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As has been said a few times recently, the US car industry's biggest problem will be meeting greater demand on US built cars due to the tariffs on imported cars. A 3 to 4 year lead time has been touted for a new factory so what are they going to do in the meantime?
Also looks like Teslas woes continue:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14568115/prestige...l
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I see that one response to Trump's recent promises has been an offer of govt help to save the threatened car industry. Rather unsurprisingly, [a] money takes priority over long-term green considerations, and [b] the car industry exists to employ people rather than make cars ... :-)
His plan is to bring back (or in) as much car-making to the US where those makes sell cars there, as he did in his first term with Ford coming back from Mexico to some degree. His argument is that if you want to sell lots of cars to our people, it would be financially advantageous (or at least detrimental if you didn't) if you made them in our country as well.
The problem US home-grown car 'manufacturers' have is that for the most part, their cars are not well-regarded outside of North America for both design/build quality, fuel efficiency and the driving experience, never mind the styling.
Unless and until that improves significantly, exports of US cars will likely stay very low compared to the likes of the Germans, Koreans, Japanese and now the Chinese.
The US would earn far more money if their own firms built better cars the rest of the world wants, and then such measures Trump advocates would like be not necessary / proposed.
Even taking out cars from the equation (a bit off topic I know), what these days IS actually made in the US that gets exported? Some foods, drinks (not many foods, but loads of drinks, given they like putting God-knows-what into them [hopefully something Sec Kennedy will reverse]), agricultural machinery, some clothing, and, of course aircraft, oil and LPG.
I suspect the Trump administration knows this and is now going full steam ahead to re-industrialise and pare-back / stop the net zero stuff because it is (or at least the rate of change was) impoverishing The West generally, leading to the balance of power moving towards China, some oil-rich Middle Eastern nations and others.
The rapid move to EVs has been nothing but trouble, as has the general 'green movement', significantly exacerbating many other societal problems faced in the West.
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Yes, apparently US agricultural machinery manufacturers are desperate to get into the Chinese market. Not sure that the current US China situation is going to do much to help them achieve that in a hurry.
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Just browsing LeaseLoco. You'd be surprised what EV is coming up as the best value. The Ford Capri. I have no interest in one of these but is that desperation by Ford to get these shifted? I think third cheapest was the Ford Explorer....tbh there doesn't look to be that much difference between them. Both reworked from the same VW underpinning.
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I
The rapid move to EVs has been nothing but trouble, as has the general 'green movement', significantly exacerbating many other societal problems faced in the West.
Although it has to be noted the one car design the USA has successfully exported to Europe and China is an EV.
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Even taking out cars from the equation (a bit off topic I know), what these days IS actually made in the US that gets exported? Some foods, drinks (not many foods, but loads of drinks, given they like putting God-knows-what into them [hopefully something Sec Kennedy will reverse]), agricultural machinery, some clothing, and, of course aircraft, oil and LPG.
The US is only complaining about trade in goods. They are very quiet about services because that is where the US is making heaps of money. Microsoft, Google, Meta and others are extremely profitable and have little or no foreign competition. Mastercard and Visa dominate the provision of debit and credit cards. Big profits there. If there is going to be a trade war then the US should expect action against those companies.
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The US is only complaining about trade in goods. They are very quiet about services because that is where the US is making heaps of money. Microsoft, Google, Meta and others are extremely profitable and have little or no foreign competition. Mastercard and Visa dominate the provision of debit and credit cards. Big profits there. If there is going to be a trade war then the US should expect action against those companies.
We rely upon companies like Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Apple etc for the very existence of a modern functioning society and economy - communications, IT, smartphones, social interaction etc.
They could bring countries and world trade to a halt if they withdrew services - in many ways a far greater threat than military action or anything relatively trivial related to tariffs.
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Amazon, Facebook X and Apple are not crucial to human existence. Now I've stopped using Amazon, I don't use any of these and I am still managing to function very well thanks. Also, no Netflix or Disney channel either.
We need to start reducing our reliance on the US and hopefully the current situation will be a wake up call.
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Amazon, Facebook X and Apple are not crucial to human existence. Now I've stopped using Amazon, I don't use any of these and I am still managing to function very well thanks. Also, no Netflix or Disney channel either.
We need to start reducing our reliance on the US and hopefully the current situation will be a wake up call.
You are entitled to your view but I think it complacent. 99% of smartphones and 90%+ of personal computers are Apple, Microsoft or Android. Without them:
- online shopping comes to a halt - 25%+ of retail sales
- booking systems collapse - rail, airlines, restaurants, theatres etc
- online banking stops - personal financial chaos - 40% of UK wholly reliant on digital
- GPS can be disabled - no more sat-nav - traffic congestion, failed deliveries etc
- major impacts on supply chains - supermarket shortages, fuel deliveries
There are some plus points - teenagers may get jobs rather than spending 10 hours a day staring vacantly at a small screen, damage from online pawn and other objectionable output no longer available.
The UK needs a strategic contingency plan urgently just as it needs to spend more on defence.
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<< There are some plus points - damage from online pawn and other objectionable output >>
I don't think that is what you meant, Terry, but it's an interesting concept ...
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Amazon, Facebook X and Apple are not crucial to human existence. Now I've stopped using Amazon, I don't use any of these and I am still managing to function very well thanks. Also, no Netflix or Disney channel either.
We need to start reducing our reliance on the US and hopefully the current situation will be a wake up call.
You are entitled to your view but I think it complacent. 99% of smartphones and 90%+ of personal computers are Apple, Microsoft or Android. Without them:
- online shopping comes to a halt - 25%+ of retail sales
- booking systems collapse - rail, airlines, restaurants, theatres etc
- online banking stops - personal financial chaos - 40% of UK wholly reliant on digital
- GPS can be disabled - no more sat-nav - traffic congestion, failed deliveries etc
- major impacts on supply chains - supermarket shortages, fuel deliveries
There are some plus points - teenagers may get jobs rather than spending 10 hours a day staring vacantly at a small screen, damage from online pawn and other objectionable output no longer available.
The UK needs a strategic contingency plan urgently just as it needs to spend more on defence.
I only mentioned Amazon, Facebook, X and Apple.
You dont have to online shop through Amazon, Facebook and X are just social media and Apple, well, other smartphones and tablets are available.
I agree that Google, Mastercard and Visa are another story.
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You dont have to online shop through Amazon, Facebook and X are just social media and Apple, well, other smartphones and tablets are available.
There are others available but the vast majority of smartphones and tablets run on Googles Android that are not Apple iPhones/iPads. The only other OS that's supported from a major manufactuer is Harmony OS which is made by Huawei...who only created Harmony as they are banned from using Google due to being in part owned by the Chinese government.
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There are others available but the vast majority of smartphones and tablets run on Googles Android that are not Apple iPhones/iPads. The only other OS that's supported from a major manufactuer is Harmony OS which is made by Huawei...who only created Harmony as they are banned from using Google due to being in part owned by the Chinese government.
Android is based on Linux which is freely available for anyone to use at no charge. What Google did when they used Linux to create Android was to add proprietary customisations and drivers for the various chips used in phones. It will be a major job to duplicate those but it is doable and has already been done by some organisations.
I can't think of any non US company or organisation which has a search engine comparable with Google. Bing is a Microsoft product and DuckDuckGo uses Bing.
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Android is based on Linux which is freely available for anyone to use at no charge. What Google did when they used Linux to create Android was to add proprietary customisations and drivers for the various chips used in phones. It will be a major job to duplicate those but it is doable and has already been done by some organisations.
I can't think of any non US company or organisation which has a search engine comparable with Google. Bing is a Microsoft product and DuckDuckGo uses Bing.
If Apple and Android became unavailable communications across much of the western world would cease. Linux may provide a base, but even if a workable contingency plan already exists it would take months to roll it out to users most of whom are IT illiterate.
The absence of a search engine with no platform to run it on is somewhat academic.
It may be in the event of the withdrawal of US systems that the effect would be to allow China with their Baidu search engine to get traction in the west, making use of the Huawei smartphone systems.
A further mitigating factor is that failure of comms and search engines would effectively put other US giants out of business - eg: Netflix, Amazon, etc.
This would seriously upset the US.
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Are well now your talking. American Re Insurance market has been highly protectionist since for ever. The application of FET Federal Excise Tax...Admitted Reinsurers etc
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Even taking out cars from the equation (a bit off topic I know), what these days IS actually made in the US that gets exported? Some foods, drinks (not many foods, but loads of drinks, given they like putting God-knows-what into them [hopefully something Sec Kennedy will reverse]), agricultural machinery, some clothing, and, of course aircraft, oil and LPG.
The US is only complaining about trade in goods. They are very quiet about services because that is where the US is making heaps of money. Microsoft, Google, Meta and others are extremely profitable and have little or no foreign competition. Mastercard and Visa dominate the provision of debit and credit cards. Big profits there. If there is going to be a trade war then the US should expect action against those companies.
Probably because that part of their trade doesn't employ loads of people for the amount of foreign business they do, given a lot is automated via computer and often uses lots of data centres in the locale doing business, and so uses local expertise to set them up / maintain them.
Th reason why it's a good idea for big players on the international scene to have a big manufacturing base that does a lot of exporting as well as domestically is that it gives them a big advantage over geopolitical issues and can also have a big impact on whether countries go to war and the outcome.
Being self-sufficient is an obvious boon too in this regard, though rarely has it been sustainable for very long periods, because supplies of raw materials inevitably run out, as the UK is seeing with coal, oil and natural gas.
If the US didn't act, then China, effectively now controlling much of trade and where raw materials go in order to feed its producers and armed forces, would soon become as powerful as the US and likely move against Taiwan and possibly others in the region, rather like Japan did in the opposite direction before WW2.
For all their faults over the years, I'd easily rather have the US heading up things than the Chinese.
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That ship sailed a long time ago, Andy.
China is the dominant power in consumer goods and electronic components, and about the in cars.
It's simply because the 'developed' world is addicted to consumption of cheap goods. The US could manufacture what it needs but not for a generation and not at a price that consumers want to pay.
Trump wants to put a 10% tariff on everything but, being how he is, it has to be a deal where he goes in with a ludicrous offer, then it gets negotiated down and he can tell everyone what a great deal he did for them. He won't frame it as holding the world economy to ransom, but that's what it is. He's now got two problems; firstly, a 10% tariff is unlikely to achieve much other than drive inflation up. Secondly, China has called his bluff. That's why he now trying to frame this as China being disrespectful of the world economy by not doing what he says
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Not getting involved in the politics (the world’s a bit too mad to figure at the moment) but Honda shipped production of the Jazz from the UK to low cost China a number of years ago and the result for the UK consumer was… a near trebling of the list prices.
Wonder why Honda dealerships are disappearing quickly and the once huge selling Jazz is now a comparatively rare sight round here of late, despite our dealership still being open - for now.
UK and I suppose US consumers rarely see the benefit from huge multi-billion pound/dollar companies shipping production to low wage economies like China. The fat cats are too greedy to pass on any savings, and the short term greed leads to long term loss as the one time consumer can no longer afford to buy what they make as they’re on the dole.
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Not getting involved in the politics (the world’s a bit too mad to figure at the moment) but Honda shipped production of the Jazz from the UK to low cost China a number of years ago and the result for the UK consumer was… a near trebling of the list prices. Wonder why Honda dealerships are disappearing quickly and the once huge selling Jazz is now a comparatively rare sight round here of late, despite our dealership still being open - for now. UK and I suppose US consumers rarely see the benefit from huge multi-billion pound/dollar companies shipping production to low wage economies like China. The fat cats are too greedy to pass on any savings, and the short term greed leads to long term loss as the one time consumer can no longer afford to buy what they make as they’re on the dole.
Plus the serious decline of Swindon, where Honda's huge UK factory was, and presumably its biggest employer by some margin. Seen recent videos of the town, especially the main shopping area, and whilst it never was fantastic (I last visited around 25 years ago for a work 'do' for the weekend), these days it resembles Stevenage for looking like a dump, not helped by other issues affecting the UK over the last 5-10 years.
What didn't help Honda either was their previously bullet-proof reputation for engineering quality significantly recede when they had problems with their 'standard' turbo-petrol cars and general quality issues, for example the issues I previously relayed concerning my sister and B-I-L's newish hybrid HRV (which doesn't use either the 1L or 1.5L turbo-petrols).
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Nationwide are also based in Swindon and their office is enormous. I think WH Smiths were and probably still are.
The biggest problem Swindon has is that it's surrounded by very nice villages and all the money is out there and not in the town.
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Nationwide are also based in Swindon and their office is enormous. I think WH Smiths were and probably still are.
I forgot about Nationwide. I doubt that Smiths will be much of an employer for much longer, given what was (ironically) in the news of late.
The biggest problem Swindon has is that it's surrounded by very nice villages and all the money is out there and not in the town.
Like rather a lot of larger towns and cities these days. I'm even seeing this regarding Cambridge, where its secondary shopping centre is a ghost town and likely to be redeveloped into, yep, housing. People don't shop in shops any more, they just do it online and have it delivered.
Sorry to drag this off-topic somewhat.
Ironically, only the rich (relative) newcomers to villages are those who can afford EVs, those in lesser housing (often long-stand residents / families who've lived [and often worked] the countryside) have to stick with (now extortionately-priced) ICE cars well into old age, because they need better range to get about and many can't afford cars well over £10k.
Few EVs have made it to that price point and where they could reasonably be relied upon for (say) another 10 years.
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Another airport car fire today , this time at Gatwick..
Maybe an EV according to airport staff but yet to be confirmed.
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Another airport car fire today , this time at Gatwick..
Maybe an EV according to airport staff but yet to be confirmed.
Maybe an EV?
So fair to say maybe not an EV then?
Would I be right in thinking that you won't mention it again if it turns out it wasn't an EV?
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The video here shows a reg that indicates it's a hybrid according the the Vehicle Enquiry website.
uk.news.yahoo.com/dramatic-moment-car-erupts-flame...l
Not sure it proves anything apart from all cars occasionally go pop, whether ICE, hybrid or EV.
Good work by the fire fighters, I assume airport ones rather than general?
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The video here shows a reg that indicates it's a hybrid according the the Vehicle Enquiry website.
uk.news.yahoo.com/dramatic-moment-car-erupts-flame...l
Not sure it proves anything apart from all cars occasionally go pop, whether ICE, hybrid or EV.
Good work by the fire fighters, I assume airport ones rather than general?
Looked up the MOT History site. That shows the car as being a VW Tiguan PHEV. 1st registered 27/3/25. So just 2 ½ weeks old.
Frightening though. Seen conventional fuelled vehicles go up and the fires were ferocious too.
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Oopsie.. Someone's car hire has got off to an inauspicious start.
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Does the car involved in the fire have a track record of catching fire or faults that could cause a fire ?
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Answering my own question.
like potential fire hazards, defective locking mechanisms on tow bars, and issues with the roof spoiler or front brake discs.
Here's
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Answering my own question.
like potential fire hazards, defective locking mechanisms on tow bars, and issues with the roof spoiler or front brake discs.
Here's
It's the latest model of VW Tiguan. There seem to be quite a lot of issues being reported with these. Another VW product released before being tested?
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Later reports say that a defective HV fuse can cause the problem . Not enough sand in the fuse capsule !
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I prefer internal combustion over spontaneous combustion thanks all the same.
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New charger installed at Colchester region pub. Oh yes...my kind of thing that.
New electric vehicle charger installed at popular country pub in Colchester
The station is easy to use, allowing customers to simply tap, charge, and go.
www.gazette-news.co.uk
Let's read on. '22kw charger can charge two vehicles '...noooooooooo!
That's an AC charger.
That's only ok for a few EVs like the Zoe. I'll only get 11 kw from it at best..ie slooow!
I'd have preferred one single 50kw charger ie DC.
Much more useful.
Who makes these decisions, cos they know flip all about EVs.
Edited by Ethan Edwards on 16/04/2025 at 18:13
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It could depend on the feed coming to the property - it may not support a DC rapid.
But it’s two 11kW chargers more than there were before. Pop in for a meal, spend a couple of hours there, put 100 miles range back in.
Not sure about your statement about it only being suitable for Zoe - most EV’s max out at 11kW on AC, regardless of their DC charge capability. Both Tesla models will only cope with 11kW.
Edited by mcb100 on 16/04/2025 at 21:08
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It may have nothing to do with technical or capacity issues.
It comfortably provides a get you home charge for the typical pub user, most of whom stop for 1-2 hours and probably live within 20 miles.
For the few who genuinely need to fast charge a range of 300+ miles in a pub not usually a stopping place for those on a long motorway journey - tough.
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It comfortably provides a get you home charge for the typical pub user, most of whom stop for 1-2 hours and probably live within 20 miles.
Should we be encouraging drivers to spend 1-2 hours in the pub and then drive home? Perhaps they will only have a small lemonade before they drive off but some may have a lot more.
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