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One of many reasons Top Gear was so good is that all three hosts were physically "everymen." Not a great athlete in the bunch. Hammond was the most fit but not one was a gym rat. So being ridiculously inept at the physical challenges was definitely part of the fun.
One thing not mentioned, in this clip at least, is that the UK charging infrastructure needs to get electricity from somewhere. Last time I checked the UK's energy infrastructure is struggling and that's not taking into account several power plants to be decommissioned in the not-too-distant future. So either charging at home or on the public network where will the power come from?
Aaaaand the new M5 has gained 1,150 lbs. - almost TWENTY FIVE (25) percent over the F90. Maybe 1,050 lbs. depending on which F90 you talk about (ignore the CS). Power not even up 20% vs. base spec F90 means power to weight has decreased for the first time ever as well. Not that most people will experience it, but if you push that car hard for more than a few minutes and you've depleted the battery now you have 23-40HP less than an F90... You want to talk departure - now THAT is a departure...
The problem with hydrogen is that while it can be clean, it often is just greenwashed oil creating about the same carbon output in its processing. But it doesn't HAVE to be. For slightly more money per litre, there is a more sustainable form of hydrogen. The pronlem is manufacturers can't be arsed to do it.
I went through the same “Sub-editing” experience that James did in the 1980s as there were VERY few copy editors in the ROK where I was who could be trusted to catch all the small mistakes. In 1985 in the ROK, Jon[etta] Carter Covell, the first Westerner to get a PhD in Japanese Art/Archaeology (1941), who had 35 books to her credit already, published a collection of her newspaper columns about Korean, Art, Culture, and History, from the English Language daily the *Korea Herald* into a coffee-table book called *Korea’s Colorful Heritage* and this book had to be ready in *6 Weeks* for the Frankfurt Book Fair. We were successful, as it won a Korean Pulitzer Prize-equivalent of “One of the 10 Best Books published in Korea” for 1985. Now that was a crazy experience, as between my Army job (Classified) I was driving back and forth across Seoul several times a day in a 1975 Dodge Aspen Wagon-many of those streets were a REALLY tight fit and the traffic rules were insane, much more like Boston, MA than anything I’d seen on the West Coast. Keep on trucking James!
I'm a regular lsitener via a podcast app and here watching on YT, I think the conversation would benefit from flashing up images of the drivers/cars/places to add context given it's a visual medium.
I’m still longing for hydrogen and the infrastructure to support. Lots of brrrm-brrm, same performance, water as an emission and complete refuelling in minutes, but everyone just says “it’ll never work”. Well, if we say it won’t and never try, of course it won’t!
There is room for EVS and gas cars. I like V8s, I'm no environmentalist but I got a Tesla Model 3 performance a year ago, right when they had the price cut. Car works for me. Its super quick, handles well, and I don't have to go far. I can charge in my garage. As a bonus, it has really strong AC too, which is important to me. If you drive super far all the time and don't have a place to charge, don't get one. If you DO have a place to charge, like instant acceleration, and don't need to go more than 250 miles round trip on a regular basis, get one. It's really that simple.
It works for the same reasons why my wife and I work. Very different minds have differing solutions. What seems hard for one seems a simple fix to the other. Or hearing how the other explains their answers is equally enlightening to understand them but also can be used to better your thinking and wider understanding. Be a drag to be around clones of yourself your whole life.
Although I know schumacher was a great driver, the stat on beating his teammate every year comes with the fact that he was a tyrannical undespituted number 1 driver in the team
I’d like to compare EVs from 10 years ago to what is currently available. Changing time has probably dropped significantly. But as James said the chargers available to charge at those times are rare. I think upgrades are slow partially because new technologies are emerging so quickly. Tesla is the only company so far that really attempted to develop an infrastructure to support reasonable recharging. In the US the establishment is shunning Tesla when subsidizing new recharging stations and these companies don’t have the technology or drive to make a successful product. I think Tesla’s dumping of their presently inefficient charging system was a hint for other companies to take up the slack. Fortunately they may revamp their own efforts to create a more efficient team.😊
“At this price point, they are too expensive to throw out when they go wrong and very difficult to sell once they have” Welcome to my 996 C4S 3.9 Hartech! Such a good car now though.
The charger network is only part of it. Another part of it is the false premise that electric vehicles will save the world. I believe in the total 4-6 billion years that earth will support life, IF electric vehicles do somehow "help the environment", the difference in time would be so so low that honestly it wouldn't make a big difference if you chose an ICE or an EV. The "total lifespan of the earth" ISN'T going to change much by switching to EV, and that's if the entire premise of the argument is even correct, which I'm not convinced on. I think earth has had a good run, and "environmentalism" is an unfair thing to claim you support. It kinda puts the "advocate" in the high road position when they MAY NOT even be correct/totally correct in their arguments. This high road thing is a problem in my book because I have just as much a right to exist as the 100 billion people that came before me, and I'm not obligated to change the way I live my life just because you're personally offended by my existence. Go look in the mirror and shit talk yourself with the environmental crap. People should search in youtube and google for the "carbon drought" argument and give that one a serious listen. Don't brush it aside just because it says "you might not be TOTALLY correct in your climate change arguments". I have to deal with my dream motoecycles being discontinued because of your "environmentalist" bullshit, so the least you can do for me and those forced to listen to you is to listen to us.
Schumi came into Ferrari in 96. Ross Brawn came in Ferrari after Schumi. In one of his podcast Ross mentioned that when Schumi left Benetton it was the toughest time of there relationship he also mentioned that if he had not left Benetton in 96 the car he had in Benetton could have gotten him another WDC. Lauda and Todt were one of the major influence for Schumi to Join. Ferrari letting Schumi go was one of the biggest mistake in my opinion he would've won the championship in 07 and 08. Just a Schumi nerd talking. Love this episode!
Interesting speculation about the future of the manual gearbox in the 911. You mentioned the Carrera T--I'm wondering if Porsche even has plans for a 992.2 T.....seems like sale of the .1 was gone in a flash. Anyone have any insight?
I think what will make yhe neurolonk and vr become main stream if yhey can be seemlessly intergrated... Imagine being able to control the headset with jist thinking
I’ve owned a Tesla for 3 years with 65k miles put on it, 95% of my charging is at home. Obviously I drive a lot much more than what the average European drives.
if you live in a CBD then you might as well go for a EV. If you live outside and use the car for many other purposes there is no reason to have an EV unless you're rich af or have all the time in the world or youre just some clueless EV fanboy lol. EVs are still impractical in current society. Alot of limitations!
re Electric Vehicle charging, doesn't it only impact exceptionally long journeys? If you're plugging it in at night it's never an issue. It's only an issue if you're looking at 300+ mile road trips, in which case you actually should be prepared for multiple stops along the way.
for me EVs are great, I rarely drive long distances where a full charge isn't enough, so for over 95% of the time I never have to stop since the car gets charged at home over night. previously I had to go to a gas station around once a week. the amount of time I save right now is quite a lot. with over 10.000km driven so far I literally only had to stop 3 times to charge it up because of a longer trip. but I understand not everyone is in the same situation and I'd likely never get an EV if I couldn't charge it at home, that's a key factor.
