Almost to say goodbye

[Catlover]

Lot of white Teslas around west Cheshire too.

[Anthony Poli]

22 minutes ago, Stopeter44 said:

I learned something fascinating about the Tesla today, the body structure is made just like the old dinky toys ! This from the guardian :

Tesla build process / Elon Musk article

The article sites Toyota's just in time logistics approach, also, that Toyota has since modified to allow for more flexibility in the supply sequence.

Sadly Toyota didn't copy Tesla and have multiple options for the chips.

 

[Anthony Poli]

5 minutes ago, Catlover said:

Lot of white Teslas around west Cheshire too.

White is free and I would guess the white ones are company cars.

[Anthony Poli]

23 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Hey, you picked the same colour 👍 Recent years Tesla and Toyota both offers very nice blue and red colours, they are not my first choice but definitely I like them how they complement the shape of the cars. 👌🔋

Couldn't decide on the colour, I almost went for red. At £2500 versus the the other colours £1100.

Too many white ones about lol

 

[Stopeter44]

51 minutes ago, Anthony Poli said:

Sadly Toyota didn't copy Tesla and have multiple options for the chips.

 

The article mentions how Toyota innovated with “just in time” logistics, and how everyone eventually copied. Elon Musk has to be considered a farsighted genius in his approach to everything, and implies, IMO, that the others will catch up with Tesla’s manufacturing methods.

[Anthony Poli]

Toyota's Japanese bosses, still think they are going to sell ice cars till 2050

[Catlover]

In some areas of the world perhaps their thinking is right.

[Stopeter44]

25 minutes ago, Anthony Poli said:

Toyota's Japanese bosses, still think they are going to sell ice cars till 2050

And they most probably will, just not in Europe, and very likely not in the USA either, but given the political will, over there, anything could happen. I am still not ready to go 100% electric. OTOH, if am still alive in 2050 it would be a self driving car.

[TonyHSD]

Anyone lucky to have a white Christmas today❄️🙂🎄.,? 
 I wasn’t lucky for that but I had a chance to drive the ionic⚡️on the motorway. Well, first impression when you drive it in town up to around 20mph feels almost no different  to the Auris hybrid, then on the motorway speeds of 60 mph and above its again same as the hybrid since the tyres are producing some noise that usually masks the engine noise in standard and hybrid cars , therefore again very similar to the Auris but between 20-50mph is where the biggest difference is, what a lovely quiet, vibrations, noise and pollution free car, Evs are a real step forward from Toyota hybrids and a million miles ahead of any ice cars. The stats 42mile journey range went down from 152 to 110miles and Battery % from 92%-> 65%, power consumption 4.5m/kWh. Heating ON set at 22.5C° As a car, really nice one very similar to Prius and one idea better than Auris/ Corolla hatchback as a drivability, comfort, perhaps same as saloon and estate versions.👌⚡️🚙

[FROSTYBALLS]

On 12/12/2021 at 5:19 PM, Anthony Poli said:

Toyota's Japanese bosses, still think they are going to sell ice cars till 2050

You have to remember that, for Toyota, the European market is their third most important market - the US being no.1 and the Asian market, including China, no.2. Europe is quite a way behind these other two markets in terms of sales.

So they probably will be selling ICE vehicles including hybrids, way past 2035, which is when, in the UK, hybrids may no longer be sold.

[Anthony Poli]

Had my first real long trip in the new EV yesterday. I can say it was a breeze and no range anxiety. We had 2 stops and the car was waiting for us and not the other way around.  Didn’t drive efficiently and still no problems. 
 

 

[SB1500]

Tesla's are awesome cars, though not without their problems. I can't imagine they'll prove to be overly reliable but I reckon they'll get there quality wise as each model builds massively on the last. 

As for Toyota building all electric, I was disappointed to see the news of their first full EV. To me, electric cars aren't the solution any more than diesel was, just a massive push by governments (who lets face it, don't really have a clue about these things). 

I thought that Toyota saw past the hype and had a better idea of what would replace ICE cars. Hydrogen? Biofuels? Or just really, really efficient hybrids. 

EV's just transfer our need to fill up on fossil fuels with the power grids need to fill up on fossil fuels (demand on the grid from coal and gas fired stations). We don't have any large scale renewable energy really capable of meeting such demand yet. They've definitely ruined our country with windmills which don't power much 😕  

Mining the materials for batteries, the limitations in the cold and heat, lack of repairability and recycleability compared to the heavy metal in an engine etc. Doesn't seem like much of a step forward eco-wise. The charging isn't so great practicality wise for a lot of people, but I'm glad this is improving year-on-year. 

Who knows where it will go 🙂  I don't think people will want to part with the acceleration and quiet, smooth drive that EVs are giving though. 

[Anthony Poli]

10 hours ago, SB1500 said:

Tesla's are awesome cars, though not without their problems. I can't imagine they'll prove to be overly reliable but I reckon they'll get there quality wise as each model builds massively on the last. 

As for Toyota building all electric, I was disappointed to see the news of their first full EV. To me, electric cars aren't the solution any more than diesel was, just a massive push by governments (who lets face it, don't really have a clue about these things). 

I thought that Toyota saw past the hype and had a better idea of what would replace ICE cars. Hydrogen? Biofuels? Or just really, really efficient hybrids. 

EV's just transfer our need to fill up on fossil fuels with the power grids need to fill up on fossil fuels (demand on the grid from coal and gas fired stations). We don't have any large scale renewable energy really capable of meeting such demand yet. They've definitely ruined our country with windmills which don't power much 😕  

Mining the materials for batteries, the limitations in the cold and heat, lack of repairability and recycleability compared to the heavy metal in an engine etc. Doesn't seem like much of a step forward eco-wise. The charging isn't so great practicality wise for a lot of people, but I'm glad this is improving year-on-year. 

Who knows where it will go 🙂  I don't think people will want to part with the acceleration and quiet, smooth drive that EVs are giving though. 

All the solutions have there own negatives. Hydrogen for example needs even more exotic rare elements for the fuel cell and it also has batteries. 
EVs aren’t the complete solution, but can give us more time to work something else. 
 

One thing the oil industry doesn’t want to brag about is how much electricity they use from the whole process, beginning with extraction, then the refining, the transportation and then finally the dispensing of the fuel. 
 

in the past compressed air has been tried. 
 

ideally we need to get out of our cars, but we need an alternative that works. 

[Stopeter44]

11 hours ago, SB1500 said:

They've definitely ruined our country with windmills which don't power much 😕  

I am surprised by your comment.

I know there are health issues for those that are unlucky enough to live close enough, it's from the stroboscopic effect of the blades alternating light and shadow. TBH, I always thought that windmills, along with solar panels where a good source of electricity, for instant you can turn them on or off very quickly compared to say, coal or gas, and certainly compared with nuclear. 

The UK has managed some days with only renewable power, or at least that's what I have read. 

[Anthony Poli]

9 hours ago, Stopeter44 said:

I am surprised by your comment.

I know there are health issues for those that are unlucky enough to live close enough, it's from the stroboscopic effect of the blades alternating light and shadow. TBH, I always thought that windmills, along with solar panels where a good source of electricity, for instant you can turn them on or off very quickly compared to say, coal or gas, and certainly compared with nuclear. 

The UK has managed some days with only renewable power, or at least that's what I have read. 

People complain about the wind farms out at see. They spoil the view.

even the tidal generators. 

personally I don’t mind the these things.

not only is it more environmentally better, in the long term cheaper. 

[TonyHSD]

I am surprised how deep digging is happening from the final consumers of cars been either Evs ice or hybrids. Why would you care so much where the energy comes from, how is sourced, stored and distributed?! , what actually depend on you, and can you change any of these factors as a driver, owner ?
Electric motor vehicles are far superior than internal combustion engine equivalents, they sort out the two major problems: air and noise pollution, these two kills people directly and indirectly and there is no comparison with internal combustion engine cars. 100 years ago Evs could had been chosen but politicians has decided to go with fossil fuel, now they turn opposite, ok technology wasn’t that great back then, but hey were the ice been very clean or technically advanced, no, not at all, therefore it was a political money made mind before anything else, perhaps how is now with bevs.
My point and advice to the car owner /driver/: first and most importantly before you purchase a car is to clearly understand your personal needs, what is most suitable for you, your lifestyle and budget and last is the the environmental protection as this is actually almost not controllable by you, consumers buy and use whatever is available on the market, the problem is that they trust and believe politicians who force people to do things that not always are right. Forced switch to diesel cars, then diesel gate, now forced switch to bev , by the time 2030 the ice gets banned it will be very likely to see a Battery gate happens plus complete overturn on the power sources etc, but only the time will show us. 👍

[Stopeter44]

@Anthony Poli Nimby, I guess. I live where I have a view of the alps, they are about 100 km away, but I can see them most days (I can't today, because it's raining heavily), and I wouldn't be happy if they built some in the fields right next to me.

OTOH, on one of my regular routes the built a park of twelve or more in a forested area, I can live with that. There's a solar panel installation less than 2 km away, and one day, hiking up there, there was snow on the ground, I found them beautiful in industrial way. Another place, on a regular route, there's a gravel pit that has been filled and they've put a floating solar panel installation. I find that a particularly smart idea. 

[SB1500]

7 hours ago, Stopeter44 said:

I am surprised by your comment.

I know there are health issues for those that are unlucky enough to live close enough, it's from the stroboscopic effect of the blades alternating light and shadow. TBH, I always thought that windmills, along with solar panels where a good source of electricity, for instant you can turn them on or off very quickly compared to say, coal or gas, and certainly compared with nuclear. 

The UK has managed some days with only renewable power, or at least that's what I have read. 

That’s absolutely untrue (that the UK has went a few days only renewable power) though I’d love to see if there’s a source where they might have got that from. 

[SB1500]

8 hours ago, Anthony Poli said:

People complain about the wind farms out at see. They spoil the view. 

even the tidal generators. 

personally I don’t mind the these things.

not only is it more environmentally better, in the long term cheaper. 

The windmills here have a colossal cost and will take in some cases more than a decade to pay for their own construction cost. I wish I knew the figures though 

[Stopeter44]

30 minutes ago, SB1500 said:

That’s absolutely untrue (that the UK has went a few days only renewable power) though I’d love to see if there’s a source where they might have got that from. 

Well you are right. I misremembered my news sources. My bad.

[Stopeter44]

9 hours ago, SB1500 said:

The windmills here have a colossal cost and will take in some cases more than a decade to pay for their own construction cost. I wish I knew the figures though 

So how does that compare to Nuclear?

[Cyker]

That's not right - Wind and solar have the lowest start-up cost of any power generation plant, and they have far lower on-going maintenance costs; That's why some farmers are even putting them up in land that they can't use for crops.

Once they're up it's practically free energy until they reach the end of their rated lifetime.

I suppose some people think they are unsightly, but I think they're kinda cool, and those people should try living here in this depressing concrete jungle of high-rises; I'm sure they'd take the wind gens over this!

They aren't the end-all solution tho' - I personally think having nuclear power for base-load is sensible, as you can't rely on renewable sources for constant generation, and these mini-modular plants that are being developed will hopefully make it easier to roll out than the disaster that is the EDF plant, which is becoming very expensive for a 3.2GW plant!

 

[Stopeter44]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

Wind and solar have the lowest start-up cost of any power generation plant, and they have far lower on-going maintenance costs; That's why some farmers are even putting them up in land that they can't use for crops.

Once they're up it's practically free energy until they reach the end of their rated lifetime.

That was my thinking, and quite often if that kind of thing interests you, you can crowdfund invest in those kind of projects, and receive 4,5 even 6% interest on these micro loans, which given the return on savings accounts is pretty reasonable.

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Nissan Sunderland has had its own wind turbines (10) since 2005. Coupled with a solar farm installed in 2016, they generate enough power to cover the European production of the Leaf. Further plans for a major expansion of the solar farm were announced earlier in 2021.

A doctors surgery in the next road to us (suburb of Birmingham) has had its own wind turbine for a number of years.

[SB1500]

On 12/28/2021 at 3:44 AM, Stopeter44 said:

So how does that compare to Nuclear?

Nuclear is the only clean and sustainable - and practical - solution humanity has come up capable of generating more power than we'll ever need across generations.  And despite the silly design and running of Chernobyl, is statistically one of the safest of all the in operation forms of power station in the world. Especially compared to wind and solar due to the physical accidents that happen from time to time working at height etc. But the point I am trying to make is, people hear nuclear and they think 'dangerous', but it's not the case statistically. Issue is... when it does go wrong, well, it has the longest lasting most devastating impact. The UK has numerous nuclear power stations free of issues, so it can be done. 

I'm not convinced on wind or solar to be honest. I'm happy to read academic originating studies and reports on it to educate myself if anyone has them, but as for blog posts from energy companies or opinion pieces from writers at media outlets I'm not sure anyone should depend on those to shape their understanding of these kinds of matters - but all of this is just my opinion so I hope I don't annoy anyone as I say it. Could be wrong on any or all of it.