Electric cars

Martyn1981

Daimler & VW Saying Auf Wiedersehn To Internal Combustion Engines, But Not BMW

But in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, Markus Schaefer, the head of research and development for the Mercedes-Benz division of Daimler, say his company currently has no plans to develop next-generation internal combustion engines Instead, it is shifting its focus to the development of electric powertrains and batteries.

Mercedes is out ahead of its two German rivals, Volkswagen and BMW. Michael Jost, chief strategist for Volkswagen, says “In the year 2026 will be the last product start on a combustion engine platform.” That likely means Volkswagen will be producing cars with internal combustion engines until 2036 or later.

BMW is still firmly committed to the infernal combustion engine, however. Klaus Froehlich, head of research and development for the company, says it doesn’t plan to phase out diesel engines for another 20 years and will keep cranking out gasoline engines for the next 30 years.

username901

AdrianC wrote: »

"Bargain" is the wrong word. "Slightly less ridiculously expensive", I'll go with.

Anything even vaguely in the direction of a quid a mile to rent a car for local pootling is just mind-meltingly stupid.

Perhaps I am mind-blowingly stupid. But thanks to the generous govt if I get one for next april I can still pay myself and wife £50k each, pay £0 tax on a £75k car, claim half the vat back, reduce our corp tax, and still get full child benefit. If the BIK rate was still 16% i woudn't even contemplate one. We run two cars a near 20 year old mr2 roadster owned from near new which costs nothing to keep going so we're happier spending more on the family car. Some families finance two cars which could easily be £3-400 a month alone.

Herzlos

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the PHEV Ford Transit ("the backbone of Britain") yet:


https://www.ford.co.uk/future-vehicles/new-transit-custom-phev


31 miles on battery, 1000kg* payload. It'll be no real use for long distance couriers but great for trades folk who're likely spending hours at a single job site (and can granny charge). Presumably it'll also be a no-brainer for anyone needing to take a van into the ULEZ's.


*Down from a max of 1459kg in the biggest diesel, so a bit of a nuisance for builders, but still perfectly manageable for most trades.

AdrianC

Herzlos wrote: »

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the PHEV Ford Transit ("the backbone of Britain") yet:

https://www.ford.co.uk/future-vehicles/new-transit-custom-phev

31 miles on battery, 1000kg* payload. It'll be no real use for long distance couriers but great for trades folk who're likely spending hours at a single job site (and can granny charge).

Standard hybrid range, of course, so just as good on a distance run as a diesel-only van.

Presumably it'll also be a no-brainer for anyone needing to take a van into the ULEZ's.

Any other Euro6 diesel is ULEZ compatible, of course. There's no ZEV-only ULEZs on the way for the UK, and it's impossible to guarantee a PHEV would meet ZEV anyway.

*Down from a max of 1459kg in the biggest diesel, so a bit of a nuisance for builders, but still perfectly manageable for most trades.

Careful now... Some don't like mention of reduced payloads.

[Deleted User]

I had a test drive in the new MG, currently available for £22k.

It drives well and the interior is quite nice. 7 year warranty too. Let down a bit by the instrument cluster that doesn't show enough info like current range or charge %. But if you aren't pushing the range it's a nice car for the money.

Martyn1981

The Chinese are not hanging around!

Breaking: 1st Chinese Tesla Model 3s Are Rolling Down Gigafactory 3 Assembly Line

buglawton

DELETED USER wrote:

I had a test drive in the new MG, currently available for £22k.

It drives well and the interior is quite nice. 7 year warranty too. Let down a bit by the instrument cluster that doesn't show enough info like current range or charge %. But if you aren't pushing the range it's a nice car for the money.

You might want to read the MG warranty carefully regarding rust:
https://www.no-to-mg.co.uk/

Edit: Got a bit suspicious about why that page is so hard - impossible - to Google. If you Duckduckgo or Bing 'why not to buy an mg zs' it's result #1. Because it's the title metadata of course. But Google it's not in 1st three pages of results then give up. Having done a bit of web publication and SEO in my time this is downright odd. Is Google being 'gamed' somehow? Makes me realise now that to search on consumer or company ethics issues, you really need to used other than Google!

Herzlos

AdrianC wrote: »

Standard hybrid range, of course, so just as good on a distance run as a diesel-only van.

It looks like more of a range extender - combustion power is coming from a 1 litre petrol engine that doesn't directly drive the wheels. So it'll presumably be pretty efficient in the real world and actually pretty good for long distance couriers (who can get 31 miles extra free range every time they stop for a pee).

Careful now... Some don't like mention of reduced payloads.

That's why I ruled out builders, but I largely agree with you - a 1000kg payload on a full size van is a bit tight, since it means you can't have a crew + tools + a bulk bag of material without a trailer.

It'd be fine for most couriers, plumbers, joiners, etc though who aren't dealing with building materials.
I dare say many would find the running costs worth the compromise. As I'd said, most trade vans spend a lot of time parked somewhere during the day.



I'd seen a byline mention of raising the B license limit to 4250kg for electric vans, which would solve the payload issue quite comfortably.

zeupater

buglawton wrote: »

You might want to read the MG warranty carefully regarding rust:
https://www.no-to-mg.co.uk/

Edit: Got a bit suspicious about why that page is so hard - impossible - to Google. If you Duckduckgo or Bing 'why not to buy an mg zs' it's result #1. Because it's the title metadata of course. But Google it's not in 1st three pages of results then give up. Having done a bit of web publication and SEO in my time this is downright odd. Is Google being 'gamed' somehow? Makes me realise now that to search on consumer or company ethics issues, you really need to used other than Google!

Hi

Didn't look, but is that a standard surface/perforation differential clause? ... if so I wonder whether it's substantially different from most others! ...

HTH
Z

AdrianC

zeupater wrote: »

Didn't look, but is that a standard surface/perforation differential clause? ... if so I wonder whether it's substantially different from most others! ...

https://mg.co.uk/owners/warranty/#vip-antiperforation-warranty
Certainly looks fairly standard, without seeing the full Ts & Cs.

Nor was it exactly hard to find. Front page of website -> Owners -> Warranty.