Booze Bus

This is one of those stories that asks more questions than it answers.

Here is the Oxford United Team Coach:

His name is Karl Robinson.  And here is the Oxford United Team Coach:

Don't know its name. It may not even be the current one - there are lots of pictures on the Internet of different Oxford United Team Coaches.

Anyway, whichever is the latest coach has a clever device fitted to stop it being started if the driver has been at the bottle.  It also has a clever device to flood the vehicle with cleansing alcohol to kill off any Covid germs in the vicinity.

Now, can you spot a problem here?

The BBC version of the story is here.

Sounds Like Brewer's Telling Porkies

Well he is a used car salesman. 

I am a big fan of Wheeler Dealers - both the Edd era and the Ant era.

So I follow them on Facebook.

So I was somewhat perplexed to see this posting today:

Now Mike Brewer is obviously a car guy.

I am also a car guy.  I must be, I spend time writing a car blog that only 7 people read. And, speaking as a car guy, I am pretty confident in saying that things car guys find the opposite of interesting include:

• SUVs that farmers wouldn't be interested in
• Chinese Budget motors
• Bog-Standard Electric Cars

So I am incredibly sceptical when Mike Brewer says,

"MG has launched two new models, expanding the range to include an all-new EV and a plug-in hybrid variant of the HS SUV. Having seen the MG Motor UK ZS EV at the NEC last year, I can't wait to have a test drive in this. What do you think?"

I think MG must be paying you an awful lot of money to post that - it makes you less credible than Dominic Cummings.

The comments mostly though pick up on the fact that these cars look like a VW parked next to a Mazda.  All cross-overs look the same anyway but here I have got onto Paint and produced a VW parked next to a Mazda:

They've got a point.

Why Not To Post Snapchat Videos From The M25

 Headline:

Woman falls from car on M25 filming Snapchat video

BBC story:

Click Here.

Picture of where it happened:

Woman:

Dozy Mare.

But what I want to know is, Where's the bloody video?

Why Not to Post Pictures of Your Dinner

That's not my dinner by the way.  I wish it was - I like meatballs.  It was the first picture that came up when I searched for "Dinner" in Google Images.  It's owned by the BBC and I have a TV Licence so I hope they don't mind me using it.

But I digress.

I very rarely go on to the Liverpool Echo Website (or any of the other Trinity Mirror Newspaper ones)  They tend to be unreadable due to the invasive advertising but a particular headline piqued my interest and I've discovered that if you go on there using Internet Explorer, the adverts don't work so you can actually read the stories.  Most of the photos don't work either but I checked on Chrome and there are no gory pictures of the crash in the particular headline I'm on about.

Here's the headline:

'Hungry' police officer crashes after using blue lights to 'get home for tea'

And here is the story.

A 'tired and hungry' police officer put on his blue lights 'without reason' after his wife sent a picture of his tea on the table.  He switched on his emergency lights, drove at speeds up to 80 mph, ran a red light and then crashed into a BMW.

It's a shame because he had had a long day working and he has a distinguished career, first in The RAF  and then in The Police.  It appears to be a one-off mistake, but since he could have killed someone, it is right that he was punished.  He admitted one count of dangerous driving, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and was handed a 12-month community order. He must also carry out 40 hours of unpaid work and must pass an extended driving test before he will be allowed back on the roads. The officer was also ordered to pay the prosecution costs.

His job is on the line - I hope he doesn't lose it.

On top of all this, I bet his tea was cold when he finally got home.

Trailing Sockets

Car+Driver have raised an interesting question today:

How do you charge a electric truck that happens to be towing a trailer?

Gosh that looks strange.

 

Is it a horsebox?  Is it a caravan for shy people?

 

Just two of the many more questions that the article throws up.

 

Such as:

 

How much weight can an electric vehicle tow?

 

What does it do to the range? Can you trust the range computer on your dashboard?

 

Are caravan sites going to have to have extra charging sockets next to where you connect your caravan to the mains electricity?  Or will you have a cable running from your electric car or truck through your caravan window and plugged in next to the TV?

 

Car+Driver's main concern though is, given that charging point bays are designed to be driven into by cars, do you have to unhitch a trailer and leave it somewhere?  That trailer in the picture looks a bit hefty to be manhandled.

 

It looks like the manufacturers of electric trucks haven't thought that one through either - apart from Rivian - their agreements with charging companies specify that they will need space to accommodate vehicles that are towing trailers. They say that they will also make sure there is room for this type of charging in its own charging network.

 

Final question:

 

What is the best thing to carry in a trailer pulled by an electric vehicle?

 

Answer: