Are we still convinced that electric vehicles are the best way forward?

[Roscobbc]

There's some wild 'disparity' in that chart comparing initial vehicle purchase price vs replacement battery cost vs brand 'identity' premium.
One would resonably presume that aftermarket battery suppliers will enter the market, sensing a profit (even at discounted supply prices) and ultimately brand manufacturers being forced to compete and reduce their prices.
Irrespective of all that - electric vehicle owners (even early Tesla owners with 'free' supercharging) will surely calculate the financial benefit of 'supposedly' less expensive battery 'charging' costs - vs battery 'replacement' costs (if keeping the electric vehicle long term/ and/or purchasing sourcing a 'used' vehicle)
The overall pence/£'s (cent/dollar) per mile costs of longer term electric vehicle ownership may be far less financially 'advantageous' than people realise.
If you drive a company sourced electric vehicle (whether directly purchased, leased or contract hired) none of this will matter as the vehicle will be on a mileage controlled, 2,3, 4, perhaps 5 year contract with the final (perhaps significantly reduced) vehicle 'selling-off' price having already beeing factored in to the users monthly costs. One presumes we'll see these vehicles on the second hand market with refurbished/new batteries?

 

[teamzr1]

All we need here in the USA is a fair and honest election this November and all this dictating & shoving EVs down our throats, Ends

Former President Donald Trump vowed to end President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle (EV) rule, which he says would “kill” Michigan’s economy and benefit China, if elected while speaking in Freeland, MI, on Wednesday night.

Trump said he would “terminate Joe Biden’s radical commie plan to kill Michigan’s economy by repealing his insane electric vehicle mandate.”

Biden announced his rule to begin phasing out purchases of new gas-powered vehicles in March.
The rule requires that by 2032, most new cars sold in the U.S. are EVs or hybrids.

“There’s a problem: They’re very expensive, and they don’t go far.
Not going far is not good,” Trump said. “Also, they’re not going to be made in Michigan.
They’re going to be made in China, every single one going to be made in China.”

He then blasted Shawn Fein, the head of the United Auto Workers (UAW), who endorsed Biden but admitted a “great majority” of UAW members “will not vote for President Biden.”

“United Auto Workers, I just want to tell you, the head of the United Auto Workers has really let you down to agree with that whole situation that they just did. That’s so good for China, and it’s so bad for Michigan,” Trump said.
“But I’m gonna turn it around.”

“We’re putting tariffs on foreign cars. We’re bringing the car industry back to Michigan. The Biden electric vehicle mandate will be an economic bloodbath,” the 45th president said, trolling the media, who took his previous “bloodbath” comments about the auto industry entirely out of context.

Trump added that “‘Crooked Joe will rip out your auto jobs and send them immediately to China” and contrasted it with a pledge “to take jobs out of China and bring jobs back to Michigan” if he gets back in the White House.

“We’re going to keep Chinese cars the hell out of America.
We don’t want them. We don’t want Chinese cars,” Trump said.

Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who built one of the largest dealerships in the U.S., previously pointed out that a Chinese company called BYD could “decimate” the American auto industry amid a “manic move” to electric vehicles.

“China has a company that people will start hearing a lot about called BYD,” the Trump-backed candidate told Breitbart News Saturday in March. “They’re building these giant, massive factories in Mexico and want to ship these cars over to the U.S.
$15,000-$20,000 electric vehicles that would decimate our auto industry in America.”

 

[Blackzed]

I'm fed up of comments from people ridiculing EVs. They don't know what they're talking about. Personally, I drive two top of the range EVs, a Jaguar and a Porsche. Their acceleration and handling are fantastic. They look brilliant and they're really cheap to run. They need hardly any maintenance and haven't depreciated since I bought them. Literally the only criticism I could make of them is sometimes, if I really push them into a corner, they can fly off the track and get stuck under the sofa...

 

[Chuffer]

I booked a test drive in a new EV Dodge but other drivers kept crashing into me . The dealer had made a typo error in the advert and It turned out to be a Dodge - em !!

 

[Roscobbc]

Borrowed one of these last week.........had to take it back as the the batteries wouldn't fit in our dry cell multicharger!

 

[teamzr1]

Video has revealed how thieves in California are stealing copper-filled cables from Tesla charging stations.

A viral video shared by Joshua Beckler shows the aftermath of a recent theft at a Tesla Supercharger station in Vallejo, California.

The nine stations are seen without any of the cables attached to them as Beckler shows the core of the heavy-duty cable, which is clearly rich in copper, whose value has soared in recent years.

The incident happened sometime over the weekend before it was reported to Vallejo police on Sunday morning.
Current scrap prices for copper have it averaging at $3 per pound, with Forbes reporting that the metal is 'a catalyst for a new era of global economic growth'.

Beckler who first spotted the theft told NBC: 'It most likely happened in the night, and we [him and his wife] found it early morning.
'I went to go to the gym with the wife. I went to park the Tesla to charge it while we were inside, and I found that the majority of the Tesla cables had been cut right before we walked in.

'They left five charging stations. I’m pretty sure after they racked up, I don’t know what the quantity was, but almost 20 cables with the nozzles.
'Those are extremely heavy, so I’m imagining that’s all they could haul at one given time.'

While John Brown also told the outlet: 'I think this is the second time, or third, that these have been cut, so they need to put some gates up or something. I don’t know what they can do, but this is pretty inconvenient.'
Come late Monday afternoon, Tesla workers had all of the stations back up and running.

ABC7 spoke to several drivers before the repairs were made, with Rhodalyn Gida telling the outlet: 'It's crazy! Stupid! I don't know why they'd do that.'
Police in Vallejo said they are currently looking into the theft, with no arrests yet being made in connection.
Just last week, thieves also made off with the cables from a supercharger station in Houston.

Click2Houston reported that 18 out of the 19 charging stations at the facility in Montrose had their cables stolen.
KPRC 2 reported that thieves went on a spree, targeting five locations, all within the space of a week.

 

[Roscobbc]

I understand that Musk has sacked all his Supercharger staff........perhaps the 'displaced' staff 'on notice' are looking the 'other way' ?

 

[teamzr1]

Elon Musk’s Tesla has begun reinstating some of the nearly 500 employees from its Supercharging team who were laid off in late April, a massive U-turn after Musk was criticized for decimating the company’s supercharger plans.

Bloomberg reports that the exact number of rehired workers remains undisclosed, and both Musk and other executives have not responded to requests for comment.
The sudden dissolution of the Supercharging team sent shockwaves through the electric vehicle industry, as Tesla’s Superchargers are widely regarded as one of the company’s most innovative products.

In the past year, Tesla successfully persuaded competitors to adopt its plugs as an industry standard and entered into agreements with many of the world’s largest automakers to grant access to its network.

One of the most notable rehires is Max de Zegher, the director of charging for North America, according to insider sources who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information. De Zegher was a top manager in the charging group, second only to Rebecca Tinucci, the senior director who was dismissed by Musk along with virtually the entire team.

Following widespread criticism, Musk pledged last week to invest “well over” $500 million in expanding Tesla’s charging network this year. This announcement came just days after the CEO stated that the company would slow down the pace of adding new chargers and instead focus on improving uptime and existing locations.

 

[Chevrolet]

Electric car driver turned away from hospital car park

Experts say it does not make sense as research suggests petrol cars are much more likely to catch fire.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Chuffer]

Video has revealed how thieves in California are stealing copper-filled cables from Tesla charging stations.

A viral video shared by Joshua Beckler shows the aftermath of a recent theft at a Tesla Supercharger station in Vallejo, California.

The nine stations are seen without any of the cables attached to them as Beckler shows the core of the heavy-duty cable, which is clearly rich in copper, whose value has soared in recent years.

The incident happened sometime over the weekend before it was reported to Vallejo police on Sunday morning.
Current scrap prices for copper have it averaging at $3 per pound, with Forbes reporting that the metal is 'a catalyst for a new era of global economic growth'.

Beckler who first spotted the theft told NBC: 'It most likely happened in the night, and we [him and his wife] found it early morning.
'I went to go to the gym with the wife. I went to park the Tesla to charge it while we were inside, and I found that the majority of the Tesla cables had been cut right before we walked in.

'They left five charging stations. I’m pretty sure after they racked up, I don’t know what the quantity was, but almost 20 cables with the nozzles.
'Those are extremely heavy, so I’m imagining that’s all they could haul at one given time.'

While John Brown also told the outlet: 'I think this is the second time, or third, that these have been cut, so they need to put some gates up or something. I don’t know what they can do, but this is pretty inconvenient.'
Come late Monday afternoon, Tesla workers had all of the stations back up and running.

ABC7 spoke to several drivers before the repairs were made, with Rhodalyn Gida telling the outlet: 'It's crazy! Stupid! I don't know why they'd do that.'
Police in Vallejo said they are currently looking into the theft, with no arrests yet being made in connection.
Just last week, thieves also made off with the cables from a supercharger station in Houston.

Click2Houston reported that 18 out of the 19 charging stations at the facility in Montrose had their cables stolen.
KPRC 2 reported that thieves went on a spree, targeting five locations, all within the space of a week.

View attachment 26298

Not at all surprised , cable theft has been a big problem here in the UK too for years . During one phase of my career I was a Mechanical & Electrical Services Clerk of Works on construction sites . On one site we were at` first fix` stage and arrived on site one morning to find thieves had nicked all the cables and copper hot & cold water pipework. . I also recall an incident a while back where `live` high voltage cables to lineside control cabinets were severed and stolen from beside operational railway tracks !!!

 

[Nassau65]

If it’s of value, some little bugger will steal it unfortunately. OK we’ve always had thefts of some sort ie lead and slates off the church roof etc, but it seems to be getting worse nowadays

 

[Roscobbc]

I'm reminded last year of a large extended 'new', perhaps 95% complete self-build property local to us where the owner/builder Julian died on-site before completion. The property sat for many months (and is still sitting empty) where the 'strippers' moved-in and ripped-out all the copper water and gas piping........but not turning the gas off! - local residents later reported the smell of gas in the street.......subsequently half the street was cordoned-off by the police, residents forced to leave their homes while a 'team' came-in to make the place safe.

 

[phild]

If it’s of value, some little bugger will steal it unfortunately. OK we’ve always had thefts of some sort ie lead and slates off the church roof etc, but it seems to be getting worse nowadays

Unfortunately the police seem unable/unwilling to do anything about this sort of thing, except maybe issue a crime number, and so thefts increase as the criminals know they can get away with it.

 

[CaptainK]

If we're talking about people nicking stuff - I was at the West Somerset Railway recently speaking to some of the maintenance crews. They sadly often get people nicking copper and scrap metal etc. But of the funniest ones was where a thief had nicked a load of metal, and then just a few days later tried to sell it to a scrapyard just across the town from the WSR in Minehead..... who immediately recognised it as railway related and the thief was apprehended. Dopey thief stealing railway stuff and selling it in the same railway town

 

[Chuffer]

Unfortunately the police seem unable/unwilling to do anything about this sort of thing, except maybe issue a crime number, and so thefts increase as the criminals know they can get away with it.

You are so right phil it`s sad to say . Much of the metal thieving is carried out by Pikies known to the Police but are too scared to do anything about it .

 

[Chuffer]

If we're talking about people nicking stuff - I was at the West Somerset Railway recently speaking to some of the maintenance crews. They sadly often get people nicking copper and scrap metal etc. But of the funniest ones was where a thief had nicked a load of metal, and then just a few days later tried to sell it to a scrapyard just across the town from the WSR in Minehead..... who immediately recognised it as railway related and the thief was apprehended. Dopey thief stealing railway stuff and selling it in the same railway town

I doubt there is a Heritage Steam Railway in the land that hasn`t been hit my thieves . I was on the Severn Valley Railway for 31 years and we got done over several times . We had to spend money we could ill afford on enhanced security systems , steel barriers etc . to stave of theft and reduce insurance premiums . When it was my turn to be Duty Shed Master it was my final job of the shift to ensure the site was secure , all barriers locked and alarms set last thing at night . Then be first up in the morning to open up the Loco Shed and Workshops again .
The last 4 years I have spent on the Great Central Railway at Loughborough and the Loco Shed & Workshops have been raided too . Thieves have learned that heavy Phosphor Bronze and brass boiler fittings and valves are worth a fortune . Also the approximately 1 inch diameter by 5 inch long copper firebox stays are £50 each to buy and a large loco has approx. 1,500 of them . We buy them by the sack load and are a prime target . A lot of components are stored on site in rows of old shipping containers that have multi padlocks under tamper proof steel covers but thieves just angle grind through them !!!

 

[CaptainK]

You know Chuffer, after the last 2 days (see my other post), when you say fancy buzz words like "stays" and stuff - I now understand it all

And yes, its horrid that heritage lines get hit like this. After having a small glimpse of seeing it all working, it makes me sad as to why someone would do that to a bunch of hardworking mostly volunteer people.

 

[Chuffer]

You know Chuffer, after the last 2 days (see my other post), when you say fancy buzz words like "stays" and stuff - I now understand it all

Just wait until I get on to Foundation Rings , Large and Small Ejectors , and Super Heater Headers . Not to mention Throat Plates , and Peticoats !!

 

[CaptainK]

Just wait until I get on to Foundation Rings , Large and Small Ejectors , and Super Heater Headers . Not to mention Throat Plates , and Peticoats !!

I now recognise a fair few of those words. Recognise I said.... my knowledge isn't that great after only two days

 

[Chuffer]

I now recognise a fair few of those words. Recognise I said.... my knowledge isn't that great after only two days

The next tutorial will be on return cranks , crossheads , expansion links , union links and compensation links . That`s when it begins to get complicated !!