nomadpete

All true for modern motor vehicles.

But my 1955 Austin champ had a safe fording depth of 6 feet.

Safe depth if you stood on the driver's seat.

Rain shadow areas are very prone to floods....

But only those rare unexpected ones

As a simple nonexpert observation,  

1.  I don't see many broken down cars by the wayside.

All cars have become unbelievably reliable over the past 30 yrs.

2. I have NEVER seen an EV stranded by the roadside. 

This leads me to unscientifically conclude that the the published stats about 'failure rates' of EV's must include trivial 'faults' such as failed cupholders.

Basically BS to be filtered out.

There is obviously less to fail mechanically in an EV than a comparable old style vehicle.

Hence obviously, the reliability, and whole of life cost will be lower for the EV.

Looks like you are stuck in a rain shadow.

I bet you are hoping for some climate change 😉

11 hours ago, kgwilson said:

Xaiomi is now the 2nd largest phone manufacturer in the world after Samsung

Digressing for a moment (it's about time someone hijacked the thread)......

I think it won't be long before mr musky is toppled from his billionaire pedestal - by the chinese EV industry. Followed by the collapse of Apple.

What will this change of billionaire influence do to USA politics?

And the foreign owned salmon industry getting law changed just for them. And a 

"Laws to guarantee salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour pass federal lower house"

"Labor came into government promising to strengthen Australia's environmental laws, but appears set to end its term by instead scaling back a part of them."

And the Australian taxpayer  is paying $37 million to oxygenate Macquarie Harbour - a virtual government gift to foriegn businesses that are causing the environmental problem.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-25/pm-albanese-introduces-legislation-to-protect-salmon-farming/105088538

The removal of climate consideration from environmental approvals for mining projects?

From ABC, regarding approving Woodside's gas drilling...

"It is his first decision since changing the government's greenhouse gas emissions policy last month to strip the EPA of the power to regulate emissions."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-12/wa-environmental-minister-approves-north-west-shelf-extension/104654110

Bearing in mind that charging times are steadily becoming less inconvenient.....

Now that the integrated batteries can last a million kilometers and 15 years, the argument against swappable batteries is as invalid as suggesting swappable engines and fuel tanks on petrol cars.

Up until around 1930'ish your petrol was hand pumped up into a glass container for a visual check of colour/impurities, then drained by gravity into your car. And only a couple of gallons delivered at a time. I don't recall anyone suggested we should have prefilled swappable petrol tanks stacked up at a servo back then. Sure, we now have fast electric powered petrol refilling nowadays. It was only a minor inconvenience anyway.

A process of improvement similar to what is happening as the EV transition develops.

10 hours ago, onetrack said:

my argument remains that the only way to make EV's fully superior to IC-engined vehicles, is to build them with swappable batteries

Personally, I  agree with that statement. IF I was buying a new car, AND the infrastructure was already there, I'd go for swappable batteries. 

But our cars are both over 15 years old. I  repair stuff.

In Australia the average age of registered vehicles is about 10 years. 

The average car does surprisingly low mileage 12,000 k's per year - (120,000k in ten yrs). So I cannot fathom the range anxiety issue that is so prevalent.

Anyway, my point is that most people don't keep their car long enough to warrant the extra costs involved in manufacturing a swappable battery. Excepting the commercial users.

Many people replace their car after the first set of tyres wear out. These days, in spite of the pollution crisis, everything is 'throwaway'

Further, there is lag in building the support structure for chargers. Consider the lag and expense involved in rolling out the support infrastructure required for a standardised battery swapping industry.

In short, a car with swappable battery will be more expensive, heavier, more complex to engineer, and for the average motorist, offer little in return for all that.

4 hours ago, facthunter said:

Gives  $62,000 the Banarnaby Joyce for Pocket money OR WHATEVER.  Nev

Clearly she is a thoughtful, generous soul..

2 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

From the article: "Australia has the highest rate of mammalian extinction in the world,"

 

That is a sad indictment of such a wealthy country.

 

And our government just watered down our environmental regulatory system.

One impediment to all "alternative" energy adoption in Australia  is the power of lobby groups and old established billionaire wealth.

I think this podcast sheds a little light on the power structure behind our politics.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/may/19/gina-what-does-she-want-episode-7

Has donny just united the normally squabbling muslim countries against their comman infidel foe (USA).

32 minutes ago, rgmwa said:

Netanyahu probably told him he was weak on Iran, and that would have been enough of an insult to get him to send the bombers in. 

They played him like a fish 😞

Does Iran have a trump tower yet? Or maybe it needs a trump golf course.....

You never know what oportunities might arise.

9 minutes ago, onetrack said:

The latest Trump news is that he is ignoring all his Intelligence community advice and information, that says Iran is not building a nuclear weapon, to say that Iran IS building a nuclear weapon.

 

This is a decision that says Trump has the ability to do what he likes, without consulting anyone, including Congress. If he chooses to join Israel in bombing Fordow, he may find he's only started another American war he can't end. So much for Trumps claim.....

Don't crow yet.

He still has plenty if time to reverse his decision.

Maybe even several times.

Warning! Trump uses new tactic.... he said something that nobody can disagree with....

Is this a first for Donny?

"Trump claimed on Wednesday that 'nobody knows what I'm gonna do'"

https://www.lbc.co.uk/world-news/trump-iran-washington-despicable-lies/

Not a silly pic.

Love it!

Oh oh, I think Nev has caught Jerry's keyboard disease.

Before I get flamed for the above statistic, this ABC report focuses on Vic crimes.

"The crime rate in Victoria rose by 13.2 per cent in 2024, according to the latest figures from the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA).

The biggest increase was in property and deception offences, which rose by 21.9 per cent."

However, I'm not sure how the politicians can control this. Making laws does little to modify the culture of the criminal individuals.

This is all of Australia but gives a general idea of crime levels...

'Australia is generally considered one of the safest countries globally. In 2024, it made it into the top 20 most peaceful countries in the world,'

https://www.statista.com/topics/8537/crime-in-australia/

The tacoman is sure to back away from actively (rather than the present covertly) bombing Iran

Albo to the rescue....

Is our government quietly acquiescing to trumpism, like Canada is?

In spite of their rhetoric, both countries are tightening immigration and pushing fossil fuel mining.

Agreed, the old reliable brands have all gone down in quality. 

The new petrol 'lawn tractors' (as the yanks call em), are pretty flimsy. If you use them much, they don't last long at all. 

And if you look closely at commercial grade mowers, you will find they are worth the price in the long run. Generally they cost at least twice the price of the hardware store specials.