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

[KungFooBob]

You did the whole journey in Eco Pro?

*Uncontrollable retching noises*

Yup, I limited my self to 470bhp rather than the full 540.

...and used about 45bhp of it.

[Mussels]

The EV Charger Hack That Can Burn Down Your House Just Got More Terrifying

"If you have one of the vulnerable EV chargers, a hacker across the world could reach in and set it on fire. The same is true for a theoretically safe charger that's defective or that has been modified."

Does the hack still work if you don't have the charging cable would up so tight it can only reach a battery mounted right next to the charger?

[Nordboy]

Well, went to have a look and drive a Ford Explorer EV today. Wasn't really considering a Ford EV tbh, but ended up buying it. '24 reg, 7 months old, 3500 miles on it, over £23k off the price of a new one, crazy!!

So, nearly new honda X-adv and Ford explorer EV both bought this week Buying her a new car did help when I broke the news of me buying the X-ADV mind you

You can't take it with you after all !!!!!

[KungFooBob]

So far there's only two models eligible for the full £3750.

Both Ford. Pretty much all the other 'cheap' EV's can only get the £1500 grant.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgvywyev1do

From the article...

According to Ford, the retail price for a new Puma Gen-E costs £26,245, while a petrol version is £26,580.

Is that a first, the EV being cheaper than the ICE version?

[Taipan]

Critics warn against government's £25m for EV charging gullies
New solution should enable more to charge at home – but critics say it not viable.

A government grant of £25 million to support new cross-pavement EV charging schemes has been hailed as a major boost to the take-up of electric cars by enabling households without a driveway to charge an EV cheaply on the road.

The cash will be spent on installing covered gullies that can carry a charge cable across a pavement to an EV parked on the road. It is hoped the solution will tackle a problem faced by around nine million UK homes and in turn drive up the uptake of EVs.

However, critics are worried the solution still has significant challenges to overcome, especially around running costs and usability, before it becomes a fully viable solution.


Many councils are already using the cash to roll out pilot schemes. Oxfordshire County Council, for example, has made £700,000 available for 500 gullies and money towards home chargers.

“A third of Oxfordshire households don’t have off-street parking, so we believe this could give residents the confidence to switch to an EV,” said the council’s environment chief councillor, Judy Roberts. “Being able to access home electricity rates and park in your usual spot are the sorts of things that are likely to make EV ownership a reality for many people.”

Dorset’s Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council has approved a similar scheme, with almost 30% of households in the district lacking off-street parking.


However, councillors noted the limitations of the gullies, which will require owners to be able to secure a parking space within reach of their charge cable. Instead, “households will have to negotiate with their neighbours over use of the parking space”, said councillor Andy Hadley.




Gully suppliers such as Kerbo Charge say that most cables can reach an adjoining space.

There are also financial issues. For example, despite the government’s support, households must still contribute to the cost of applying for, installing and maintaining the gully. In the case of Oxfordshire’s scheme, residents must pay £300 for a two-year licence.

After that, households need to pay an annual fee of £100 to cover ‘operating costs’. The householder is also responsible for the pavement’s reinstatement should they move or no longer require the gully.

These costs are unavoidable: Oxfordshire County Council and others say that, for safety reasons, people can’t install a gully themselves or have it privately arranged.

Defending the costs, a council spokesperson said it is roughly equal to what, in 12 months, a household would save charging at home compared with using a public charger.

[Mr. Dazzle]

FYI; I put my car on charge earlier. I tell Octopus what time I need the car by, and it works out a schedule to get it charged on time. As you'll see, although my cheap rate is midnight to 7, it'll apply the cheap rate outside of those hours if need be.

I just for a notification that it's free electricity for me today (on Octopus) between 2pm and 3pm - presumably something to do with the balance of weather and demand.

Shame I don't have very much to charge up

Edit: Looking out the window, it is very bright and breezy. According to Gridwatch wind and solar are providing more than 3/4 of all UK demand at the time of writing.

[Taipan]

Might put mine up for sale and see if I can draw a profit if demand is that high...

Used Tesla sales rocket 270% in UK
Marketcheck, which collects used vehicle data in the United Kingdom, said that sales of used Teslas hit a record in July, jumping 270%.
This shows a growing trust in not only used Tesla but also used electric vehicles.
Regustrations of new EV’s remain strong in the UK, with more than 1 in 5 new cars being full electric.
Augusts data is set to be released this week.

[Mr. Dazzle]

That's gotta be a weird freak caused by recovery from Elon-fever, or held up shipments or something. A 3 fold increase overnight is bollox otherwise

[KungFooBob]

I've got a software update!

Bizarrely, it downloads to my phone via the BMW app, then the next time I drive the car the phone transfers it over and the car installs it in the background.

The Ovlov couldn't update the OS without a dealer visit, but would do the car apps over the house wi-fi if parked close enough.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Bizarrely, it downloads to my phone via the BMW app, then the next time I drive the car the phone transfers it over and the car installs it in the background.

It's more likely the phone just told you there's an update incoming. I'd be surprised if it actually went via the phone IYSWIM.

They're gonna be totally different software architectures for one. Unless you're talking about the infotainment?

[KungFooBob]

Bizarrely, it downloads to my phone via the BMW app, then the next time I drive the car the phone transfers it over and the car installs it in the background.

It's more likely the phone just told you there's an update incoming. I'd be surprised if it actually went via the phone IYSWIM.

They're gonna be totally different software architectures for one. Unless you're talking about the infotainment?

1. Alert on the phone, you have an update for your car.

2. Read the release notes, improved AC charging reliability, general car improvements.

3. Download to phone, 5 mins, 0-100% progress bar.

4. Message pops up, connect car to phone to update.

5. Once connected a message pops up to drive the car and the update will transfer in the background.

Seems an odd way to do it to me, like you I would have thought the car could downloaded directly using the phones data.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Seems an odd way to do it to me

Me too.

Presumably the car has its own 4/5G?

Mine just says to me "I'm gonna update myself, that's cool yeah?" when I turn the ignition off. In fact a couple of times I've gone out in teh morning and it pops up on the dash to say something's been updated when I first start the car - it only asks for your permission when the update is something which means you won't be able to drive for a bit.

[KungFooBob]

Seems an odd way to do it to me

Me too.

Presumably the car has its own 4/5G?

Yup, ConnectedDrive allows me to unlock doors, see the tyres pressures and check how the charging is going remotely, etc.. I guess BMW don't want to pay for the amount of data required for a software update.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Seems an odd way to do it to me

Me too.

Presumably the car has its own 4/5G?

Yup, ConnectedDrive allows me to unlock doors, see the tyres pressures and check how the charging is going remotely, etc.. I guess BMW don't want to pay for the amount of data required for a software update.

Could be because it's second hand.

I get all the maintenance updates etc for free for a couple of years, but since I never have the car that long....

[Taipan]

Tesla notifies you that you have an update too, but I think it downloads by wifi as its connected to my network. Not sure if it'd do it via the phone if you couldn't park near your home wifi, but assume it would,, otherwise how would you get the updates??

[Taipan]

That's gotta be a weird freak caused by recovery from Elon-fever, or held up shipments or something. A 3 fold increase overnight is bollox otherwise

Man of the people provides a car for the people! Sounds a bit familiar...

[KungFooBob]

I've signed up to the new Spoon tariff for cheap EV charging.

[ZRX61]

There are also financial issues. For example, despite the government’s support, households must still contribute to the cost of applying for, installing and maintaining the gully. In the case of Oxfordshire’s scheme, residents must pay £300 for a two-year licence.

After that, households need to pay an annual fee of £100 to cover ‘operating costs’. The householder is also responsible for the pavement’s reinstatement should they move or no longer require the gully.

A fucking license?? They can fuck right off.

[Supermofo]

Defending the costs, a council spokesperson said it is roughly equal to what, in 12 months, a household would save charging at home compared with using a public charger.

So you need the pavement dug up, hope you can park outside your house (definitely not a given in my experience), have to renew a license every year which lets be honest will go up by more than inflation cos these things do and all to at best break even with public charging. Doesn't sound great.

[Supermofo]

There are also financial issues. For example, despite the government’s support, households must still contribute to the cost of applying for, installing and maintaining the gully. In the case of Oxfordshire’s scheme, residents must pay £300 for a two-year licence.

After that, households need to pay an annual fee of £100 to cover ‘operating costs’. The householder is also responsible for the pavement’s reinstatement should they move or no longer require the gully.

A fucking license?? They can fuck right off.

Way of the world now init, you own nothing and will be happy.