Would you have an electric car if you had the money for a new car and were in the market for one?

[Horse]

https://www.gbnews.com/lifestyle/cars/h ... s-uk-roads

A shocking report has revealed motorists driving hybrid vehicles could face a threefold greater risk of dying in crashes compared to those travelling in petrol-powered cars.

The startling findings come from Department for Transport statistics that have now prompted urgent calls for action from transport and safety organisations.

...

According to the official figures, 122 people were killed in collisions involving hybrid vehicles during the past year. By contrast, 777 deaths were recorded in crashes involving petrol cars.

However, experts warn these raw numbers hide a far more troubling reality. Petrol cars currently outnumber hybrid vehicles on UK roads by nearly 20 to one.

Meanwhile, reports recorded how the UK has fewer than one million hybrid cars, compared with many millions of petrol vehicles.

The report warned battery fires are harder to extinguish than conventional car fires | GETTY/PA
When that imbalance is taken into account, the data showed hybrid vehicles are around three times more likely to be involved in a fatal collision than petrol cars.

The same analysis revealed that diesel vehicles performed slightly better than petrol cars in safety terms.

Fully electric vehicles were found to be the safest of all, with just 23 deaths recorded last year, despite almost two million EVs now being registered across the UK.

Experts stated that the heightened fatality rates linked to hybrids stem from their unique engineering design. Hybrid cars combine a traditional petrol engine with batteries and electric motors, creating a complex dual-system vehicle.

[Sunny]

https://www.gbnews...

Nope. Any chance of another source?

[Horse]

https://www.gbnews...

Nope. Any chance of another source?

Plenty to choose from:

https://www.google.com/search?q=ev+hybr ... s-wiz-serp

[Pirahna]

Another news report, 96% of all new cars sold in Norway last year were electric.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/02/evs-nor ... nates.html

[MrLongbeard]

No surprise, don't they pay around 3p / KWh ?

[Horse]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9rjwpvmpzo

China's BYD has overtaken Elon Musk's Tesla as the world's biggest seller of electric vehicles (EVs), marking the first time it has outpaced its American rival in annual sales.

Tesla car sales dropped by nearly 9% in 2025 to 1.64 million vehicles sold worldwide, the carmaker said on Friday - its second consecutive year of falling car deliveries.

Those figures placed Tesla behind BYD, which said on Thursday that sales of its battery-powered cars rose last year by almost 28% to more than 2.25 million.

...

And despite BYD surpassing Tesla when it comes to car sales, the US firm has remained more profitable in recent quarters.

Still, BYD remains a global EV powerhouse as its prices often undercut rival carmakers.

[Horse]

No surprise, don't they pay around 3p / KWh ?

In essence, Norway's energy system is a world leader in renewable electricity, built on hydropower and expanding wind energy, with ongoing efforts to electrify the entire economy.

[Mussels]

No surprise, don't they pay around 3p / KWh ?

In essence, Norway's energy system is a world leader in renewable electricity, built on hydropower and expanding wind energy, with ongoing efforts to electrify the entire economy.

From this month some special EV tax breaks are being removed so there has likely been a rush in 2025 to avoid this, expect a slump to start now.

[Horse]

No surprise, don't they pay around 3p / KWh ?

In essence, Norway's energy system is a world leader in renewable electricity, built on hydropower and expanding wind energy, with ongoing efforts to electrify the entire economy.

From this month some special EV tax breaks are being removed so there has likely been a rush in 2025 to avoid this, expect a slump to start now.

Only part of the story.

Benefits Still Available (Vary by Municipality/Region):
- Reduced tolls and ferry fares.
- Lower annual road tax (compared to ICE).
- Potential for free/reduced municipal parking (check local rules).
- Right to charge at home/apartments (established law).

In essence, Norway is transitioning from incentivizing EV adoption to maintaining an efficient EV market, with incentives shifting from purchase price reductions to operational cost advantages, though even those are diminishing.

Near-100% EV purchasing (presumably increasing over the last few years) will have had knock-on effects on thee wider motor industry, from sales, servicing, training of mechanics, and parts supply, through to fuel availability.

[Taipan]

I went on a 75-80 mile round trip yesterday, 90% motorway at 70mph autopilot, in my pre heat pump 2020 AWD LR today. I left with a 78% charge and had heated seats on auto and was running the heater between 21 and 23 degrees depending on the wifes whinning! Got back at 40% charge. Grim or good, I dont know, or care to be honest, but i can live with it as a winter range! Be interested to see how that changes in the summer though.

[KungFooBob]

I went on a 75-80 mile round trip yesterday, 90% motorway at 70mph autopilot, in my pre heat pump 2020 AWD LR today. I left with a 78% charge and had heated seats on auto and was running the heater between 21 and 23 degrees depending on the wifes whinning! Got back at 40% charge. Grim or good, I dont know, or care to be honest, but i can live with it as a winter range! Be interested to see how that changes in the summer though.

The temps been in almost double digits for me today, which has very little impact on my car, it's when it's under 5c that the efficiency drops off a cliff.

[Taipan]

its the cost of the thing that gets me. Crazy cheap to run!

Bizarre thing is when I use the wifes car, I forget about lack of regen braking and I nearly ran into the back of a car the other day!

[KungFooBob]

I have two modes, one for single pedal driving (B Mode), which I never use and D Mode (Dynamic).

The Dynamic tries to work out if it's more efficient to coast or re-gen, but even then I hardly ever brake, if it sees a car slowing in front of you... regen, if you approach a junction or roundabout... regen.

Sometimes I think I know better than the car, so if I apply a tiny amount of pressure to the pedal it stops the regen and lets me coast.

[Taff]

Confirmed today, 4 sleeps until delivery of the i4.

[KungFooBob]

Confirmed today, 4 sleeps until delivery of the i4.

Remember to hold the 'Set' button on the steering wheel for a few seconds before every journey

My 2002 car only has a visual alert when you exceed the speed limit, yours will have an audio alert too, which apparently becomes quite annoying (unless you use the set button to stop it).

[Taff]

Confirmed today, 4 sleeps until delivery of the i4.

Remember to hold the 'Set' button on the steering wheel for a few seconds before every journey

My 2002 car only has a visual alert when you exceed the speed limit, yours will have an audio alert too, which apparently becomes quite annoying (unless you use the set button to stop it).

If it only bongs when your over the limit I'll never hear it.

The wife on the other hand will just turn the music up until she can't hear it

[Count Steer]

Confirmed today, 4 sleeps until delivery of the i4.

Remember to hold the 'Set' button on the steering wheel for a few seconds before every journey

My 2002 car only has a visual alert when you exceed the speed limit, yours will have an audio alert too, which apparently becomes quite annoying (unless you use the set button to stop it).

If it only bongs when your over the limit I'll never hear it.

The wife on the other hand will just turn the music up until she can't hear it

Wife's car bongs when you pass (upwards) through the speed limit. Provided you don't go back under the limit it doesn't bong again.

[Horse]

It seems news of petrol head US manufacturers withdrawing from the EV market were a bit incorrect, in some cases rationalisation to reduce production costs (and total vehicle cost) rather than ending EV production.

https://www.motortrend.com/news/ford-pl ... tric-truck


Ford Plans to Build the World’s Cheapest EV Motors for Its $30K Electric Truck Platform
Ford’s chief of EVs says the American automaker can beat China on cost by hiring expensive people for its skunkworks team.

Ford is designing what it claims will be the cheapest electric motors in the world to power its next-generation electric pickup that will go on sale in 2027. Doug Field, Ford’s head of EVs, told MotorTrend that the Ford-built motors will cost less than any motor his team could find, including those made in China where immense economies of scale, cheap labor, and highly automated manufacturing have given carmakers an advantage that Western companies have struggled to match. The low-cost motors are one of several engineering efforts Ford has undertaken to unlock a $30,000 starting price for its so-called Universal EV.

Field also clarified public comments from Ford CEO Jim Farley that implied the electric pickup will only be offered with rear-wheel drive. While it will be sold in a single four-door crew cab body style, Field told MT that the truck will be offered with both rear-wheel drive and a two-motor, all-wheel-drive powertrain at launch. Rear-drive models will use a permanent-magnet motor, while dual-motor trucks will add an induction motor at the front axle, just like the Tesla Model 3, which was developed under Field’s leadership. The Ford exec also told MotorTrend that the midsize electric pickup will be available with more than one battery pack, allowing buyers to choose between a lower price or longer range.

The key to the low-cost motors isn’t new materials or a technological breakthrough but the result of hiring the most talented engineers Ford could find, Field told MotorTrend. The Universal EV program is being developed by a team of roughly 500 employees, most of whom work out of a secretive office in Long Beach, California, geographically and organizationally removed from Ford’s Michigan operations. Field stressed the importance of identifying and attracting 20x contributors—individuals who produce 20 times more than an average employee—with many engineers hired from California tech companies such as Tesla, Rivian, and Apple, among others.

According to Field, these low-cost motors could only be developed outside of the larger Ford organization. The Detroit automakers have historically excelled at minimizing the cost of mature technologies like internal-combustion engines largely through supplier negotiations. EV motors, though, haven’t yet fully matured and so Field sees a limited window of time when a lean, nimble team unencumbered by organizational red tape can carve out an advantage over the competition.

The Universal EV project all hinges on a major rethink of how Ford designs and manufactures vehicles with an aim to slash thousands of dollars in per-unit cost. To that end, the Universal EV is built with 25 percent fewer fasteners than the typical vehicle and a wiring harness 4,000 feet shorter and 22 pounds lighter than what went into the Mustang Mach-E. The next-gen truck combines dozens of structural components into large aluminum unicastings and the top of the battery pack doubles as the floor of the cabin.

The automaker claims the next-gen EV will roll off the line at its Louisville, Kentucky, assembly plant 15 percent faster than the Ford Escape that was previously assembled there. The key to that, Field said, isn’t necessarily automating tasks that otherwise be carried out by humans but eliminating tasks entirely. Ford has previously announced the number of workstations in the Louisville plant will be reduced by 40 percent.

[Taff]

Oh my, it's a thing of beauty

Goes like stink too

[KungFooBob]

Oh my, it's a thing of beauty

Goes like stink too

Just needs a cheap M60 replica grille from China now