Car (or bike) Chat!

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Originally Posted by walpurgis

No. I'd like an old diesel non-turbo motor of some sort. But I have a little Suzuki that qualifies for use in the ULEZ, looks like I'll be keeping it for now.

I'm just outside the existing ULEZ zone, but in August that expands to encompass the whole area inside the M25. God help anybody who doesn't realise that they will be liable to the £12.50 daily charge each time they hit the road. I predict a lot of cheap cars for sale very soon.

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The ULEZ zone is a good idea, but expanding it out to the M25 doesn't make sense without giving some vehicles exemptions. Surely at this time the main aim should be to prevent heavy duty transport polluters.

The current government is apparently opposed to the expansion - see PMQs yesterday - but typically useless in coming up with ways to modify the plans, or stop them happening.

TBH I didn't fully understand (maybe still don't!) the ULEZ zone - which I now know is similar to, but different from, the Congestion Charge zone.

I suppose if the change "has" to happen, that those who have vehicles - such as land rovers - could sell them on to people outside the zone, or only use them occasionally. Do most cars now fall into the chargeable class, or only a small subset of them?

See https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/low...ehicle-and-lez

All cars produced after 2016 will be Euro-6, so ULEZ compliant. And even some made before that date. That is my understanding.

saw an invoice for new Tesla wheel trim yesterday - £1500 and that's trade price.

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Originally Posted by Macca

saw an invoice for new Tesla wheel trim yesterday - £1500 and that's trade price.

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teslas are a rip off imo. build quality is piss poor.

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Originally Posted by struth

teslas are a rip off imo. build quality is piss poor.

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At work we are running two Model S and a Model Y. Actually they've not been much bother so far and they do look good.

Also got an electric Jag, VW and the Mustang.

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Originally Posted by Macca

At work we are running two Model S and a Model Y. Actually they've not been much bother so far and they do look good.

Also got an electric Jag, VW and the Mustang.

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think they go ok, and are fun to drive etc. just not well built; i guess thats what you get for price. my one is well put together, but paint isnt great. still they are better than ice cars i think. unless your a pure petrol head of course.

The only thing any of the drivers complain about is the range. Some of them have to do long distances as they're reps.

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Originally Posted by Macca

The only thing any of the drivers complain about is the range. Some of them have to do long distances as they're reps.

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at least tesla have a great set of chargers;; or so im told. ive never needed to charge away from home yet. can get well over 300 in decent weather.

One of our fellow members (I won't name him but he may see this post and elaborate) looked at leasing an Audi e-Tron something or other, and the dealer quoted him £1,800 per month! As if that hadn't been enough to put him off, he asked about the range (I think the figures were something like 250 miles). But when he asked about how his frequent trips to London on business would get along with that range at 70-80 mph, the reply was about 160 mile range. All those miles for the paltry cost of 450 quid a week plus ever-increasing leccy costs.

Evs perfect for shopping and short trips perhaps, for everything else they're not there yet. Nowhere near.

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Originally Posted by struth

think they go ok, and are fun to drive etc. just not well built; i guess thats what you get for price. my one is well put together, but paint isnt great. still they are better than ice cars i think. unless your a pure petrol head of course.

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Sadly many people are pure petrol heads. People who drive many miles each week probably shouldn't have a pure EV. Most people don't. Even 200 miles per day should be doable (more in the summer) with a Tesla M3 or similar, and indeed the Tesla chargers are fast, so 400 miles/day is possible for anyone who can afford the electricity and is on a route with reliable fast chargers. My hunch is still that hybrids might be the best option for some people.

However some EVs are problematic - depends on the application. I just heard of a local community bus which is an EV (really I think it's like a large van with seats ), which was unable to provide service a few days ago, as to make it work on the routes it needs charging a few times each day, and recently the fast chargers in the nearby town were out of action for some reason. The consequence was that some guys still got to have a lift in an EV - since I helped them out, but the bus which was partly paid for by the local council didn't deliver on that occasion. The current very cold weather is a real killer for EVs - not quite sure why - but it sure doesn't help.