Electric Generation

I am Generation X so I like Ford Capris.

My children are Generation Z so they like Instagram - or, as those of us down with the kids know it, Insta.

There is news this week of electric cars for both groups this week.

Autocar and Auto Express are both reporting the new Ford Capri which is set to be launched in a couple of weeks...

No, that doesn't look much like a Ford Capri to me either.

Meanwhile, Jack from The Fully Charged Show, takes us on a tour of the Hyundai Insta - sorry the Hyundai Inster.

Both of these are cross-over SUVs, or as I prefer to call them, stupid cross-over SUVs.

Just like with the Mustang, Ford will be cashing in on classic car names to flog large numbers of vehicles to people who don't know much about cars.  And they will succeed while seriously turning off the real car fans to the brand.  Just look at he comments under articles about the new Capri.

Here's the only electric Capri that I approve of - I have one in my loft.

Meanwhile, Gen Z are getting a pretty decent car by the look of it - and check out the comments under Jack's piece.

What does this leave for the other generations?

I predict the forthcoming Honda Dailymail for the Boomers and the Mazda Dawsonscreek for the Millennials.

We are supposedly up to Generation Alpha now.

They can have the Tesla Heyduggie.

Dead Cert.

Here's a picture of jockey Frank Hayes astride Sweet Kiss in the 1923 Belmont Park Steeplechase.

You could this a picture of Schrödinger's Jockey.

Because at some point during that race (and nobody is sure when) - he died of a heart attack.

But, since living horse with deceased jockey still attached crossed the finish line in first place, the bookies had to pay out at 20-1.

I don't know how popular drag racing is with bookies (this is motoring blog after all so I must have been leading somewhere with that story)  I think it may be legal but here's a discussion in Autoweek from 2022 on the subject.  In that, 16-time Funny Car champion, John Force said, “If it’s a way to generate revenue, why not?"

What the hell is a Funny Car Champion!?  Excuse me while I look it up...

...ah, so it's one of these:

I had a Matchbox one of those as a child - never realised it was an actual thing.

Anyway, John Force is getting on a bit now - he's 75 in fact - but still drag racing - and a lot luckier than Frank Hayes - check this out:

And while he did cross the winning line first while still attached to his transport - and also very much alive, thank goodness - it was only because his opponent slowed down. Surely there should be some rule about on infringing on your opponent's track space?

He was awarded the win so the bookies should be paying out.

Any other betting stories in the news this week?

Slowing down electric cars

This isn't a story about regenerative braking.

I don't seem to quote many Autoguide stories these days - maybe because they don't put out as many as the other sites I like.  But here's one that is quite interesting for its contents AND for it in itself.

It is written by "AutoGuide.com News Staff" rather than by an individual.

And that is probably because "This article was co-written using AI and was then heavily edited and optimized by our editorial team."  Sounds like more effort than usual to create an article and that the longer term plan will be to do away with the editorial team once the AI has learnt to do the job properly.

Maybe I should look into AI for my blog.  And then if someone else could develop an AI to read my Blog, it could save everyone a load of time.

Anyway, the article is titled,

Ford Kills Key EV Program

What!?  Ford are stopping EV production!?

Well they can stop that one for a start - how dare they call that a Mustang!?

No, the key word there is "key".  The Key EV Program was one whereby US Ford dealers were told to invest huge sums of money to be certified, and therefore permitted, to sell EVs.

Somebody has noticed that EV sales have significantly slowed down and, meanwhile, unhappy dealers were starting lawsuits against the program.

Even governments are noticing that plans to outlaw all petrol & diesel only cars by 2040 may be ambitious.  Perhaps the advent of solid state batteries (circa 2028) will help but there are too many uncertainties that need to become certainties in the next 16 years.  

Now, I just need to end this piece in a succinct and amusing way - how do you log into ChatGPT?

A Bodge for Rodney

Rodney Street is quite famous in Liverpool.

It's where the doctors live.

Or at least where they practice.

They ought to be quite good by now.

It's a very historic road that gets used for period dramas - but, according to the BBC, the pavements are losing their character because the traditional flagstones are being replaced with bitumen.

A council spokesman is quoted as saying, "Despite regular enforcement, drivers often park partly on the pavement on Rodney Street and we use tarmac to carry out repairs in this location because it is more durable, hard wearing and needs less maintenance."

It's also cheaper.

Oh, and just to clarify for any Americans out there:

What you call the pavement (the paved bit you're meant to drive on) is what we call the carriageway.

And what we call the pavement is what you call the sidewalk (the bit at the side that you walk on)

Solid State Drive

This, I reckon, is a game-changer from Nissan.

And just like the solid state bit means you have solid stuff where the moving stuff should be in a disk drive, solid state batteries have solid stuff where the sloshy stuff should be.

Autocar have an interesting piece on it today.  The technology in there today but Nissan claim that they will be able to mass-produce them at a reasonable cost. 

And it would mean lighter EVs with longer range.

That cost less.

And EVs using them could be in production by 2028.

But are they less damaging to the environment that the current lithium-ion EV batteries?  And less prone to igniting?

The article doesn't tell us.

But this one from New Scientist last October does.

Apparently, they are less damaging to the environment that the current lithium-ion EV batteries and they are less prone to igniting.

And Toyota has made a breakthrough that will allow “game-changing” solid-state batteries to go into production by 2028.

Nomenclature

What is a veteran?

And is a Viet Vet a veterinarian from Vietnam?

Yes, that really is a photograph of a Vietnamese veterinarian.  But this is a car blog so what is a veteran car?  Online dictionaries define it as a car from either before  1919 or before 1905.  The 1905 date fits in with cars eligible for the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run so let's go with that.

So what is a vintage car?  Wikipedia claims that car enthusiasts and collectors say that it is a car from the period of 1919 to 1930.

Wikipedia may be wrong - let's say it is 1905 to 1930.

So anything 1931 to 1970 is just an old car?

That sounds wrong too.

But I certainly wouldn't call 1975 vintage.

This means I have a different view to my favourite Aussie site drive.com.au

Here is their story of a Victorian man (which would make him a veteran) crashing his classic (I think that's the word they should be using rather than "vintage") Holden Torano into a Hyundai i30.

What a tit.

When you read the story, you find that it's the un-named Facebook user they quote who get's the right nomenclature stating, “Some people don’t deserve to own a classic."

And I feel more sorry for the Hyundai driver.

Meanwhile the Holden needs fixing up and being sold to a more discerning owner of a sensible vintage.

They've taken the shine off Top Gear Magazine.

It's June 1st!  This means that the July issue of Top Gear Magazine has appeared in my porch.

I knew it was going to be different.  In the June edition, the regular columnists, Andy Franklin, Paul Horrell and Sam Philip pointed out that they were doing their last columns for the magazine.  They haven't been sacked or anything, but recently appointed editor-in-chief Jack Rix has decided that it is time to stamp his own style on the publication and shift a few things around - although he chooses not to mention it in his regular introduction piece.

Columnists in the past have often been the Top Gear TV presenters - notably, at it's peak, Clarkson, Hammond & May. And, more recently Chris Harris - but never Flintoff or McGuinness - maybe because THEY ARE NOT MOTORING JOURNALISTS!

Clarkson, Hammond & May were columnising back in 2010 when I last reported on a revamp of the mag.  That coincided with the recently outgone editor-in-chief first taking over.  The magazine has evolved in those 14 years and we have now lost a couple of features that I really liked such as Mark Riccioni's monthly bemoaning of his fleet of vehicles and the monthly history of a different car manufacturer (although last month the manufacturer was Lego)

The new columnists are Mike Channell (Radio Active anyone?) who I fear is going to be talking about gaming every month, Jethro Bovington who they have been trying to get us used to for a while now and Natalie Pinkham who I fear is going to be talking about F1 every month.

Oh yes, and she's a woman.

Going back to 2010, the magazine was printed on glossy paper.  Magazines in general used to be referred to as "the glossies."

You can't call them that now because most of them aren't.  Cost cutting.  Top Gear lost its glossiness many years ago but at least the front and back covers were still glossy.

Until today.  Look how dull and lifeless it looks in my photo.

It's lost its shine - inside and out?

In 2010 I asked and answered these questions...

So, is it a change for the worse?

No.

Is it a change for the better?

Dunno.

Is it change for change's sake?

Maybe.

Can you spare some change?

Go away.

Today I say...

So, is it a change for the worse?

Maybe.

Is it a change for the better?

Not so far.

Is it change for change's sake?

Maybe.

Can you spare some change?

Go away.

Hmmm.