Random EV thoughts.....

After my last Volkswagen service (ID.3) oil change and spark plugs had ticks next to them on the checklist. Brakes and fluid were not ticked, even though they were due a 2 year check.

The Kenmare Bay Hotel & Resort have just installed 50 (fifty) chargers, and for at least 2024 (and hopefully beyond), charging is completely free.

Charging here is not a possibility, it’s guaranteed.

Could you provide a link? Couldn't see anything on their fb/insta, and nothing added to Plugshare yet.

Presume they're all 3/7kw AC?

Thanks, looks like it's free for hotel guests only, which makes more sense. Comment under the post says it's a mix of 7KW and 22KW chargers.:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/IEVOA/posts/3619566844951244/

"Hi folks. Besides being a tesla driver for nearly 6 years I am also a hotelier. My hotel the Kenmare Bay Hotel & Resort has just done something very radical re electric vehicle chargers. We have put in 50 (fifty) chargers. The idea is to make charging at the hotel a guarantee not a possibility therefore getting rid of any anxiety whatsoever and making it very convenient.

Also all hotel guests will receive free charging at least for the whole of 2024 and probably beyond.

The hotel is completing it renovation to 4 star and has great offers at the moment.

Sunday to Thursday inclusive you can get a room for 95 euro plus your free charging. A deal and a half.

Thank you."

Great gesture and all, but let’s be realistic here. They are obviously making enough € to fund this.

Test drove one last week. Actually quite impressed and the the white was much more impressive up close than any photos show. Found the front end was actually well styled and it had a very practical interior. But with a 100kWh battery it was always going to be an expensive car.

Not necessarily, they're probably investing in charging points to attract business, they now have a facility that other hotels in the area don't. Given the choice of two equal hotels, costing the same, which are you going to book? The one with multiple chargers, or a different one with no or very few chargers?

Hi

Maybe not the right thread.....

I haven’t had to do a vehicle report in about 4 years so am out of the loop a bit. What’s the best one these days- cartell, motorcheck etc

specifically looking for one that mentions Cat C or Cat D

Apple have bowed out of the EV space

I think they poached a bunch of Tesla folk at one point. Elon is apparently happy about the development!

It’s almost certainly the case that they’ve decided the car market is too regulated for them, and indeed also that heavy duty software projects like level 4/5 FSD isn’t possible with current cars and hardware (this decision probably foretells the next few years of the Teslas level 2 driver assistant too, and that it won’t be possible for Tesla to accept insurance liability, which is now the L3 benchmark).

Apple have a great opportunity to own the in-car software without having to think about building a whole car - I sit into my car every day and wireless Apple CarPlay is onscreen before my ass is even on the seat, and I never ever use anything else.

i actually think I won’t buy any more cars that don’t have it.

the new versions of CarPlay can control the instrument clusters too, and they’ll go that direction now.

and finally - I think with all the Ai hype, Apple have a chance to move thousands of top engineers on to their Ai projects and push those instead.

Well the solution to ‘difficult’ is hiring thousands of industry experts, which they did, many from Tesla.

the solution to ‘expensive’ is money, plain and simple - and they have more cash reserves than any company on the planet.

look at mobile phone or PC regulations - there’s almost nothing about the design of a mobile that’s affected by the reg’s, whereas the design and build of a car is completely dictated by regulations.

apple can control the in-car experience by becoming the manufacturer ICE for both screen and instruments.

apple CarPlay is a class leader by a considerable margin for 3rd party ICE software. I can’t imagine not having it. That’s far cheaper than having Foxconn factories building you a car, and clearly the price stickiness for EVs has completely evaporated, even those much-discussed Tesla margins are starting to drop below 15-20% and will go lower - and we know how Apple loves margin.

theres very little attractiveness to building your own EV at this point in time. Watch governments change those 2030/35 guidelines in the coming months and years

You didn't take a Tesla car today by the looks of it, you had a Tesla space heater on wheels. I'd love to see the breakdown of your energy consumption for that trip.