dutchie01

Wow, this wakes up a memory etched on my harddisk. Some 15 yrs ago hot summers night in paris around 23.00 hrs going from terrace to terrace from bar to bar until i saw a silver 300SL convertible hood down parked in front of a terrace. Red leather and definately in original never restored shape. Patina as they call it now. I convinced my mate to have a drink at this terrace as i wanted to look at the SL. And i will never forget what happened next. Out from the cafe came a 60 plus years old playboy type character wearing a fur coat, t shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. Full whisky tumbler in his right hand and clearly inibriated. He walked to the SL, got in fired it up waved his hand to upcoming traffic and just drove off like he did for decades not giving a f*ck. I just could not believe it. A scene straight from a movie and what a car. Anyway, i like Mercs and truly understand your choice for an E class i do expect this to be one of my future cars as well

Great vid and all about feelgood and putting the customer first. Not expensive for a dealer to do but it makes the customer feel welcome and important. I really cant remember when they did wave me goodbye in my new car including 2 lexus. Mostly its here are the keys need your signature here are some flowers ( no more wine did anyone notice?) and i have 10 mins for some smalltalk. The current cars are so complicated in tech that the infotainment alone could take well over an hour to explain. Another thing almost free of charge for any dealer. Contact your customer to see if all well some days after he or she collected the car. Never ever happened to me? Why not? Putting customers first in any organisation is a way of thinking and in most cases is just an afterthought. This vid shows a great way of doing it. However, could be culturally influenced as well with Japan beeing the most polite country in the world?

Exactly. And thats also the origin of Kei Cars, not longer than3.4 and wider than 1.48 mtrs.

Something else is slowly coming to the surface, a topic that sends shivers through the automotive industry and that is not widely discussed yet. I will give some examples. This weekend was a referendum in Berlin where the 2.5 million inhabitants could vote on the question if climate neutrality should be brought forward from 2045 to 2030. This plan would cost an estimate 113 billion Euro. 35% of the people voted with a majority yes vote of 50.9%. Turnup is too low so nothing will happen but 35% on a question like that. Seems the topic is not interesting enough to even go vote? And Berlin is a leftwing city and then 50.9% yes on 35%? Also the latest poll in Germany shows decreasing interest in BEVs and Plug ins, down from 44 to 39% of respondents said yes to would you ever consider buying a BEV. And what are most heared arguments against? doubts about longevity people think petrolcars run for longer, purchaseprice, they are too expensive and lack of charging options. Hardly anyone is talking about the environment in favour or against it are all practical reasons. Another one, Holland. in 2025 all fiscal stimulation for BEVs will disappear. Bring in a survey and guess what? 40% of current electric car owners will return to Petrol. So could this mean that interest in climate neutrality etc is much lower than everybody expects? Could all this be a high brow hobby of leftish intellectuals, the press, politicians? The boys and girls of stinky rebellion can continue gluing themselves to paintings and highways but what if nobody is interested? What if you are the Volkswagen Audi group and have invested billions in BEV,s have designed and built new factories, will be turning out new electric cars every year every month almost, have halted development of diesel and petrol engines, and what, just what if people will not buy them??

Linas, i think there will be a clause in the agreement stating that "the car will switch off immediately if non E-fuel is detected.

You can say whatever you like when you like it as you have freedom of speech and live in a democratic country. Just dont expect everybody to agree with you.

Its not whats needed its what you want. Normal people can all buy a Lada brings you from A to B ?

Operational from 2031 and producing green hydro for the industry and heavy transport not for cars. BTW the Spanish and Portuguese plants together are a mere drop in the ocean for energy demand. Hydro for sure is not the new oil.

ICE Ban 2035 off the table decided last night in the european parliament. This implies that ICE cars will be allowed ONLY if they run on E-Fuels. This means zero tailpipe emissions. Of course normal ICE petrol or diesels are still allowed to drive until eternity this is about new cars on offer as from 2035. You can buy a V8 diesel in 2034 and keep driving without problem.

Ever heard of the Secret Society of Pothole Men? Its massive and they are pretty good in staying under the radar. When is the last time you saw a pothole man? That's what I mean. They are neglecting the roads to such an extend that people will say enough is enough we cant take this anymore! Then the Society will come to the rescue but a prices and conditions unknown to men. Better prepare!

There is definitely something wild and rebellious about crashing your Lexus at 97 years of age. And then refusing to go to hospital as well!

Toffee, It just does not matter what arguments are brought up your answer always seems thesame, a rant about the batteries followed by full blown conspiracy theories. In this way a balanced discussion about the topic is just not possible so i am out.

Well, i never said that batteries used to propel cars are good for the planet and by the way a 75kwh batterypack contains some 8kg lithium. All i wanted to say is that whatever means of transport we choose it does not help the enironment, seems logic? And saying that dirty oil has been around since 1800 and we seem to be doing fine? really?

Its a pity some people can or do not want to see the bigger picture of the developing BEV market. Introduction of the first models was at the top end of the range as the new technology was very expensive and the only way to have some sort of businesscase was to introduce expensive models. If you take a snapshot of todays market you ignore whats coming. Car manufacturers have introduced their top models and are now on it in the middle range followed shortly by the cheaper models. In the automotive world it is commonly expected that by 2025 production of BEV cars is more profitable than ICE. Very soon you will see cars costing 20k then 15 k then 10 k and yes China plays a role here. City cars with a small battery and fast charging are expected all over the place. To put things in perspective the alternative to BEV is the old proven technology using petrol or diesel. So how is that in "mining"? well not always the best chaps https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2022/jun/01/oil-pollution-spill-nigeria-shell-lawsuit Seems nothing is perfect apart from using a bicycle!

RIP John, may you enjoy your Lexus and Rioja on the other side.

https://hifglobal.com

Now, who would have thought? https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-forms-alliance-against-phase-out-internal-combustion-engines-by-2035-2023-03-13/

So, there is something as a Cow Farting Inspector?? And i thought we had problems...

So, where does transport stand? and cars in that segment? I know all figures are debatable so maybe some examples to put things in perspective. CO2 emissions from steel production seem to be some 10% of something. The worldcup or any olympic games for that matter are horrendous in CO2 output Coal power plants ( that also will generate electricity for the car batteries) are one of the biggest sources of CO2 output. Pork production gives great food and lots of C02 Friday night question, what is worse for the environment, a belching cow or a farting one?

The irony is that various countries are trying to manouevre their way out or adjust or add exceptions to the 2035 agreement whilst the car manufacturers overwhelmingly are for it. Reason is simple, they have chosen for EV production and have invested billions in new factories and a complete overhaul of all models. Any change will bring uncertainty and that is deadly. And Brexit... well best not to go there i think?

Its becoming messy now. Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania now all want to delay the ICE 2035 ban. The ghost could well be out of the bottle.

Sign of the times i guess. How things have changed in 50 years. Going back in memory i can remember my bike ( i was 10yrs old) disappeared when i was climbing the apple trees. My father went to the police and they immediately sent an officer so both of them roamed the streets in search for the bike the entire afternoon. Fast forward to 2023. Car broken into you are not even allowed to visit the local police station ( if it still exists) but have to report all through internet and of course just for insurance purposes only. By the way i still remember the summernight when i was speeding heavily on my motorcycle decades ago and all of a sudden a policebike was next to me i did not see him coming at all. The only thing he did was wave his hand to slow me down. An impression still with me later to be repeated by the Swedish police doing exactly thesame. All speedingtickets i forgot.

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20221014IPR43206/car-recharging-stations-should-be-available-every-60-km-say-meps

and now for something completely different. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-delays-vote-combustion-engine-phaseout-after-german-pushback-2023-03-03/

Oh dear, you seem pretty paranoid. i wonder if there are any owners of the UX electric that can tell us their experiences of driving on a daily basis. Anyone?