Petrol price!!

[coolrado 0]

Its lower than $50 now. We have to be careful in that it doesnt go to low. The low price means that the operators (BP, Shell etc) are cancelling drilling/completing of wells now as its not economically viable with the low oil price. If this continues for a couple of years when the recession is over and the demand for oil goes up we will have to wait a couple of years to catch up with the demand. The price of petrol will skyrocket well beyond what it was earlier this year.

Right, thats it, I'm going to buy a couple of fuel tankers and fill them up now while it relatively cheap, then I'm gonna buy a 1973 Ford Falcon Coupe and stuff a supercharged V8 in it, and maybe get a gyrocopter, I just hope tina turner doesn't turn up and start singing :lol:

[Jim 2]

If we can just hold out a few more years, electric motors should have gotten to a decent / viable point for a lot of people (obviously not those who do mega miles) so the pressure at the pumps will ease anyway..

 

An electric Mini is only a year or two away from getting released - reckon that'll be the catalyst for lots of people to try electric cars..

[coolrado 0]

An electric Mini is only a year or two away from getting released - reckon that'll be the catalyst for lots of estate agents to try electric cars..

corrected it for you :)

[Jim 2]

Well all joking aside mate, I just reckon that a mass market brand in a shape that people know and like will help sell electric. Stupid tosh like the G-Wizz wasn't ever going to lure anyone but the uber-eco warrior.. the electric Mini has the potential to be pretty huge I think..

[coolrado 0]

I just don't think they should start mass marketing electric vehicles until the energy used to supply them is from a sustainable or renewable source, just seems like a pointless excercise at the moment.

 

Maybe if your garage roof was covered in solar panels like Jay Leno's it would be worth it.

[coullstar 0]

I question how green electric cars actually are. Sure there going to reduce or elimintae emissions etc and reduce fossils fuel usage but what do we do with all the batteries? What do we do with old phones?

 

Fuel cells seem to be the future but the infostructure seems to be the biggest problem here. Im pretty sure I read somewhere that Lotus engineering were working on using bio-ethanol, bio-methanol.

[Jim 2]

As far as I understand it, batteries (and mobiles) can be stripped back to component parts and pretty much fully recycled..?

[The_Dude 0]

Right, thats it, I'm going to buy a couple of fuel tankers and fill them up now while it relatively cheap, then I'm gonna buy a 1973 Ford Falcon Coupe and stuff a supercharged V8 in it, and maybe get a gyrocopter, I just hope tina turner doesn't turn up and start singing :lol:

 

 

You forgot Lord Humungous and his mohawked sidekick with the butt cheeks cut out of his leather troosies.

 

 

Filled up with V-power yesterday, 96.9! Cheap considering about a month ago it was 119 or so.

[boost monkey 0]

ASBOs definitely the cheapest in Oxford too, something aroun 88p atm although seeing as I don't drive I can't remember the exact amount.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

If we can just hold out a few more years, electric motors should have gotten to a decent / viable point for a lot of people (obviously not those who do mega miles) so the pressure at the pumps will ease anyway..

 

The motors aren't the problem, it's the power supply, which is still too big, bulky, heavy, expensive and too slow to recharge.

 

I support electric cars totally because of the immense torque from 0 revs, they're definitely good for performance.

 

It's the half a tonne of batteries that put people off, which only offers a range of 150-200 miles max at moderate throttle, depending on car weight. It's far from a direct replacement of fuel burning.

 

If you could recharge the batteries in the same time it takes to fill a petrol tank, then there would be a mass market for it. Until that battery technology arrives, the big car makers will steer clear.....even more so during this financial crisis.

 

The interim solution is E85 but it's implementation is being held back deliberately.

[horney 0]

The problem with electric cars is the UK struggles to provide enough leectriticy to the masses right now. Add to that the problem of our power station bein gpassed their use by date but no new ones being built and then loads of people pluggin gin cars and we'll be suffering black outs!

 

Nick

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Especially by those who mod their electric motors :D

 

It'll be like the Tamiya days..... putting different windings and things into the motors to get max torque :lol:

[The_Dude 0]

 

 

If you could recharge the batteries in the same time it takes to fill a petrol tank, then there would be a mass market for it. Until that battery technology arrives, the big car makers will steer clear.....even more so during this financial crisis.

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure there's a prototype out there that uses capacitors rather than batteries, giving it a very quick charge but not great range.

[horney 0]

Especially by those who mod their electric motors :D

 

It'll be like the Tamiya days..... putting different windings and things into the motors to get max torque :lol:

 

Yeah modding your batteries and fully ballracing your car. Mind you you'd hop a brand new mini would be fully ballraced from the factory!

 

Nick

[Jim 2]

I don't see the electric car market doing anything for people who do lots of miles - but certainly for people like me who just toddle to work and back every day, there is no reason why an electric car with 150-200 miles range that recharges overnight isn't a totally viable option..

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Shouldn't toddling to and from work be done on a bicycle or public transport? :D

 

I agree, short urban journeys are OK, but what if you're stuck in traffic in the middle of winter with the (electric) heaters on full blast and the stereo? I can't see it working in London tbh

[Jim 2]

Shouldn't toddling to and from work be done on a bicycle or public transport? :D

 

I'd agree in principle for both of those mate. In the summer I did cycle but the roads back to where I live are dark (no street lighting) and frequented by maniac drivers and the buses are absolutely chock full during term time (work at a Uni) - my mate who gets the bus has stood and had to wait as bus after bus to pass as they were all full.

 

I do plan to return to cycling in the summer... In the winter though, it just sucks balls. 19 miles a day in freezing wind or rain isn't my idea of fun.

[The_Dude 0]

Jim, don't you realise how this country works? Someone will come along and unplug your car and plug in theirs, stealing your juice if its left on the street overnight.

Same principle will apply to wheelybins if they ever do the pay as you go scheme. What's to stop me dumping my rubbish late at night into my next door neighbour's bin if mine is already full?

 

Not that I would do either of those btw, but I know how some people's brains will scam it.

[boost monkey 0]

Shouldn't toddling to and from work be done on a bicycle or public transport? :D

 

I'd agree in principle for both of those mate. In the summer I did cycle but the roads back to where I live are dark (no street lighting) and frequented by maniac drivers and the buses are absolutely chock full during term time (work at a Uni) - my mate who gets the bus has stood and had to wait as bus after bus to pass as they were all full.

 

I do plan to return to cycling in the summer... In the winter though, it just sucks balls. 19 miles a day in freezing wind or rain isn't my idea of fun.

 

True with the bikes in winter. I'm still cycling cos I literally can't afford the bus. It is pretty cold at 8am (and only just light!) and even though I only do 12 miles round trip it can feel like a marathon with some of the gradients (which I sure didn't notice when I had 100+hp!) but ho hum. Getting dark at 4pm is bad too, some of the cycle paths are out past the ring road so have no street lighting and my front light is really just there to keep the police happy (handing out £60 no lights fines atm). I do sympathise a lot Jim!

 

Realistically, It's my own fault for owning such a money pit with zero income.

[M15 VW 0]

85.9 today

[MonkeyVR6 0]

I just bought 200 litres of Shell V-Power 'Raching 100' for £90. However, my tax-free-blagging-ways are to stop as I have to come back to the bloody UK for Christmas...

 

How much is it to fill up a Corrado VR6 these days on V-Power? Last time I was back it was like £85!