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Not As Environmentally Friendly As Promised

Indeed there are multiple reasons for manufacturers to drop apparently popular vehicles.
Mergers with other companies creating competing products within the same sector by the two merged companies is a common one.
This was a problem that befell a lot of vehicles produced by 'Rootes Group' back in the 1970s, and also with vehicles produced by British Leyland (however that was probably more welcomed than mourned).
Also a manufacturer can decide to focus on a different market which they know will need to be developed along different lines, so pull production of a vehicle that they consider is less likely to be popular than other models.
'Big Car' is a great channel for looking at the history and demise of various models, and they recently covered the death of the Fiesta.
(I thoroughly recommend the channel)
Here is the excellent episode where he discusses the 'GM EV1' which was so popular that GM had to force the people testing them to sell them back to the parent company!!!!

When GM was ahead of the EV game. The GM EV1 Story
By the end of the 1980s electric vehicles had taken baby steps towards becoming practical. And companies would continue to produce small, lightweight vehicles into the 1990s, using heavy lead-acid batteries. But one company would strive, and some would say succeed in producing the world’s first electric vehicle that was a practical replacement for an internal combustion engine car. It would take almost ten years of work to produce and would come from the unlikeliest of sources, stodgy old General Motors.
 
I salute the idea that the vehicles get taxed.
It isn't road tax but vehicle tax; the revenue from it isn't ring-fenced for road maintenance. The income goes straight into the general taxation.
In the past, it was used as encouragement to reduce emissions or purchase EV's but, thanks to recent events, they're looking at raising revenue anywhere they can, as long as it doesn't create too much fuss.
As far as the journalists being 'rounded up' as well as protesters, I'd imagine it's a form of manipulation of figures: They move in, arrest whoever they can then take them back to the custody suite. These numbers are 'counted' then relayed to selected folks, especially to counter the accusations of coppers going easy on the protests. If they have to release even some of them without charge, they won't report that figure as a correction. When the numbers of arrests, prosecutions and incarcerations are gathered together in a 'monthly total', it's not presented with the 'accidental' arrests.
 
Bear in mind that the article below, is only quoting the figures for 1 local authority, 'Thurrock' in Essex, however, 'Toucan Holdings' has 53 solar farms across the UK, so I expect there is a lot more money involved than just the £655m reported here.
Somebody has made a fortune.
I expect we will see more and more of these sorts of reports over the next few years as big companies and wealthy land-owners, after having spent years riding the wave of the current craze for 'eco' energy projects, begin to call in their markers as the 'subsidies' being handed out by successive administrations start to be reined in.

Solar Energy Firm Collapses Owing £655 Million to British Taxpayers.
A solar energy company has gone into administration after racking up more than half a billion pounds in debt to a local authority in Essex.
Toucan Energy Holdings 1 Ltd., which owns 53 solar farms across the country and was run by the financier Liam Kavanagh, had borrowed £655 million ($773 million) over four years from Thurrock Council to fuel its expansion.

https://dailysceptic.org/2022/11/12...apses-owing-655-million-to-british-taxpayers/
 
Little joke.
47C345E3-EB3F-4AB0-BD16-4378D25CBC74.jpeg
 
From the train yesterday I saw some new builds with solar panels built in. Shouldn’t all new builds have them? It probably would cut too much into the massive profits.
 
Have you noticed the ecofriendly paint they use on roads only lasts about 6 months?
then breaks up into little granules, it can't be good for the environment redoing them
with all the faf machinery fuel and burning what's left off the roads only to do it again
less than 12 months later. The old stuff lasted years. The road signs are not much
better they go brown then darker and darker till they to have to be replaced.
 
RaM said:
Have you noticed the ecofriendly paint they use on roads only lasts about 6 months?
then breaks up into little granules, it can't be good for the environment redoing them
with all the faf machinery fuel and burning what's left off the roads only to do it again
less than 12 months later. The old stuff lasted years. The road signs are not much
better they go brown then darker and darker till they to have to be replaced.
Click to expand...
I haven’t noticed the paint but I have noticed that roads in general are in a very poor state. Together with nearly every public service you care to mention.
 
hunck said:
I haven’t noticed the paint but I have noticed that roads in general are in a very poor state. Together with nearly every public service you care to mention.
Click to expand...
I think it is all part of a greater plan to put people off from driving along with the bad street lighting and increasingly bright headlights of cars coming the other way plus the ridiculously bright tail lights on some cars not to mention the stupidly and blindingly bright flashing lights on emergency vehicles especially at night or in the rain. Then there's the idiotically over the top bright lights for push bikes and motor bikes.

Add to that the traffic schemes alll over the country that do not reduce traffic congestion but instead increase it. To me it all adds up to an overall plan to make driving a nightmarish experience. I can find no other conclusion.

The idea of electric cars being environmentally friendly is so obviously a lie that it stuns me that anyone believes the hype. It don't take much research on the net to work that one out. To me, all they've done is create a new market for the gullible to buy into.

Where I live the council plans for net zero CO2 emission by 2030 yet they cannot define what that is exactly and how it applies to the local council. Perhaps they mean all employees will ride to work on zero emission made bikes and stop breathing whilst doing so and not use anything that has ever been produced that causes CO2 to be emitted whist forgetting the fact that CO2 is essential for food production. Also forget the higher the CO2, the greater the yield. Starvation in 3rd world countries of course, that doesn't matter. All that matters is the $$$$$'s from trading carbon credits.
 
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kesavaross said:
I think it is all part of a greater plan to put people off from driving along with the bad street lighting and increasingly bright headlights of cars coming the other way plus the ridiculously bright tail lights on some cars not to mention the stupidly and blindingly bright flashing lights on emergency vehicles especially at night or in the rain. Then there's the idiotically over the top bright lights for push bikes and motor bikes.

Add to that the traffic schemes alll over the country that do not reduce traffic congestion but instead increase it. To me it all adds up to an overall plan to make driving a nightmarish experience. I can find no other conclusion.

The idea of electric cars being environmentally friendly is so obviously a lie that it stuns me that anyone believes the hype. It don't take much research on the net to work that one out. To me, all they've done is create a new market for the gullible to buy into.

Where I live the council plans for net zero CO2 emission by 2030 yet they cannot define what that is exactly and how it applies to the local council. Perhaps they mean all employees will ride to work on zero emission made bikes and stop breathing whilst doing so and not use anything that has ever been produced that causes CO2 to be emitted whist forgetting the fact that CO2 is essential for food production. Also forget the higher the CO2, the greater the yield. Starvation in 3rd world countries of course, that doesn't matter. All that matters is the $$$$$'s from trading carbon credits.
Click to expand...
Breathing in is OK, breathing out is banned - and farting.
 
hunck said:
I haven’t noticed the paint but I have noticed that roads in general are in a very poor state. Together with nearly every public service you care to mention.
Click to expand...
The road workers have been 'working from home'.
 
kesavaross said:
I think it is all part of a greater plan to put people off from driving along with the bad street lighting and increasingly bright headlights of cars coming the other way plus the ridiculously bright tail lights on some cars not to mention the stupidly and blindingly bright flashing lights on emergency vehicles especially at night or in the rain. Then there's the idiotically over the top bright lights for push bikes and motor bikes.
Click to expand...
I think the bad state of the roads is just one aspect of lack of adequate spending/upkeep on public services. It’s been government policy for years but I’d better not say more.
 
RaM said:
Have you noticed the ecofriendly paint they use on roads only lasts about 6 months?
then breaks up into little granules, it can't be good for the environment redoing them
with all the faf machinery fuel and burning what's left off the roads only to do it again
less than 12 months later. The old stuff lasted years. The road signs are not much
better they go brown then darker and darker till they to have to be replaced.
Click to expand...
Yes. And 'road name' signs, especially on housing estates.

https://forums.forteana.org/index.p...ng-today-just-now.57514/page-435#post-2187890
 
I agree. It's not a 'grand conspiracy' to get us on to public transport but a reduction of maintenance thanks to a long-standing shrinking budget to the Road Agency.
Something to moan about when paying your vehicle tax.
 
Stormkhan said:
I agree. It's not a 'grand conspiracy' to get us on to public transport but a reduction of maintenance thanks to a long-standing shrinking budget to the Road Agency.
Something to moan about when paying your vehicle tax.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what the situation is nowadays as there was talk of changing it a few years ago, but until quite recently, car tax hasn't been spent on the actual maintenance of the roads since the 1930's. It may still be the case.
 
VED (Vehicle Excise Duty aka Road Tax) just goes into the coffers of 'general taxation'. It hasn't specifically gone to fund our transport network in any way for decades (IIRC since the mid 70s 'fuel crisis' days).
 
However, public awareness of the true nature of VED - including the constant use of the name 'road tax' - is still widespread. Not only do folks still moan about the state of the roads "considering how much road tax we pay" but also the thought that a property owner also 'owns' that particular patch of road directly outside their property.
This is the (mistaken) concept that if you pay into something then you own a part of it.
 
Stormkhan said:
However, public awareness of the true nature of VED - including the constant use of the name 'road tax' - is still widespread. Not only do folks still moan about the state of the roads "considering how much road tax we pay" but also the thought that a property owner also 'owns' that particular patch of road directly outside their property.
This is the (mistaken) concept that if you pay into something then you own a part of it.
Click to expand...

The number of people who assume that they have sole parking rights to the piece of public road in front of their house…

:headbang:

:dsist:

maximus otter
 
Trevp666 said:
VED (Vehicle Excise Duty aka Road Tax) just goes into the coffers of 'general taxation'. It hasn't specifically gone to fund our transport network in any way for decades (IIRC since the mid 70s 'fuel crisis' days).
Click to expand...
Not since 1931.

'It's a common misconception that road tax is used to pay for roads - it hasn't done so within most people's lifetime, and certainly hasn't done so since anyone alive today started driving.

From the 2020-21 financial year, VED will again be ringfenced to pay for roads, and by that time it's expected that it will raise more than £6bn a year. Initially the whole of that sum was going to go to Highways England for the trunk road network, but now £1bn every year will be put aside for local authorities who will be able to bid for funding.

That means that now - for the first time in 86 years - money raised from motorists is being used to directly fund road improvements. If any further proof were needed that we are gradually moving into an era of large scale road construction and improvement, beyond the sums of money already committed for trunk roads, the closing gaps in Scotland's motorway network and the big changes brought by RIS1 a couple of years ago, this is it'.

Source: https://www.roads.org.uk/blog/ps1bn-better-local-roads (2017)
 
maximus otter said:
The number of people who assume that they have sole parking rights to the piece of public road in front of their house…

:headbang:

:dsist:

maximus otter
Click to expand...
I was walking along one day to come across one of MrsF's colleagues in a confrontation with a resident who was fed up with her parking in front of his house from 9-5pm on weekdays. (There are carparks near by). It seemed to be getting quite heated so I hovered about just in case (although the woman in question is a bit of a 'militant' type if you know what I mean- and always moaning about her job etc so to be fair I was more on the guy's side in principal)- anyway the conversation escalated to a point where I heard her say ''......and you were stood in front of your window with your penis flapping about'' to which he replied ''I can do what I want in my own house''. I decided then to move away before they heard me laughing.
 
Just as long as it's flapping about and not standing to attention.

:omr:
 
Not so cheap anymore.

Electric vehicle owners are facing a major price increase from the ESB, which is putting up the cost of charging an electric car from a public charging point from December 20th.

The rise in costs will be significant. The cheapest charging rate, that for using 22kW AC kerbside chargers, will go up from 33.6 cents per kWh now, to 56.3c per kWh. That move will especially penalise those EV drivers who currently do not have access to charging at home, and who rely on public charging points.

In theory, a Volkswagen ID.4 will average 17kWh/100km of electricity use, which means that travelling each 100km, and charging from a 22kW charger, will cost you €9.57.

To do the same 100km in an equivalent diesel-engined SUV, assuming average fuel economy of 5.5-litres per 100km — certainly do-able in real-world terms — will cost you €9.90 at €1.80 per litre. The electric car still has an advantage, but it’s shrinking fast.

https://www.irishtimes.com/transpor...o-match-cost-of-diesel-after-67-further-hike/
 
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