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Kimbers

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Everything posted by Kimbers

  1. So I have a double question. For the past 3 days I have had a temp over 39 degrees and been full of Man Flu, though with a bad temp its highly likely real flu. Also had a Chest infection. Now I work from home. So I have kept working when most people would be in bed. However in the past, with colds and the like, I have been told "You might as well be at your desk than on the sofa" what this means is that I am often reticent to take time off unless i am really really sick. Yesterday I actually blanked out at my desk from 4pm till 6:30 when I woke up in the dark. I should have been in bed for at least the past 2 days. Is that legal? Second question for my son. When does suicidal mental health mean you can be sacked form your job for non attendance. It hasn't happened yet and actually his company have been really good, though they are only paying him SSP. However the tablets he takes to level his moods and stop ....well what has happened several times now ... means he can't use heavy machinery and he's a forklift and high access driver so they won't let him work anyway! What happens? Do they eventually have a right to say "you are no longer suitable and therefore you are sacked", is there a time limit? Or does he have to stay on the books with the hope he gets better (its been 3 months now). Any advice people?
  2. Shogun on Disney. Great remake of the Original with Richard Chamberlain. Thoroughly hooked!
  3. Just seen KIA and Peugeot have finally admitted defeat. Peugeot are dropping their prices on EV's and bringing out a Hydrogen Van and Kia have gone down a different route and offering their EV6 at £320pm (down from £550). But it doesn't change the underlying fact that they are still more expensive to buy and run than an ICE car and less useable day to day.
  4. I can't speak for Lotus but I know all the major manufacturers have lead times for ICE and Diesel Cars, often long lead times up to 8 months. Yet the same companies have huge stock levels of New EV cars. This includes Pre-reg which they have more and more been forced to do to hit EV targets.
  5. And another company claiming EV is the way to go....... goes.
  6. I don't think its about Vanity. I think it's people trying to force their own beliefs (normally a tiny minority) on others (invariably the Majority). The other alternative is those who are purposely pointing out your "supposed" faults to make themselves look better. We see that a lot with things like Damaging SUV's, online trolling etc. Of course most are keyboard heros who have not only never worked for the good of the community but just plainly never worked!
  7. Solar cells just aren't efficient enough to put any meaningful charge in, though they could "keep a charge" like a trickle charger whilst standing. But then you have to contend with additional weight, disipating the heat they create on the roof of the car etc. My neighbour has his Charger linked to a battery linked to his solar panels. I thought that was a great idea! Free electric! Till he told me it Costs £8400 as a package (the price of a decent ICE car) and that he only gets one full charge a week out of the battery.....at most.
  8. Nah they would instantly cancel everything unless it was EV.
  9. 30% saving on charge time. (doesn't mention there are fewer than 3% of super fast chargers in the UK, most won't charge that speed) so instead of 45 minutes its 30 minutes. Still far too long when you can fill a normal car in 1 minute.
  10. I did post about 30 pages back, an article from Fleet News that BP had guaranteed a full hydrogen network in the UK by 2030. Most fleets will just have their own pumps as the Majority of Hydrogen powered Commercials and cars have a range well in excess of 400 miles. Compared to an EV Mid sized van of 80 miles, they should be able to operate 100% on their own Hydrogen. Interesting that one of the companies looking at running a full hydrogen Fleet is Eon. An Electric company! Their EV van test was a disaster and are looking at Hydrogen now as an alternative!
  11. tearing up the Tarmac with your 3 ton behemoth you should be paying much more Road Tax than me in my 1 ton Evora!!
  12. Thanks Chris. Yes, absolutely. What he didn't mention when he quoted his settlement of £64,000 against the value of £30,000 is that he had already lost over £60,000 in less than 3 years (Bought for £120,000). He's right. They are disposable like a phone. So expect to lose virtually all your money! Gone are the days where your car is the deposit for the next! Unless you buy an ICE for Diesel!
  13. like I said above. China has built 100 Coal fired stations.
  14. Norfolk County council should look at their own Planning Dept for Flood risks. Covering over fields and building on flood plains is causing flooding everywhere including my back garden which never flooded until they approved and built a 27 house estate on an adjoining field! If anything they should be approving more building on Brown field sites like Lotus and less on Green field! I do agree with the archaeological side. Make sure its prtected before building!
  15. I paid £1 for a plastic bag in Waitrose! And I had about 20 inside my car! Sheer Lazyness!
  16. trump has said he would not fund Ukraine's war. Bet he's getting some nice contributions to his election fund from Putin
  17. The issue for Geely is understanding the market. In China EV's are a much improving market funded and driven in part by cheap electricity (partly created by Coal fired Power stations. 100 built in the last few years I believe.) The market if further clouded by the fudging of figures throughout the Manufacturers in European owned brands by pre-reg and forced dealer registrations. Not something they deal with in China. If press, like the main newspapers and industry inside magazines like Fleet News, keep saying how wonderful EV's are and how they are up 26% already this year, are the way you gauge sales and business plans then you would think BEV's are a great idea. So, a very long winded way to say, If your Policy is all EV and quicker than anyone else, you will suffer right now. And Lotus of all the companies around are saying full EV by 2027. No wonder their shares have crashed, people have no confidence in EV's therefore no confidence in the company policy. You can have the best reviews on your EV's ever but if people don't want EV's then you won't sell them for a profit, if at all.
  18. Our discounts have trebled in the past 3 months. I think the best EV discount we are offered is in excess of 25%. However working my figures, to make them work over 50% is required. But even then you can't force people to lease or rent an EV if they don't consider it a viable option for one of many of the reasons we have talked about here! And it's not just about buying it in the first place! One constant is the need to charge it and Electricity is very expensive at present, especially filling up away from your home. Plus the govts plans to introduce tax on it when they have converted enough people. Someone recently told me I was wrong and that they home charged for less than they used to fill up in their old Petrol car. I pointed out that actually it was around the same price as petrol, that they could only fill up late at night for that to be effective, on their package and that they just spent over £1500 for a charge point to be fitted. When you take that into account it'll take a long time to be cheaper than petrol. What happens if you get home nearly empty and need to go out again? What happens if you have an emergency and you have no charge? You can't fill up locally in 30 seconds! Anyway, I digress. Discounts have increased a lot because of large amounts of stock. And remember what i said about manufacturers "fudging" the figures? Nearly every manufacturer has been Pre-registering EV's for some time now. The down side is that they can't sell them very quickly even when much cheaper and forecourts are starting to fill up with EV's meaning less room for things that sell! Petrols and Diesels.
  19. "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…" I'm willing to give another a try!
  20. I met a friend of my fathers who has spent years setting up a hydrogen engine business in India. Unlike the UK, India is going HUGE on Hydrogen. This from the Govt website. Please note they have a date of 2047 for 0 carbon, not 2030or 2035 like us! Their main factor seems to be they can make their own Energy and fuel cells unlike EV's where everything has to be imported. https://mnre.gov.in/hydrogen-overview/#:~:text=Hence%2C India has launched the,emissions and achieve energy independence. "Hydrogen fuel cells have a high energy density and are more efficient than traditional combustion engines, making them an attractive option for powering vehicles. Furthermore, Green Hydrogen can be used in microgrids, providing electricity to remote areas and enabling energy independence. The importance of Green Hydrogen in achieving energy independence for India cannot be overstated. The production of Green Hydrogen using renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydropower can provide energy security, reducing dependence on fossil fuels and ensuring a stable and reliable source of energy. Green hydrogen can also be produced locally, reducing the need for costly and environmentally damaging imports"
  21. That' s a good example @LotusLeftLotusRight. But don't forget for every person who pays good money in, and I include myself in that, there is another "Green party supporter" who has never worked a day in their life, wants everything they can get out the system and hates everyone who works hard calling them sheep or sheeple. This person is the one pushing the EV agenda because, frankly, they will never own a car or understand peoples needs to travel more than 200 miles before filling up! "It's only 45 minutes to fill, just relax and have a coffee!" I can't I'm late for that thing that pays my wages! Work!
  22. I'm going to Vote but it will be a protest vote. Last GE we had an independent I voted for. This time I am told we will have Reform so looks like my vote will go with them. Unfortunately its such a safe Tory seat here (same MP for about 30 years!!) that we don't often get anyone other than the 3 main parties. Last time we had Green as well, though they got virtually no votes, so Reform may be my only option.
  23. When aren't you on your way somewhere! Actually saying that, I'm on my way to the Hilton Park Lane for a couple of days ending in a Black Tie do in a Tux thats 2 sizes too small!
  24. Had this with some of the Brands I manage, When the brand changes it's Branding perception they often dispose of dealers they don't think "fits the Brand". We had it years ago with KIA where they got rid of many of their family owned and run dealerships because they demanded £1million in investment in shiny new Gin Palaces.
  25. They need to replace the income from Petrol/Diesel! Taxing breathing seems like a winner! At no time do Govts look at incentivising. It seems to be a UK thing. In Cyprus for example the Govt subsidise public transport. It literally costs you e1.50 to go anywhere on a bus. Result? Everyone uses the buses if there is a route! But here we have to "make bad things more expensive" instead of incentivising good things. EV's are £10k more expensive to buy 50% more expensive to run, worth 20% less at the back end so what do they do? Make ICE cars more expensive. There is a lot of evidence that they are pressurising CAP to reduce residual values in ICE cars as well. There have been some very dramatic drops in the most popular cars totally against all the evidence and sales figures. This is put down to CAP trying to "drive the market" rather than responding to supply and demand as they should. I was told this is due to pressure from the Govt to make EV's look better! It's impossible to make them look better as they are dire used cars for dealers, so they make ICE cars look worse. Believe me this isn't fantasy, this is very real, it's my job to monitor values to be able to sell our fleet! I have spoken to many industry insiders and they agree.
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