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Theft of catalytic converters


woolybanana
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There are many reports in UK of these being stolen from cars, even parked in the street. Apparently it only takes a few seconds to get the thing off and away. They are then sold to scrap yards.

What it is in them that is so attractive to thieves and what could they be worth?

Has this started happening in France?

Don’t worry, it seems only to concern top of the range vehicles and definitely does not concern mobility scooters. I mention this because one of our members had his scooter stolen and the battery (?) taken from it, at least.
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If you search for "vol de pots catalytiques" you will see plenty of reports and advice from the gendarmerie.

It isn't just top-of-the-range vehicles. See https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/20/theft-of-catalytic-converters-from-hybrid-cars-surges Toyota are having problems keeping up with the demand for Prius and Auris converter replacements.
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That's a sore point Betty,

Ordered a Kia e-niro but they only shipped 900 and then we must wait another 15 months for the next shipment. So far hired one to try but not on a French trip which would be ideal.

Lots of other manufacturers bringing out versions over the next year so could cancel my Kia.

I chose the Kia for range (300 miles almost) equipment, warranty and space on the inside. Oh and purchase price.

Oh Woolly, you know your intermarche is only 20kms away, why would you ever need 800kms?

Or put the other way, when have you at your tender age with your weak bladder and dodgy hips, knees, ankles etc driven 800kms without a reasonable stop to get the blood flowing and refresh with a lunch. Difference with electric at the moment is needing to plan the journey around a 45 minute or 2 twenty minute stops for a top up charge. The rest of the time plug in at home.

PS stop reading the daily email motoring section lol.
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Poo, Teapot. The whole electric car debate trundles on in the Betty household. Mr. B has a hybrid Mitsubishi thingy. Every time we go places, he attempts to use charging points, and somehow his success rate with doing so is about 50%. Worst by far? Eurotunnel, where they seem to work about once every five trips. Latest fail? IKEA where they're no longer free and where he spent longer in the car park than we spent in the shop, and where we came out to find a woman on the phone to the helpline (with the exact same car as ours) because she couldn't unplug it from her car!! And from the conversation, it sounded as though her chances of help from the helpline were scant.

I'd happily replace my tiny car with a tiny electric car, but I'm discouraged by the faff and current lack of investment in supporting infrastructure.
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Fabulous, another reason to buy an EV, no need to visit IKEA!!

The infrastructure is improving month on month but still needs improvement. Some work required to locate charge points and various apps available to aid this. Biggest bugbear must be having different owners for different stations therefore making it necessary to subscribe to several RFID type tags, whereas there was a piece of legislation to ensure that all could be accessed via a single type such as contactless card. As usual an impudent transport minister fails yet again. In one breath they want a big EV take-up then do not follow through with a plan.

Phev's well if they suit your life then ok but if not you have IMO the worst setup. Tiny battery, tiny engine, 2.25 tons of vehicle. Range on electric, maybe 18-26 miles consumption of fuel 25 mpg?

Unfortunately I do see around my area a large number of 7-22kw charging stations which are just pointless as they are too slow for practicality.
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They suit our lifestyle pretty much. Mr B drives only a few big journeys (to France and back, max. 2-3 times a year bearing in mind that the Charente Maritime where we stay has the fewest charging points of any Dept in France).

Otherwise most of his regular journeys can comfortably be done on a battery full. That was the point of getting one, really.

In travelling to and from France, I've as much chance of getting him to stop for 45 minutes as I have of taking over from John Bercow. ?
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Just checked the Eurotunnel Betty, yep all out of service!

Haha, woolly that is one of the favourite cliché.

I agree though, batteries are expensive, bigger the battery higher the cost. The best deal at the moment seems to be the MG or Peugeot e208, really need to be on a contract unless you have sufficient deep pockets but way cheaper cost of ownership because there is hardly anything to service. No clutch, cam belt, injection system, fuel filters, oil etc etc. Brakes last so much longer because of regenerative braking (adding more range). There is an issue being noticed though. Because most braking is regenerative, the disk brakes are rusting up through lack of use so drum brakes might make a re- appearance.

The thought of have £30000 sitting on the drive does question if something like Zipcar would be better day to day and just hire for holidays.

Point is woolly, just because it's not on your balance sheet (cheap fuel card) doesn't mean it's not on the planets.

Battery tech will improve, even more efficient electric motor designs are on the drawing board. The French and other Europeans are used to renting property, it's the Brits who are set on home ownership so maybe the take up will be higher? Peugeot certainly got caught out by the numbers requesting e-208's.
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Tesler seem to have got their charging points sorted out.

Our SIL took delivery of a Tesler a couple of months ago and enjoyed driving from the south coast to Northumbria, pottered around there for 10 days or so, back to the south coast then visited us in Berkshire the following week with no problems, but I think the range after a charge is pretty good.

He had no problems finding charging points and I’m told that it’s a similar story in France.

In our small town there are 4 charging points and each village nearby has 2, apart from on market days, when stalls are in those spaces, just as they always have been, but I have no idea which system is used in them.

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Absolutely Gardengirl, Tesla are still way ahead of the competition with their supercharger network, theirs is even working at Eurotunnel. Their cars are the best, their network is the best and without Elon and his team EV's would still be just milk floats. He has proven to the world what is possible and if I had a bigger budget and didn't want a hatchback it really would be a no brainer.
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While I agree that Tesla is the EV leader, I seem to recall that if you buy the most expensive one charging is free, but with the lower-cost models, you have to pay for charging. I would love an EV but at the Baie de Somme where I would have to stop, seems to me there are only Tesla points, isn't this a bit naughty not to allow anybody to charge up? whether you pay or not?
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