dutchie01

BTW, Mattias, if you like a sporty sedan and want to go electric make sure you test the Model 3 performance or the Polestar 2 BST 230

Linas i agree with what you say but bear in mind that is our thinking, people that drive/drove Lexus and are interested in buildquality, perfect fit and finish tight shutlines and premium feel quality materials in all touchpoints. BUT, are we a dying breed?? How do you otherwise explain the massive success of Tesla? Surely in buildqulity they are at the bottom of the pit but the Y is the absolute bestselling car in the world and as a manufacturer they dominate many countries and this will become even bigger withe new low cost Tesla in the pipeline. It seems people just dont care and see a car as a washingmachine. Energy level A, practical, cheap to run. OK that white one please?

I differ. Toyota could be entering the worst crisis of its existence. Just as example look at the biggest carmarket in the world, China. The rapid shift to electric vehicles has created a plunge in demand for ICE cars. As Toyota has no models on offer, except the uncompetitive BZX, they are left exposed big time with a decrease in sales. 30% of the Chinese market is now BEV which means Toyota has no access to 30% of the largest market. This will only get worse for them as the Chinese manufacturers now lead the market together with Tesla. I think Toyota has been betting on Hydro for way too long. Ever heard of the Ford Nucleon? Power came from a small reactor, they thought it was a good idea back then..

Chinese car manufacturer www.nio.com has been doing this for some time and made it their unique sellingpoint. They own battery swap stations that are fully automated and you can change your battery within some minutes. However i dont think it will catch on in Europe as chargingtimes have come down drastically with more powerful chargers of 3/450kw and cars that operate on 800v architecture. 10 to 15 minutes charging will give you a couple of hundred miles.

Sam, any idea how many cars catch fire in the UK per year? How about 100,000.- or 300 each day. 65% is arson or crime related but the rest is petrol and diesel cars going up in smoke mainly due to accidents or bad maintenence. Batterycars are not more dangerous.

check this clip out John....

I am sure he has. Lets not get personal but stay on topic please? Every opinion is valuable especially if it differs from ones own

Gang why do you keep pushing, surely there are more important things in life? Let go and concentrate on technical developments in electric propulsion and battery technology that is still in its infancy. Or the massive Chinese exports of BEVs that are on their way and are a huge threat to the 800,000. people working in the UK automotive sector. This is no longer about who is in favor of electric cars or who hates them that is completely irrelevant if you look at the bigger picture, namely, which UK manufacturing plants will close down within five years from now. Come on Gang, will this be more that 12 or less?

Malc i might have a solution for you. Buy a Hydro powered HGV and stick a Lexus badge on it!

Who cares Gang

Malc, reality is that even for Lorries etc it is experimental technologie that is beeing tested. Nothing new as for instance BMW has been experimenting with Hydro cars for over 40 years now and guess what? they are still experimenting with it. It seems to be widely accepted that Large vehicles, boats, industry will have a future with Hydro but cars not. Suppose it will be possible to fill you car at a HGV station where are the cars? there are none and no manufacturer is going to invest billions in development and bring them to market for a simple reason. The choice has already been made and it is Batteries and nothing else. Like it or not but billions and billions have been and will be invested in exactly this. I predict electric cars to take over the market at an ever increasing speed and car manufacturers that do not or will not invest in this will simply disappear. Who? well Jaguar Landrover for instance. Most Japanese but especially Honda and Mitsubishi, Fiat, Lancia, the americans. Chinese manufacturers are steamrolling the market just look at the figures that are telling the story as it is.

Toyotas japanese conservatism could well bite them bad this time around. Dig into the financials and you will find not all is rosy and sweet. Moreover the market is quickly walking away from them as they have no bev cars available. Fine if they will launch a new mirai but nobody will buy it just like now really..

Malc, everything ( well almost) is possible but lets look at the business side of things. Installing a Hydro station seems to cost around 1 million. multiply by 1200 and what do you get? Sounds like a good profitable case to you? How many hydro cars are rolling around in the UK at the moment? What is the prediction, which brands will launch Hydro cars this year/next year? Nothing zilch nada. I see a future in heavy transport and industry but your LS700 is more likely to be electric.

Gang might be able to tell you but if it helps a friend of mine drives a Tesla model S since 2015. He was one of the first and got it because of big tax breaks if he would set it at his company. No road tax. Those cars had supercharging for life as well so free electricity. He is now at 275k km and no regular service needed. Things he replaced are tyres, 2 shocks, wishbones, wipers. So for cheap motoring only biking will beat it..

You say rattled violently. Is it something alike this Ford clip?

Shows the hesitation of Toyota towards BEV. Market has moved on an Toyota can only hope they can catch up.

There will by hydro stations no doubt. Lorrys, buses etc. Hydro for powering the industry is already there. Mind, hydro is not and will not be the holy grail for cars otherwise it would have been here already wouldnt it. Personally i applaud the development of hydro, ev, bio fuel or whatever and i hope we can respect each others opinion. The development in alternative energy forms is going at warp speed and is very fascinating. Both in Hydro, Batteries and alt fuels. It is not this or that but complementary so lets follow all without getting into a polarized debate that is leading nowhere please. I like the new developments in hydro as regularly posted on here but in thesame time there are Battery developments as well. And lets not forget where it all starts, coal powered plants, nuclear, wood, gas, fascinating stuff!

Big and very profitable business. In A locations ( city centres, airports ) more profitable than hotelrooms. Almost zero cost, no cleaning, maintenance etc. Buildingcost a fraction of a hotel. M2 profit much better.

Out of interest what do you pay in the most expensive garages like say London? Amsterdam at euro 7.50/hr?

Wow, that's what I call a trailer!

Thought it would be an idea to share movies. As we seem to be in an advanced age it could be interesting. Old stuff new stuff are we also sharing filmographies interests? i will kick off with a movie that i keep watching called LUCY.

Poetically worded Malc and it reminds me of a movie i saw loong ago la grande bouffe. Couple of successfully rich friends lock themselves up in a villa in order to eat and drink them to death. Its an italian classic and as expected gets a bit out of control. Its from 1973 as well. I feel very old now ..

And the parking garages on the brink of collapse seems like a nonsense story to me. I am not a builder but the security in construction is large. If someone can come up with an example i will believe it but not now

Shower in icecold rainwater thats what i say! And water the vegetables in my garden with it that i eat raw. on a serious note we in the west have become ysed to a comfortable lifestyle that simply cannot be compared to 50 years ago. My parents did not have to choose what to eat it was what could be bought with the money available. So potatoes with lettuce it was fir days and forget about meat. Now we can have strawberries every day of the year. We are on a Lexus forum not exactly a Lada is it..Also the green thing is quite bizarre if you dive into it. Cutting complete forests chipping up the trees ship them to the other side of the world and throw them in an incinerator to create energy is listed as green energy. i just try to behave in a decent manner not buy too much and live my life the best i can. Oh forgot, shipping millions of tons of old plastic to third world countries to dispose of is also listed as good for the environment. Guess what they do with it? Time for a brandy i think!