cars

[SpurMeUp]

Had the Taycan for 3 or 4 months now, so it's time for a longer term review.

Meh.

Assuming both are clean and filled with their respective fuels, I still find myself taking the Aston. Not sure I'll ever manage to put her up for sale at this rate.

Bearing in mind the environmental build costs for new EVs, is there a case for being thrifty and sticking with the Aston? People in the UK like to change cars every year or two. Which has to render getting an EV a pointless environmental exercise. Better to drive an old ICE car and not bring in all that new metal and pollutants into the world?

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Check out the new Chinese EV manufacturers. Xpeng, MG, Polstar (Volvo also Chinese-owned now) seem to be making the best bang for your buck EVs. Also new Korean EVs are interesting as well.

The Polstar is attractive. Personally not drawn to most of the generic EV designs. Samey, and uninspiring for me. But the Polstar is more interesting than most of the EV designs.

Polestar drives like an Audi rs
You feel every bump
We have ordered the C40
It’s a nice compromise of luxury and drive and is really nice inside
My wife will be driving it 90% of the time

 

[Kandi1977]

Had the Taycan for 3 or 4 months now, so it's time for a longer term review.

Meh.

Assuming both are clean and filled with their respective fuels, I still find myself taking the Aston. Not sure I'll ever manage to put her up for sale at this rate.

Great and thoroughly done review!

 

[scaramanga]

Bearing in mind the environmental build costs for new EVs, is there a case for being thrifty and sticking with the Aston? People in the UK like to change cars every year or two. Which has to render getting an EV a pointless environmental exercise. Better to drive an old ICE car and not bring in all that new metal and pollutants into the world?

When the govt charge almost no tax on an electric car, and then fudge with tax brackets to the point that it's better not to be earning a salary, there really isn't much choice.

If you have a company car and like performance cars, there's no comparison. If I had the Aston as a company car, it would cost me over £30k a year in tax (if I took fuel benefit too). The Taycan is around £900 per year from memory.

 

[SpurMeUp]

When the govt charge almost no tax on an electric car, and then fudge with tax brackets to the point that it's better not to be earning a salary, there really isn't much choice.

If you have a company car and like performance cars, there's no comparison. If I had the Aston as a company car, it would cost me over £30k a year in tax (if I took fuel benefit too). The Taycan is around £900 per year from memory.

don’t have a company car. Save the planet drive an Aston Martin

 

[scaramanga]

don’t have a company car. Save the planet drive an Aston Martin

That would mean paying a huge chunk of tax on salary. Can't pay it out as dividends now, rate is just as high. Too young to be piling it into my pension. Seeing as there's no sign of a low tax govt in the next decade, there's not a lot of good options.

#firstworldproblems

 

[Bullet]

Too young

Incorrect, old bean

 

[SpurMeUp]

That would mean paying a huge chunk of tax on salary. Can't pay it out as dividends now, rate is just as high. Too young to be piling it into my pension. Seeing as there's no sign of a low tax govt in the next decade, there's not a lot of good options.

#firstworldproblems

Buy a yurt on the Isle of Man?

 

[scaramanga]

Incorrect, old bean

Obviously I pay in, just don't particularly want to chuck all that extra in. Even if there's no business there at retirement time, the factories will be a tidy retirement sum in property value.

 

[scaramanga]

Buy a yurt on the Isle of Man?

On the business? I can be fairly creative when it comes to accounting but that's a bit of a stretch.

 

[SpurMeUp]

On the business? I can be fairly creative when it comes to accounting but that's a bit of a stretch.

PAUL earns £120,000 a year but only pays £19,100 in income tax. His brother Simon earns exactly the same but pays £40,500.

Patti earns £1 million but only pays £100,000 income tax. Her friend Shirley earns exactly the same but has an eye-watering tax bill of £477,500!

Why do Paul and Patti pay so much less tax than Simon and Shirley?

The simple answer is that Paul and Patti live on the Isle of Man, whereas Simon and Shirley live in the UK.
https://www.taxcafe.co.uk/resources/taxhaven_isleofman.html

 

[Baleforce]

 

[Diamond Lights]

Had the Taycan for 3 or 4 months now, so it's time for a longer term review.

Meh.

Assuming both are clean and filled with their respective fuels, I still find myself taking the Aston. Not sure I'll ever manage to put her up for sale at this rate.

I've downgraded from the 3L Petrol BMW to the family mammoth Volvo XC90, and we also have a Cupra Born full electric, sporty style hatchback. Not rapid but quick enough.

I would rather drive the 2L Diesel tank than the Cupra. Electric cars, just, meh. so mundane. I'm sure i'd love a Porsche Taycan, but i think i'd rather a 2008 GTS moreso, they just feel souless.

speaking of which, the Cupra is going back in a few months, so trying to convince the Mrs we go for an old Porsche or perhaps Audi TTRS

 

[NoLimits01]

I've downgraded from the 3L Petrol BMW to the family mammoth Volvo XC90, and we also have a Cupra Born full electric, sporty style hatchback. Not rapid but quick enough.

I would rather drive the 2L Diesel tank than the Cupra. Electric cars, just, meh. so mundane. I'm sure i'd love a Porsche Taycan, but i think i'd rather a 2008 GTS moreso, they just feel souless.

speaking of which, the Cupra is going back in a few months, so trying to convince the Mrs we go for an old Porsche or perhaps Audi TTRS

I’ll just leave this here

 

[Rorschach]

I’ll just leave this here

Parked in a pool of blood for some reason.

 

[Rorschach]

Just on the EV points above. The extra emissions because of the battery production are cancelled out in about 1-2 years (or 15k miles driving approx). So despite what Mr Bean says in his stupid article EVs are far better for the climate than ICE. Not perfect but better.

Also watch out for solid state batteries, which might utterly change the game again, and may not be far off if Toyota are to be beleived. Toyota need a big win as they have backed the wrong horse a few times already, but hopefully this is their 'we are not Nokia' moment.

 

[SpurMeUp]

Just on the EV points above. The extra emissions because of the battery production are cancelled out in about 1-2 years (or 15k miles driving approx). So despite what My Bean says in hos stpuid article EV is far better for the climate than ICE. Not perfect but better.

Also watch out for solid state batteries, which might utterly change the game again, and may not be far off if Toyota are to be beleived. Toyota need a big win as they have backed the wrong horse a few times already, but hopefully this is their 'we are not Nokia' moment.

So if you drive 5000 miles a year (I think I do, possibly less) I’d need to drive my EV for appx 3 years before it’s carbon footprint is better than driving an older combustion car. If like many people you lease a car and change it each year, then there could be a net carbon deficit to ‘green driving’. No one wants that.

We should be more thrifty rather than switch cars every year.

I wouldn’t put too much faith in Toyotas PR department. Many companies are trying to develop solid state batteries. In fact an English company is already selling them for medical devices https://www.ilika.com/large-format-solid-state-batteries

 

[Rorschach]

So if you drive 5000 miles a year (I think I do, possibly less) I’d need to drive my EV for appx 3 years before it’s carbon footprint is better than driving an older combustion car. If like many people you lease a car and change it each year, then there could be a net carbon deficit to ‘green driving’. No one wants that.

We should be more thrifty rather than switch cars every year.

I wouldn’t put too much faith in Toyotas PR department. Many companies are trying to develop solid state batteries. In fact an English company is already selling them for medical devices https://www.ilika.com/large-format-solid-state-batteries

You are only considering your initial use of the vechicle, not the lifetime emissions of the car. The car does not cease to exisit after you stop using it. And of course the batteries can be recyled recovering about 95% of the metals at the end of it's life, a process termed 'non-extractive' mining making it an almost a closed loop system. Needless to say the poison continuosly spewed into the atmosphere by ICE cars is there more or less forever.

Maybe Toyota are guilty of wishful thinking on solid state batteries, but battery tech is well on the learning curve and is improving year on year. Sodium batteries are already in the market which while not as good are far cheaper and sodium is an abundent material.

 

[SpurMeUp]

You are only considering your initial use of the vechicle, not the lifetime emissions of the car. The car does not cease to exisit after you stop using it. And of course the batteries can be recyled recovering about 95% of the metals at the end of it's life, a process termed 'non-extractive' mining making it an almost a closed loop system. Needless to say the poison continuosly spewed into the atmosphere by ICE cars is there more or less forever.

Maybe Toyota are guilty of wishful thinking on solid state batteries, but battery tech is well on the learning curve and is improving year on year. Sodium batteries are already in the market which while not as good are far cheaper and sodium is an abundent material. This is

Yes Toyota just got a massive government grant to help with the development of batteries. The chances they have some new tech up their sleeve is less likely than their PR department trying to assert their green credentials. They are a huge company and no doubt vital to positive change. Interesting that a little spin-off from the University of Southampton are already selling solid-state batteries here in the UK.

The point re. Scara's Aston, is rather than buy a Taycan, use it for a year, and move on to another car. It is likely better just to use the older car before moving onto a EV, which should then be a long term car too. We have a 'throw away' culture from consumer printers to use-them-for-a-year cars. EVs save only 20-30% over an ICE car at the moment. I am all for them, they have a very positive impact in cities with less pollution for us to breathe in, and there is a net carbon gain. But let's not pretend we are addressing climate change by leasing a new EV each year. Far from it!

A bike is streets ahead. So much more to be done and the rate of change and invention primarily from (global) government is criminal.

 

[Rorschach]

Yes Toyota just got a massive government grant to help with the development of batteries. The chances they have some new tech up their sleeve is less likely than their PR department trying to assert their green credentials. They are a huge company and no doubt vital to positive chance. Interesting that a little spin-off from the University of Southampton are already selling solid-state batteries here in the UK.

The point re. Scara's Aston, is rather than buy a Taycan, use it for a year, and move on to another car. It is likely better just to use the older car before moving onto a EV, which should then be a long term car too. We have a 'throw away' culture from consumer printers to use-them-for-year cars. EVs save only 20-30% over an ICE car at the moment. I am all for them, they have a very positive impact in cities with less pollution for us to breath in, and there is a net carbon gain. But lets not pretend we are addressing climate change by leasing a new EV each year. Far from it!

A bike is streets ahead. So much more to be done and the rate of change and invention primarily from (global) government is criminal.

I'm all for not changing your car or getting shot of them all together, but that is a seperate discussion. EVs are just less bad for the climate by about say 60-70% over it's life. I have a 2nd hand EV which is about 8 years old, and we use it more or less all the time and is charged free from the sun.

When you talk about EVs saving 20-30%, to what are you referring?