dutchie01

I am honestly surprised that all this is such a polarised topic. So much emotion and i just cannot understand why. All of us are on this forum as we are interested in cars in general and Lexus in particular. The technical background i find fascinating but for some reason it seems not possible to even post one sentence about BEV or Hydro or whatever form of propulsion without torching a fire. I do hope we can achieve a balanced factual exchange of thoughts.

Sign of the times. All Dutch Lexus dealers are now operating from a Toyota dealership. Stand alone Lexus operations are too costly and a corner in a Toyota showroom is easy to find. Maybe thesame to happen in the UK?

Linas you forgot my number one issue with public transport. Agression and violence. Going into town i will take a taxi or drive myself. No Way.

Charging times will decrease range will increase and codt of batteries are already going down rapidly. All this will create ev city cars with like you say 20kw batteries going 150 miles or so charging in 5 mins. And that is the sweet spot. I will buy one privately if its below 20 k.

Bang on Linas. I have not used public transport since i owned my first car 44 yrs ago and i do intend to keep it that way.

its an international thing is guess. In Holland exactly the same. For instance the southern province of Zeeland, islands, beach, agriculture, small villages. Traditionally not a wealthy area but stunning nature. Wealthy Germans started buying houses that were cheap and used it as holiday homes later followed by Dutch as 2nd house. This means empty villages off season, shops close as no people and all this is driving house prices up so local youngsters cannot get in and have to move out to other areas. Not good.

summer tyres or four seasons? My wifes Audi Q2 is on bridgestone 4 season and her story is identical also 2.5 mm after 12000km.

Just different cars i guess. The Tesla is a ground up EV and developed as such the RZ isnt, alike the BRZ and Subaru. Then drag plays a big role with Tesla X at 0.24 and the RZ at 0.28. Charging is not comparable either as are the batteries. Also software and electric motors are not thesame so overall this makes the Tesla a more efficient package. On the other hand buildquality and interior? well thats the other way around. Exclusivity? Tesla seems to have taken over the role of BMW as you see them on every corner and the RZ is more exclusive than a Porsche. I have never driven an RZ so i cant tell from personal experience but it could well be a car that gives you that feeling youre driving something really special. Anyone?

Inevitable really. Everybody is going after Lithium so if it is in the ground somewhere they will go for it. Identical project going on currently in most European countries. More important however is battery production. The UK desperately needs that in order to keep its automotive factories. Batteries are the most expensive part of an electric car and are heavy. In order to save the cost of transport factories will be where the batteries are produced.

You are really looking at car tyres when abroad? Linas what is wrong with you! Tyres maybe but maintenance? They bring the car to the garage if its broken thats it.

Thats correct Linas, the French dont care about cars at all and it shows. Not even sure detailing exists over there. I once had a French agent working for us that always kicked a dent in his new car saying the first one is mine! BTW i always wash my car and my wifes car by hand. Drive 10 mins away from my house nice quiet wash boxes. Takes me out of the house for an hour, like the silence.... My wife tells her friends he needs an hour for himself.

Kwikfitters are not car mechanics. Simple folk that are taught to change tyres. Some are lucky and are allowed to touch your exhaust. The best ones even can change your oil or do an mot! I went in to change wintertyres for summers at my companycar. There is a window between the waitingroom and the the garage so i always keep looking at my car. The brightest young man walked to my car with a bucket and started to unloose the oilplug. I ran towards him asked what the hell he was doing reply was a simple huh change oil Sir. I drove off with different tyres but will never ever go back. Whilst waiting a lady that brought her car in for mot got the message it would fail as the discs and exhaust were worn and needed replacement. I wanted to scream to her Run Run while you still can but didnt. Still feel sorry i didnt.

Bridgestone weathercontrol A 005

My Wifes Audi Q2 has 4 season tyres and after only 13k km they are worn, the front ones that is. Now i realize this is a very nose heavy car with the engine almost as far to the headlights as possible like all audis but it did surpise me, oh fwd as well. Car is only used as shoppingtrolly and does 6000km pa. I cannot compare it to summertyres as we only have it since 2 yrs. Do other members have similar experiences? In my car history i can only recall a Ford Mondeo diesel that ate the front tyres in thesame speed. ( worst car i ever had, hated it !! ).

Do you know what the fines are? And if you are from the UK so not Eu will they really send you the fine by post or not bother and what if you simply ignore?

Hi Christian, what are the emission laws in Spain? Is this thesame all over the country or can it differ per city?

Could be berkshire massachusets usa ?

Our factory is in the UK and in the past years we have made massive multi million pound investments to meet the Paris agreements, or at least come close. Windmills, Solar farms, raw materials made with mass balancing, using recycled products where we can, reduce waste and so on. I see this throughout our industry and thesame goes for the Automotive world. Suppliers will have to prove they do what is needed with certification etc to continue supply the factories otherwise its out. I am convinced the vast majority of people in one way or the other are thinking and doing good for the environment. Could be solar panels or separating waste, could be choosing an A class fridge or thinking about the most environmental friendly way of transport and yes, i do know people that sold their car use bike and bus now. Each to their own i guess. It is time to move away from our dependancy on oil, a product that brought a lot of good, prosperity and massive economic growth for most countries, enabled mankind to travel the world etc but in thesame time has a massive dark side. From truly terrible conditions and or violence in extracting it from the earth, spills or wars fought about it. The battery developments is still in early stages and will move away from critical materials, Car companies now invest in mining so they can fully control the operations. The electricity supply will grow with demand ( note not all cars will charge at thesame time!). Hydro is promising but sure has some way to go i really do hope it will be developed further for passenger car use. On a side note i also think the entire automotive landscape will change, not only because China will come in with a massive bang but mainly because the younger generation is not so interested any more in owning a car. For me 45 years ago it meant freedom, they? they already have freedom and are "greener"than us old folk. Anyway here is to the future!

Now I do know that not everything is understandable by everyone but surely you must be trolling here, got a bag of popcorn and wait for the reactions ?

My daughters Nissan is in service with the local village garage. I do meet Theo the owner every now and then in the village pub and he always asks me how my daughter is and then is the Nissan still ok? These are the shops that will survive for sure.

Sometimes companies only spend money if they think it will create more so not cost money. Service, maintenance and complaints all cost money in their infinite wisdom. Fine example was my internet provider, new router and of course nothing works. Calling them meant 30 mins hold at least. After 2 times I was fed up and dialed number 1 on the menu, the salesdept and within 3 rings i had someone on the phone! I apologized and asked if they could connect me which they could! You see always a backdoor somewhere.. Another time with an airline after 20 mins waiting i got the message " it is very busy your call will be ended please try again later". Now THAT is enough to buy a can of petrol.

Not only Lexus but common practice everywhere. You are suppose to use the internet to book an appointment and trying to get someone on the phone is complicated to say the least. I tried to book a service for my wifes Audi last month, took me 4 efforts and a week. I wanted to discuss something technical but i better stop doing that now. Only friendly girls available that have to ask and will call back type of thing. With margins melting away like snow the dealer organisations are flattening their organisation. ( business speak for sacking as much people as possible).

No, not to my knowledge. Tyres and screenwash thats it. Not even the brakes as generative braking slows the car down using the E motor. Thats why i think it does not add up asking customers to pop in the dealer for an annual service. What do they do then? Anyone?

But this is an electric car. What is the difference with Tesla then that you dont have to service at all? Is this not a way of getting in money from customers 10 years times X whilst it is not needed at all?

Malc old chap i politely and humbly have to inform you that the current fleet of Hydro cars in the Uk consists of 11 vehicles out of over 30,000 other ones.