empty EV battery to enable it to get to the nearest charger. using a generator would take hours to get very little energy in the EV unless it was a massive generator capable of 150 kW plus. I don't know of anyone who has run out though. EV owners are good planners, partly because the public charging network has not kept up with EV sales. Also because the cars software knows the range and can list all the chargers within range. State & federal governments are now putting a fair bit of effort into improving the number of chargers particularly in regional areas. There are plenty in large centres and along major highways. Installing chargers is a lot easier than building a petrol station & once built at huge cost it has to be supplied with fuel. Portable units are being installed in the outback. They have a large battery and solar panels & get delivered on the back of a truck. Several companies are supplying these to Outback farms etc. Larger ones have a small solar farm & big batteries to supply several vehicles at once. NRMA have one in the NT somewhere with 4 chargers. Public EV charging is only in its infancy & some of the early ones were very unreliable. Not so now & there are plenty that are capable of 350 kW way more than almost all EVs can receive. I am off on a 350km round trip tomorrow. The battery is fully charged (free from my solar system) & I won't need to top up anywhere. If I did though there are heaps of charging options. I just hit the go to button & the Satnav guides me to the neared public charger & lists all within range. Simples.

This happens only at very low state of charge. My EV has a 64kWh battery with 62.1 kWh useable. When the charge shows 0% it goes in to limp mode & will still run but only at very low speed. I can't remember offhand but about 20-30kmh for 30-40km before it dies. I have never tested this & don't know anyone who has. A car review outfit in the UK took a number of different EVs on a specified drive from 100% till they died about 3 years ago & discovered this feature in some of them. I practice I rarely get below 20% but have been down to 5% at the lowest point. There is a woman who lives in my car with a nice English accent who keeps me informed of what is going on. She greets me by name when I open the door and has lots of friendly advice. When the charge gets to 20% I get a gentle reminder to charge. When it gets lower than 10% she gets a little more agitated.

I agree with your comment and i am very observant so always check traffic movements in the other intersecting roads. I always wait till the traffic has stopped before going. The power delivered is effortless and there is no noise. I don't plant my boot, that would be stupid. My car is RWD with approx 50/50 weight distribution & weighs 1650kg. I've never spun the wheels even in the wet but the instant torque is great when overtaking.

My MG4 is a Corolla sized hatchback although with the similar interior space of a 2-2.5 litre ICE car. It has 150kW (204HP) of power & nowhere near the same as a model Y Tesla which has between 194 kW & 255 kW depending on the variant & that is only the RWD models. The thing is that power is developed from 0 RPM with full torque available from that point. Just normally driving off from traffic lights I am usually way past the intersection before ICE cars even get going.

I have seen my SOC go up on a long downhill run from Dorrigo to Bellingen on the Waterfall way. It added about 50km to the range at the bottom. Going up used a lot more though than I recovered which is expected. When going downhill for a long stretch it is a good idea to use the highest regeneration setting. One Pedal driving is the highest in my car as it will bring the car to a standstill without using the brakes. I use OPD usually in towns as there is so much stop start driving. EVs are very economical in city driving partly due to the stop/start & Regen but also due to when stopped no energy is being used at all except for the 12 volt electrical system that runs everything except the cars traction system.

The battery management system in EVs is very sophisticated so all you have to do is plug the car in. You can't overcharge the battery. The original wisdom was that you should only charge NMC batteries to 80% for normal use & to 100% when going on a long trip. Real world use has established that it doesn't matter and that the batteries are lasting up to twice as long as previously thought to at least 500,000 km. This is reflected in the current battery warranties from CATL, the worlds biggest battery manufacturer, of between 1 & 2 million km. The only issues with charging to 100% is that the last 20% takes almost as long as the first 80% and that you should not leave the battery sitting at 100% for months at a time. This mistake has been made by people going away somewhere for a few months to a year or more & finding that the battery has degraded when they use the car again. Leave it in the garage with 60-80% charge & come back a year later & there will be little if any degradation. The advice is that LFP batteries can be charged to 100% all the time but the same advice for NMC is valid for LFP when not using the car for extended periods. So in the real world scenario it doesn't matter what type of battery the EV has, just charge it based on your own requirements. My MG4 has a 64 kWh NMC battery & i charge it when I get low cost electricity & from the solar panels, usually to 80% as that is sufficient for all my normal weekly use. So far the cost has been zero. Of course there was the up front investment in the cost of the car & the solar & battery system. The original payback was estimated at 5-6 years, but that has now reduced to 2-3 years on current charges.