I guess what makes this show unique is the opportunity to test drive multiple EVs at one location. Which is probably really useful for anyone interested in buying an EV. Many of the home related vendors/companies (energy etc) will appear at other shows too like Grand Designs Live, Ideal Home Show etc. Then you have some out of place vendors that seem to be at shows just to fill the space.
For those who are car focused, I agree. The opportunity to test drive has got to be valuable. What seems a shame is that the driving is probably compromised by being in London. I didn't test drive anything myself so I might be wrong. However, I heard several people - one of the manufacturer's events team members and Gary Martin from Modern Heroes both seemed to say that was a problem. It's tricky to achieve everything and please everyone. I think it's great that they brought the subject to the people - to the capital. However, I'm also glad this augments Farnborough and Harrogate, rather than replacing them.
I was there on Thursday too. Had a great time. I did the following Two test drives; Kia EV6 and the Silence S04 (more on that later) Went to a presentation on Electrification futures in the Giga theatre. Visited several home energy stands. Had a home energy consultation with OVO and with Warmur. Won a big pink Octopus! I REALLY wanted to like the Silence S04 (we have a 2013 Smart ForTwo ED at the moment) but sadly it didn't remotely meet my expectations. It was noisy (more that the Smart ED which itself is not exactly quiet), so low it caught on the speed bumps, very poorly finished and the brakes are unassisted and need a really big shove to work at all. It's a lovely form factor and I like the removeable battery idea. I so wanted to like it. ;-(
Ah, very interesting to hear, thanks. Sadly I had my head in video mode and didn't do a test drive. I wonder if people generally might expect it to be as good as a smart, and be disappointed too. That's what was so unique about the ForTwo - it looked like a microcar and had a similar form factor, but was actually registered as a car and felt much better quality as a result. My suspicion is that microcars struggle to meet the weight limit, and have to cut corners to do so. I wonder if anyone will be bold enough to reach for what the smart ForTwo offered, or if they broke the mould when they stopped making them - which happened on Wednesday this week, I gather. A sad day 😞
I felt a bit let down at the show, very car centric, would have been nice to see more stalls and demonstrations of grid level storage and other net zero technologies.
I know what you mean. The Farnborough show has been fairly car-centric in the past, too - in a way more so, as they have more space at Farnborough. I would recommend you feed that point back to Fully Charged, as I think your idea of impartial demos on the home energy revolution is a very good one. I would love to see some of that, too - done a bit like the bosh demos perhaps. EVs tend to be a gateway into a wider ecosystem change. Once you have an EV you think about where the energy comes from, and what else can be electrified. Therefore, to some extent, they might prioritise EVs because it's a slightly easier first step for people. That doesn't mean there isn't more they could do, but that it's one reason why it might be more car centric at this stage. Everyone is on a journey, and Fully Charged are no different. They can and will get better, and I think you making your point to them in a constructive way will help them do that.
A heads-up.... If you are a UK resident & own an EV, & haven't renewed your car tax this month, it would be prudent to tax it TODAY. As of 1st April next year EV's will be taxable. It is not retrospective, so if you re-tax it today you will enjoy 12 months free of road tax rather than the remaining months of your current tax. My EV was taxed in Nov last yr, I have just taxed it online today, so we now have 12 months free tax to run instead of 8 months.😁
That's right, one inside each door. What is a shame is the way they seem to have wired them. It sounds like the car uses both batteries at once, so you have to recharge both for the car to be usable. If you are charging onboard then that is automatic. However, if you have to take the batteries out, then you will have to take both out each time.
@@theelectrictransition oh really? I had previously understood you could run on just one, or both, and they didn’t need to have the same state of charge. I’ll check that. I’m toying with the idea of getting an so4 because I already have 2 of the SO 1s, so might be able to get the base car without the batteries.
I could be wrong, but based on Gary's review in his video, it sounds like he asked the question, and it seems like they have minimised costs. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LvVwRMeBfJw.html They use two batteries and two motors, and that suggests to me that they might have minimised their parts count by making the quadricyxle out of two scooter drivetrains - separate motor, inverter and battery per (rear) wheel. I'd be happy to be wrong, but it is a fairly small company, and the cost of developing a new part for such a small company should not be underestimated. Needs must - making anything in limited volumes is properly hard. Since you have two scooter batteries it might not matter to you, but it is worth knowing, if true (accidental shout out to Cleo Abraham there!)
I was there Thursday and enjoyed what they had, but overall too car centric for me. I was expecting Farnborough + lots of EVs, not the 40/60 split. Hopefully the tube issues didn't ruin it for too many people. Thanks for the quick recap.
Thanks. It's interesting how varied people's thoughts have been - some saying the same as you on the stands available, and some saying there wasn't enough car stuff! I've been to Farnborough for a few years now, and I like the latest format of that - vehicles of all types mostly outside and plenty of space for that, leaving inside for home energy, heating, charging and so on. In a way, the bigger the better - that way, there is more of whatever people want no matter what their interest. I hope they continue to go from strength to strength.
Was there yesterday, felt like there could've been more on show, too many cars. Would've been nice to see more scooters etc. The Silence car was for me also the highlight.
It generally seemed a bit smaller than Farnborough, so I wonder how well anyone was served if they have been to a prior event. I feel like there have been more scooter and motorbike manufacturers at Farnborough in the past - but even then, there are two-wheeled brands that are conspicuous by their absence.
I think that might be a really shrewd move. It's one I didn't actually sit in myself, but people seem to be saying really good things about it. I'd love to hear how you get on with it
It was all expensive toys on the video for me. Even the Silence S04 was priced at £16k?? Surely most buyers would go for a Dacia Spring? It will be interesting to see what the Chinese will bring in in the way of minicars.
The Spring is a different type of solution. It will be interesting to see how it feels in comparison to the Silence; I was surprised by how good the build quality of the Silence seemed - on the stand, at least. However, I agree - the pricing of the two being the same might be a problem for Silence. Having said that, the removable batteries might make the S04 a slightly better solution for some people who cannot charge at home.
Helen is there!! Was worried they'd got rid of her like they dumped Andy, who is still the best motorcycle rider they have someone who's literally just got their license is not going to be any good at high speed motorcycle reviews. So they bring Ricky to London but not to Sydney....hmm..
Yes, Helen is still involved and did a great talk on Blue Machine, her new book, as well as hosting a number of others. I wonder if the book and the promotion for it has taken a lot of her time. Ah, Andy wasn't there this year. That's a good point. Oh, that's a shame if he's not involved any more. It was good to see Ricky, he's very personable and good to chat to. I am always slightly uncomfortable when people fly long distance for the shows though; maybe that's why he wasn't at Sydney.
I suppose they felt that if they had to close, it was better to do it outside of office hours to minimise disruption to workers (9-5 workers that is - people who are not working the weekend). But yes, it's really unlucky for those going to the show - and even more so when yesterday evening, the crucial part of the Jubilee Line that replaced it was suspended due to a signalling fault!
@@theelectrictransition I think they closed part of the DLR when Formula E was there but only on Sunday & another time the Elizabeth Line didn’t run on Sunday at first
What annoys me is the old CFO of Tesla whom left awhile back, Decided in his madness to say that No new Model S or X refresh EV's will be done Right Hand Drive, just to save a few million on retooling the production lines ( when Tesla make many millions a day ) He did not care about the 55% of the planet who like the UK are Right Hand Drive only countries. He said when asked Oh but they can do Left Hand Diving in those countries! Yes we could? But the law states it must be right hand where possible for safe driving. But I see the new CFO at Tesla has not changed the lines back to right hand drive even though customers asked for that? Okay to have the Model 3 or Y done as right hand drive but not the S or X. The amount of customers who were told take back your deposit and tough you can't have the EV you asked for. Many customer did not bother to order a Tesla and went to other EV makers. So well done Zack Kirkhorn you just pissed off some of the richest EV buyer on the planet who were buying a S or X refresh with right hand drive. The millions he now lost Tesla. Because any company who like Tesla have a super pricey product that customers are willing to buy at over $90.000 each needs those top end models to sell. He just upset many hundreds of customers meaning they won't buy now from Tesla. I think Elon should make sure the new CFO get's the S and X refresh line done so that right hand drive EV's are done too or Tesla will keep losing many rich customers who like us live in right hand drive countries!
Ah, yes, I know. It disappoints me, too. Having said that, the S and X sell in tiny numbers, and I gather that makes them very hard to make profitable. I think Tesla have their eye on the mass market prize, and that means the S and X are largely sidelined. It is a shame, because they were absolutely critical in getting Tesla to where they are, but business is business and there isn't much space for nostalgia, I suppose
Hehehe, well, apparently not, according to the latest figures! One video doing well doesn't mean a creator has cracked the code. RU-vid is a cruel and fickle master, as it were. For me, there remains a difference between what is popular and what I am here to do. I do my videos for friends and family, to try to give them better information. I chose to upload to RU-vid in case it helped other people as well. I know what I offer is not popular. In a way, that's almost why I do it. I am challenging people's opinions, and that isn't ever popular. People don't like to change, but change we must. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike when a video is popular! At the same time, I need to stay mindful of why I spend the hours doing what I do - which is not to be a RU-vidr. I have a stretch goal of 1000 subscriptions, so that I can turn down, and eventually off, adverts - but I remain completely realistic that it's a very big stretch. Thanks for the comment, though - feedback is always appreciated.
@@theelectrictransition hey man, my comment was never intended as a slight against your video (your video is good) One of the presenters at the show said during their presentation that the car show had been busier in previous years. I meant the penny had dropped that EVs in their current (no pun intended) form were not the answer to ICE.
@forestdad Sorry if I misunderstood, but I didn't take it as a slight. I wasn't exactly sure what you meant, but I'm not easily offended! I agree that the show seemed quiet - but it is a new location for the show, and a new date. Either of those could have had an impact on attendance - and a few other things besides (economy/inflation etc). I wonder if people might want their Easter break to go away, and be unable to attend. I also wonder how well test drives are going to work in central London. I didn't even try to do any test drives because I expected it to be problematic, so that might have put other people off too. As I try to remember to say regularly, EVs are not perfect. But I think they are less imperfect than the alternatives, and what we need right now is alternatives.
The video, or the show? The video, yes! The show, not quite. I went again today and noticed a number of things I left out. Like all of MGs other models on display, for example, meaning they should have been on the manufacturer list too. Oops! And how I didn't notice the Mercedes stand I will never know!
Difference being not one of y our battery cars will be on the road in 50 years time mine will do a nother 5o because there will always be some form of liquid fuel
