Would you have an electric car if you had the money for a new car and were in the market for one?

[mangocrazy]

As an aside, I was chatting to a Sheffield taxi driver recently and Sheffield City Council have mandated that all cabs in the city must be EVs within 3 years. That is just all sorts of wrong. Taxi fares will be going through the roof if SCC don't back down on that proposal.

Wonder what his source is, other than someone he had in the back of his cab (you won't believe who!).

It sounds like BS to me, indeed I can't find anything about such a rule after a quick Google.

I can more believe some kind of ULEZ has been misquoted.

We have a recently introduced CAZ and that has already lead to the closure of the Wickes that is unfortunate to be in the CAZ. Sheffield CC are notoriously car-hostile, although probably not quite as bad as they were a few years ago. I can only state what the cabbie told me, and he did seem to be fairly clued up. The guy was driving a Prius (don't they all?) and he will need to trade it in for something newer next year as it turns 10 years old then, and no cabs over 10 years old can have their licence renewed.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Wife's accountant has just purchased a new Lotus Eletre - it 'kin ugly and also it's pink!

Double whammy of being fugly and also actually quite crap at range/efficiency if the reviews are correct.

It'll sell well in the home market. China

[Mr. Dazzle]

The guy was driving a Prius (don't they all?) and he will need to trade it in for something newer next year as it turns 10 years old then, and no cabs over 10 years old can have their licence renewed.

Yeah that's been a thing for ages - it was a thing when my brother was a cabbie for a while, and that was a while ago, I can't remember how long! It's not really an EV specific thing is it?

So if you're gonna have to replace your car either way and now have to have something "zero emissions capable" all that means is that ya man has to buy a Hybrid. Which he already has anyway

BTW, the limit is 6 years here in MK! 10 if it's a Hybrid. They must be in cahoots with the car manufacturers

[mangocrazy]

The guy was driving a Prius (don't they all?) and he will need to trade it in for something newer next year as it turns 10 years old then, and no cabs over 10 years old can have their licence renewed.

Yeah that's been a thing for ages - it was a thing when my brother was a cabbie for a while, and that was a while ago, I can't remember how long! It's not really an EV specific thing is it?

So if you're gonna have to replace your car either way and now have to have something "zero emissions capable" all that means is that ya man has to buy a Hybrid. Which he already has anyway

BTW, the limit is 6 years here in MK! 10 if it's a Hybrid. They must be in cahoots with the car manufacturers

Yeah, it's a Prius hybrid, currently 9 years old. Not trying to make it an 'EV thing', just providing further details of our conversation.

I'll be watching the 'all EV taxis in 3 years' thing with interest, to see if it does happen or not. On thinking about it, Sheffield CC may be mandating that in 3 years time once the current taxi licence expires, you must replace with an EV. That would be more realistic/reasonable.

[Mr. Dazzle]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... hA-mdEdH_M

Link to the actual policy.

All newly licenced vehicles from 2027 must be zero emission capable. So EVs and Hybrids and only applies to newly licenced stuff

That's a long way from "every cab must be an EV".

Your informants vehicle already complies.

[mangocrazy]

Well done for tracking that down - it was more than I could be arsed to do...

So my cabbie was over-egging the 'EV only in 2027' thing and if he wanted he could continue with a (newer) hybrid vehicle. I suspect that there is a Chinese whispers approach to this kind of information sharing where if someone gets the wrong end of the stick then that bad information gets circulated in place of the real information.

So any new vehicles used as taxis must be 'Zero Emission Capable' after 1st January 2027. I doubt I'll ever see him again, but if I do, I'll put him right.

[ZRX61]

[mangocrazy]

A guy needs a panel van but is an Elon Musk fanboi and instead buys an overpriced 'statement' EV and is bemused when it doesn't do what he wants it to.

[MrLongbeard]

A guy needs a panel van but is an Elon Musk fanboi and instead buys an overpriced 'statement' EV and is bemused when it doesn't do what he wants it to.

Nah, it'd get the job done if the dingus had secured the load

[mangocrazy]

A guy needs a panel van but is an Elon Musk fanboi and instead buys an overpriced 'statement' EV and is bemused when it doesn't do what he wants it to.

Nah, it'd get the job done if the dingus had secured the load

Maybe, but it looks to me that the load bay of the Cybertruck is fairly puny and not up to dealing with long sections. A panel van is the blindingly obvious vehicle of choice for a job like that.

[Pirahna]

The thing with pick up trucks is they look cool but no matter how hard I try I've never been able to justify owning one. Apart from towing a 5th wheel trailer a van will do everything a lot better.

[ZRX61]

A guy needs a panel van but is an Elon Musk fanboi and instead buys an overpriced 'statement' EV and is bemused when it doesn't do what he wants it to.

Nah, it'd get the job done if the dingus had secured the load

Maybe, but it looks to me that the load bay of the Cybertruck is fairly puny and not up to dealing with long sections. A panel van is the blindingly obvious vehicle of choice for a job like that.

Van's aren't popular here, most tradesmen use pick-ups... altho the guy parked next to the EV is driving an appliance dolly (5 or 6ft bed) instead of a proper sized (8ft bed) pick-up

[cheb]

A drop side flat bed would be even better for that load. The load could be forked on too.

[Horse]

A drop side flat bed would be even better for that load. The load could be forked on too.

Unlike in the pic, where the owner is probably forked off

[Pirahna]

A drop side flat bed would be even better for that load. The load could be forked on too.

The Cybertruck has a 6ft (1.8m) bed, my swb VW T6 has a max load length of 3m, which by the look of it would accommodate that lot.

It'll take over 3m long loads if they'll fit diagonally, I had a couple of 3.5m trees it in last week.

[cheb]

Mine is 2.8m I think. Anything longer can just hang out the back, I've an old high viz waistcoat to make it legit.

A giraffe hatch was an option on small Renault vans, it was a openable flap in the roof in front of the rear doors.

[demographic]

Hard to tell from that picture but for what its worth, my Hiace would (assuming I'd not fitted my toolsafe in the back) fit 3m flat in the back without having to have the tailgate open.

Unless I was pulling a trailer I just cant see much point in pickups.
High to lift gear into, whatever is in the back is exposed to the weather and prying eyes.

Just not for me anyway.

[mangocrazy]

So apart from anything else, the Cybertruck fails dismally at what is supposed to be its primary function - carrying big stuff.

And that doesn't take into account the embarassment factor of being seen driving one.

[Pirahna]

So apart from anything else, the Cybertruck fails dismally at what is supposed to be its primary function - carrying big stuff.

The Cybertruck is just like any other truck, crap at just about anything. There are some exceptions, 5th wheel trailers are designed specifically for them. I've a friend in Canada with an F150 with an 8ft truck bed with the Canadian version of a Truckman cover. He spends a lot of time doing outdoors stuff, the truck is bear proof and he kips in it. Trucks are great in the middle east for machine gun mounts. And, now I'm struggling to think of good uses for a truck. A van is much better for 99.99999% of people.

[MrLongbeard]

I'd have another truck tomorrow if fuel was cheaper, park anywhere, barge past traffic, never worry about getting cut up, it was ace for city centre driving.

DSC00007 by MrLongbeard, on Flickr

DSC00020 by MrLongbeard, on Flickr