A secondhand EV is a possibility for many families as the cost of desirable
models, including Kias and Teslas, falls to £15,000
If your current car is on the way out and you think an electric replacement is
too expensive, think again. Three-year-old Tesla Model 3s and Kia e-Niros that
will do 250-300 miles on a single charge can now be bought for as little as
£14,000.
In the last year, forecourt prices for used electric cars have tumbled to the
extent that previously unaffordable models are now within the reach of many
families for the first time.
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Tag - Motoring
Satellite image analysis shows 329 hectares of forest cleared during development
of factory in Germany
The development of a Tesla gigafactory near Berlin has resulted in about 500,000
trees being felled, according to satellite analysis.
The building of the German factory has been highly controversial and attracted
significant protests, as well as prompting a debate about the trade-offs
involved in developing a green economy.
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There are signs the billionaire is becoming unpopular with the very demographic
group most likely to buy EVs
Elon Musk has long flirted with rightwing politics, and delights in pushing an
image of himself as a contrarian showman. Yet in recent months the billionaire’s
political allegiances have started to raise a question for Tesla, the company
that he built into the world’s largest electric carmaker: just how far can he go
before customers start to abandon his products?
The German pharmacy chain Rossmann was one of the first to put its head above
the parapet this week. The family-owned company announced that it would not add
to the 34 Teslas in its company fleet because of Musk’s endorsement of Donald
Trump for US president.
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The country has long been the world’s biggest market – but the government’s
interest is more geopolitical than environmental
When Kenzi, an advertising worker in Shanghai, bought an electric vehicle in
November she wasn’t even thinking about the environmental benefits. She had read
Elon Musk’s biography and thought the Tesla 3 looked good. She also knew that if
she bought an EV she could bypass the long wait and cost of getting licence
plates, which are rationed by the government.
“It’s not easy to get a licence plate in Shanghai, but you get a licence for
free when you buy an EV,” she said.
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Electric vehicles are ‘batteries on wheels’ that can put energy back into the
National Grid when solar panels and windfarms do not provide much power
Electric cars make some people afraid of the dark. While the batteries produce
much less carbon, they require much more electricity to run. This has prompted
ominous warnings that Great Britain and other wealthy countries set on banning
new petrol and diesel cars risk plunging their populations into darkness.
In recent months British net zero-sceptical newspapers have warned that the
shift to EVs would “risk overwhelming the grid, and threaten catastrophic
blackouts” when intermittent sun and wind fail to provide the necessary power.
Another article claimed: “It won’t take an enemy power to put us all in the dark
– just energy customers doing normal things on a normal winter’s evening.”
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Despite being told there was ‘no crossing to be paid’, a driver received 23
penalty notices
In November I had to start using my boss’s car for work. After making my first
journey across the Dartford crossing on the M25, I tried to pay the Dart charge.
I typed in the car’s details but the website clearly stated there was “no
crossing to be paid”.
I presumed that this meant my boss had the car on his own Dart account. As a
result, I did not add it to my own account.
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All new cars must have the devices from 7 July, adding fuel economy as well as
safety. Will mpg become the new mph?
In the highway code and the law courts, there is no doubt what those big numbers
in red circles mean. As a quick trip up any urban street or motorway with no
enforcement cameras makes clear though, many drivers still regard speed signs as
an aspiration rather than a limit.
Technology that will be required across Europe from this weekend may change that
culture, because from 7 July all new cars sold in the EU and in Northern Ireland
must have a range of technical safety features fitted as standard. The most
notable of these is intelligent speed assistance – or colloquially, a speed
limiter.
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Electric automaker’s quarterly deliveries fell for two straight quarters for the
first time ever
Tesla’s global sales fell for the second straight quarter despite price cuts and
low-interest financing offers, another sign of weakening demand for the
company’s products and electric vehicles overall.
The Austin, Texas, company said on Tuesday that it sold 443,956 vehicles from
April through June, down 4.8% from 466,140 sold the same period a year ago. The
sales were better than the 436,000 figure that analysts had expected.
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