gangzoom

If I was skilful enough I would love a bike, unfortunately I have a hard enough time staying upright on a pedal bike at less than 20mph, on a 'proper' bike I think I would end up been a organ donor very quickly...BUT if I was into bikes,this things would be on my shopping list. One of the fastest bikes (regardless of power-source) up pikes hill climb already, I have no idea how anyone just doesn't bin it every corner, with no noise to help you judge speed/power, these things look like they could have just come out of something like Wipeout....

Cheers for the support, I'm quite use to it, but given passion for cars frankly I'll argue all day long with anyone who thinks EVs are still was essentially milk floats. As you've said I'm just sharing my real life experiences of a fab little car Nissan has been brave enough to make. Will be back for more or the same at regular intervals

On a different note, just went to the HighCross shopping centre today where they had the Tesla on display. Couldn't speak to anyone about it last time due to time, so today I was excited to see another black saloon in the same spot..... Thought 'perfect' can book a test drive and nosy inside....Turns out it was just a Maseratti, how disappointing

I have read it 3 times now please show me where i called you a name? Stop fuelling a fire which isnt there. Regardless of where the idea first started, the simple fact is a 691 bhp Tesla S will deliver a 3.1second 0-60time, something none of us will have ever be to experience/let alone access on a daily basis using ICE technology. As I've said, at £55-60K for a 691bhp Tesla S, I wouldn't be able to resist that kind of performance at that price point, and at that kind of running costs (lack of). Your right not many people will ever be able to access a P1, but a Jaguar XJR starts at £92K for 550PS, a Tesla P85D starts at £79K....I know which one I would pick to spend my £££ on.

Just as race-horses are kept for well 'racing', no EV will produce the noise/drama of a V12, but does anyone actually want to be deafened by a V12 whilst sitting in traffic on your daily commute...Some might, but the vast majority wouldn't. Imagine is the government stopped taxing petrol instead focused on electricity...All of a sudden you can run a V12 for cheap, as a weekend toy, whilst going to work on a EV.

wooo...when did this become a 'save the planet' argument???!! Having owned a Integra Type R, 350Z, 335i, do anyone here actually think I care about the environment All I want is speed, refinement, at a lowest running cost possible. Based on those criteria EVs seat a new bench mark. This video from a guy testing an electric motorbike is hilarious, listen to the nosies his making from about 4 minutes in on the video, I think he must have a past acting role in 'Big boys 6' or something similar

Have you actually looked back at how things have changed in just the last 50-100 years.....The DNA double hex was only discovered in the 1950's, as already mentioned the Ford Model T was still on sale in 1915. Tesla as company didn't even exist until 2003. I'm sorry you seem to be so angry about the possibility of ICE been replaced, but times are changing, remember when Nokia use to be a big company selling millions of phones every day, and than small computer company called Apple released the iPhone.....That was all the way back in ancient days of 2007

I fully agree the Leaf looks odd, and clearly is no performance car, but its more fun and responsive to drive than our Lexus IS300H, and by god it's better than any equivalent Nissan Note / Pulsar family hatchback. For me the Leaf is a means to an end, but as a commute car, it makes lots of sense. If I kept the Leaf longterm, I could justify having one of these in the garage for weekend runs....

I'm not going to waste too much time, because I've realised some people are just so small minded, any change form their pre-set norm is pretty much impossible- But just for sake of 'debate' here are some youtube videos (which i've posted before) from car journalist on EVs.. Even the most die hard petrol-head cannot deny the performance EVs can offer.... ....and ofcourse 'EVO' I don't need to persuade my self about anything - the only thing I'm having a hard time doing is stopping my self from spending £55K right now a new 70D, but the Nissan don't want the Leaf back till end of the finance agreement, so for now I'll just make do with very cheap but enjoyable motoring ...The possibility of buying a Tesla and leaving the Leaf parked up as SORN till the collection date has crossed my mind Rather than stick your head in the sand and ignore everything else happening around EVs, why not go and do some proper research yourself, and if after that your still disagree, fine, BUT don't dismiss things based on your pre-fomred mis-conceptions.

These are your thoughts, I like to disagree.....Anyways it's my own money I'm spending, so you should feel smug I'm been such an idiot BTW....if you look at the numbers Nissan and Renault have invested $5 BILLION in EV development. So if Nissan is treating EVs as some kind of side-branch, that's a hell of money to spend on a 'hobby', especially when a few years ago Nissan wasn't far from bankruptcy. A shareholder meeting is also not really a marketing event, its aimed at 'shareholders', ie people who have money invested in the company, to re-assure them that their investment is going well etc

Of course PS 2 more Looks fantastic, surely thats about as perfect as it gets now...or is there more to come

So I thought I update on the progress of the Leaf. About to start my 4th month of ownership, 1500 miles done, and my driving technique has got better, so now averaging 5 miles per kWh - so 100 mile range per charge to 100%. Charging the car itself has been pretty painless, I continue to get most of my charging done at free public stations. So far I’ve used about £8 of my own electricity, having said that, even if I did all my re-charging at home the total cost would have been about £50, so about 1 tank of fuel for our old Honda Civic. It's interesting to see at this years Nissan's annual shareholder meeting, despite the Leaf only making up a handful of sale for Nissan at the moment, the only two actual cars on display, flanking the CEO were two Leafs....So it's a clear sign as possible regarding what the future of motoring is for Nissan. An electric Z car / GTR is surely on the cards... It looks like Nissan already have a 'development' Leaf capable of hitting 250 miles in the real world, given the Leaf is not big enough to accommodate a massive battery pack like the Tesla, these advances must be due to increased battery density/better efficiency. Biggest news that they promise to show the 'first step' later this year - So this all but confirms a 30kWh Leaf - which should have a real world range of 100 miles even in cold/non-ideal conditions verus the 70-80 miles of the current car. Given the Leaf doesnt look like it's changing its shape anytime soon, I hope Nissan will offer existing owners (such as my self) a option to 'upgrade' the batter pack when the existing battery pack loss capacity. If they did this, you could potentially never need to buy another car, just a new battery pack every 100K+ or so, which at the moment is priced at £5K and I suspect the price wil drop as battery pack production ramps up even more. Nissan Leaf With 250-Mile Range: Ghosn Shows R&D Car, Video At Annual Meeting I've said this many times before....But this really is a exciting time if your into cars, I cannot remeber any time since I've been driving where so many new revloutionary techonlogies are coming so quickly….The Leaf is my 4th Nissan, and once it goes back to the finance company 2017 I would love to replace it with another Nissan EV. But some how I just cannot see how Nissan (or anyone else) can come up with a product to market by 2017 that can touch a the Model S in terms of appeal. Given a 12 month old £90K+ P85+ can already be bought for £65K second hand (Tesla don't do discounts off the list price, so that's a true '£30K' depreciation in 12 month) - A 2 year old 691bhp Model S for £55K will be very very hard for me to ignore come 2017

That reminds me, I was around at a friends place the other night and discovered they had a huge solar pv array in the field behind them, and a Leaf was sat there soaking up all that "free" energy...... ....hmmm...I prefer being ripped off with fuel and road tax though! I'll be needing every spare penny going soon...Very close to putting down a deposit to pre-order one of these things for when they arrive in the UK (Late 2016). I'm thinking if I'm going to go totally off petrol cars completely might do a complete 180 and get an electric people carrier Apologies for going OT - My nearest petrol station is showing 1.15p/L for unleaded.

What is the price of petrol/diesel these days

For my situation I had to phone 2 different council offices, since the fine was given by one council but the car was registered at a different councils catchment area...Infact the car wasn't even illegally parked. But it became such a mess I just wanted it to all go away ASAP so just paid up rather than have to deal with the hassle. The bailiff should know who employed them. Good luck sorting it out!! Your be glad once it done, and in the future am sure your be obsessive about opening up/keeping track of letters from the DVLA. I know I'm these days

Contact the department he bailiff is representing. Your situation seems quite complex, but I'm not sure just how 'honest' some of these bailiffs are...In my case the bailiff was demanding £550 up-front on the day whilst banning on every door/window he could get to, when I phoned the council that the debt originated from they told me I owned them £400 ish. When I asked where the £550 came from they had no idea, so I wasn't sure if the bailiff was just trying to pocket some extra cash....Obviously I'm not implying they were trying to con me out of more money, that would be libel

This happened to me years ago when i was a student, a parking ticket resulted in the fine going to my parents address. They didn't open the letter for weeks because it was addressed to me, first time I knew about the fine was when bailiffs were knocking on the door of my previous student house. I'm pretty sure the DVLA can prosecute your not informing them of your change of address (£1000??), legally I'm sure it's the registered keepers duty to make sure the address is up to date. I cannot see a magistrate siding with you on this. I ended up having to pay £400ish for a £45 council parking ticket, I even tried to get the local MP interested, but they all told me just to pay the fine or go to court, and face a even bigger fine!! It seem un-fair, but the law is quite clear. Pleading ignorance / not opening the letter / not getting the letter wouldn't work in court. If the fine is from the council and legitimate you have little chance of wining.

If you want noise remove the primary cats, straight through pipes are about £300. It's a fine balance though, for me I always thought of them as Q cars. Having a really loud exhaust just makes them sound a bit chavy.....The stock exhaust is actually very loud at 4krpm, it's simply because the cabin is so well insulated you cannot hear anything!! ...Oh the brakes do fade, not as badly as the stock ones on the 350Z Best mod I did on the car was the Birds B3 suspension kit and the Quaife LSD. Pricey bits of kit but worth every £. If I hadn't fitted the LSD I would have sold mine after 2 weeks. But you wouldn't get much change from £5k going down this route, not worth it on a sub £9k car as you wouldn't see much return on these when you sell, and if you have another fun/weekend car than the stock handling isn't half bad. Enjoy the car, I've said it before enough times, but my old 335i was the best petrol car I've ever driven/owned interms of overall speed/economy/refinement/fun, for under £9k you just picked up a car with the same engine (minus lots of cooling hardware) as the new M3/M4 ....Still these days I prefer my Leaf Oh I really wouldn't worry about using super-unleaded. The ECU is far better at knock detection and managing fuel grades than the Zs. Mine lived on normal unleaded for 4 years, still made 380bhp+, with wheel spin on the dyno. When your stuck in traffic, super unleaded gets brunt up just as quickly as unleaded

If you want noise remove the primary cats, straight through pipes are about £300. It's a fine balance though, for me I always thought of them as Q cars. Having a really loud exhaust just makes them sound a bit chavy.....The stock exhaust is actually very loud at 4krpm, it's simply because the cabin is so well insulated you cannot hear anything!! ...Oh the brakes do fade, not as badly as the stock ones on the 350Z Best mod I did on the car was the Birds B3 suspension kit and the Quaife LSD. Pricey bits of kit but worth every £. If I hadn't fitted the LSD I would have sold mine after 2 weeks. Enjoy the car, I've said it before enough times, but my old 335i was the best petrol car I've ever driven/owned interms of overall speed/economy/refinement/fun.....Still these days I prefer my Leaf

Apparently due to 'human error'. The technology is getting there, after-all most modern planes can land without any human input, parking a car is hardly any more complicated...Which will probably lead to the only logical conclusion....Which is to 'eliminate' human error http://www.theguardi...n-human-drivers If we end up with had fully automated cars which can talk to each other....Say the AI on a bus carrying 20 school kids works out a crash with a car carrying 2 people is inevitable, and the choice is between crashing into the car or missing the car but crashing into a concrete barrier....Which one would you program it to choose....Self preservation, crash into the car (probably killing its occupants) but keep most of the kids alive, or avoid the car but hit the barrier - potentially causing more harm to those on board....Which one would the fresh prince choose to do Than of-course when fully aware AI appear, and if someone is stupid enough to program the AI to say 'Run the world as efficiently as possible', it doesn't take a super intelligent computer to work out we (as humans) are the most illogical/energy wasting/disruptive species on the planet, and than it'll only be a matter of time before we welcome the 'new' world....I need to stop watching Sci-Fi films

Better get that sorted before the wife realises it's your signature on the paper work!!

Very true but what you need to do is apply that thinking to houses....I don't know what house prices are like where you live, but around Leicester a large detached house with a double garage in a nice area is at least £500,000 - This is the price range our next house will be in - If your anywhere near London I really feel sorry for you because you wouldn't get much more than a mid-terrace/flat for £500k, how you bring up a family in a flat I have no idea Monthly mortgage payments on a £400,000 mortgage is £2000 a month at 3.5% interest 5 year fixed assuming 20% deposit. IF you can put down a larger deposit, and drop the mortgage to £250,000 your monthly payments go down to £1,000 month, because you can now access products that offer 2.2% fixed, and a lower initial borrowed sum. Your personal situation may be different, but the same principles apply. The bigger you house deposit the cheaper your monthly cost, and by a substantial margin!! So you can use the philosophy of 'Only live once', but if you try to budget and plan for 5 years ahead your could save your self ALOT of money by tightening the belt for a relative short time period now....And once the house/mortgage is sorted your have lots more disposable income to waste on what ever you like. Personally I much rather pay £1000 a month on my mortgage rather than £2000 a month, but for that to happen we have to squirrel away like mad for the next 5 years (The T fund is separate a ring-fenced account ). But swapping a car to change the monthly payments from £294 to £219, whilst going from a diesel to a turbo petrol performance car...I'm sure it'll be great fun, but don't kid your self that your actually making any serious attempt to save up any money towards a house....Manmaths or not

You cannot put up a you tube drag race without running the risk of me putting something like this up... Yes the Aventador wins, but how many people here can ever dream of actually buying and running an Aventador, I guess it'll swallow £150 worth of fuel without much effort, I admit I have no idea how much they cost to buy, but I suspect they are in the 'if you have to ask you cannot afford it' category.... A 2-3 year old P85D will likely cost £55-60K, so M3/M4 money, still not cheap but with-in reach for some, and cost £10 to refuel max.

I'm sure the new car would be fun...Don't forget modding costs on top of extra fuel costs....Wasn't the point of a diesel A5 originally something to do with saving money compared to running a Z. I originally bought a Z because I thought it would be cheaper to run/maintain/insure than a Hawkeye Impreza

So if I understand correctly the sequence of events: Sell 350Z to save money -> Buy A5 diesel, cheaper on fuel but been newer, I suspect more expensive on depreciation-> Now sell A5 to save money -> Considering a Subaru STI Only in the magical world of man maths could a Subaru Impreza STI be considered as a 'saving money' option, when your currently driving a diesel motorway barge Instead of worrying about what you can afford to drive now, try planning what you WANT to own/drive in 3-4-5 years time?? I know lots of people think am mad because I swapped my old BMW 335i, but by saving some money now in 18 months time I'll be able to get-in to something I really want without having to touch our long term savings or delaying our mortgage payback plan. The reason I had no problems with spending ££££ on the 335i before, was because I couldn't see my self been able to afford to buy/run the next class of car ever (F10 M5), but as soon as I worked out there was a significantly better alternative I sat down and did the man-maths, and it quickly became clear the 335i had to go....Once that decision was made the 335i went within 2 weeks. If you've consciously made the decision to save money, than do it properly and sell/get-rid of what you don't need, because otherwise everyday you delay, your delaying your saving plan. A few years of driving something slower/cheaper is no real harsh ship, not when it'll enable me to save up an additional £20k+, which is the difference needed to get me from a 330 BHP Tesla into the 691 BHP version