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eUKenGB

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Everything posted by eUKenGB

  1. Ha, you know my next question. Sport, Tech and Premium packs? Obviously collections of options, but is there a handy document that lists everything they include?
  2. Can someone enlighten me as to the additional features of the Sport Racer - apart from some black detailing?
  3. The chances of finding the right body colour AND interior AND all the rest is slim. So if all is correct except the body colour, then wrapping is the simplest option. Besides, I've not tried wrapping a car before. I've wrapped motorcycle parts, but not a whole car. How hard can it be? 😉
  4. Ok, exposing more Evora ignorance. How do the lights work? By which I mean:- Does the switch have an OFF, sidelights and headlights, i.e. 3 positions? Is the switch on a stalk, or (rotary?) on the dash somewhere? Or individual dash buttons? When connecting under the dash, does that mean sidelights always on, or headlights always on? Where are the sidelights at the front? So if connected as in 3. and assuming 1. does that simply mean that the OFF and Sidelight positions do the same thing? The answer to 4. is quite important as if the sidelights are an LED strip at the bottom of the headlamp cluster (as it looks in one of the above pictures), than IMO it doesn't need anything else. To be honest, I'm not a lover of headlights on all the time. Quite the opposite in fact. When I can see a car before I can tell whether the lights are on or not, then having the lights on is completely redundant and truth is, I find it irritating that others feel the need to turn lights on when the sun even just goes behind a cloud as to me it indicates they are unable to determine what actually is important for safety and what is not. Which to my mind means their skills as a driver on the road are lacking. I even try to avoid having headlights on all the time when riding a motorcycle. However, I quite like the look of a nice LED DRL, so am happy to compromise. My problem when thinking about the Evora (lots of time to think these days) is I have no direct experience and therefore knowledge of many specifics of the car. As in this case. I think there is a main beam unit and a dipped beam unit within the cluster, but not sure about any sidelights. I hope you all don't mind such questions and are happy to divulge your superior knowledge of the Evora.
  5. Yes, having worked in the motor industry I am aware of the difference between model year and year of first registration. Unfortunately most 'sellers' are not, or pretend not to be, depending on what suits them. However, the issue here with MY12 changes is that there was obviously a changeover period when some cars had a mixture of old and new. The white car I've mentioned has pre MY12 door pins, but a MY12 steering wheel. Since the differences are not major (and e.g. the steering wheel can be updated later) I guess it's not too important what is the MY of a car.
  6. Funny you should show this. If I get a white car, I will vinyl wrap it in a dark silver (3M gloss anthracite) like the above as that is possibly my favourite Evora colour. Or maybe red? Damn, now I'm confused again.
  7. Tesla is a very interesting case. Basically they are a tech company who started to build cars and as such struggled with the car manufacturing processes due to their inexperience of that. Their tech however is good and more advanced than other auto manufacturers and they are prepared to do things differently. But although those other manufacturers are lagging behind at the tech level, their car manufacturing expertise has been honed virtually to perfection. So there are 2 very different situations with Tesla vs the rest of the industry. To their credit, Tesla is working hard to overcome their manufacturing inexperience and the others are of course racing to try and improve their tech. Eventually there will be some levelling out, but it's interesting to watch it all unfold. I do rather admire Tesla, but not so much their cars. I think there are good reasons why a car traditionally has the main information display right in front of the driver - because that's where it works best. Just trying to use what is basically an iPad stuck to the middle of the dash, as the sole display and control interface I believe is fundamentally wrong. Plus I think their styling leaves a lot to be desired. Having said all that, I do rather fancy the Cybertruck. That design is so way out that I can accept that single display/control panel and it would sure be handy for shifting around my motorcycle stuff (ironically all ICE). 😀 As KAS said above, there is much less mechanically to go wrong in an electric car. An electric motor has a couple of bearings, but that's it. Compare that to the complexity of a modern multi-cylinder ICE. It's a wonder that they work at all, but it took 120 years of development. What will batteries be like in another 100 years. So hugely reduced maintenance requirements is another big plus for electric power. The actual motor and all associated electronics should need none, so that pretty much just leaves tyres and brakes. Obviously tyres will need to be replaced (possibly more often if you constantly avail yourself of the huge torque available from the electric motor), but brakes? Not so much. With strong regenerative braking, there is very little need to use the brakes at all and if you've not experienced one pedal driving in an electric car, you've missed a treat. Accelerating and braking for each corner, just using the accelerator pedal is a fantastic way to drive, even on country roads with quite heavy braking required into the corners during a 'spirited' drive. It's fun, it really is. Even bringing the car to a complete stop is possible, although maybe not implemented in a particular car. For on-track use, brakes certainly also needed, but on the roads, hardly at all, so brake component wear will be greatly reduced. One has to wonder what the manufacturers will dream up as an excuse to force owners to take the car back to the dealer.
  8. Ah, now I get it. You mean door locking pins. So the later cars had no pins. Good to know, but still not definitive. All 2012 cars I've seen advertised have pins, even a couple of 2013. 2014, hmm, not sure about that, but it's certainly not clear cut. Looks like there was a gradual change over from pre MY12 until eventually they presumably all have the later bits. As a matter of interest, can the cars with pins be changed to the later locks? None of the above is a deal breaker and it all just depends on the car. So first of all I need to track down the owner. Still no word on that. 🙁 I'm torn between the full tan and a mix with black. Both can be very attractive and so it will all come down to the rest of the car. Plus, I probably need to sell my SL500 first. None of this is being helped by the current difficulties we all face with COVID-19.
  9. They had another white one at the same time, but it's the std one with the 'tan' interior that particularly interested me (and hopefully no-one else). I am under the impression it did not sell and the owner had it back. Hence I would like to get in touch with them. I'm not sure how the regn. number would help? Ah, it is purported to be MY12. Can you please explain your observation as I thought the steering wheel looked like MY12.
  10. Yes true, I did kinda lump all roads income into one and shouldn't have referred to it all as VED, but I do believe that they make more from the roads than any other single source. In any case, it wasn't meant to be deceptive. My point being that as things are currently structured, if everyone went EV, they would lose a massive amount and they cannot let that happen. I'd like to know how they plan to deal with that and how they will charge EV usage.
  11. Wow, an emotionally charged topic. Well I'm going to wade right in as there's been some inaccuracies and missed science in this thread. First of all though, I would like to point out that I've been a confirmed petrolhead for almost 60 years and initially thought the restrictions being placed on fossil fuel powered vehicles totally abhorrent. Then I drove an I-Pace. Obviously I was already becoming intrigued with the idea of electric power, but my experience with the I-Pace blew me away. The performance and driving experience without question, way superior to any ICE powered vehicle. The acceleration was simply proportional to how far you pushed the pedal down - at any speed. Utterly relentless and knocks even the best auto transmission into a cocked hat. It was also immediately apparent that once at normal driving speeds, the sound was really not that different from a decent modern ICE car, whose engine and exhaust sounds are deliberately muffled and anyway, whilst on the move, drowned out by road noise that you still have, just the same in an electric car. If you want to be aurally assaulted by engine and exhaust noise all the time while driving, then tough luck, because that will go. No bad thing IMO. I say 'tough' because whatever any of you may desire, the ICE is dead. In not so many years it will be impossible to purchase a new one and much as you may wail and gnash your teeth, you'll be out of luck. So none of the ICE vs electric arguments can have anything other than that one outcome. The reasons for the demise of the ICE are mainly twofold. They use up the planet's oxygen, pumping out noxious emissions in the process and much as you may want to ignore that, what you cannot ignore is that the fuel to run them is running out. Whatever you may have read about how much oil is left, the one inescapable fact is that it is a FINITE resource and WILL run out. Probably not in your lifetime and maybe not even in that of your children, but that's no excuse to ignore the inevitable, bury our heads in the sand and hope the problem will go away, which it obviously will not. So something HAS to be done and since burning fossil fuels also has the other unpleasant consequence of pollution, we should be doing something about it now. So, it matters not how much you may hate the idea of the impending revolution in personal transportation, as I said before, tough. It IS going to happen, it HAS to. So stop whining about it. Wake up and smell the coffee as the saying goes. The big question is, what will replace the ICE? Electric motors, that's what. No matter how you look at it, they are an extremely efficient solution to converting energy into forward motion. They're very well understood, basically simple, relatively cheap to produce and with very few bearing parts, even without maintenance should last longer than the rest of the vehicle. But from where will that electricity come? I would first like to dismiss the argument that just like oil, so is Lithium a finite resource and hence we have the same problem. Well, not really. First of all, Lithium is an abundant element, but most importantly, it is not fuel. It doesn't get used up. Just like metal parts of an ICE, lithium in a battery is just a facilitator and once the battery reaches the end of its life, the lithium can be re-used in a new battery in the same way the iron and aluminium in an ICE can be re-cycled. So yes, contrary to popular myth, batteries can be and do get re-cycled. Whereas when oil is burned, it's gone. Then we have the BIG question, battery or hydrogen powered and that seems to have stirred the emotions here. Let's first make something clear. When discussing hydrogen powered vehicles, we're not talking about using hydrogen as the fuel for an ICE. Yes it can be done, but it's not the wonderful panacea many thought it would be. No-one (that I am aware of) is pursuing that line of research any longer. Hydrogen power now refers to the use of hydrogen, converted in a fuel cell to electricity and water. As correctly mentioned before, water vapour is probably the worst greenhouse gas, but without the clouds, our climate would be very different. Whether fuel cell vehicles would have any impact on this I have no idea, but it's irrelevant as there are far bigger problems. One of which is that fuel cells are hopeless at producing rapid quantities of electric power. Although as I mentioned above, the acceleration of an electric car can be stupendous, that is because all those battery cells in the vehicle (I-Pace as I mentioned above) can chuck out huge power, instantly. Fuel cells are not good at this. In fact, to overcome this shortfall, a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle will have, horror of horrors, batteries on board that will be charged from the fuel cell. There are 2 approaches to this. Either the electric motor is driven entirely from the batteries (themselves charged from the output of the fuel cell), or the car can run normally from the fuel cell, with the batteries being used to 'top-up' the available power when needed. Either way, they still need batteries, complete with all the objections that some have as to their manufacture and danger etc. Well, until we have super capacitors to do the same thing, but we're not there yet. Talking of danger, there certainly needs to be care taken when an electric vehicle is involved in a crash as the power available is way more than mains power in the home. Worse for being DC rather than AC. But no-one can claim ICE cars are safe. Ask Ford about the cost to modify their Pinto many years ago when they foolishly designed it with the petrol tank behind the rear axle and vulnerable to rear impact. Petrol is nasty stuff, it really is. Highly flammable and as a liquid it spreads rapidly so a burning petrol fire is very dangerous indeed. Not only that, but petrol is in fact toxic, even before they stuff it with carcinogenic compounds to make it work better in an ICE.. However that is all forgotten when targeting all the hatred at batteries. Meanwhile, hydrogen is actually quite safe. If it escapes, it just rises and dissipates into the atmosphere. But here's the thing. It does escape. What is often conveniently overlooked is the fact that unless you can change the laws of physics in this universe, it is IMPOSSIBLE to completely contain hydrogen in any vessel. The hydrogen atom is the smallest atom that can exist. It is a single proton and therefore very much smaller that ANY OTHER atoms or molecules and hence can simply pass through any material that is used to try and hold the hydrogen. Not rapidly may be, but it has to be taken into consideration when arguing for the use of this gas as a fuel. Ah yes, the next problem. It is a gas. No problem say you, just compress it into a liquid. Aye, there lies the rub (although Shakespeare wasn't talking about hydrogen when he wrote that). The other BIG negative regarding the use of hydrogen is that at normal/room temperature, it CANNOT exist as a gas. No matter the pressure it will NOT liquify at room temperature. I use upper case there to indicate that is another of nature's irritating laws. In order to liquify hydrogen, it not only has to be extremely compressed, but it can only exist as a liquid below I think about -270° C. So once we've managed to produce the hydrogen gas, it takes a massive amount of energy to compress it and reduce the temperature to nearly absolute zero in order to liquify it, let alone maintain that state while the gas is stored in the vehicle and trust me, that just ain't feasible in a car. I have not so far mentioned the cost of actually producing the hydrogen and currently I believe it takes more energy to do so than we can get from it when used as vehicle fuel. I accept that with more and cheaper electricity from renewable sources like wind farms, the cost of production falls, but there's no getting away from the fact that storage and transportation is extremely problematic and certainly could not utilise the current liquid fuel delivery infrastructure. It has to be stored at such high pressure and although pressure vessels of sufficient safety can be used, it will still be a gas and hence not very dense. Unlike LPG, whose very acronym explains the big difference. LIQUID Petroleum Gas. It liquifies easily at room temperature and can be easily transported - and it doesn't leak continuously. Unlike hydrogen. So, all told, there are HUGE problems with the idea of using hydrogen as a fuel. Better to develop cheaper ways to produce it and then burn it in power stations, run that electricity to everywhere that needs it (obviously some improvement needed there) and use it to charge portable batteries to move vehicles around. All we need to solve the problem is better batteries. Let's consider battery technology. Although electric vehicles existed before the ICE, it is misguided to claim there has been the same development effort put into batteries as into ICE development. That is clearly nonsense. Intense development of the ICE has been on-going for over 100 years, but serious battery development has only really just got started. John Goodenough's lithium ion breakthrough was relatively recent and we're very much still in the ascent stage of battery development. Lithium ion technology has already improved by more than 50% and there are many advancements on the horizon. Simple improvements in the same basic tech will soon see possibly another 50% and other breakthroughs with safer and more efficient electrolytes and electrodes and then solid state technology. These are all quite imminent and promise improvements of possibly up to 4 or 5 times what we have now regarding range and speed of charge. It is obvious that in order to obtain these fast charging rates, the charging system needs to be able to chuck that much power down the cable to the car. But as has been pointed out, we'll be seeing 250-300 kw chargers soon. Thing is, charging stations are actually very easy to install compared to the huge investment required to construct a petrol filling station. Even local pubs can hook up a few charging points in their car park. Ok, won't be 250 kw, but why would you need that just to get back home from the pub. How far away is your local and how quickly can you sink a pint. 🙂 Despite the oft mentioned 'range anxiety', research has shown that:- There are already more charging stations in the UK than fuel pumps Standards are being introduced to make it easier for any vehicle to use any charge point (Tesla excluded of course) Over 90% of all car journeys in the UK are less than 100 miles That last does of course still leave the small percentage of longer journeys, but those who have already converted to electric claim it's not a problem although it is of course more hassle than simply filling up with fossil fuel - at the moment. With more charge points and further battery improvements, it's quite frankly becoming a pointless argument. As is thinking a 300 kw charger would be required at home. Really? If the car is connected overnight, what would be the point in it being charged in just 12 minutes. A normal household charge point that takes a few hours will be absolutely fine and don't forget, you ALWAYS start from home with a full tank. Try setting up your own petrol filling pump at home. The fast charging only becomes relevant when 'on the road' and that is exactly where the faster chargers will be concentrated. Simply common sense really. It is still early days for electric vehicle development and the defining technology is that of the batteries. They are already improving and will continue to improve with greater capacity, faster charging and lower cost. There also needs to be considerable investment in the national grids that cover our respective countries, as well as more and cheaper power production. It was recently calculated that the US would need to increase the number of power stations by 30% in order to satisfy the demand if all cars in the US suddenly became electric. Well, a significant upgrade, but to be honest, less than I would have expected and I'll bet it's way less than the detractors wanted it to be. So yes, a way to go yet, but the signs are that moves are being made to address the shortfall in both power supply and mobility. All I can say is, don't pretend it's not going to happen, as you WILL be disappointed. But don't be concerned as it's actually not a bad thing. Driving a good electric car is a thrilling experience, just a little different from the ICE you're used to. I obviously will be making the switch and have no qualms about doing so, secure in the knowledge that I won't miss the ICE experience. Mind you, I still have lots of ICE powered motorcycles to keep playing with. 😁 Final point, what I would like to know is how the government intend to charge for EV usage. In the UK, VED (road tax) is their biggest single income and one thing we can all agree on, they won't let that go. So how are they going to charge? I have long thought that it should be applied to petrol/diesel as that meant the charge would always be totally proportional to use of the road and also, no-one would ever be able to dodge it. But that's no longer a sensible option. I recently read someone's suggestion that the tax should simply be applied to tyres. Don't laugh. Think about it. It is actually the cleverest suggestion I've heard yet. Appropriately proportional to road usage, unavoidable, independent of motive force and SIMPLE. That last guaranteeing the government won't go for it then.🙄 Have a nICE day.
  12. Ok, good to know, thanks, but I would never want dip beam on permanently. I was thinking more along the lines of an LED or 2. From what you say though I guess that the S1 has no provision for any additional DRL, so that'll be something to look into if I decide it's something I want. Realistically unlikely, but just expanding my knowledge of the Evora and considering options.
  13. By which I mean Daytime Running Lights. It looks to me like the Series 2 cars have LEDs in the front side intake (or am I wrong), but does the Series 1 have any DRL at all. Or is it just lights off, or sidelights, or headlights? Sorry to be so ignorant, but not got an Evora yet and cannot just dash over to Bell and Colville to have a look (if they had a S1 which they don't).
  14. Not as far as I know. It looked pretty standard to me. I was hoping to talk direct to current owner/seller - to our mutual benefit. Isn't every Lotus owner in the UK a member of this forum. 😄
  15. Lotus Silverstone recently had an Evora N/A IPS in white/tan. No longer listed, but apparently did not sell. Would anyone happen to know or know of the owner?
  16. Has there been any more news on this, now 3 years later? I have to point out that even a very thin roof could supply a fair bit of additional torsional rigidity. But according to Lotus own statement in the original announcement, apparently it is not required for the Evora which has a stiff chassis and anyway was designed with a Roadster/convertible in mind. That being the case, I cannot understand why no-one is currently offering it as a conversion. Or why Lotus has not produced its own Roadster version. I want one.
  17. Yeah, we believe you. 😄
  18. Well spotted. Are they actually the same regn. or has one been 'tweeked' to look like the other?
  19. They can of course be sanded down and then sprayed with a clear coat. Cheaper than buying one new unit, let alone 2. I don't intend to. 😀 Don't say that or I'll be wanting both. I wish. ☚ī¸
  20. I have fairly recently become interested again in Lotus cars, having been put off by an experience with an Eclat about 40 years ago. I realise that's a long time and Lotus today is totally different, but I just hadn't got around to looking at their cars in detail. Now I want one. I looked first at the Elise but have (reluctantly) decided that it would not be a sensible buy for me. Getting old happens to all of us and a nasty motorcycle crash last year has exacerbated that 'deterioaration', which means getting into and out of low cars is not the joy it once was. The Elise was just ok with the roof off, but with it covered, it was a struggle and being honest I think in the long term would affect my decision as whether I wanted to drive it. However, having also begun to ponder the Evora, I then saw a bunch at my local dealer (Bell and Colville) and realised they are a truly stunning looking car, with much easier entry and egress and more space in the cabin, which was another potential issue with the Elise. But, and it was a big but, no convertible Evora. However I have since revised my opinion as to whether that is actually a requirement for me and am now seriously considering the Evora. Sorry for being a bit long winded, but here's my question, well maybe a couple. Have the Evora always had HID headlights, i.e. 35W rather than normal bulbs of about 55W? Have the other lights always been LED (side, rear, indicators, DRL)? Are they all hydraulic power steering or are any electric? How much easier is the S2 (400 onwards) to get into and out of than the S1? I only tried an S2 (410 I guess) and it was no problem. But I believe the S1 had bigger sills. Is there much difference? Does it make any appreciable difference to ease of entry and egress? So, my first enquiry about the Evora. I guarantee it won't be the last, but would appreciate help with answers to the above. Thanks.
  21. Just to clarify, I have no Elise, but considering one with a short-tail roof so that means an S2 and hoping for answers to a couple of questions:- Do any/all come with an alarm and/or immobiliser? What's the best way to incorporate a double DIN head unit in the dash? How easy is it to change the interior trim colour? I'm thinking it's just seats, part of the door card and carpets. Is it considered possible, easy even? Can an S1 front clam be fitted to an S2, or any other way to get regular round headlights in an S2 (for easy LED conversion)? Am I right in thinking an S2 would NOT have power steering nor brakes and probably not powered windows? Can interior sound level be improved with additional sound deadening material? How difficult are they to get in and out? I will have to test this for myself obviously, but some upfront opinions would be good to hear. I think that's all for now. Looking forward to some responses assisting me in my decision making.
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