KAS-118

Hmmm...so could it be Vettel to Mercedes and Bottas to Renault!? https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsport/mercedes-star-in-talks-for-shock-switch-as-vettel-domino-effect-shakes-up-f1/news-story/eeecf92f1278d8cd205d2458e306c307

Also, Tesco, VW and Pod Point have teamed up to roll out the provision of EV Charges at Tesco Supermarkets. They will comprise of 7kw, 22 kw and 50 kw chargers. The 7kw ones will be FREE to use - and are paid for by selling advertising space on them. This is the current roll-out plan https://pod-point.com/rollout/tesco-ev-charging I think its pretty certain that other Supermarkets will do the same. So therefore, even if you don't have a Charger at home and don't have a public charger along your street - you can charge when you're doing your shopping at the supermarket. Indeed Lidl already have some 50kw ones - which are charged at 23p/kwh https://pod-point.com/rollout/lidl-ev-charging and there RAC conformed that the number of EV Chargers at Supermarkets has doubled over the last 2 years - Asda and Morrison's having the greatest number. https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/electric-vehicle-charge-points-at-supermarkets-double-in-two-years/

No-ones saying 'oil is going to run out by the end of the decade - but there is a shift in most Governments and countries to move to 'zero emission' cars. Hence why Manufactures are investing so much into EV's. This isn't just in Europe - but Asian countries, such as China, who have some very serious air pollution issues. That means the demand for oil is going to fall - so its price will fall - so places where it was economic to drill from will now become uneconomic. Indeed - when you've got publications such as Gulf News, talking about Dubai going 'all electric' -and if you've ever worked there you'll know petrol is incredibly cheap - it does rather suggest that the writing is on the wall for ICE's - sooner rather than later https://gulfnews.com/business/analysis/an-electric-car-future-seems-closer-at-hand-1.71592019 You're right - currently the ban, i.e. the sale of new ICE Vehicles, is set to become effective in 2032 in the UK.

@Neal H Just to clarify, you're shown as being located in Oxford. There are frankly loads of Public EV Chargers that are located there - including Westgate Oxford Car Park - that has 45Nr 7kw Chargers and 5Nr 22kw ones. On the Zap-Map' these are free to use. It's therefore hard to understand why you consider the provision of public chargers so difficult?

@Neal H - as I posted above, Zouk Capital are the managers of the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund which was established by the Government. They have has a Joint Venture with Virgin to provide 1,200 charging points by early 1,200 - and they have now formed another JV with Liberty Global Venture to provide the necessary charging infrastructure in residential area. On 15 May I posted up the announcement that the Government was going to require every service Station to have at least 6 EV Charging Points in every Service Station within the next 3 years; and providing 6,000 Rapid Chargers of 150-350KW by 2035. Furthermore, I've also posted up various link where EV Chargers have been installed in residential areas, or are in the process of being installed now. There is actually an Electrical supply in most areas of this country - so the potential problem is not the actual infrastructure of that supply - but it could have been whether there is another supply to meet the demand. In answer to this today I posted a link to the Government Report where all this was investigated - and this said that there was sufficient capacity and that the concern about supply capacity was "overblown". So on the basis that: 1) Public EV Chargers have already been installed in the UK 2) Agreements are already in place to substantially increase the number of those EV Chargers 3) The UK Government has set out a policy to ban ICE's early and facilitate the switch to EV by putting in an EV Charging Infrastructure 4) Countries such ss Norway - who have considerably less population density then us, have some very remote places, are significantly colder than the UK (which reduces the range of E's) have successfully got sufficient provision for 60% of their car sales to be pure EV's and 15% Hybrids https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/19/norway-and-the-a-ha-moment-that-made-electric-cars-the-answer Then I'm unclear why you have raised the queries?. Have you got any evidence/research supporting this hypothesis that the UK Government hasn't already rejected(?). if so please post a link. Turning tom your analogy with HS2 - no the provision of EV Chargers in public areas is considerably more easier than HS2. HS2 involved the compulsory purchase of peoples homes and business, it involved the disruption of some existing infrastructure and the destruction of some natural beauty spots. It would have gone through areas where first organisations such as English Heritage would have been required to do archaeological investigations. The engineering in some places would been mammoth and complex in nature - have you seen some of the engineering works involves in Cross Rail and he size of the machines involved? So no, the provisions of EV Chargers is nothing like HS2. he Land is already 'public' or owned by companies (Petrol Service Stations) that are being required to provide EV's. The electrical networks is basically in place and comparatively simple to extend. Sure, they will be some work involved - but a better analogy would have been to the provisions of Cable TV and/or Fibre Optic Broadband. In ant=y event its already in the process of b being done in the UK - and other countries who are, indeed, already ahead of us.

Another interview with Phil Popham. Its mainly about the Evija - but does state: "So an SUV may not be immediately on the cards but the company is continuing to develop a new sports car that will be a more affordable option for Lotus enthusiasts.... ...The Evija is our halo car, stretching the boundaries of automotive design and technology, but our strategy all along was to produce something that is more widely accessible." https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/motoring/evija-hypercar-marks-new-beginning-22064504

I've come across these before - but have never used them. Apparently they do custom versions http://www.mrtints.co.uk/sunstrips.html

I see that a new Joint Venture has been announced between Liberty Global Venture and Zouk Capital (who are the managers of the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund established by the Government). Liberty Charge are to provide "the under pavement power" and communications infrastructure necessary for charging i residential areas. The aim is to provide charging points where residents do not have access to off-street parking. This JV follows on from Liberty's previous JV with Virgin, where the aim was to provide 1,200 on-street chargers by early 2021. https://www.smartcitiesworld.net/news/news/joint-venture-aims-to-boost-on-street-ev-charging-in-the-uk-5293 For those who are concerned about the increase in electrical demand I would refer you to the UK Governments paper published on 25 March 2020 titled 'Electric Vehicles and Infrastructure' which is available to download from here https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7480/?doing_wp_cron=1590060868.1174120903015136718750 There is an interesting comparison with how successful Norway has been - but the discussion on increase demand can be in Section 4 on page 23. Various solutions, such as Smart Charging, are discussed - and on Page 25 it states: "The House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee’s October 2018 report on Electric vehicles said that media concern about additional electricity demand were “overblown” and concluded that the electric vehicle transition is “unlikely to present a risk to the security of national electricity supply” and that any increased electricity demand would “necessitate investment in new generation.104 The Committee also made recommendations on managing higher demand including that charge points should have smart capacity, and that the Government should look further into the opportunity of vehicle to grid technology." (my emphasis).

Sorry to see what's happened. I see that a number of people have had issues when its been used on 'non-rusty' metal. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/por-15-paint-problems.54121/

Detail of a 'Pop-Up' Urban Charger from a British Start-up company that has been successfully trailed in Oxford. https://jalopnik.com/this-british-startup-may-have-solved-urban-ev-charging-1843572897 It also appears that Electric Vehicles area heralding a changing approach in how we buy cars. I'm aware of Volvo beginning to adopt a more 'Rental' approach, where the customer never actual buys the car. It now appears, for their ID range, the Dealer will now only act as an Agent for VW - and be responsible for arranging test-drives, processing the transaction and finally handing over the vehicle. However, the actual financial risk will now lie with VW themselves - and dealers won't have to 'pre-order' cars. It's considered that this better integrates 'on-line' ordering and physical showrooms. https://electrek.co/2020/05/20/all-vw-retailers-agree-to-agency-approach-to-selling-electric-cars/ And in other News - Mercedes have announced that they will NOT be investing in research into synthetic fuels - but their focus will be electrification https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/mercedes-rd-boss-synthetic-fuel-not-viable-option

Article by Autocar on the Evija https://www.autocar.co.uk/opinion/new-cars/opinion-can-lotus-bring-back-beautiful-hypercar

Unfortunately today has seen the worlds highest daily rise in Coronavirus cases of 106,000 ☹️ https://globalnews.ca/news/6964427/global-coronavirus-case-count-increase/

Also in the news is the announcement of a Tesla rivalling EV battery factory in the UK by AMTE Power and Britishvolt https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/20/uk-first-car-battery-gigafactory-amte-power-britishvolt However, they're still some way off from getting both funding and approval - but I guess at least its a start.

On the Battery Tech front I see GM are now talking up their Ultium batteries - saying that they anticipate twice the energy density as currently achieved and a 500 - 600 mile range is in sight. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1128221_gm-battery-chief-600-mile-evs-viable-million-mile-battery-in-sight @Bibs - am I wrong in thinking that you work for Lotus? If so, don't you get a Geely Group discount? If so, and you want a Hybrid - wouldn't the Volvo XC-40 Recharge (Hybrid version not full EV) suffice? Just a thought......

On a separate note - I see ABB (who sponsor Formula E) have just launched their own domestic chargers https://new.abb.com/ev-charging/terra-ac-wallbox They're predicting 28m Global EV sales by 2030.

Poor Pete - he has a thread which is quickly approaching 20 pages and you want to kill it off before it gets there!? 😱 🙂

@Colin P - you should slip in the question - 'Are you a narcissist?' The answer may be very revealing 🙂 Actually, I'm doing a Quiz tonight - I'll think I'll ask that one; its bound to stump them 👍

Blimey - apparently Daimiler are pushing Mercedes hard to get Vettel https://www.planetf1.com/news/daimler-pushing-hard-for-sebastian-vettel/ Who would have thought 😱😱😱

I see the NCAP test is going to be revised https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/352321/euro-ncap-crash-tests-undergo-biggest-change-decade It will now look at whether a big car (SUV) disproportionally damages a smaller car. Must admit I think that's a welcome change. I mean, if one of the tests is how badly it injures pedestrians, it seems only right it should also consider what a mess an SUV may make of a small sports car.

@jep - yeah, you make a very good point regarding F1, I hadn't thought of that. It does make you wonder how many motor manufacturers will want to invest in F1 as it exists at the moment - given the financial hit they've taken from Coronavirus, the impending recession and the need to invest in Zero Emission cars.

I guess, in a way, this could be good news for Lotus, but no-doubt bad news for car fans https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/renault-could-close-alpine-factory-and-axe-models-reports-suggest

@Colin P you are so right!!! 👍

I attended the Polestar 2 Webinar just now. I must say I think, as an everyday car, its quite impressive and a very disirable alternative to a Tesla 3. I think if this is what Polestar can produce under Geely, the future is very good for Lotus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XciHY1cKhzE&feature=youtu.be Maybe the Precept is a glimpse of something that could come out from Lotus (scaled down a bit of course)? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4MRqNDMsIQ

@Colin P - yeah, went to the Supermarket yesterday and as you say - teenagers do appear to consider they are immune. However, not o be 'agest' 🙂 whilst I was in Marks & Spence patiently waiting for a woman to move so I could get some mushrooms another. 'older' women waving a mask just brushed past me with less than an inch between us. You try and follow guidance and recommendations...but unfortunately others don't.

Hmmm...just to clarify. 1) If all (or a significant portion) of Parking bays are all provided with Chargers - then it doesn't matter which bay you park in - as you can charge from it. Why is this so hard to grasp? 2) The fact you may not be able to park outside your home - doesn't matter if the space where you do find a place to park has a charging point. I'm not clear why that's so hard to grasp? This is what a street in Westminster effectively did. Indeed in Wales are looking to ensure provision is made for them in all new housing developments. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/transport-electric-cars-wales-charging-18273796 There seems to be a misconception that a Charger in the street outside your home is 'your charger' - it isn't - its a public charger what others can use. Likewise, you can use Public Chargers outside other properties. What you can't do is use someone's private charger. In respect as to how inner cities will develop, I'm sure they will become even more 'car less' - but that doesn't necessary mean there will be less cars in the country as a whole - as the ability to work remotely will mean people can move to the suburbs and even further out where cars can and will be used. Indeed, I was reading to day there's a renewed interest to have 2nd Homes in the Country https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lockdown-prompts-surge-of-interest-in-moving-to-the-countryside-k98hh6ckz . People are likely to use cars to get to these. For example, one of the offices I work in is at London Bridge - and I've been going there for 10 years. I've never once driven there by car. However, I still need a car for when I go out on social and/or leisure purposes. I think remote working will ease the strain on public transport - as you won't get the surge of people travelling to or from work. But, when they need to go to the shops or days out, they will still (mainly) prefer to go by their own cars. So I believe private transport ownership is likely to stay for the foreseeable future.