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Changing cars


anotherbanana

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Reluctantly but necessarily I have decided to change my nine year old Rio. The ash trays are full! Any thoughts on what is good at the moment in the same size range as the Rio? My thoughts run either to a Polo or another Rio. Battery is not practical yet and self charging hybrid seems pricey.

What is the best way of financing a car purchase these days?

Thoughts please.
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I keep looking too at the moment. As we are still doing major works here, it will be another berlingo or of the same ilk.

It is the inbetween stage with cars. All these cars with say 160 miles limit, well, when I lived in France that would have been no good at all. AND I would never want to be waiting to recharge who knows where. Even here recharging would be very problematic where I now live.

I know one day I will have to change, but currently it feels a little too early in the game.

Strangely at the top of this page an advert for maserati has just popped up........ very very strange, maybe I have just won the lottery, I haven't checked[Www]

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[quote user="idun"]All these cars with say 160 miles limit, well, when I lived in France that would have been no good at all. AND I would never want to be waiting to recharge who knows where. Even here recharging would be very problematic where I now live. [/quote]

When you lived in France you regularly travelled 160 miles per day? You would recharge at home overnight and very low cost

Its not who knows where its shop car parks, petrol stations and parking places. Whilst that wouldn't have been true when you were there things are getting better but just like the vaccine France is a bit slow.

Yes if you cant charge at home in the UK stick to burning fossil fuels for a while longer. Fast charging networks are installing more chargers and the vehicles are able to charge much quicker than the older ones its all going in the right direction
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No I didn't do 160 miles a day. But I was one of these people who would suddenly decide to visit friends, or have a run out.

When we lived in France we had friends who lived some considerable distance, and I would just go and see them. Same here, friends who are about 50 odd miles away.

If I had forgotten to recharge etc, then that would not be possible. I wouldn't dare on a partial charge.

WELL, [Www] ofcourse I have not done that in a year, but it was always part of the way I lived.

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[quote user="idun"]friends who are about 50 odd miles away.

If I had forgotten to recharge etc, then that would not be possible. I wouldn't dare on a partial charge.[/quote]

Do you venture out with a partially filled fuel tank?

All perfectly doable as you can make use of the satnav app if you are in a town you are not familiar with.

A 50kw charger puts about 90 miles range in 30 mins so whilst shopping...the newer fast chargers can double that.

Judith, thats easy to do in an electric car.
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Teapot,

I'm sure it will be - eventually, but until I can be sure that my longer journeys (like to the UK) are feasible, I'm still hesitating, a couple more years might see big changes, and I was thinking of looking at automatics too, starting to think next year  ... car I've got will be 8 yrs old by then, and whilst not old, I'm finding it harder to use the pedals now .. plus the second hip is on the way out.  Hoping that by the time I start looking there will be greater choice around.

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I reckon you are wrong! Some companies already testing solid state batteries. There will be improvements thats just natural, I bet there were a load of silly old men sitting around with their horses and carts when the first automobiles came out and saying never take over from my horse.

Hydrogen requires more energy to make than you get out of it so will always be an issue and only for specialist vehicles or long range.

Charging at home for the majority of journeys is so convenient not to mention low cost.
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[quote user="anotherbanana"]Hydrogen can be made using electricity from aeoliennes so minimal cost. Charging points can refill points and can be installed next to existing service stations, though not every one. Technology exists and is in use.[/quote]

All true but its not very efficient as the amount of electricity used would power many more EV cars.

Really small amount of users. No home charging, tanks are bulky and its still coverted into electricity to power the motors.
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Yes it can, and the but, its very clean burning and no lubrication like fossil fuels so would require a lubricant for all the upper cylinder parts, similar to LPG vehicles that got through some engines quite quickly. There is of course the issue of using all the electricity to make the hydrogen and then feeding a less than efficient ICE ( internal combustion engine) compared to a highly efficient electric motor that has far fewer parts to service or fail from cambelts to clutch thousands of redundant parts and barely any maintenance required with an EV.

I would have got a Kia eNiro by now but they didnt make many and they were as rare as rocking horse do do. Now I have to wait a while and there are some pretty exciting models coming this year!
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