Guess what the van did this morning?

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

Yes they got a cherry picker stuck in a council 'landscaped' area trying to remove a cct from a pole. The vehicle they sent to pull it out then managed to break the drain cover on the walkway they used to do the tow, resulting in severe damage to the towing vehicles underside and exhaust. Why do they use plastic for drain covers on footways these days? The next vehicle they sent managed, with some help from the armstrong method to get the cherry picker out, but like you say, the owners had a lot of work to do to restore the damaged drain and grassy knoll and lawn. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2]

Is it not about time they sorted out Hydrogen as a fuel? They could use the renewables to make it from water, pump more oxygen in the air and use the hydrogen either in internal combustion engines or fuel cells. The main issue is storing such a small molecule. Brian

[Andy Burns]

So they don't get stolen and melted down, leaving behind a gaping hole?

[dennis]

The main issue is its cr@p fuel. Greens are stupid enough to believe the it only produces water when its used, completely ignoring the fact you have to make it, store it, move it around, store it, put it in cars safely.

By the time you have done that its more polluting than diesel.

[Dave Plowman (News]

Yup. And my car can do 35mpg on paper. But never does manage that over a tank of fuel.

[GB]

I'm sure that's true. The funny thing is that many of the people who have bought electric cars absolutely love them. A friend of ours regularly drives his Tesla from London to Liverpool, a distance of 220 miles. He manages it without trouble, including in the winter, when he has the heater on.

The car has a lot of benefits for long straightforward journeys like that. It's quiet. It stays in lane. It checks blind spots if overtaking. It brakes automatically. It's not sensible to regard it as automatic driving, but it takes away a lot of the strain.

Apart from it being quiet and accelerating like the clappers, none of those features have anything to do with it being an electric car, by the way.

[Andrew]

And the electricity only has 5% vat on it, and at this time of year a fair bit of it is generated by burning coal and gas.

[Dave Plowman (News]

Yup - the Tesla is very nice. But I'd expect any car costing that much to be nice too. ;-)

[ARW]

Yes. The glove box fell off last week.

[ARW]

Get him to try it in winter with ladders and a pipe carrier on the roof with 3/4 of a ton of kit in the boot at 90MPG:-)

[ARW]

I've always put a bit of bromide in the fuel tank after the incident with the Punto:-)

[T i m]

<snip>

But it's not being burnt in the middle of busy towns and cities where people are breathing.

If we leave the EU we can flood the tunnels with copper and tap into the World Wide Grid that can chase the sun, wind and waves around the world. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[ARW]

No warning lights and not even an engine management light when it lost power. No problems leading up to the failure.

So a cold start and a 1 mile journey to the filling station. Half a mile from the filling station it lost power.

Called the AA out tonight at 15.50. Listened to their usual safety advice before getting put through to a human. I was then asked a few questions and then more questions about my safety. I was sat in the gf's lounge and felt quite safe as she was at work.

AA turned up at 16.10 to the address I gave them and I said "Van's at the back of the house on a different street" That's a 2 minute drive and on the way I told the AA bloke what had happened and he said "EGV is gone"

Diagnostic machine said the glow relay was faulty and he said "No, the machine is lying"

He blanked off the EGV and it fired up. I did a 2 mile road test while he drunk his cup of tea and he was on his way by 16.45. I phoned the office, they booked the van into the garage. The van was in the garage at 17.15 and I was at home at 17.30.

[Andy Burns]

Water (or silicone, was it years ago?) in the underground tank?

[Richard]

That's good! Next!

[bert]

In article [e-mail]>, Tim Lamb [e-mail]> writes

Palm oil production is a significant factor behind deforestation of the Amazon.

[bert]

Must have been the same AA man I had out a few years ago for my Peugrot motorhome. His advice was to leave it blanked off - doesn't affect MOT test, so he said.

[bert]

Clios seem to be Lesbian now according to the advert.

[ARW]

You need to remap the computer, or so I have been told.

[Marland]

90 MPG ? Who needs an electric with such a frugal vehicle.

GH