dutchie01

The question should be "what the true profit of the LC500 is". As a stand alone model it could well be game over now but it just isnt. I remember an interview with Dr Piech then head honcho of VW and driving the Phaeton at astronomical development costs. For instance a team of engineers took a year and a half to develop an airconditioning system without draft which was an order by The Boss. Piech answered exactly thesame question by replying " if i can charge 100 euro more for every Golf i sell it is well worth it ".

If you think something is true does not make it the truth, or at least words like this the US judge just told Alex Jones in his courtcase.

The first mobile phones were CARphones. connected to a car with a sledge and a handlebar to take them out. Slide out the antenna and away you go. Workphones used in the field. Then came the Motorolas ( whatever happened to them) soon to be followed by Nokia. All this is before the internet! Now my car navigates me to a meeting i have at 09.30 which i have forgotten but is inside google automotive which is connected to my agenda and everything else google. OH good old times you could disappear from the earth for days no questions asked! ( Mr Dutchie is on a business trip and he is back next monday. That was normal back then can you imagine now??).

2035 is set as goal to ban combustion engines from the showrooms, so you cannot buy new cars from that moment. Some countries have pulled that forward to 2030. Its now 2022 and with my age it means i can drive a gas guzzling polluting V8 or stinking old 4 cylinder diesel until my last moment, no problem ! Will i? No as i like driving an electric vehicle, the silence, torque, lack of vibrations not needing to go to a petrol station, no smell.

***** Almighty. SHELL just announced their nett profit over the last three months. It is a record 18 BILLION DOLLAR

Euro 2.29/ltr for 95 today down from 2.51. like before around 75% is taxes ( Netherlands)

what is it, Honda? engine? HP? looks great!

For all young readers out there this granddad had a DAF 44 a forty something years ago. The image of these cars was not too good, senior citizens and so on. Guess what it had a CVT gearbox connected to a 2 cylinder engine. I only drove it full throttle with the engine screaming at max revs until inevitably it blew up. It was a weird sensation then as it is now. The revs climb until a certain rpm stay there with the noise staying thesame but the car accelerates. forty years on the debate is still on and the majority of drivers do not like it just like the good old days. I really wonder if Toyota/Lexus did not stick to the CVT/ECVT what would have happened. IS300H with a normal 8 speed auto? NX? would the cars be more popular? I personally do think so....

So, do we fill up now or wait as long as possible as prices are falling??

You can question absolutely everything every day constantly and again. There are numerous youtube channels and traditional magazines reporting on all forms of vehicles. Pros and cons are balanced. On BEV i can advise Teslabjorn and automotive in general Savagegeese or MotomanTV.

Many years ago i read an interview with a professional car thief and the only reason they walked away was if the licence plate number was etched in all the windows. It would mean they cant sell it on without replacing all windows which is too expensive/cumbersome. Since then thats i did with all cars. By the way i also have experience in not locking my car when i was a student had a wonderful alfa 75 bloodred in those days. It were the days of the heroin junkies roaming the streets and i was living in the city center. After my second window smashed i decided not to lock the car only to find out a week later there was a tramp sleeping in it when i arrived to go to work. Thats when i decided to move to the countryside...

Ah yes of course its the press again how could i forget

The term " sheep " is also used in circles of covid deniers. All people taking the vaccine are sheep as they are on the leash of the Governments and the great reset on the background. I guess toffee is using sheep in this frame as well as he is talking about the government controlling all moves electronically through the car. Apart from being better for the environment or not i do find driving an EV very enjoyable. I like the silence, the instant torque, lack of gearchange and the overall very very relaxed way of driving. No vibrations, noise, smell it just works for me. Shame Lexus is so late to the party.

Correct, coal plants are back as Russian gas is no longer or limited available. Germans are deeply worried as they are depending on 60% of total gas imports on Russia. Private people are stocking up on coal and wood for the winter! By the way Seville now 43 going into 46/47 later this week

Nonsense. Spain is bigger than Seville. This is the second heatwave this year in Spain which normally are located in the South/Middle of the country. First one in June was country wide and this one moved all the way up North through France into the UK. Ultra High temp and superdry nature caused numerous wildfires and almost dried out water reservoirs. It is a disaster nothing less. Puzzles me how you can blame the press for this. ( or maybe Bill Gates did buy all shares in firefighting equipment companies ithis spring so HE could be behind this?)

it is called totalitarian control by governments. Oh Toffee please dont say that you have no idea. The sheer fact you can write this down without a knock on the door at midnight proves otherwise.. Also if you prefer to drive an old Subaru costing next to nothing fine but dont talk down people that prefer to have a brandnew car with the latest tech for a sum they are comfortable to pay. Your thruth is not the only thruth, relax different people different tastes.

The problem Phil is that human psychology dictates that one always wants what one does not have?

The transition from ICE to EV is happening regardless of ones opinion. The first push has been by governments with tax incentives creating the initial market end in some countries the critical point has already been reached whereby private companies are stepping in as there is money to be made. I am of course talking about charging. Scandinavia, Holland Germany are leading the way and within 20kms there will always be a charging station. The big petrol companies like Shell, BP etc are all installing High output 350kw chargers in all their stations, in cities/villages etc. Highways are already covered. The forecast is EV charging will be more profitable then petrolpumps. Reason is no maintenance, all handling is electronic so no staff and customers will stay longer say 20 mins and eat buy something. If you want to have a look at the future see what is beeing rolled out in Germany right now. Large EV charging stations with over 70 chargers. Slow charging cheap, high speed more expensive. It is happening. This is a private company called Sortimo, so NOT a traditional petrol company

I think you have a point Malc. Cars are turning into fridges. I ordered a wine fridge that was delivered with a broken door last week. when i complained the reply was you can throw it away and dont have to pay. Maybe its my age but this is so against anything i believe. In rural France you will seee 40 yr old renaults citroens happily driving along. When it breaks down they repair and continue. We still think that at 100k km a car is gone buy a new one! The prime example of this is top of the range S class/ A8/ 7 Series bought new for huge sums. Companycars that after 3 to 5 years just disappear to where? Nobody wants them, ludicrous. With Electric cars this could go this way as development is hyperfast now. Every new car is better than the previous model. Who wants an 8 yr old Ev in 2030 that has a 250 mile range when the range could be double then? All in all not good, you are right in happily driving along in your huge 8 cylinder gas guzzler as long as you are allowed. I do think this is good for the environment as strange as it may sound!

All brands are experimenting with this new form of income if successfull could be a new businessmodel. Subscription to a car seems to work, volvo already has 15% of sales from that. Accessories by subscription is another way, mercedes is doing this with the new S and E models including the EV variants. For instance 4 wheel steering. Without paying a monthly fee you get 3 degrees and when you pay 13 or something. Interesting. I have an app downloaded from the appstore which costs me only 0.99 a month. absolutely nothing i hear you say, only its on my phone now for 4 years so you do the maths.

80% of those fiddly things are useless toys you only use once. All you need is a steeringwheel, speedo, wipers, heating, airco and thats it really.. No need for 2 mtr wide touchscreens or seats with 178 different settings, or dual zone aircon or 5 different mappings for the engine and 3 different ones for the gearbox, or comfort and sport etc etc. Maybe a good start to a new thread, Things that annoy me most in a car. For me number one will be touchscreens.

Everything is relative and everything can be put into perspective. To date 6.5 million people died with or from covid. 1.5 annually worldwide in car crashes and so on and so on. Everything is public and easy to find as long as you put some effort in it which unfortunately is too much trouble for some. And if i recall correctly all covid figures have been debated daily in the press, on internet, in gossip magazines, at the butcher in the supermarket. In detail to such an extend that i gave up and from the start of the pandemic stuck to John Campbell. Back on topic, there are reports that fuel prices can rise up to 3 ( three) euro..

Any hospital is a dangerous place John, keep out as long as you can!

Seems correct to me, its just the wrong type of car. Look at any 7 series, S class or A8, all fully loaded sold new to companies ( never ever to private buyers) for huge sums and after 3 years they just seem to disappear into oblivian as nobody wants them. If cars are disposable washingmachines this is the segment.