Derek please stick it to what you know, You haven't owned electric and you don't know why people have them, We don't need to save the planet, It will be here billions of years after we have poisoned our selves, And buy the way starting and running a ICe vehicle just up and down the driveway is bad for the engine as you won't get it up to temperature, If you want to look after the car then better doing a 30 miles trip once a week getting the oil round the engine and drying out any moisture, I like bangers and cash and other shows your involved in but please don't comment on electric cars, I've owned petrol and diesel cars over 45 years and replaced just about every part you can think of, I've owned a electric car for a year now and it's more reliable and more efficient, Good luck with the business and may there be many more showers.
I see no problem using a classic in the winter if the roads are completely dry, I've done this for many years and my cars have not rusted. It's using them in damp conditions and not letting them dry out that will make them deteriorate fast!
Derek is knowledgeable about many things car-related and candid. I don't agree with him on the future of electric for a number of reasons. Too simply discount emerging technology completely is not the attitude Americans had when President Kennedy set a goal to land a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s decade. Negative thinking is the realm of people too afraid or unwilling to grow or change. For the longest time, there was little to no incentive to develop electric. Oil company and car manufacturers profited too much in "tried and true" to have a willingness to shift on their own, and two things have seriously challenged electric: recharging station infrastructure and "range anxiety" / recharging time especially in large countries like the USA or Australia. I would have tended to agree with him fifteen or twenty years ago, but Tesla has been able to create a large network of charging stations throughout the USA, and just yesterday, I was reading how a British startup was able to recharge a car on a test track from 10% to 80% in under five minutes, which is the equivalent of a gas station stop. Price is beginning to come down further into a more mainstream price point. And yes, I do know where electric comes from. Coal and nuclear in some cases, BUT particularly outside the UK solar, wind, and ye olde fashioned hydroelectric (think of the old water mills x 10,000), which don't produce emissions. At Niagara Falls and the Hoover Dam in the USA, there are vast hydroelectric plants. There was never a real incentive to overcome the liabilities of electric cars, but . Myself, would I buy an electric car? If the price was right, and for commuting / non-leisure driving, hell yeah. ICE cars will be around for a long time, I certainly love my cars, but they are a traditional method of transport, and even if a person can be stuck in the past, no one lives forever. At 50, I really don't care if all the new cars are electric. Most cars today are uninteresting regardless, and most buyers are more interested in "infotainment" than driving. To be honest, countries like the UK and USA where there are an increasing number of naysayers will be left in the dust when the Chinese are going all in on the technology. Like everything else, development takes time, and what I've seen in the past 15 years took away many doubts about its future potential. Petrol has the advantage due to its establishment and people's familiarity. Electric has much potential as the scientists and companies who enjoy a good challenge will endeavor to find better solutions. The way the world is today, I have no idea if I'll be here in 20 years or the world, the world moves way too fast to make such predictions, and though one needs to live expecting to be here, I also live for the day and accept things that are beyond my control. An interesting answer from Derek, but we're talking to a classic petrolhead. Most garages will say the same if they work strictly on ICE.
I was surprised at such an absolute put-down on EVs. The future is a bit more nuanced, and do not forget that the UK's electricity comes increasingly from renewable sources. Also, how many people are aware that two-and-a-half times the weight of the petrol being used comes down the tailpipe as CO2?
EV's produce 70% more Carbon to manufacture than petrol/diesel cars. There batteries are the most environmentally damaging product in the world to make and have a limited lifespan compared to the ICE, which were becoming more and more environmentally friendly until the EV dead end.
In Scotland the electricity is supplied predominantly by renewable sources, and in use by their very nature do not produce much pollution. Internal combustion engines do, and are the end of a whole process where environmental pollution is caused. Extraction, transport of crude, refining to extract usable products, transportation of said fuel, they require electricity to power the pumps, then the customer burns the fuel.
You pushing down on the front end looking for the knock reminded me of when I was a yoof doing the same to a relative's 1100 and exclaiming in horror that the shock absorbers were shot! 😂
Electric cars are disposables max 5 year lifespan. After that nobody wants the obsolete out of date toxic explosive battery tech. Cant see anyone restoring Electric vehicles in 20 years. Mechanical cars have now become priceless in my opinion. Try keeping vw id buzz running for 20 yesrs and fixing it along the way like a vw t4 t5. Vote reform lets try and stop these pushed agends that make no sense and waste tax money making are lives harder for a profit.
Not good value at any price. When these go wrong, which they do with alarming regularity from brand new, the repair costs are horrific. Beautifully built and every single Mulsanne is unique to the commissioning order.
Brilliant Q & A session! I'm about your age and my feelings for EVs are the same - expensive, inconvenient and a fall into the same category as 'net zero' whatever that is. The Planet is 3 billion years old so our )humans) existence will have no effect in the long run.
electric car tyres are more expensive to buy compared to normal car tyres and they wear out faster too. The electric car is also heavier than a normal car so increases the wear and tear to the road surface on which it is being driven
Lovely video there Dave and Paul Thornton Le Dale is a lovely village, not been there for many years, would like to visit your museum at some point hopefully see you both and your Dad?
“Wouldn’t be seen dead on Fanny Barnett at 16/17”!! My first bike aged 16 was a Francis Barnett Cruiser with a 225cc AMC single. I loved it and eventually part exchanged it for a Norton 350cc Navigator (naked, not the one with the rear ‘tinwork’)…..lot of noise but not a lot of go!
I love Derek too but I can imagine a “Derek” in 1885 “internal comb….no, rubbish, a 20 year fix, never replace horses, internal combustion, Ive driven one, no its no good” “Electricity is it just there?” Yes Derek it is, the whole of our modern world relies on it, try turning your lights out, switch your internet off, remove the TV crews and go back to gas lighting, candles etc “Electricity is expensive” yes it is but only because it’s priced in alignment with gas. Also a political choice to make it expensive. EVs like ICEs aint perfect but it costs me £400 a month in petrol to get to work and back in a little Kia Ceed, I will cut that in half with an EV and no oil/air filters to change, no exhaust to replace, no need to go to a petrol station to fill up, it does it at home or work or anywhere theres a charge point. I love ICE cars but im an EV convert, faster, quieter, easier to maintain, cheaper to run…they just need to get cheaper to buy.
