october 2018 CHARLIES BLOGG
And about time too Charlie Lad. Well I have been a bit busy, but it’s no excuse really, the last one was July/August my muddy chums. Well what you all been up to then? Me, I been to and fro to the local hospital being prodded about, but I’m Ok, so let us have a chat about these electric cars.
The first time I saw one it was on the street in London. We had gone up by train to the Southbank TV studios, as Hazel had got tickets for us to be in the audience, for a recording of Loose Women, and guess who was the only bloke in the audience? We were on our way to the studio, and I noticed the layby/bays with short posts with some sort of electric points on them for recharging these new cars. First thought was how do the drivers pay? There were crowds of people milling about walking in the narrow road outside and someone said, “look out mate” and behind us in silence a Toyota Prius had come along slowly and was about 2 feet from the back of my legs. I didn’t realise they were that quiet. About this time, they started appearing around where we live, and all the taxi drivers were using them and after a while the hybrid versions came out. We were going out to a party, so we called a cab as I wanted to have a drinky poo, this was the first time we were in a leccy car and it was a brand new hybrid version. I asked the driver about it and he brought the gubbins up on the dash screen to show us all about it. How it re-charged itself as he drove around town etc and I must admit I was impressed. Of course, there were some in the media who complained that they were not as green as they were promoted to be, with stories about the weight of batteries, poor performance etc. and recently I have noted that there is now a concern about mining to produce these electric car batteries.
As countries the world over legislate to phase out petrol and diesel cars, attention is turning to the environmental impact of mining the materials needed for electric vehicle batteries. This additional scrutiny has largely focused on ethical concerns with cobalt and lithium supply chains, despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s observation last year that the lithium ion batteries his vehicles use are mostly made of nickel and graphite, with lithium itself merely “the salt on the salad”. But the extraction of nickel – predominately mined in Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Russia and the Philippines – comes at an environmental and health cost. Plumes of sulphur dioxide choking the skies, churned earth blanketed in cancerous dust, rivers running blood-red – environmental campaigners have painted a grim picture of the nickel mines and smelters feeding the electric vehicle industry. The Philippines this year closed or suspended 17 nickel mines because of environmental concerns. Miners struggling with low nickel prices have welcomed rising demand from an industry that the International Energy Agency estimates will deploy up to 70m electric vehicles by 2025 ). Recently, we’ve heard that Volvo are abandoning the internal combustion engine, and that both the United Kingdom and France will ban petrol and diesel cars from 2040. Other countries like China are said to be considering similar mandates. I am sitting on the fence here just reporting what I have heard and read, all I can do like all of you is to try to sort out what we are being fed in the media and by our government. What I do know is that it was not so long ago that we were being told by our government here that diesel cars were the future. A few years later and now diesel is bad they are telling us, and so now our annual road tax is ever higher.
ENTER THE RANGE ROVER 400E
So, what about Land Rovers electrically driven model, currently the Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid. Strictly speaking, this is not the first hybrid powertrain to appear in a Range Rover – that honour goes to the previous diesel-electric Range Rover Hybrid launched back in 2013. But it is the only one you can buy now, not to mention the first to feature a plug-in capability and a meaningful electric-only range. Under the bonnet you’ll find the smallest engine ever fitted to a Range Rover – the 2-litre four-cylinder Ingenium petrol unit now found in everything from the Jaguar F-Type to the Land Rover Discovery. It features high-pressure direct injection, a variable lift system on the intake valves that allows the throttle to be left open most of the time, and a twin-scroll turbocharger, which uses ball bearings to improve efficiency and transient response. Mounted on the ZF 8-speed gearbox there’s an 85kW electric motor, capable of powering all four wheels. Due to the different characteristics of the two powerplants, you can’t quite add up their individual outputs, but the combined total is still an impressive 404PS (398bhp) and 640Nm (472lbft) of torque. More to the point, it means the P400e officially returns a staggering 101mpg and emits just 64 g/km of CO2 on the NEDC cycle.
Of course, as with any hybrid, these laboratory figures bear scant resemblance to the real world. However, it returned 21mpg on a drive through the Cotswolds, where it was driven robustly. Land Rover claims an all-electric range of 31 miles on the NEDC cycle. We are told well over 20 miles is achievable in the real world, which means the average British commute could potentially be done on little or no petrol – particularly if there are recharging stations at both ends. For fleet operators, company car drivers and city dwellers there are also numerous financial benefits associated with its on-paper figures. These include significant tax incentives and exemption from the London Congestion Charge. There are other benefits, too. With both powerplants working in unison, the 2.5-tonne Range Rover feels every bit as rapid as its 6.4 second 0-to-60mph time would imply. In fact, it’s second only to the supercharged 5.5-litre V8 in the line-up. What’s more, the electric motor adds vast reserves of torque right from zero rpm, which makes this particular Range Rover even more formidable off-road. Price for a new one starts at around £67,000.
OUT ON ME BIKE
I try to get out on me mountain bike as much as I can, and just now I stopped writing to go around the block a few times. I needed to just loosen up as I did a hard 21.4 miles yesterday and when I turned into it, there was a high wind coming off the river Thames. I used to just go out and do these high mileages, (well for me at 75 years old they were) sometimes well over 30 miles, and I used to get back home all wobbly and wiped out. So now I find its best to keep riding as much and as many miles as I can, then when I do head off out on a long ride I don’t feel so bad when I get back home afterwards. I do love my Ebike the Haibike SDURO all Mtn 5 it is the best I have ever had, if a little on the heavy side. It would be dead handy if I could trade up to one of the new models with a carbon frame. With my little helper the leccy motor, that does help me to get back home and up some of the steeper hills. Of course, a few people sneer at me and tell me that I cheat by having an Ebike, but they are pre-supposing that I have it switched on all the time, which I do not. I have also treated meself to one of these new bike helmets with the red LEDs in the back and orange direction ones for when I am on the road and turning. It’s just a press of a button on the handle bars either way and along with a hand signal it’s just the job. Recently Haibike have announced their new range of Ebikes which will be here from June 2019, and they are fabulous. Top of the range is the new Flyon XDURO NDURO 10 with a carbon frame, and the battery is built into it, as well as the rear lights, and a powerful front light. I would need to win the Lotto to snag one as they are £8,999, but I can dream that’s free.
OFF THE ROAD
At the off-road site, the numbers go down a little in the hot sunny summers we have down here in Kent as so many of the guys love the winter mud. With holidays etc its expected, but I soldier on and I hope numbers improve as we have 124 members now. I recently had another MOT and all I got was an advisory for 2 of the bushes at the rear of the Discovery 2 TD5 on the Watts linkage. Simon took them out for me, he ran them down to the local garage, pressed the old out and the new 5 in. We didn’t see the point of not doing them all. At least now I know where the annoying little squeak I was hearing sometimes was coming from. Simon did the job as I was a bit crocked having come off the bike recently. I was doing a regular 6 to 10-mile ride I do and part of it is to ride up and over a bump about 6 feet up across the top and down other side. Done it many times no bother, but not this time. I got almost to the top but couldn’t make the flat, so I put me feet down with me hands still on the bars and brakes, but I started to slide back down. It all happened in a flash. I just thought easy mate all you got to do is slide off the back onto the rear tyre and step off but me coat which was a bit loose caught on the front point of the saddle, so over backwards I went and fell at the bottom on some flints on my back. The bike is heavy, and I still had hold of it at arm’s length, I could see it coming down onto me face. So, I flung it over to me left and my arm and hand went into a bramble bush that cut me to bits and I was full of thorns (ironic isn’t it)? So, with a supreme effort I wrenched me arm free and flung the bike over me onto the right side with a crash which bent the handle bars. RATS and I am still finding thorns in my left hand.
The first time I saw one it was on the street in London. We had gone up by train to the Southbank TV studios, as Hazel had got tickets for us to be in the audience, for a recording of Loose Women, and guess who was the only bloke in the audience? We were on our way to the studio, and I noticed the layby/bays with short posts with some sort of electric points on them for recharging these new cars. First thought was how do the drivers pay? There were crowds of people milling about walking in the narrow road outside and someone said, “look out mate” and behind us in silence a Toyota Prius had come along slowly and was about 2 feet from the back of my legs. I didn’t realise they were that quiet. About this time, they started appearing around where we live, and all the taxi drivers were using them and after a while the hybrid versions came out. We were going out to a party, so we called a cab as I wanted to have a drinky poo, this was the first time we were in a leccy car and it was a brand new hybrid version. I asked the driver about it and he brought the gubbins up on the dash screen to show us all about it. How it re-charged itself as he drove around town etc and I must admit I was impressed. Of course, there were some in the media who complained that they were not as green as they were promoted to be, with stories about the weight of batteries, poor performance etc. and recently I have noted that there is now a concern about mining to produce these electric car batteries.
As countries the world over legislate to phase out petrol and diesel cars, attention is turning to the environmental impact of mining the materials needed for electric vehicle batteries. This additional scrutiny has largely focused on ethical concerns with cobalt and lithium supply chains, despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s observation last year that the lithium ion batteries his vehicles use are mostly made of nickel and graphite, with lithium itself merely “the salt on the salad”. But the extraction of nickel – predominately mined in Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Russia and the Philippines – comes at an environmental and health cost. Plumes of sulphur dioxide choking the skies, churned earth blanketed in cancerous dust, rivers running blood-red – environmental campaigners have painted a grim picture of the nickel mines and smelters feeding the electric vehicle industry. The Philippines this year closed or suspended 17 nickel mines because of environmental concerns. Miners struggling with low nickel prices have welcomed rising demand from an industry that the International Energy Agency estimates will deploy up to 70m electric vehicles by 2025 ). Recently, we’ve heard that Volvo are abandoning the internal combustion engine, and that both the United Kingdom and France will ban petrol and diesel cars from 2040. Other countries like China are said to be considering similar mandates. I am sitting on the fence here just reporting what I have heard and read, all I can do like all of you is to try to sort out what we are being fed in the media and by our government. What I do know is that it was not so long ago that we were being told by our government here that diesel cars were the future. A few years later and now diesel is bad they are telling us, and so now our annual road tax is ever higher.
ENTER THE RANGE ROVER 400E
So, what about Land Rovers electrically driven model, currently the Range Rover P400e plug-in hybrid. Strictly speaking, this is not the first hybrid powertrain to appear in a Range Rover – that honour goes to the previous diesel-electric Range Rover Hybrid launched back in 2013. But it is the only one you can buy now, not to mention the first to feature a plug-in capability and a meaningful electric-only range. Under the bonnet you’ll find the smallest engine ever fitted to a Range Rover – the 2-litre four-cylinder Ingenium petrol unit now found in everything from the Jaguar F-Type to the Land Rover Discovery. It features high-pressure direct injection, a variable lift system on the intake valves that allows the throttle to be left open most of the time, and a twin-scroll turbocharger, which uses ball bearings to improve efficiency and transient response. Mounted on the ZF 8-speed gearbox there’s an 85kW electric motor, capable of powering all four wheels. Due to the different characteristics of the two powerplants, you can’t quite add up their individual outputs, but the combined total is still an impressive 404PS (398bhp) and 640Nm (472lbft) of torque. More to the point, it means the P400e officially returns a staggering 101mpg and emits just 64 g/km of CO2 on the NEDC cycle.
Of course, as with any hybrid, these laboratory figures bear scant resemblance to the real world. However, it returned 21mpg on a drive through the Cotswolds, where it was driven robustly. Land Rover claims an all-electric range of 31 miles on the NEDC cycle. We are told well over 20 miles is achievable in the real world, which means the average British commute could potentially be done on little or no petrol – particularly if there are recharging stations at both ends. For fleet operators, company car drivers and city dwellers there are also numerous financial benefits associated with its on-paper figures. These include significant tax incentives and exemption from the London Congestion Charge. There are other benefits, too. With both powerplants working in unison, the 2.5-tonne Range Rover feels every bit as rapid as its 6.4 second 0-to-60mph time would imply. In fact, it’s second only to the supercharged 5.5-litre V8 in the line-up. What’s more, the electric motor adds vast reserves of torque right from zero rpm, which makes this particular Range Rover even more formidable off-road. Price for a new one starts at around £67,000.
OUT ON ME BIKE
I try to get out on me mountain bike as much as I can, and just now I stopped writing to go around the block a few times. I needed to just loosen up as I did a hard 21.4 miles yesterday and when I turned into it, there was a high wind coming off the river Thames. I used to just go out and do these high mileages, (well for me at 75 years old they were) sometimes well over 30 miles, and I used to get back home all wobbly and wiped out. So now I find its best to keep riding as much and as many miles as I can, then when I do head off out on a long ride I don’t feel so bad when I get back home afterwards. I do love my Ebike the Haibike SDURO all Mtn 5 it is the best I have ever had, if a little on the heavy side. It would be dead handy if I could trade up to one of the new models with a carbon frame. With my little helper the leccy motor, that does help me to get back home and up some of the steeper hills. Of course, a few people sneer at me and tell me that I cheat by having an Ebike, but they are pre-supposing that I have it switched on all the time, which I do not. I have also treated meself to one of these new bike helmets with the red LEDs in the back and orange direction ones for when I am on the road and turning. It’s just a press of a button on the handle bars either way and along with a hand signal it’s just the job. Recently Haibike have announced their new range of Ebikes which will be here from June 2019, and they are fabulous. Top of the range is the new Flyon XDURO NDURO 10 with a carbon frame, and the battery is built into it, as well as the rear lights, and a powerful front light. I would need to win the Lotto to snag one as they are £8,999, but I can dream that’s free.
OFF THE ROAD
At the off-road site, the numbers go down a little in the hot sunny summers we have down here in Kent as so many of the guys love the winter mud. With holidays etc its expected, but I soldier on and I hope numbers improve as we have 124 members now. I recently had another MOT and all I got was an advisory for 2 of the bushes at the rear of the Discovery 2 TD5 on the Watts linkage. Simon took them out for me, he ran them down to the local garage, pressed the old out and the new 5 in. We didn’t see the point of not doing them all. At least now I know where the annoying little squeak I was hearing sometimes was coming from. Simon did the job as I was a bit crocked having come off the bike recently. I was doing a regular 6 to 10-mile ride I do and part of it is to ride up and over a bump about 6 feet up across the top and down other side. Done it many times no bother, but not this time. I got almost to the top but couldn’t make the flat, so I put me feet down with me hands still on the bars and brakes, but I started to slide back down. It all happened in a flash. I just thought easy mate all you got to do is slide off the back onto the rear tyre and step off but me coat which was a bit loose caught on the front point of the saddle, so over backwards I went and fell at the bottom on some flints on my back. The bike is heavy, and I still had hold of it at arm’s length, I could see it coming down onto me face. So, I flung it over to me left and my arm and hand went into a bramble bush that cut me to bits and I was full of thorns (ironic isn’t it)? So, with a supreme effort I wrenched me arm free and flung the bike over me onto the right side with a crash which bent the handle bars. RATS and I am still finding thorns in my left hand.
