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UP wrote: It seemed to squeeze one's left leg in a way I've never experienced in any other car.

Oh go on! Don't tell us you've never had your left leg squeezed in a car before..................

Evening folks.

Hot day up on me canal doing essential building stuff - acksherley making the tea for the blokes shovelling the concrete as I forgot me wellies. Had to go and meet the concrete wagon as we are a bit out of the way. Nearly got run over by a lycra-clad wierdo on a recliner bike - he had more mobile phones/satnavs/other fancy gadgets on his bike than a 747 flight deck. He was wobbling and wandering all over the road don't know how he managed to stay on the bloody thing.

Glad things seemed to have gone ok HF.

If you want recliner bikes try Lanzarote. Clive Sinclair should have sold them there. These layabikes are everywhere with their little warning flags at less than bonnet height.

I hope the test goes smoothly C16.

HF, I am happy to read your news about Billy.

4mastacker wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 24, 2021 5:52 pm

Evening folks.

Hot day up on me canal doing essential building stuff - acksherley making the tea for the blokes shovelling the concrete as I forgot me wellies. Had to go and meet the concrete wagon as we are a bit out of the way. Nearly got run over by a lycra-clad wierdo on a recliner bike - he had more mobile phones/satnavs/other fancy gadgets on his bike than a 747 flight deck. He was wobbling and wandering all over the road don't know how he managed to stay on the bloody thing.

Glad things seemed to have gone ok HF.

If you've ever tried one of those recliner things then you'd understand that wobbling all over the road is how you manage to stay on the thing. They're really fast though if you get the streamlining added, way less cross section into the airflow than a conventional bike.

I'm really interested in electric vehicle technology and read all the test reports, but as long as the cost per mile for running an electric car is more than the cost of running a diesel car they will never sell. I've seen three Teslas in the last year in Spain, one NL registered, and the one Nissan Leaf I used to see has been replaced by a petrol car. They do not make economic sense unless one has cheap and secure electricity. Which applies to all and every energy sources of course. In the case of the UK this depends on a consequent energy policy by the government and there isn't one. From where is the electricity going to come?

The volcano on the island of La Palma off the shore of Africa is getting worse. Huge explosions and lava. The gases have even been detected here but so thin they present no problem. Mount Etna, Italy, is also errupting. We have been told that our local extinct volcanos are the "same type" as La Palma (?) but that there is "no danger of an erruption" which coming from government experts does not exactly reassure us.

Once you've driven and generally operated an electric car you'll never want to go back to driving one of those ridiculous piston-banging contraptions.

Surely Sir, you jest!

Indeed. Outside my Mondeo sits, tank full, can take me over a thousand kms. In the garage the little Fiesta, over 500 kms. Electricity here more expensive than any European country, and power cuts do happen. But with diesel and petrol cars no worries. (Except I cannot open my security gates when the power is off so can't drive anywhere anyway!)

A grey sullen morning out. Hint of rain in the air. At least not volcanic ash. Yet.

OFSO, do you 'country hop' when it comes to buying fuel?

I used to fill with sufficient fuel in UK to reach Luxembourg. I would then top up in Germany and again in Austria, aiming to drive through Italy and out again to Switzerland without buying any fuel there. Same from Turkey to Yugislavia and top up avoiding buying fuel in Austria.

In those days of different currencies that involved further calculations.

Daylight Time begins tomorrow: have adjusted living-room clock, stove-clock, bedside clock-radio, and wristwatch. Will do the car clock sometime, possibly.

Put the summer sheets on the bed yesterday, I expect the weather to pack it in now.

Morning folks.

Blue sky and 22c here.

If electric cars become more numerous, will there be long extention leads joined together, hanging over balconies of high rise appartment blocks, in order to reach the ground, the chargers and the cars?

Ibbie, or tapped into street lights for a freebie?

As a fully charged car can be used to feed back into the grid or someone nick your juice if you are in a car park?

Morning folks. Cracking day. No electric cars here, goodness knows how you would charge one. Probably would need 1,000 solar panels. Petrol is €1 a litre. The safari camp is booked all weekend for a private party. Gate guard, no entry unless a party guest. We will just go as normal.

No volcanoes down here but no shortage of earthquakes.

Hope you are home with no leaks HF.

'Morning all,
I have 25c guess 28c. Blue above but a bit hazy horizontally.

Norwegian 737 just crossing the coast in the descent, WOD1 STAR this morning.

5 power outages last night starting just before 22.00, that's quite unusual for here.

Another 5 is the number of burglaries on Thursday night, not all unoccupied, one a couple in bed and another with a guard dog.
They are all trashed too.
As posted earlier they are equipped, those who have seen them think with axe handles.

I think, but do not know, that a European driving licence is valid in the UK for six months and vice versa.
The driving licence agreements are with individual countries outside of EU jurisdiction.

*HF* I can only echo *ExA's* comment above.

HF, my wishes again.

I reached CFU this morning with a wake up time at 5:00 am. I am a n my third coffee trying to get rid of the desire to sleep

OFSO wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 25, 2021 5:13 am

I'm really interested in electric vehicle technology and read all the test reports, but as long as the cost per mile for running an electric car is more than the cost of running a diesel car they will never sell.

????

Teslas are massively cheaper to run than fossil cars. Vastly cheaper maintenance too.

In Spain the exorbitant Supercharger (150kW) fee is €0.34 / kWh for those who have to pay. In a Model 3 with its 75kWhr battery that'll cost you €26 for 575km. Less than 5 cents per km.

Is petrol/diesel really that cheap in Spain?

The only expensive part of running a Tesla is insurance and tyres. For normal domestic use my solar array and wonky wind turbine usually produce all the power the car can use and it's free as the capex was amortised to zero within about two and a half years. For me, Superchargers are free for the life of the car in my ownership, though that is no longer automatic for new buyers.

Mondeo Estate, 1.5l turbo diesel. Bought on Fords "Blue Friday" deal, €5000 discount, extras free, cost about £24000. Fuel consumption 5 L/100 or 57mpg, urban use. A full tank costs £50 and takes me 1100 kilometres of mixed use. Insurance £400 a year. Road tax £48. Service interval every two years, cost just over £210. Front tires last about 50,000. Never changed rear tires on any Mondeo.

Electricity in Spain is most expensive in Europe. Licences for solar arrays difficult to obtain due to pressure from utility companies. Yes, damned fools, but that's Spain.

We all want Green Energy and a clean planet but nobody wants it when the cost come out of their pocket.

BMW F30 sport edition 2L with twin scroll turbo, really starts to come into it's own at speeds above anything legal in Australia, it would have left my old (OLD) 6 cyl Ford Fairmont for dead, and that used to really move in it's day, the previous owner of the Ford having fitted a Holly Carb (?), and 'extractor' exhausts..the BMWs handling is however so far far superior to the old Fairmont. The finish in black leather with red stitching and brushed red aluminium trim....pre tensioning seat belts that kind of say, let's go, give it to me and I'll take it....a very fun fast and undeniably Sporty machine....love it...but kinda wasted capability in Oz. .... However, a pure example of why BMW call themselves "The Ultimate Driving Machine".....it is an awesome car!!...I do not take it to the shops, Mrs Fliegs takes it to work, I take it for a run in the country...I come back grinning....and then wash it..

BMW E46 318i Executive.....thought I had 'made it' when I owned a car with leather and wood trim....I estimate it costs me about $2200 a year in maintenance (Based on invoices piling up in the log book)...so much so my BMW specialist Mechanic advised me to get rid of it.....despite it funding his retirement. (His words)......But it has been kept so very well, runs almost silently, still nimble and quick...and one of the best examples around I've seen.

1990s something Toyota Camry, 200k + on the clock, when I bought it 15 odd years ago...other examples already had 600K + on the clock. Purchased because it was a station wagon (known as an Estate car in England?) that has done a heap of 'work stuff'...also perfect for surfboards, model aircraft, and has a tow bar and associated electrics...super practical, and useful, entirely boring to drive, but with icy cold A/C, useful in these parts....and NEVER needed anything, typically Toyota will go forever without need of anything major....

So there has always been a 'spare car', especially when Jnr Fliegs needed one.

I should get rid of the BMW E46.....but it is in mint condition and has had just about everything done to it to maintain it.....replaced or otherwise...(Touching wood here!)

The Toyota Camry should go too, combine the revenue of sales and get something with the practicality of the Camry, with the Drivability of the BMW...... X3 or X5 becomes the most obvious choice..?

But then it is hard to know....if we were both retired we'd probably still need a 'practical' car and a 'nice' car.

Never have I considered the 'Coal powered' cars (Electric)....and how much does the battery cost to replace and how much environmentally is required to extract the rare earth minerals to produce it....then...the real cost to safely dispose of it?...

(Caveat: I do not actually care about the dirty coal that powers the 'clean' cars, the toxic landfill they will require, the extraction of rare Earth minerals they consume....if it was truly relevant, then it would be done properly. It is not, and so I care not to support it)

In the real world:cruising down the fast road towards La Bisbal last week at just below the posted speed limit of 100kph, little traffic so a constant 90kph, two adults in car but a load of very heavy bronze sculptures in the back, fuel consumption showed at between 2.2 and 2.4 litres per 100 kms, or over 115 mpg. Diesel costs €1.09 a litre or well under a pound sterling.