dutchie01

Plottwist!! Today, this afternoon the European Parliament will vote on the official ban for Internal combustion engines as from 2035. It was expected to be a formality as all laws are prepared and everybody will vote for it. BUT THEN!! Italy is going to vote against and Germany all of a sudden wants ICE continued with E-fuels.

So where are you going to fill this up then?

? I thought it was an Aston Martin where does the Daihatsu connection come in here?

Maybe a city is not for you Linas? Move to the countryside buy an old cottage in the middle of nowhere and dont forget an old defender diesel!

A riddle for the extravert and introvert, ever heard of the Superblock? Started back in 2016 in Barcelona city as experiment and rapidly expanded into super- superblocks. Spoiler alert, its complete parts of the city where roads are turned into parks and playgrounds and vehicles are pushed out of the city. Combined with free public transport it proves pretty popular! https://www.timeout.com/news/how-barcelonas-superblock-plan-is-carving-out-a-post-car-future-110721

Good post Linas. Putin invaded Crimea in 2014 and the west did nothing so he propably thought he could replace the Ukrainian government within 3 days and the west would again do nothing. How different did it go. The Ukrainians showed true spirit from the beginning and the Russian army was exposed as a total clown show. The Russian imperialistic agression cannot be tolerated what if Ruzzia wins? Poland next? Moldavia? The Baltics? Time is running out for the Putin regime and Russia has lost the war already with the west united as never before Sweden and Finland joining Nato and Russia turning into the pariah of the world for decades to come. Ukraine on the other can become an economic powerhouse after the war. There was already massive production of car parts and many manufacturers had factories there.

I think that the best solution for long distance cruising through Europa at the moment is old fashioned diesel but certainly not Hydro as there is nowhere to fill it up. Battery recycling is mandatory by law since 2006 and is also happening with the liion batteries from electric cars but as you say there arent enough old ones yet. Nevertheless car manufacturers are investing heavily in this to be ready. They are trying to control the entire process from raw material mining to battery production to recycling. Securing supply, controling cost, sustainability and reputation as main reasons. Example is Mercedes investing billions in Indonesia in mining and they have already buit a recyclingplant in Germany. Apart from the manufacturers there is a string of recyclingcompanies already active throughout Europe. The battery is currently the most expensive part of the car so that value secures good business in recyclingactivities https://group.mercedes-benz.com/company/news/recycling-factory-kuppenheim.html

you dont need to drive an EV if you dont want. Until 2035 you can still buy a brandnew fossil car and drive it for another 20 years. And the second hand cars will be available for even longer

Sorry, i wasnt paying attention, i thought the thread was about electric cars and what is wrong with them etc. We are just in the beginning of EVs. All major manufacturers ( except Toyota) started investing billions in the transformation from ICE to BEV years ago. Designing cars, productionfacilities, securing batterysupply and truly changing all sales from fossil to electric. Only a handful of models have hit the market so far mainly the expensive ones with rapid expansion to cheaper models to follow. For instance VW will soon launch ID2 and ID1 with the latter designed at a pricepoint of 15k. Batteries will become smaller and faster to charge. So called batterymining ( cobalt, lithium ) will be regulated and monitored with Indonesia and australia as main suppliers. Indonesia as thirld world country has attracted billions of investment for this creating tens of thousands of jobs. What is wrong with todays EV world? cars are too expensive, too heavy, charging infrastructure in most countries including UK is not good enough. Tomorrows world will bring a much wider choice of cars, cheaper better and easy to own.

Vlad, isnt it too easy to describe anything that disturbs your Hydrodream as fake news, out of date or irrelevant? I have not made a choice between ICE/BEV or Hydro, i am fine with all of them but it seems that an open exchange of thought is sometimes difficult if the other side puts its fingers in their ears and says lalalalala

you can buy this one? its in the showroom. https://www.toyota.co.uk/new-cars/mirai/build Too expensive? how about this one? https://www.hyundai.co.uk/new-cars/nexo

The question was more about the max lifespan of batteries. I do know there is no historical data for the moment but a toyota starlet petrol for instance will live happily for 30 years or more. Now to BEV. the car no problem but what about the batteries. Do they need replaced after 10 or so years and at what cost and again after another 10?

My daughter just bought a perfectly fine 12 yr old nissan qashqai. Great family transport and at 100k km many more years of happy motoring. Now fast forward to 2032. Would i be able to write thesame sentence about her buying a 10 yr old BEV?

If you want the entire street to be clean and proper you have to start with your own house?

I do remember the Opel Rekord. Rearwheel drive skinny tyres no traction control of course. I once lost it entering the motorway! BTW what you see happening with the BEV market are the laws of supply and demand.

All marketing nothing else. Reminds me of the Camel Trophy Landrover thing from years ago.

How can you make a right voting decision within the UK political system? The power of the ruling party is frightening and cannot be seen in other countries. Brexit, the last Truss disaster to name a few. Isnt real democracy a system of proportional representation whereby everyone can choose what they want and the winning party does not take all other votes?

Exactly that will be the reason why after nearly 3 decades it is still an experimental technology that is not lifting off.

Yes i have seen that video. Great information and she is a born presenter isnt she?

I am just a simple consumer and do not have enough knowledge about Hydro, BEV or even ICE powered cars. I just buy a car every now and then and choose what suits me best at that moment. I am member of the LOC as i am interested apparently more then the general public, like all of us. I do know little about economics and based on what i can pick i can only conclude that Hydro powered passenger cars are dead. The automotive sector has chosen. The ship has sailed, the train has left the station. Hydro is not a new technology in the car world. R&D departments try to look 15 years ahead and for instance BMW had prototypes on the road already back in 2000. So, why did it never took on? well you can fill in the reasons yourself i guess. I can see it working in boats, trucks, agricultural big machines etc, but passenger cars will be battery electric powered and that is it. In another thread i posted an interesting article about Toyota missing the boat big time and one can argue about the percentages and figures correct or not but there was one remark that made me think. + There will be a moment that the public starts buying BEVs as they are afraid of putting their money in ICE that will disappear. I personally have to buy a private car latest next year we want to keep driving after my retirement and i am thinking of that. What if next year i buy a petrolcar and drive it for i do not know some 8 years. By then the market will be fully electric and nobody wants my car so i loose my money?? I like driving an electric better that driving a 4 cylinder turbo engine and charging over here is just a non issue with chargers every where. Shell announced that operating a electric petrol station (??) is more profitable than a traditional one. Less maintenance, all automated, people stay longer so buy more and money can be made on the electricity. So guess what they are building chargers everywhere. Fast charging more expensive that slow. Look at the situation 3 years ago compare to now and 3 years from now.

Interesting article about the global EV market and Toyota https://thedriven.io/2023/01/30/toyota-faces-disaster-unless-new-ceo-performs-miracle-pivot-to-electric-vehicles/amp/

Heidelberg. Not too far off the ring and one of the most beautiful villages in Germany. Untouched by ww2 and stunning. Get a hotel with secured parking and enjoy the local wine!

The discussion between EV and non Ev enthusiasts seems not possible as everybody has made up its mind and will not listen to the other side. Its pretty polarised and on top of that the Lexus clientele are known to be a quite conservative bunch….

Hydro wont happen this decade at least. Car manufacturers have invested billions into EV production and that return on investment has to be made first