The Car thread - The Bear and Badger

g.man

Bob wrote:

And at your age that 50p will be a vital pension contribution;)

hahaha

cockbeard

haha, I assumed elsewhere meant "not subaru" and was surrised it was only 50% saving

poprock

Aye, Gav. Insurance renewal time is an easy lark really.

For folks with what you’d call normal cars, like you, it’s dead simple. Check your renewal quote from your existing insurer. Then go to a couple of the big comparison sites (Confused.com and the one with the irritating meerkat adverts, maybe) and whack your details in. It’s also worth trying Direct Line, they don’t join in with the comparison folks. See if anywhere offers a massive saving. If not, stick with what you know.

For folks with fancy cars, old cars, or weird cars, it’s trickier. You need to try a lot of different specialist insurance firms and every one has a slightly different set of criteria. But thankfully there’s an easier way. Use an insurance broker instead. They’ll shop around for you. Job done.

g.man

cockbeard wrote:

haha, I assumed elsewhere meant "not subaru" and was surrised it was only 50% saving

Heh. Haven't had one of them for a good few years now. Certainly don't miss the running costs.

Bob

Whatcha running now g? Zafira Tourer ?

g.man

Heh. BMW X1. Brilliant motor, but far from exciting.

Bob

There’s aren’t tears I’m blinking back ... I’m
Happy for you ..

afgavinstan

Car nut colleague rocked up in this today..

1970 Volvo Amazon. Roofs been cut down.

Damn son that is nice.

poprock

Bloody glorious motor.

g.man

Yeah, that's mint.

Dinostar77

Im definitely a different generation, doesnt appeal to me.

poprock

superflyninja wrote:

Dinostar77

How did you know? Love at first oversized speaker...

poprock

Glad you see the funny side too. I couldn’t resist.

Bob

Apart front the cut down roof bit

afgavinstan

Good Car Day: got that renewal quote from them. Down from £890 to £740. Bonus! Still gonna compare and see if I can get it lower, but hey, nice!

Bad Car Day: drove to Shonas after work for a wee natter as we sit in our cars. Idiot here sat with his electrics on for an hour and ran out his battery, so Scott's on his way to jump me. Class.

g.man

Ah, you live and learn.

poprock

Good news: My MR2’s repairs are complete!

Bad news: I’ve been on a fucking conference call for four hours and now the garage is shut, so I can’t pick it up until tomorrow.

The Daddy

Safest place for it!

poprock

It’s funny because it’s true.

I refused a courtesy car because I thought it would just get damaged out here.

Dinostar77

Dyson interviewed in The Times. Spent £500mil of his own money before shelving the idea. They had a vehicle that would do 600 miles on a solid state battery (proprietary) with a single charge. However break even cost of car would be £150,000. So idea was shelved. Unlike the standard car manufacturer they dont have petrol/diesel cars from which to make a profit to sustain the electric car dev costs.

Need to google why car manufacturers dont use solid state batteries if their range is so much better than lithium ion batteries.

afgavinstan

My battery woe is karma as I had thought abt coming in here like "oh well yous all said I'd have a prang in my first year well me and my NCD says fuck all y'all" post. Ah well. Home now.

LivDiv

Dinostar77 wrote:

Dyson interviewed in The Times. Spent £500mil of his own money before shelving the idea. They had a vehicle that would do 600 miles on a solid state battery (proprietary) with a single charge. However break even cost of car would be £150,000. So idea was shelved. Unlike the standard car manufacturer they dont have petrol/diesel cars from which to make a profit to sustain the electric car dev costs. Need to google why car manufacturers dont use solid state batteries if their range is so much better than lithium ion batteries.

I think you already have the answer in your post.That be expensive.
I would argue 600 miles is a bit excessive as well, maybe for haulage but for the consumer market that will be a bit of a niche, especially in Europe.

poprock

Car journalist Twitter has been having a field day after that ‘Rich List’ interview came out.

The stuff Dyson is claiming is hilariously suspect. It’s a clear PR job to try and sell his battery tech (and anything else they invested R&D time in) to other manufacturers. Battery tech which is undocumented so far – total vapourware that he makes magical claims for.

The Times should be embarrassed about acting as his private PR firm on this. Especially the part where they give his imaginary unfinished car a five-star rating. The car never existed – that photo is of a life size clay model wrapped in plastic film. Dyson only got as far as a single test mule (their drivetrain on a rival’s existing chassis) that was driven around their car park.

Frankly, nobody is going to miss yet another gigantic heavy SUV brand on the roads. Regardless of investment, Dyson has seen the writing on the wall – the car game is a bogey. It’s not worth trying to fight his way into a shrinking market. He’s too late. So now he wants to recoup some investment by selling off talent and patents to existing car companies.

Bob

LivDiv wrote:

Dinostar77 wrote:

Dyson interviewed in The Times. Spent £500mil of his own money before shelving the idea. They had a vehicle that would do 600 miles on a solid state battery (proprietary) with a single charge. However break even cost of car would be £150,000. So idea was shelved. Unlike the standard car manufacturer they dont have petrol/diesel cars from which to make a profit to sustain the electric car dev costs. Need to google why car manufacturers dont use solid state batteries if their range is so much better than lithium ion batteries.

I think you already have the answer in your post.That be expensive.
I would argue 600 miles is a bit excessive as well, maybe for haulage but for the consumer market that will be a bit of a niche, especially in Europe.

Here’s a crazy idea put half the amount of batteries in it Dyson. 300
Miles is about a tankful in most cars so would be perfect

cockbeard

The Daddy wrote:

Safest place for it!

hahaha, true and gold

Dinostar77

Just watched a video where the chap put forward his thoughts that electric cars arent the future but hydrogen probably is. He made some good points. As a car dealer it was interesting him saying hybrid and electric cars are too expensive. Oh and his family daily drivers are a 08 range rover and an 04 tiny car i which i forgot the name of.

Good watch i thought.

https://youtu.be/oVFJUxeGFAE

poprock

A lot of people agree. Electric cars aren’t a particularly sustainable option. They solve immediate problems with emissions in built-up areas but don’t help (and may actually cause harm) in more global terms.

The Daddy

I remember Clarkson extolling the virtues of Hydrogen back in the old top gear days. Seems like a great idea in theory, a lot of practical issues though.

I remember seeing a thing on tv years and years back about a guy who came up with a really efficient fuel system, he got bought out by a major oil co and it got shelved. Wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of good potential tech is bought early on and out to one side, hopefully for future use...

GooberTheHat

I've always thought hydrogen makes more sense in the long run. Electricity is really difficult to store. Am I right in thinking that burning hydrogen in an engine turns it back into water with no other waste?

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