"UK’s newest electric cars turning heads at last"

This should be of interest to the motorists who infest this cycling
newsgroup and who pretend to be real cyclists.

Personally, like most cars, I think they look pretty ugly. Anyway,
perhaps we can hope for similar developments for electric bicycles
soon? See the bits about battery swap stations and half hour charging
which solves the much maligned range problem.

"...In the space of a year and a half, the economics of electric
motoring will have changed significantly.

Britain's best-known electric car, the Nissan Leaf, currently sells
for just under £26,000, once the government grant of £5,000 is
deducted.

This month, the Renault Fluence will enter showrooms in the UK with
prices starting from £17,500.

And by the autumn, the Renault Zoe will be with us for less than
£14,000.

How has Renault achieved such price reductions so rapidly?

For starters, the company has gone for a new model of ownership.

Drivers will buy the car, but rent the battery quite separately.
Depending on mileage, the rental costs will be roughly £1,000 a year.

But for that price, you get a battery that is guaranteed for life.
That should mean no more worries about batteries deteriorating over
time, or depressing the second-hand value of the car..."

Mo
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17548480

Doug wrote:
This should be of interest to the motorists who infest this cycling
newsgroup and who pretend to be real cyclists.

Personally, like most cars, I think they look pretty ugly. Anyway,
perhaps we can hope for similar developments for electric bicycles
soon? See the bits about battery swap stations and half hour charging
which solves the much maligned range problem.

"...In the space of a year and a half, the economics of electric
motoring will have changed significantly.

Britain's best-known electric car, the Nissan Leaf, currently sells
for just under £26,000, once the government grant of £5,000 is
deducted.

This month, the Renault Fluence will enter showrooms in the UK with
prices starting from £17,500.

And by the autumn, the Renault Zoe will be with us for less than
£14,000.

How has Renault achieved such price reductions so rapidly?

For starters, the company has gone for a new model of ownership.

Drivers will buy the car, but rent the battery quite separately.
Depending on mileage, the rental costs will be roughly £1,000 a year.

But for that price, you get a battery that is guaranteed for life.
That should mean no more worries about batteries deteriorating over
time, or depressing the second-hand value of the car..."

Mo
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17548480

where do you think the electricity to run these cars will come from?

On 06/04/2012 09:49, Mrcheerful wrote:
Doug wrote:
This should be of interest to the motorists who infest this cycling
newsgroup and who pretend to be real cyclists.

Personally, like most cars, I think they look pretty ugly. Anyway,
perhaps we can hope for similar developments for electric bicycles
soon? See the bits about battery swap stations and half hour charging
which solves the much maligned range problem.

"...In the space of a year and a half, the economics of electric
motoring will have changed significantly.

Britain's best-known electric car, the Nissan Leaf, currently sells
for just under £26,000, once the government grant of £5,000 is
deducted.

This month, the Renault Fluence will enter showrooms in the UK with
prices starting from £17,500.

And by the autumn, the Renault Zoe will be with us for less than
£14,000.

How has Renault achieved such price reductions so rapidly?

For starters, the company has gone for a new model of ownership.

Drivers will buy the car, but rent the battery quite separately.
Depending on mileage, the rental costs will be roughly £1,000 a year.

But for that price, you get a battery that is guaranteed for life.
That should mean no more worries about batteries deteriorating over
time, or depressing the second-hand value of the car..."

Mo
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17548480

where do you think the electricity to run these cars will come from?


I've told you before Mr C - the electricity fairy. Will you pay attention!


--
Dave - Cyclists VOR. "Many people barely recognise the bicycle as a
legitimate mode of transport; it is either a toy for children or a
vehicle fit only for the poor and/or strange," Dave Horton - Lancaster
University

They are indeed turning heads.

People are turning their heads whilst shouting "look at that ****** in a
toy car".



--
Dave - Cyclists VOR. "Many people barely recognise the bicycle as a
legitimate mode of transport; it is either a toy for children or a
vehicle fit only for the poor and/or strange," Dave Horton - Lancaster
University

"Doug" wrote in message
...
This should be of interest to the motorists who infest this cycling
newsgroup and who pretend to be real cyclists.

Personally, like most cars, I think they look pretty ugly. Anyway,
perhaps we can hope for similar developments for electric bicycles
soon? See the bits about battery swap stations and half hour charging
which solves the much maligned range problem.

"...In the space of a year and a half, the economics of electric
motoring will have changed significantly.

Britain's best-known electric car, the Nissan Leaf, currently sells
for just under £26,000, once the government grant of £5,000 is
deducted.

This month, the Renault Fluence will enter showrooms in the UK with
prices starting from £17,500.

And by the autumn, the Renault Zoe will be with us for less than
£14,000.

How has Renault achieved such price reductions so rapidly?

For starters, the company has gone for a new model of ownership.

Drivers will buy the car, but rent the battery quite separately.
Depending on mileage, the rental costs will be roughly £1,000 a year.

But for that price, you get a battery that is guaranteed for life.
That should mean no more worries about batteries deteriorating over
time, or depressing the second-hand value of the car..."

The only snag is that the range is pathetic.
How will I drive the 630 miles leg to Salzburg next month in one of those
things?

--
Simon Mason

On Apr 6, 9:49*am, "Mrcheerful" wrote:

where do you think the electricity to run these cars will come from?

On a similar vein, they've just started upgrading the line from
Paddington to Cardiff to electricity. Just as nuclear power stations
are being turned off. I guess a new excuse for delays will be "the
wrong type of wind".

This should be of interest to the motorists who infest this cycling
newsgroup and who pretend to be real cyclists.

Personally, like most cars, I think they look pretty ugly. Anyway,
perhaps we can hope for similar developments for electric bicycles
soon? See the bits about battery swap stations and half hour charging
which solves the much maligned range problem.

"...In the space of a year and a half, the economics of electric
motoring will have changed significantly.

Britain's best-known electric car, the Nissan Leaf, currently sells
for just under £26,000, once the government grant of £5,000 is
deducted.

This month, the Renault Fluence will enter showrooms in the UK with
prices starting from £17,500.

And by the autumn, the Renault Zoe will be with us for less than
£14,000.

How has Renault achieved such price reductions so rapidly?

For starters, the company has gone for a new model of ownership.

Drivers will buy the car, but rent the battery quite separately.
Depending on mileage, the rental costs will be roughly £1,000 a year.

But for that price, you get a battery that is guaranteed for life.
That should mean no more worries about batteries deteriorating over
time, or depressing the second-hand value of the car..."

Mo
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17548480

where do you think the electricity to run these cars will come from?

Wind is dirt cheap and solar PV is down to $0.60/watt -- even cheaper
than wind in many places.

No one wants to get any hopes up because the sustainability problems
that remain are nothing less than daunting but the fresh water problem
has been solved.

You can now irrigate the Sahara at a competitive cost.

If this takes awhile to sink in don't feel alone.


Bret Cahill

On Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:36:08 +0100, Dave - Cyclists VOR wrote:

******

The hagfish is for instance equipped with an anatomical feature that is
believed to be the beginning of a vertebral column.



--
Life is a venereal disease with 100% mortality.

On Apr 6, 8:02*pm, "Simon Mason" wrote:
"Doug" wrote in message

...









This should be of interest to the motorists who infest this cycling
newsgroup and who pretend to be real cyclists.

Personally, like most cars, I think they look pretty ugly. Anyway,
perhaps we can hope for similar developments for electric bicycles
soon? See the bits about battery swap stations and half hour charging
which solves the much maligned range problem.

"...In the space of a year and a half, the economics of electric
motoring will have changed significantly.

Britain's best-known electric car, the Nissan Leaf, currently sells
for just under £26,000, once the government grant of £5,000 is
deducted.

This month, the Renault Fluence will enter showrooms in the UK with
prices starting from £17,500.

And by the autumn, the Renault Zoe will be with us for less than
£14,000.

How has Renault achieved such price reductions so rapidly?

For starters, the company has gone for a new model of ownership.

Drivers will buy the car, but rent the battery quite separately.
Depending on mileage, the rental costs will be roughly £1,000 a year.

But for that price, you get a battery that is guaranteed for life.
That should mean no more worries about batteries deteriorating over
time, or depressing the second-hand value of the car..."

The only snag is that the range is pathetic.
How will I drive the 630 miles leg to Salzburg next month in one of those
things?

Most people only drive short distances on a daily basis. The answer is
to rent a car for long distances, or better still either use public
transport or travel less to minimise your polluting.

Since the ICE car has become such an integral part of many people's
life and infrastructure they have developed a dependency and increased
their wanderlust and can imagine or want no alternatives to such a
lifestyle and all the nastiness that goes with it, but change is bound
to happen sooner or later and the quicker they adapt to it the better
for them.

-- .
World Carfree Network.
http://www.worldcarfree.net/
Help for your car-addicted friends in the U.K.

On Apr 6, 9:49*am, "Mrcheerful" wrote:
Doug wrote:
This should be of interest to the motorists who infest this cycling
newsgroup and who pretend to be real cyclists.

Personally, like most cars, I think they look pretty ugly. Anyway,
perhaps we can hope for similar developments for electric bicycles
soon? See the bits about battery swap stations and half hour charging
which solves the much maligned range problem.

"...In the space of a year and a half, the economics of electric
motoring will have changed significantly.

Britain's best-known electric car, the Nissan Leaf, currently sells
for just under £26,000, once the government grant of £5,000 is
deducted.

This month, the Renault Fluence will enter showrooms in the UK with
prices starting from £17,500.

And by the autumn, the Renault Zoe will be with us for less than
£14,000.

How has Renault achieved such price reductions so rapidly?

For starters, the company has gone for a new model of ownership.

Drivers will buy the car, but rent the battery quite separately.
Depending on mileage, the rental costs will be roughly £1,000 a year.

But for that price, you get a battery that is guaranteed for life.
That should mean no more worries about batteries deteriorating over
time, or depressing the second-hand value of the car..."

Mo
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17548480

where do you think the electricity to run these cars will come from?

Less polluting power stations remote from urban areas so there will be
fewer killed or made unhealthy by air pollution when electric cars are
more widely adopted.

The question is though, why would you want to continue polluting so
much with your ICE car and thereby cause so much harm to other people
and the environment?

-- .
"The car, more of a toilet than a convenience".