TOT Go woke go broke

Whatever business you are in, stopping production of your current lines

'Clean break' means a clean break in your revenue.

I though they halted all vehicle production?

Jaguar sales:

FY 2018/19: 180198 FY 2019/20: 140193 FY 2020/21: 97669 FY 2021/22: 77381 FY 2022/23: 62521 FY 2023/24: 66866 FY 2024/25: 48445

So no matter what old guys on the internet may say, they weren't buying the cars. When your sales have already fallen off a cliff and you're (maybe) making a loss on every sale, better to turn off the factory and retool for something new. It remains to be seen whether the new something is profitable, but it doesn't matter if people who would never buy the cars don't like it. Nothing to do with 'woke'.

Theo

When it comes to EVs, I’m not sure if the predominance of SUVs is down to buyer preference for a big car or manufacturers trying to meet the needs of a people who think that they need a 250 mile range minimum.

Getting that kind of range with current battery tech means a big, heavy battery and it’s easier to fit it into an SUV style car than a more ordinary sized saloon.

I’m sure that if a Ford Focus or Fiesta sized EV was produced with a 250 mile range was produced it would sell like hotcakes but “range anxiety” still has a strong influence over buyers decision making. As the charging network improves (and charging speed)and folk start to realise that range isn’t such a big issue then maybe we’ll start to see more saloon cars.

Tim

The 52kWh Renault 5 is >250 miles claimed, and quite a few over 200 - Peugeot

Nobody has “range anxiety” with ICE cars because you can refuel anywhere within a matter of minutes. Once that becomes true for EV's people's views will change.

On 2025-07-03 22:31, Tim+ wrote: ...

My Zoe is Fiesta-sized (4 metres, B segment) with 240-mile quoted range

Exactly!

nib

The only snag with that is…

It’s like paying £13:50 per litre of petrol.

Weren't we told that when the WLTP came in (for hydrocarbon and EV cars) that consumption and range figures would be realistic? Seems they're basically still lies, and you need to knock 1/3 off ...

Gallon?

No - that's more like £3.30 per litre (based on 3 mi/kWh and 11 mi/L).

And remember, unless you're quite unusual, that's a tiny fraction of your energy cost, most of which will be based on at home (15p/kWh for me at the moment) or residential street overnight charging (which is about

nib

They are not lies! They are measured under a standard set of conditions, so you can fairly compare cars.

It depends so much on the driver and the type of journey. My car's rated at 239 miles IIRC and I can achieve roughly that in normal, gentle, thoughtful driving on open A roads. Like I can start at 100%, drive from MK to Bricket Wood on the A5 and a bit of the M1, and home again, a total of 72 miles and end up with 71% battery remaining, estimated another 158 miles.

By thoughtful I mean things like anticipating braking to maximise regeneration, not over-accelerating only to have to brake shortly after, smooth constant speed (so lane 1 type driving not lane 3).

I'm one of those people who used to achieve the booked MPG from ICE cars as well! My wife and I could drive the same car on the same journey in the same time and I would get approx 60 mi/gal against her 50. She just dumped the extra fuel straight into the brakes.

So not lies, just showing what the car can achieve.

nib

Indeed, “up to…”. A Firstbus depot in Glasgow is now open to the public @39p/kWh.

No it’s not.

Tim

Charge car at home, say 15p/kWh, get 5miles/kWh =3p/mile.

Petrol car = 9mile/£1:35litre, = 15p/mile

Public charger up to 90p/kWh = 18p/mile

Not as bad as I first thought, but does show the real cost of public charging, say 6x that of home charging. Those on EV tariffs will have a much greater gain.

The nearest charger to me is 88p/kWh. The next nearest is 86p/kWh. One a few miles away was 7p/kWh but has disappeared off the network.

I would certainly agree that it’s a big issue for anyone who can’t charge at home at present. If the government really want to encourage uptake they have to find a way of providing lower cost public charging. I wouldn’t own an EV without access to home charging.

Tim

UK Power Networks (or other regional body) will install a home charging point for you. Next door are having it done at the moment.

Range simulator for megane-electric

At an ambient temperature of 20C, eco mode = on, 100% charge Town driving = 290 miles Motorway driving = 200 miles

At an ambient temperature of 5C, eco mode = on, 100% charge, heater on Town driving = 170 miles Motorway driving = 175 miles (yes more miles than town driving)

They claim 30 minutes on a motorway charger will give 160 miles (rapid charger 130kW DC, 350A) but with a 11kW charger 4 hours for 160 miles.

They do mention the simulated figures would change based on how the vehicle is loaded*, weather conditions and driving style. There is no mention of how low the battery charge has become at those ranges.

My concern with range and battery usage is that I regularly do 250 mile journeys and more than once I have been stuck on motorways for 2+ hours more than my normal journey times. Not a problem in a ICE car with a full tank giving me 400+ miles but maybe a problem if the delay is when the battery is getting low. Playing around it seems the heater in winter takes a fair bit of the battery in town driving, 280 miles with the heater off, 170 miles with the heater on. Much less difference for motorway driving as I assume that that the range is being covered in a much shorter time at 70mph and therefor the heater is only on for a couple of hours. I wouldn't want to to be stuck on a motorway crawling along at 10mph with the heater on for a couple of hours :(

Completely true. I make a regular journey and if I have to brake suddenly it ruins my economy.

Lift and coast is hugely successful at eking out the fuel.