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Dacia Spring ramblingā¦
Renault provided me with a Spring courtesy car yesterday while the DT was having a door hinge replaced (under warranty).
- The quality of the interior is bad (built to a price I know, but even so)
- Ultra nasty plastic trim on the laughably thin, hollow sounding, (van like) doors.
- The seats offered no support worthy of note, and it was cramped - my right shoulder was up against the B pillar.
- No reach adjustment on the steering wheel.
- Crap ergonomics for anyone over 6ft.
- The satnav, radio, touch screen thing was slow and shit. It did have carplay and Aāauto however.
- You really wouldnāt want to crash it, or be crashed into.
Oh yeah, it is started with an old school key + ignition barrel on the steering column and it had a manual handbrake (I quite like the hand brake tbf).
Driving around at 30mph and it was OK, it has fantastic turning circle for a front wheel drive car, you can park it incredibly easily and it has very good visibility. I did wind it up to 70mph on a dual carriage way, it felt unstable and plain wrong at high speed, not helped by the incredibly narrow wheels and tyers.
The version I had was a higher spec model with 65hp, it was just enough to keep up, overtaking a tractor on an Oxfordshire A road would be a challenge (for context, 0-60 in approx 13.5 seconds). I dread to think what the 45hp one is like to drive, impractically slow I should imagine, for everything (expect 30mph town driving). Why youād want a brand new car that was so limited in scope is beyond me, ymmv.
Ā£17K is a lot of money. That same Ā£17k buys a fantastic used EV thatāll drive around town at 30mph just fine while also feeling modern, comforable and well equipped, it will also be MUCH safer and, should the need arise, be capable of being driven on a motorway or dual carriageway for more than 10 seconds without generating an overwhelming urge to slow down and get out.
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Financially you may not want to have a small front on crash anyway. The word on the streets from MrsKettle (via people who work at JLR in crash) is that insurance may well go up on cars where the front canāt be repaired/replaced easily which takes out anything with a front charging socket.
Ahemā¦ finally something thatās actually on topic, innit:
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Totally want one of these
Apparently RM is deploying a substantial fleet in London, Bristol, Scilly and other places Iāve forgotten.
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Beach buggy. Stick a load of beer in the back of it. Or food. Or both! 
Feels like a bit of an homage to the Renault Twizzy.
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Is this cheap?
Saw this as well Unfortunately it has no engine
The tide turned this week;
SAR (Seasonal Affected Range) has bitten.
The most recent service showed that, after 60K and nearly 4 years, the main battery pack is now rated @ 92%.
My usual commute uses between 36% and 42% depending on how I drive.
With the dip in temps this week, it has blown out to the mid 50s.
I really am glad that I am getting rid.
We still had a few of these when I worked at South Harrow express dairies in the 70s.
When I worked in the yard keeping it clean,making sure charger cables were kept out the way etc.
These ones had solid rubber tyres with no tread,so my favourite trick when the milkman came back to the depot was to soak the yard,go full pelt in reverse,then flip the handle forward to get wheel spins.
Did it one day and forgot to unload the empty crates/bottles. Was an almighty smash as about a third of the crates hit the floor,followed by much laughter from the milkmen who already had returned.
A mate started there and decided to use the wholesale float which was a bit faster to go and buy some dope in Wembley at Stonebridge Park estate,the battery went flat and he had to get another float to tow him back.
He got a massive bollocking and asked what the hell he was doing in Wembley. Happy days.
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Brilliant! And that Milkfloat is a real cutie! I want it! Bet the ride was punishing with those solid tyres! 
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Yes it was very bumpy.
People used to come back to early once you finished your round,so they made it you couldnāt come back til 12.30. You end up with around 10 milk floats parked by the pub. Not sure how it happened but cab on one of those had come away at the top and was leaning quite a bit forward. The old boy driving it didnāt call for help as he was pretty pissed at the pub so dove it back just staring at the road.
Majority of them would be pissed every Friday before coming back.
One of the blokes I helped knew everyone on the round and would get called in at Xmas constantly for his tip and a shot of whisky. I ended up driving the float back,which I shouldnāt have as I was only 16.
Absolutely loved that job.
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Aged 15 and In the gap between finishing exams and starting my apprenticeship I got myself six weeks work at a dairy - Initially stacking pots of yoghurt into boxes coming off the lines -Job was soon upgraded to changing equipment over when flavours changed and driving a dumper truck to help keep the yard tidy between change overs. For tea breaks a steam hose was inserted into a bucket of milk for coffee. Great time was had.
Our Home milkman got done for drink driving - Rather than sack him - they gave him a horse and cart for a year.
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Did you ever meet Ernie?
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Budget news
3p per mile tax on full EV
1.5p per mile on hybrids
No idea how that will work!
So based on a UK Average ~7000 miles/year thatās just over Ā£200. Seems reasonable considering it was never going to be free forever.
Iām sure loads of new EVs will be advertised as deals with FREE VED and the dealer just pays it.
That is to come into effect for 2028 though, so 2-years before the 2030 ban on new ICE Cars starts.
This seems to be the salient point right now.