Anyway, in a desperate attempt to steer us back towards EVs, here's some vehicular p0rn
Don't get too excited, on 33 will be made and they've already been sold. So we probably won't be seeing one on the bargains thread anytime soon
Looks absolutely stunning IMO, Alfa really hit the money on this one
It's also being made with a V6 petrol, so I guess it's a platform vehicle then 🤔
No news on how many of the 33 cars will be EVs or combustion
Ooh matron! Shocking (pun intended) that they also offer it with a 20th century drive train option though.
I assume it's for all the petro state royals who bought one where petrol is cheaper than water 😏
Doesn't matter, it wouldnt sell here as its not an SUV person 🤣
In other news, hope you weren't planning to rent an escooter in Paris
It's a bit of an interesting case, one where both sides have legitimate arguments and faults
On one hand, e-scooters are a solution to a lot of last mile mobility issues in cities and are a more efficient method of getting people around than cars. The "referendum" to ban them had around 7% turnout so hardly represents public opinion. The road accidents that have occurred are an indicator that the city isn't well adapted to scooter or bike traffic
On the other hand, it can't be denied that the scooters were a nuisance. Pictures of them dumped on street corners were commonplace, and there were frequent issues with drivers speeding around pedestrians
Crossing the waters to our own fair isle, I think we have some of the same problems. Services like Tier or Bleeper bike are handy but I've seen the bikes parked across footpaths, so anyone on a wheelchair or pushing a buggy would have to go onto the grass to get around them
And then there's the typical situation where 3 bikes have fallen over like dominoes and are sitting in a heap somewhere
I've also seen a fair number of e-scooters driving dangerously along paths with no regard to pedestrians. I see it with other vehicles as well but e-scooters seem to be the worst offenders
I think the lesson here is that laws and regulations need to be updated ASAP so there are clear guidelines on how how these vehicles can be used safely. There's been rumblings about this for years but it seems to be going nowhere
I also think there needs to be regulation of the rental bike and scooter services. The whole dockless, leave it anywhere, system is just too open to abuse. They need to have designated parking areas like Dublin bikes
I bought one of those eScooters a few weeks back in Lithuania… brilliant bit of kit… and in fairness over there is very well set up for it with about 20km of bikeways through the forest adjacent to the beach up and down the coast…
eMobility rental over there is huge too with these awesome looking choppers you can rent…
Im going to Paris in a few weeks for a World Cup game, so it actually would have been handy to rent some eScooters!! Ah well!!
Interesting, and slightly strange, development
So VW are establishing their own charging network in France aside from Ionity
And chose Electrify France as the name, presumably because Electrify America never gets any criticism 😏
They'll be targeting VW dealerships mostly and installing at least one 150kW charger with 2 plugs (yay for SPOF)
To be fair to them, they do mention a lot of the sites will have multiple units, so not a total disaster
The idea seems to be to fill in gaps in the network in France, presumably by using land they won't have to rent for the charging spaces
The network will be available to all cars 24/7 despite being in VW dealerships
Tbh, I don't think it's exactly a bulletproof plan given car dealerships are usually in the back hole of nowhere and you wouldn't exactly want to be sitting there at night getting a charge waiting to be stabbed 😬
Still, more chargers are always good and it's a good sign that VW are actively looking to improve the network in some countries
Maybe we'll get an Electrify Ireland soon, which would never be confused with Electric Ireland 😂
It's probably in response to the feedback they get when trying to persuade people out of their diesel vehicle, there aren't enough chargers and I can't charge where I live. I'm hearing it a lot from people.
Limos can’t ply for hire on the public street. They can’t stop and pick up a random person. They must be pre booked by mutual agreement so in theory both parties are known to each other. So yes, a link would be deemed a safer mode of transport.
I think you need to take a chill pill on this subject. You can’t seem to accept it 😂
It’s been in force for years now. It’s not as if anyone got caught out by it.
Many did when they bought cars and in particular 8 seaters. Manufacturers putting tinted glass in vehicles as standard hasn't helped the situation, it's just the NTA being obstinate because they're behind the times as usual.
Hackneys have the same booking arrangements but they can't have tinted glass either, so that point isn't really valid.
Mod Note: Until the Taxi/PSV regulations become EV specific can we move on from the discussion, perhaps the commuting and transport forum is more suited.
One can only dream of Revenue introducing of a VAT exemption on EVs like Norway. They have a 25% vat rate on EVs over €43.5k
Model 3 refresh long range is €41.9 , SR is €33k
Model Y long range is €42.1k, SR is €34.7k, performance is €48.7k.
Presenting the Cupra Dark Rebel concept
It was apparently designed by using some sort of online configurator to get ideas from 270,000 designers and chuck them in a blender to produce the final product
With so many designers you'd think someone would have remembered to include a boot 😂
They also forgot the center mirror 🤦♂️
Well I guess that's why it's a concept, realism isn't a necessity
The interior looks pretty cool I'll admit, the centre console design is very futuristic
Savage. Deserves its own thread. Trailer is very good.
The screen is also used to show Spike, a CG dog that represents the “fully-fledged voice assistant” the company announced a few months ago. (If you don’t like the dog, there’s also a “stylized representation of a Mini” option.)
I think the circular screen won't age well - may end up quite restrictive in terms of UI for apps and functionality. I'd like to be proven wrong though.
We are definitely going to be seeing many more innovative interiors now in the age of electric design.
Does anyone actually use voice assistance? I've never used it as it always gets it wrong. That looks hideous, the big round speedo looked nice in 1959, that's where it should be left... They'll be fitting the Rover 75 oval clock next🙂
In the Tesla, yes, it's excellent.... for me (Dublin accent) it's probably right 99% of the time..
on the iPhone Siri works extremely well this last year or 2...
I can ask the car to navigate me to a specific address and it gets it right first time.
Best voice recognition I've ever used..
It's brilliant. Really good.
Got into my wife's BMW and it was useless. I tried saying the name of the road in Dublin and it tried to send me to an industrial estate in England.
Daughter said the name and it was nowhere close.
Trying to use that i-drive controller after being used to a keyboard is nigh on impossible.
Yes, another vote for the Tesla voice system. Quite simply, it just works. It’s as good as Siri on the iOS platform and that’s with a Dublin accent.
I saying that I haven't tried the Born's va, I'll try it later but I'm not holding out much hope tbh🫣
AHH jaysus leave it out😄
I'm Android myself haven't had an iPhone in years.
The Born's can be voice activated by saying Hola Hola
Well Helga in the ID.4 doesn't seem to understand much, so I'm not hopeful that María is much better
I just use the voice assistant on Android auto, much more useful
I’m sure the android version is good too 😁
I couldn't get the Tesla voice control to understand "call the gate", it would only work with "phone the gate". For any other contact I could say "call ..."
I had this issue with both Android and Tesla. I think Android called Colgate so I changed to "Call Parking".
What really bugged me was that on screen it was showing the command "call the gate" so had clearly understood, but would still say this command was not available yet.
