Covid - coming out of Lockdown 3 - no politics, less opinion and more facts and information.

[Hobby]

2 hours ago, APOLLO said:

 

The % rise, many times above inflation. I can't find a detailed breakdown of quarantine costs - can you ?

 

Brit15

 

I suspect the recent rises were more down to standing costs and reduced use of the hotels. The Gov will have had to reserve whole hotels for this purpose, whilst there were plenty of people using them the costs would be less. I suspect there are fewer people daft enough to risk the possible quarantine recently but the standing cost of renting the hotel remains the same. So they pass on the increased costs to the punters (quite rightly). Also it adds as a bigger deterent. 

[woodenhead]

55 minutes ago, Nick C said:

 

I'm not sure that's really a problem though - you're replacing a system where you have to go to a specific place to refuel your car, with one where it can be refuelled while you're going about whatever business it was you made the journey for. The proportion of journeys that will involve stopping to refuel mid-journey is actually pretty tiny (the average car journey is under 9 miles) - while there will always be some people who make 200+ mile journeys on a regular basis, most people rarely drive more than 20-30 miles in one go, with only a handful of longer journeys each year.

Petrol stations are democratic in that everyone has access to them, charging points, location, quality and quantity will vary and some people may find themselves starved of suitable locations they can use when they need to - flat owners for example, inner city housing with only on street parking etc.

[Reorte]

1 hour ago, 30801 said:

 

I don't get why people are so keen to cling on to the petrol station experience.

They're miserable places.

They're just places, not ones you spend long at. Sure, they're hardly great but they're not much different from anywhere else in that respect, a typical example of the dullness of the modern world. But the amount of time spent in them (if you're not working in one) is small enough to tick the "not an issue that makes one jot of difference" box personally speaking (mind you I roll my eyes at all sorts of "convenience" and "improvement" for pretty much the same reason). Won't miss them but find it rather excessive to be bothered about them.

[rocor]

1 hour ago, 30801 said:

 

I don't get why people are so keen to cling on to the petrol station experience.

They're miserable places.

 

Regardless of the grimness of the experience, petrol stations are already established, and if they are no longer serving up petrol and diesel, they might as well be providing some sort of useful service.  

Edited August 5, 2021 by rocor
Well.

[Nearholmer]

And, they are sometimes the only place for miles with a loo!

 

More relevantly, my BiL has an all electric car, and no charging facility at home - he has to park at the side of the road, with pavement and front garden between that and the house. All fine pre-Covid, because he charged his car at work, and/or at the gym, where the car parks have several chargers. Since Covid, and WFH, he has had no end of hassle keeping it charged, the problem being compounded by the fact that a high percentage of chargers have died and not been repaired over that period.

 

Re-configured service stations, with a coffee shop, ‘corner shop’, loos, work pods, etc would, I think fulfil a need.

Edited August 5, 2021 by Nearholmer

[boxbrownie]

3 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

Which reflects three things, a massive imbalance in the amounts invested in developing the two technologies, overwhelming political bias in favour of battery cars, and huge economies of scale.

 

John

 

 

It is the vehicle manufacturers which pushed for electric, there was only one manufacturer that was doing development into H development years ago, everyone else saw the way with EVs with an existing proven technology and far cheaper development costs.

Hydrogen/electric will be used for commercial/passenger heavy vehicles, just need to sort out the fuel cell tech for mass production.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Hydrogen/electric will be used for commercial/passenger heavy vehicles, just need to sort out the fuel cell tech for mass production.

 

Slightly baffled at the moment with JCB jumping into hydrogen combustion engines for construction equipment.

Horrible running costs to save tailpipe emissions from places where it doesn't really matter that much.

[boxbrownie]

16 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

Slightly baffled at the moment with JCB jumping into hydrogen combustion engines for construction equipment.

Horrible running costs to save tailpipe emissions from places where it doesn't really matter that much.

It is an easy technology jump as you say to conform to emissions, I suspect Tony Bamford knows something we might not 

[Dunsignalling]

1 hour ago, rocor said:

 

Regardless of the grimness of the experience, petrol stations are already established, and if they are no longer serving up petrol and diesel, they might as well be providing some sort of useful service.  

And ICE or Hybrid ICE vehicles are going to be with us for a couple of decades yet, albeit decreasingly, so the process of reconfiguration will be gradual.

 

I have no driveway so can't charge at home with current technology, and I therefore won't contemplate going electric until I stop hearing people who have relating tales of woe about driving around for ages looking for a charger that actually works. 

 

On the mileage I cover, my 6-y-o Tdi probably has more years left in it than I do for driving long distances in a single day. By then, all the hassle faced by the early adopters should be in the past and I would expect my personal "conversion" to be fairly seamless when the time comes! 

 

John

Edited August 5, 2021 by Dunsignalling

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

It is an easy technology jump as you say to conform to emissions, I suspect Tony Bamford knows something we might not 

 

I wish he'd tell us...

 

Ineos are keen on hydrogen for their Grenadier but that makes sense because the same bloke also sells hydrogen.

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

And, they are sometimes the only place for miles with a loo!

 

https://www.confitex.co.uk/pages/Confitex-for-men?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqa_x1K6a8gIVEO7tCh0Tngm7EAAYAyAAEgKH5_D_BwE
 

 

[Nearholmer]

thats just a cunning marketing ploy to sell more cycling shorts.

[john new]

As relatives are down to stay we took the pre-booked visit to the Bovington Tank Museum today (booked back in June). It has knocked on the head any ideas for me of going to mod-ex shows and other popular museums in the next few months -  although BTM recommends mask wearing most visitors weren't, I tried but had to take it off for several breathers during the 7 hours we were there due to the heat, the halls were heaving with people (the attendance was a sold out day) and at times I felt quite anxious at the congestion in pinch points.  

 

The museum is definitely worth a visit, but, I won't be going back again until the holiday season is over as I did NOT feel entirely safe.

[boxbrownie]

16 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

I wish he'd tell us...

 

Ineos are keen on hydrogen for their Grenadier but that makes sense because the same bloke also sells hydrogen.

Don’t forget also that Land Rover are going that way for the real “overland/offroad” stuff…….even less charging points in the Namibian Desert 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Don’t forget also that Land Rover are going that way for the real “overland/offroad” stuff…….even less charging points in the Namibian Desert 

 

Yeah, but that bloke did the Mongol rally in a 30kWh Leaf.

[boxbrownie]

Just now, 30801 said:

 

Yeah, but that bloke did the Mongol rally in a 30kWh Leaf.

Is he still doing it? 

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

https://www.confitex.co.uk/pages/Confitex-for-men?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqa_x1K6a8gIVEO7tCh0Tngm7EAAYAyAAEgKH5_D_BwE

 

Only absorbs 50ml.

Shan't bother...

[boxbrownie]

1 minute ago, 30801 said:

 

Only absorbs 50ml.

Shan't bother...

Surprisingly I didn’t actually read the tech specs 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Is he still doing it? 

 

I think he finished in front of some ICE cars...

[boxbrownie]

1 minute ago, 30801 said:

 

I think he finished in front of some ICE cars...

Don’t tell the Dino fuel sticklers, they’ll have heart attacks 

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Surprisingly I didn’t actually read the tech specs 

 

Lucky I pointed it out for you. Could have been awkward...

[rocor]

30 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

Only absorbs 50ml.

Shan't bother...

 

That would leave you in Breach of Article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations by 950ml.

[boxbrownie]

17 minutes ago, rocor said:

 

That would leave you in Breach of Article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations by 950ml.

Is that all? Bloody kids…..

[Nick C]

4 hours ago, woodenhead said:

Petrol stations are democratic in that everyone has access to them, charging points, location, quality and quantity will vary and some people may find themselves starved of suitable locations they can use when they need to - flat owners for example, inner city housing with only on street parking etc.

That, however, is an issue that can be solved, and I would imagine will be, as public chargers become more prevalent - as hopefully will the issues of broken chargers, incompatible payment networks, etc - these are all "early adopter" teething issues.

3 hours ago, 30801 said:

 

Slightly baffled at the moment with JCB jumping into hydrogen combustion engines for construction equipment.

Horrible running costs to save tailpipe emissions from places where it doesn't really matter that much.

Yes - especially as construction sites are an ideal place for battery-electric vehicles as they need a very limited range (after all they don't usually leave the site!) and have a ready supply of electricity. I'd imagine the reduction in noise by using EVs instead of ICE will also help on a busy building site.

[Dunsignalling]

44 minutes ago, Nick C said:

That, however, is an issue that can be solved, and I would imagine will be, as public chargers become more prevalent - as hopefully will the issues of broken chargers, incompatible payment networks, etc - these are all "early adopter" teething issues.

 

And when they have been solved, I might be interested. However, I'd be a lot more interested in hydrogen, even with higher running costs.

 

Why? Well, electric is all very fine if you buy new cars, but I get them when they are 3-5 years old. On an electric car at the upper end of that bracket, the batteries will be half knackered, the headline range will be history and fitting a new set of batteries will cost more than the car is worth, leading to much earlier scrapping than is usual with modern ICE cars. 

 

Green? Not in my dictionary.

 

When somebody builds an EV which can be fitted with an exchange set of refurbed batteries at Quikfit/Halfords etc. for under £1k, I'll start believing the things really are for everyman.

 

John

Edited August 5, 2021 by Dunsignalling