Now I know why 70 series dual-cabs 'Cruisers are so hard to come by…
That’s 8 hours at 100kph. I’ve never driven like that. My bladder won’t let me. It’s also dangerous.
I try to stop every 3 hours. By the time I’m had a coffee, a stretched my legs and shaken hands with the unemployed my Tesla has topped up. 3 hours driving, say 300kms will still leave approx 40% change…
Perhaps a bad choice of words on my part…800km without re-fuelling rather than non-stop.
Currently we have a Volvo XC60, does around that distance on one tank of Dino juic when we do ZRH-AMS. We have two kids 4 and 6, so we want to stop on their rhythm, not that of the car. Not to mention we usually do it fully loaded with two e-bikes hanging off the back.
Sounds like you have the best car for the job. If I was doing that journey multiple times a year, I’d probably go for a roomy diesel estate e.g. BMW 530d
It is due for replacement. An electric VW T7 would be my ideal choice, but not available yet in AWD.
I just read the newsletter from Mobility. I had no idea they were running an experiment of bidirectional charging with 50 Honda e from Sep 2022 to March 2024. So, we’ll see the results of using car batteries to balance power on electrical grids in Switzerland from real numbers, not simulations.
I’m really curious at the results of this experiment. 50 cars is nothing, but 20% of new passenger cars sold in Switzerland on year 2023 were BEVs, around 52 THOUSAND cars.
The Honda was one of the worst EVs in terms of efficiency. It had “compliance car” stamped all over it.
For your use-case, I guess a Kia EV9 would probably be the best fit.
It looks like it can be fitted with a tow-bar.
I believe the BMW iX and the EQE SUV both have tow-bars with the necessary specifications. Though, of course, you’ll pay dearly for those.
Or, of course, a Tesla Model X.
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Something is fundamentally wrong with the visuals of the whole BMW range. I want to like them, but the kidney grill looks horrible. The etron Q8 looks stunning though
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Agreed, and there are plenty of memes on the internet supporting this concensus.
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The new Xiaomi EV is a good looking car.
Only available in China which is probably a good idea so they can test the waters and iron out any problems.
Copy paste of the Taycan/ etron GT platform. Probably the similarities end there.
Not sure I would trust a company known for smartphones and scooters with my family’s safety. There are over 300 electric car manufacturers in China and it seems like EVs seem to offer a particularly low barrier of entry into the automotive market.
I have nothing against Chinese manufacture, but I would stick with Geely, BYD, Wuling and the other flagship companies over there.
Corporate Darwinism should soon weed out these numbers and leave a couple of global players.
That gets turned on its head when some of these companies (e.g. Nio) are not turning, or even expected to turn a profit any time soon. They are being propped up by venture capital or government subsidies for whatever reasons.
Well it’s lucky that Apple dropped it’s electric car then as people who think like you wouldn’t have bought that for the same reasons.
Tesla weren’t exactly an established motoring brand when they entered the car market, were they? I suppose you wouldn’t buy one of those for the same reason.
Makes sense that EVs should look the same as if they all use the results of drag tests, they should come up with the same numbers.
Of course you could ignore all that data and just get your six year old to draw a futuristic truck and base your design on that.
There is always a tinge of menace in your posts Tom?
No, I wouldn’t have bought the very first Tesla as a family car. However 16 years and 5 million cars later, I feel a lot more comfortable getting in one. And yes I did look up its Euro NCAP rating.
Should I use more smiley emojis? I think not.
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There’s no Corporate Darwinism in China.
There’s only the Chairman’s thumb 
That said, their patience is not endless. They will not throw money in a pit forever. And they have bigger fish to fry (real estate…cough…cough).
Already, I believe Hiphi is pretty much dead: