kgwilson

There is still a lot of anti EV sentiment out there probably from those with an inferiority complex when their expensive ICE car can easily be outperformed by most ordinary EVs. The statistics do not back up the claims of EVs being more prone to catching fire that ICE cars. The opposite is in fact true. Hybrids are far more prone than pure EVs & that is generally because they have an ICE engine that starts & stops at random & there is plenty of very volatile fuel there to burn. https://belux.edmo.eu/fact-check-do-electric-cars-catch-fire-more-often-than-combustion-engine-cars/

Drizabone? Nah use that when its wet. Drizanuns err Habit? Nah same use. 2019 would have been the year for that expression.

I read recently that there is no law in the USA to prevent trump running for President even if he is in jail. I guess that the founding fathers never thought that this would ever be a possibility so didn't put it in the constitution. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-14/the-legally-crazy-tactics-donald-trump-is-taking-to-avoid-charge/101420494

There has never been street delivery in out town even though we are only 30km from Coffs harbour so everyone has to collect mail from the post office or have a PO box. I have a PO box & they provide it at a bit of a discount, I imagine because they don't have to pay Posties.

There is also more sunshine during the day than at night. As for grazing animals and growing crops on a solar farm, studies to date have shown little reduction of animal density but a lot of benefits such as keeping the grass and weed growth down so as not to obscure the panels, provide shade for the animals and in a study near Parkes the sheep have produced much improve wool quality. https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-05-30/solar-farm-grazing-sheep-agriculture-renewable-energy-review/101097364#:~:text=Solar farm trial shows improved fleece on merino sheep grazed under panels,-ABC Rural&text=Sheep grazing under solar panels,projects began%2C according to growers.

The Moriori did develop a pacifist culture based on the teachings of one of their leaders in the 16th century which made them easy prey for the war mongering Taranaki Maori who tried to exterminate them during the Musket wars of the early 19th century. They failed to wipe them out though & apparently some 700 or so people identify as Moriori most of which do not live on the Chatham Islands. The "Gentle Giants" nomenclature is a mythical romantic statement probably borne out of the attempted genocide by the Taranaki Maori as they offered little resistance.

The Moriori were just Maoris ie Polynesians who settled on the Chatham islands and developed their own culture and language over several centuries. They arrive somewhere between 1000 & 1400 AD. The Maoris nearly wiped them out in the 1800s but they still survive. There are lots of myths about them. None are true.

Only Trump is a stupid as Putin. Boris was a buffoon but not an absolute fool.

It looks more like they dropped off the truck purposely & then went on to take out the ambushers while the rest of the convoy of trucks kept going to the next engagement.

Putins latest speech has got him digging the hole even deeper and the last possible exit is all but closed now. Like all dictators he has taken the bait and is now trapped. He is now apparently giving direct orders to his military commanders and personally rejecting requests from those in the Kherson area for strategic retreat. Ukraine has surrounded the city of Lyman & cut off up to 8000 Russians in the last day or so. They seem to be slowly working towards retaking Sievierodonetsk and cutting more Russian supply lines. While Russia appears to have good defensive lines around Kherson their supply lines rely on only a couple of damaged bridges so if Ukraine was to mount a major offensive here (unlikely as they don't have the numbers) then about 30,000 Russians may be caught out. Putin is now as irrational as Hitler was when he ordered his Generals on the Eastern front beginning with Stalingrad to wage losing battles when they should have withdrawn.

Option c, but it could also have been either b or a.

Crikey soon someone will find an image of jesus on a piece of toast. Aw hang on already done.

Neighbourhood batteries are no different to a power company that has shareholders. Each household would have a shareholding in the system which is completely automatic. If existing infrastructure like poles and wires are used the battery owner would pay for its use. Each household contributor would be paid for the energy they supply just like the feed in tariff now and pay for the power used when they draw from the battery. The software will keep a tally and at the end of say a month you will either get a credit or a debit on your account. A limit would be set for both credits and debits so that you would either get payment into your bank account once the credit threshold had been reached or conversely a bill. Joining or leaving the scheme would most likely be confined to houses within a certain geographical area to minimise transmission loss and infrastructure charges.

V2L or Vehicle to Load is only the basic functionality and V2G (vehicle to grid) & V2H (vehicle to home) are the newest and as yet 2 to 3 years away from commercial availability. The cost to set up your house to allow V2L to power various items could be quite substantial but is probably worth it long term. I wouldn't go to the extent of installing a 10 to 15 kw household battery at a cost of 10-15k when I have one on wheels in the garage 4 to 10 times as big. This gives a good explanation of the technology. https://zecar.com/post/watt-is-bidirectional-charging-v2g-v2h-v2l#When will Bidirectional Charging be Available? The prices this bloke is quoting are nothing like what I pay so the savings will be completely different for everyone depending on the deal they have with their electricity retailer. Wholesale electricity in Australia increased by 300% in the June quarter compared to last year. This is being passed on to consumers now. My off peak was 23.4 cents/kwh & on 1 July increased to 32.8 cents/kwh. Peak went from 37.8 cents/kwh to 52.9 cents/kwh. The deal I have with my retailer is 23% discount on these prices. He didn't mention that there is also a shoulder tarriff which is most of the day & the grid is nominally 230 volts not 240 volts. He also assumes everyone in the street is using the same supplier as him. Also the number of people who have solar panels in Australia is the highest %age in the world so I'd be charging my car during the day off the roof & only at night if I needed to top the battery up for a long trip the following day.

They have increased the penalties for desertion etc. What a great way to motivate troops. There will be plenty of so called reservists pretty keen on disappearing so they don't become canon fodder. The "I'm not bluffing" bluff is the beginning of his desperation. I'd say there are plots for removal being worked on right now. The referenda are a joke to everyone except Putin & his henchmen and his mates are starting to openly criticise his increasing desperate measures. The only card left is the nuclear one so I hope that those who are actually in charge of the big red button stop if he ever says go.

That's good. You won't have to worry about the driving age being raised for 3 years.😁

If anyone has read about Hitlers downfall, it took a long time before he was able to accept the inevitable that began in mid 1943 or even earlier with Stalingrad & Rommels failure in North Africa. Towards the end in his bunker under the Reichstag he became completely irrational & had absolutely no concern for the German people. I don't think Putin has the same stranglehold over his lackeys as Hitler did but they would do well to look at history & deal with him before something similar happens.

Swappable batteries will certainly have their place in the future electrification of road transport. This is already evident with the modification of prime movers by Janus where they replace the diesel engine & gearbox with electric motors & swappable batteries. They are planning swap depots on the east Coast & the battery will power an electric truck with a B-train from Sydney to Coffs. The battery takes about 4 minutes to swap. The new battery will get the load to Brisbane. Apparently the cost of electricity to charge the batteries is less that half that of diesel. Most EV owners charge their cars at home & as 89% the population live in Urban areas a similar percentage of cars will be changed at home and used most of the time in urban areas. But everyone has holidays and reasons to go on long road trips, so fast charge stations will eventually pop up everywhere. Getting the energy to them will be the main problem. I would think that local battery storage charged via wind & solar and maybe backup sources will enable capacity to be maintained. When there is a holiday weekend & there is a mass exodus from the cities to beaches & holiday places, most will get there without the need to charge the batteries. Then they have overnight & most of the time they are where they have gone to, to recharge for the trip home.

These batteries are now old technology. BYDs blade batteries and others will see these disappear soon. Even Tesla is putting BYD blade batteries in its Tesla Model 3 in China even after they announced their new 4680 replacement for the 18650 which is essentially just a bigger round battery. CATL the worlds largest battery manufacturer has released its Qilin CTP (cell to pack) battery and it is being installed in the Zeeker a Chinese EV. The Qilin battery has an energy density of 255 Wh/kg providing 1000km of range for the Zeekr 009 MPV. This energy density is 13% higher than the ne Tesla 4680 battery. Not only that, due to its liquid cooling system the battery can be charged from 10 to 80% in 10 minutes. This provides as fast if not faster refuelling than petrol stations. But GAC who most people have never heard of is even faster. Its new pouch battery can charge from 0 to 80% in 8 minutes. Check out the video from Fully Charged below.

All of the highway patrol & most other police vehicles have cameras that scan the number plate & instantly report to the driver whether the car is registered or not, now that we no longer have rego stickers on the windscreen. A tail light or other minor thing could easily be an automated ticket to the offender, withdrawn if the tail light is fixed within 7 days & evidence produced. There are a multide of very minor issues that could be dealt with by technology and encouragement. This would probably need a bit of a culture change in the law enforcement area but it is possible. It is a bit like CASA & the NZCAA. One acts as like coach while the other acts like a policeman. No prizes for guessing which is which.

I've been trying to get a round tuit for years without success so it is not a recent supply chain issue. I almost got one during the pandemic & then just as I thought I had got one it disappeared.

I got my drivers licence when I was 15 in 1965. My father went to the local council offices and asked for a driving licence & they wrote one out & he paid the 1 shilling fee & that was it. That was in NZ & of course times have changed, cars have got more powerful & faster and there are as many on the roads as there are people in the country now. I did a defensive driving course when I was still at high school & later skid training in landrovers when I did my national service. Too many young drivers have no idea how to control the loss of traction as they have never had any training in this regard. I was in NZ recently visiting relatives & we were discussing this issue. Now the driving age limit there is 16 & you get a leaner licence & can apply for a restricted licence at 16 1/2 & you can drive between 5am & 10pm but must have a supervisor with you to carry passengers at any time. This lasts for 10 years. You can apply for a full licence at age 18 if you have held a restricted licence for at least 18 months reduced to 6 months if you have attended and pass an approved advanced driving course. Then you must pass the full drivers licence test. There are no such things as red or green P plates & the system allows for young people to get to their place of work in most cases & seems to try to address the issues of young bullet proof males showing how much testosterone they have to mates and girls. I have no idea how effective their system is.

Lets hope it is the beginning of the end. Hopefully the Ukrainian supply lines are able to keep up with their advance, the West keeps up its support in armaments, training and technology & Putin gets his comeuppance. I always liked Winston Churchills speech after the victory in North Africa in 1943. "This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, it is perhaps the end of the beginning". It was a pretty prophetic and historically accurate statement. That video of the Russian tank trying to escape sums up their attitude to a tee.

The coastline is pretty spectacular. One trip back from Christchurch about 40 years ago was not one I would like to repeat. A mate (who owned an aircraft maintenance business and I had flown from Hamilton down to Dunedin to deliver a 172 that had been fully repaired after a crash. He flew the ex crasher & I the business 172. We then returned that day to Christchurch where we stayed for a couple of days & attended a pretty wild 21st birthday party. We left to go home & got about 80NM up the coast & turned around & went back to Christchurch as the marginal weather turned to custard. The next day it was better but not much. We called Wellington not far from Blenheim & requested radar coverage across the strait & they obliged. We could see the odd squall ahead & tried to avoid them but ended up getting hammered in one. I could not see a thing for a short while as the rain was so intense. Finally we got to the bottom of the North Island & headed up the West coast lower than the hills to the East which was where the wind was now coming from because the ceiling had got quite low. About half way to Mana Island just off the coast from Titahi Bay we hit some of the worst turbulence in my flying career. I thought I had my seat belt fairly tight (they are only lap & sash) but my head hit the roof. I think my comment was something like faaaaaarrrrkkk. The noises from the airframe were indescribable. BUT once past Porirua & Pukerua Bay, Paekakareki where I'd flown Hang Gliders a few years before it was perfect.

Anywhere with a generally stiff prevailing wind has shrubs & small trees that grow downwind. Chicago is called the Windy City in the US as it gets some mean North winds that blow down lake Michigan but Boston is actually the windiest. Wellington has got to be one of the windiest. I have flown a 172 in there on a completely calm day of which there are few. I have flown in & out commercially numerous times and hair raising is praising the experience.