Las Palmas

Here is something maybe like the article The Times will not let us see (THE END OF ???) Running out of juice: Electric cars are meant to be the future but there are bumps in the road to navigate before the petrol and diesel ban in 2030 By Ray Massey for the Daily Mail We're in the middle of a perfect storm for electric cars this week. Not only has a planned electric car battery factory in the North East gone bust, but rocketing energy prices mean the cost of charging has soared. Additionally, provision of charging points isn't keeping pace with demand, and a glut of Teslas has prompted the firm to slash prices by up to £9,100. It has led many people to ask: is the much-vaunted electric car revolution about to blow a fuse? And all the while ministers have decreed that the sale of new pure petrol and diesel cars is to be outlawed by 2030 (just seven years away), with only fully electric cars to be sold from 2035. Going bust This week, the Britishvolt battery company, which planned to build a factory in Northumberland, has collapsed into administration. Why does this matter? Well, as countries around the world switch to electric cars, demand for them is increasing. So if a nation like the UK is to build more electric cars, it needs around six or seven car manufacturing plants to supply one million vehicles. Currently the battery plant supplying Nissan's Sunderland factory is the only one in the UK. Without more plants, firms will have to import batteries, which may not be economically viable, and could lead to closures of car plants in the UK. The UK is Europe's second biggest market after Germany and ahead of France. But the car industry is international and all nations will be pushing hard for electric cars, of which there is a limited supply. And if we don't build them here, we could end up at the back of the queue when it comes to allocations. Already there are waiting lists of up to a year for imported electric cars. And as costs and demand rise, so do prices. Cutting down Tesla, meanwhile, has just slashed the prices of its cult electric cars. 'Hurrah!' you may think. 'Time to nab a bargain.' Well, anyone buying now will certainly benefit. But those who have just shelled out top dollar before the discounts are feeling furious — and rightly so. If they bought on finance, as most people do, their monthly payments won't reduce. And there's a risk they'll be left with negative equity when they come to the end of their contract. The cuts may also have a knock-on effect on residual values generally, not just Tesla's. The biggest reduction, announced late last week, is on Tesla's range-topping Model Y Performance, now costing £59,990, down from just over £69,000. The starting price for the Tesla Model 3 begins at £42,990, with the biggest price drop on the Performance variant of £8,100. This follows a large festive shipload of Teslas arriving in the UK in December, which led to Elon Musk's battery-powered vehicles accounting for around one in eight of all car purchases that month. Best plug-in sellers of 2022 1. Tesla Model Y (35,551): After a price slash, the UK's best-selling electric car is now priced from £44,990 2. Tesla Model 3 (19,071): Tesla's runner-up's prices were also cut in 2023 to £42,990, just after a big shipment of new cars 3. Kia Niro EV (11,197): Korean firm Kia's pure electric Niro EV range starts from £36,757 for the Niro 2 with a range of 285 miles 4. VW ID.3 (9,832): The perky hatchback from Germany's Volkswagen costs from £37,140 5. Nissan Leaf (9,178): This pioneering car, built at Nissan's Sunderland factory, is priced from £28,995 6. Mini Electric (7,425): Priced from £29,000, the four-seater Mini Electric has a range of up to 145 miles Cost increase Despite the Tesla cuts, electric car prices are soaring generally; the final £1,500 government grant was axed last summer; and the cost-of-living crisis coupled with rising inflation means motorists of modest means are struggling to go green. Only 3 new electric cars available to UK buyers are now priced under £30,000. Two years ago, the total was 15. And the entry price of some models has soared by 53 per cent in that time, according to one report. The three all-electric models still below the £30,000 threshold are: the Chinese MG4 from £25,995; the Nissan Leaf from £28,995 and the Mini Electric from £29,000. The biggest price increase has been the Fiat 500e, which has seen the price of the cheapest version leap from £19,995 to £30,645. However, Fiat says it has subsequently re-introduced an entry level 24kWh RED trim, priced from £28,195, following earlier supply issues. Even once-budget brands such as Kia are charging premium prices, with variants of the new EV6 (which has a 12-month waiting list) costing more than £60,000, and the forthcoming EV9 expected to exceed £70,000. Lacking energy Poor provision of charging points remains 'a barrier' to further uptake of electric cars, says the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. It adds: 'The Government's EV Infrastructure Strategy forecast that the UK would require between 300,000 and 720,000 charge-points by 2030. 'Meeting just the lower number would still require more than 100 new chargers to be installed every single day. The current rate is around 23 per day.' RAC analysis revealed that the cost of charging an electric car on the road is up by nearly 60 per cent in eight months, and that rapid charge points were nearly £10 more expensive than filling up a car with petrol. Motorists also pay 5 per cent VAT on home chargers yet 20 per cent on public ones. Jaguar Land Rover has also warned ministers that proposed targets for electric vehicle production could weaken it so much that plans for new models would have to be delayed or scaled back.

They want me to subscribe to read the article, so have not seen it.

Sure it's not because of the sickening cuteness Mattel would have banned it. The words "plastic fantastcic" maybe. Here on the little island it is windy and windmills are popping up; so, if driving at night you have a gigantic lightshow of red lamps. Solar cells are functioning all year as well.

ABO Wind to combine wind power with green hydrogen for refueling station The clean energy project is a first for ABO Wind. ABO Wind, a Germany-based company that develops projects for renewable energies, will combine a wind farm with the production and use of green hydrogen for the first time. The company has been exploring the topic of hydrogen for nearly a decade. “We have been working intensively on the topic of hydrogen for around ten years and are pleased to implement a project for the first time,” said Dr Jochen Ahn, an ABO Wind board member, in a recent press release announcing the project. The company is planning the construction and operation of a wind turbine as well as an electrolyzer, and a hydrogen refueling station for buses and lorries, in the industrial park “Hessisches Kegelspiel” in Hünfeld. ABO Wind has already submitted the approval application for the wind turbine, which will have an installed capacity of 4.8 megawatts. The electrolyzer, which will be used to produce green hydrogen, will start with a design that allows for an output of 5 megawatts, but will later be expanded to 7.5 megawatts after five years to meet the expected increase in demand for the clean fuel. The green hydrogen will be produced via water electrolysis powered by a wind turbine in the industrial park and will mainly supply lorries via the hydrogen filling station. It is expected to refuel about 50 lorries per day. When there is no wind, the electrolyzer will draw power from the grid. It is estimated that the project will avoid as much as 115,000 tons of CO2 annually.

What do you mean Vladimir? Is a live Barbie girl not something? Only Mattel did not like the live version.

Volkswagen is developing a hydrogen car with a 1,250-mile range The automaker is working on creating a fuel cell far cheaper to own than current forms of H2 vehicle. Volkswagen is developing a new fuel cell hydrogen car that is intended to be substantially cheaper than the currently available H2 vehicles. They are aiming to roll out a model that will have a range of 2,000 kilometers per full tank. This represents a few meaningful changes, including that VW is interested in an H2 vehicle. Volkswagen has now applied for a new fuel cell vehicle patent, which it will be developing along with the Kraftwerk Tubes company from Germany. This shows that Volkswagen does not intend to be left behind in the rapidly evolving and growing H2 fuel and technology market. The VW hydrogen car will be using different materials for its fuel cell membranes than are traditionally used. Kraftwerk CEO Sascha Kühn pointed out that the primary difference between the traditionally used fuel cells in H2-powered vehicles are plastic, but their team is working with a ceramic membrane instead. “The big advantage of our solution is that it can be produced much cheaper than polymer fuel cells and it does not require any type of platinum,” said Kühn. As platinum is a rare metal, using it drives up the cost of a traditional fuel cell. Avoiding the use of precious metals means that the cost of a fuel cell can be kept much lower. Kühn compared the hydrogen car technology to solid-state batteries. Both the fuel cell being developed and a solid-state battery have a similar material structure and the same electrolytes. The primary difference between them is that compact material is used by a solid-state battery for energy storage, whereas H2 gas assumes that role in a fuel cell, where H2 can be stored without losing power where batteries will lose power if not used immediately.

So, we are in urgent need of getting plastic. The way we dispose of it is exemplary. The sea is still not full of it. Some living creatures are still in the water. Let us get more plastic so we can get rid of those. Plus, what would the world be without plastic fantastic?

That could be a blow to car battery production if only there would be places where we can fill hydrogen on the cars. It does not take 70% more energy to convert an engine to drive on hydrogen. Toyota would be very capable to make conversion kits to own engines; question is how cheap they are willing to let them be, as they also want to sell new cars. Still, maybe they also would see that if their own cars were more on the roads, new from competition would not be as many as if not.

Black smoke from diesels. The 2005 2.0tdi DSG Golf we had did not smoke a lot in the beginning, but the last 4 or 5 years before getting ITV (MOT in UK) I had to drive 4 - 6 km in low gearing cleaning the exhaust with the heat from engine to get rid of all that black that would not let me past if it was still in the exhaust pipe. Black clouds after when going uphill and when pressing the accelerator. Funny that the 2.0 and 2.2 Lexus diesels I have seen here have no black smoke coming out from them and they are more or less also rather old.

Toyota unveils AE86 hydrogen car concept JBy JULIE CAMPBELL The vehicle places the spotlight on the potential for H2 a burning internal combustion engine. To draw greater attention to the appeal an H2-burning internal combustion engine (ICE) has to offer, Toyota has built a hydrogen car version of its AE86 sports coupe. The H2 ICE passenger vehicle was displayed at the automaker’s Tokyo Auto Salon. Toyota unveiled the AE86 hydrogen car at the same time that it showed off a new version of that same vehicle that it converted to be battery electric. Both versions are still manual transmissions, though it’s the H2 model that is drawing the most attention. The AE86 models operate silently and without fossil fuels or the emissions they produce. The AE86 uses the Toyota Tundra pickup hybrid’s electric motor for the H2 version and the electric has a battery from the Prius Prime PHEV for a 48-horsepower vehicle with a 13.6kWh battery capacity. Comparatively, the H2 vehicle is more powerful. In its information, Toyota didn’t state specifically how powerful it is, but it is a 4A-GE four-cylinder engine which was altered only lightly so that the car would be able to burn hydrogen instead of fossil fuels. Toyota said this hydrogen car only involved changing the “fuel injectors, fuel pipes, and spark plugs.” Toyota explained that to create its new H2 burning internal combustion engine vehicle involved changing only “fuel injectors, fuel pipes, and spark plugs,” to make it possible to burn cleanly. This makes it quite different from Toyota’s Mirai fuel cell vehicle, which is significantly different from a traditional internal combustion engine. Among the reasons the automaker decided to build the AE86 hydrogen car was to demonstrate how older passenger vehicles can be relatively easily convert to run on H2, just as is the case among many Ford and Chevy classics. That said, Toyota isn’t offering a conversion kit for existing vehicle owners to make the changes themselves. At least, they’re not doing it yet. Many expect that these kits will eventually become available, particularly if the aftermarket begins doing so on its own. The appeal of converting older vehicles into hydrogen cars to slash their carbon footprint. Toyota’s AE86 hydrogen car project helps to underline the carbon emission reducing prospects “for protecting beloved cars,” said a statement from Toyota. It explained that it worked alongside aftermarket suppliers to be able to bring a different life to old stock. It even focused on using recycled materials wherever that was possible. This is becoming increasingly popular among classic and muscle car owners, particularly in the United States, where Ford and Chevrolet models are already being converted to run on H2. The appeal is for H2 internal combustion engines instead of fuel cell designs like the Mirai because it allows for the preservation of as much of the original vehicle as possible. These conversions are even making it possible to keep up the engine rumble that those vintage vehicle owners love so much. Toyota has been increasingly focusing on the hydrogen internal combustion engine design. Toyota is taking a look from many angles at hydrogen cars with internal combustion engines, despite the fact that they aren’t especially fuel efficient. Recently its president Akio Toyoda was behind the wheel of a race car model (an altered Corolla Cross) powered by this clean energy to show motorsports just how much potential H2 really has. The AE86 H2 concept does have a considerable feature in common with the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, even if the AE86 is an internal combustion engine vehicle. That feature is the pair of H2 tanks that hold the fuel. They are located behind the rear hatch.

The more complex cars are, the more probable something can go wrong.

Absolutely. Max 1-hour music before you need a new CD, unless you want to hear the same again, or you are satisfied with lossy music. 20 hour of reasonably good sounding music without needing to find a new disc. Without needing to have line-out from audio player to line-in in the car.

Do you know if it is on the navigation map? If yes, eBay UK has cheap micro-SD-cards. Cheap compared to the price Lexus wants for updating navigation.

So far, I have not found out how to play lossless high-quality music in the CT. Still trying to find a way to cheat the software. Do not know how, but might find out. This morning, wife - for the first time said that music sounds really good and much better. - What have you done? What have I done? Burned a data DVD with music converted from high-quality flac to m4a format in with 512kbps resolution on a standard DVD 4.7Gb. Can have about 20 hours of music on it. Sound is far better than from Bluetooth and very, very much better than MP3, in the max quality 320kbps. Voices are clearer, drums and cymbals crispier and bass is no longer a bit rumbling. Finally listening to the way Mark Levinson can play without having the music player connected with line-in. Monitor show what is playing, name of melody, artist with picture and where it come from. Actually, good enough to almost everybody and so good that few will hear it is not real high-quality from lossless source.

I use this on rubber parts

I have temperature on 22 now both sides and also Auto pressed. Think that the Auto is just the fan speed as in summer when very warm or hot here fan speed is changing quite often, but have never seen the temperature setting change from what I set it to be.

The one you have is 3rd edition while the one you have is 3rd. version of the CT, so if that is having a mind of its own, I do not know. In summer I set it on 24 or very hot days 26 so difference to outside and inside is not too big, and in winter 22 is perfect as most of the time outside temperature here is close to that.

If you set temperature to 22 C the car will not move that by itself, but depending on outside temperature it will let either warm or cold air into the car while it also takes out humidity from the air, helping to keep the car dry. Where you are, the outside probably is colder than you think is comfortable and the car will heat up the air; where I am most of the time in winter temperature is OK and only take out humidity if there is some, but in summer when temperature very often is far above 30 C I set the car to try to hold temperature of 24 C as not to have too big a difference between outside and in-the-car temperature. Some will easily catch a cold in summer here if air-condition is set too low. The car does not change the settings you make.

No matter which car we have had, Continental has been my number one. Summer tyres are the best for summer. Not for winter where winter is winter. All-Season is more or less Ok as long as temperature does not go low. Below minus 7 C Winter is the correct tyre.

Is far more beautiful than the NX in my eyes.

Having read that so many want Android Auto it made me curious. Searched for it on Google and found this https://www.androidpolice.com/things-i-hate-about-android-auto/ If need navigation (sucks in Lexus cars) I would start smartphone and use navigation there. Always want music, Lexus have excellent audio system in ML, so either have a DVD with more than sufficient music in 512kbps (m4a), good enough quality to listen to while driving, better is unfortunately not possible without having audio player connected to car vis line-in. Phone calls can be accepted on steering wheel and looking around in the car to press different places to get entertained is not what I find correct while driving. So decided that I do not want Android Auto or anything to get concentration away from driving the car as safe as I can.

Instead of running the car in park, I would drive around and enjoy the car an hour or 2 weekly. Just do not need that as using it almost every day. I believe the little 12V battery is handled well by the computer in the car and charged enough if used regularly. Have once been away a week and no problems starting and yearly service is supposed to keep an eye on things and inform if something is not OK. If they do - ???

Strange. Never had that problem in all the years I have been living in cold north in any of the cars we have had. Denmark - Norway. Probably as cold or maybe colder than UK.

If it de-mists as soon as you start the car, is it then an issue?

Want to know how quiet (or not) your car is: go to google play store and download a sound meter or sound level meter if you have Android phone. Sure iPhone have similar. That will be your car, not a car in a test.