Armageddon

[KP01]

Range looks very limited though. This is a screenshot of the spec of the van from Kia’s website. Load that up with campervan kit and it’s not going very far at all. If you’re then running your cooking, heating and fridge on it without hookup, you’ll have nothing left to drive with.View attachment 146122

Remember, that’s WLTP. Knock a good 20 per cent or so off for real world conditions. Even more in winter.

I drive an EV. Love it. Never plan to drive an ICE car again. Wish my Grand Cali was EV. But I don’t think the battery tech is there yet for vans.

 

[Chriskend]

My wife and I have a Tesla each for 6 years now, don’t forget to knock off 20% for only charging to 80%, getting the t7 diesel in a couple of weeks, that will be the only ice vehicle we will own, just not enough range for a full ev camper yet

 

[willwander]

Wait until they blow up Hungary’s pipeline. Don’t think we ever found out who blew up the last one.

 

[KP01]

Polish court blocks extradition and frees Ukrainian suspected in Nord Stream pipeline blasts

A Polish court on Friday blocked the extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian man suspected of involvement in the 2022 attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines and ordered his release, a ruling that was w...

uk.news.yahoo.com

 

[KP01]

When Russia’s chum Serbia finds a bomb at a very politically convenient time for Russia’s other big chum, Orban, who coincidentally is struggling in the polls in a run-up to an election, I’ll take the news with a very large pinch of salt.

 

[Dave Wickham]

Price is one thing but shortages have me a little concerned about our Euro trip end of April. Reality at the moment is there is no shortage but panic buying is causing short term localised supply issues. No help if you’re deep in Germany and need to get home.

Panic buying! There was a clip on the internet of a woman filling plastic shopping bags with petrol and putting them in her boot - the guy behind was filming it. OK, it could be AI but it looked genuine to me. Apart from being illegal, when she goes round a corner or brakes what do you think will happen. This is the sort of moronic behaviour you see from a largely ignorant public! It reminds me of the panic buying of toilet paper during Covid. I never knew diarrhea was that prevalent amongst the general public. Blows your mind folk are that dumb!

 

[flying banana]

Panic buying! There was a clip on the internet of a woman filling plastic shopping bags with petrol and putting them in her boot - the guy behind was filming it. OK, it could be AI but it looked genuine to me. Apart from being illegal, when she goes round a corner or brakes what do you think will happen. This is the sort of moronic behaviour you see from a largely ignorant public! It reminds me of the panic buying of toilet paper during Covid. I never knew diarrhea was that prevalent amongst the general public. Blows your mind folk are that dumb!

People wore masks outside for a year. Gyms shut, but take away open to protect your health. If stood up you were at risk. If you sat own ok. It doesn't blow my mind after witnessing that sh1t, how dumb people are. And on this forum it also happened with the covidiot name calling. I hope the people that did this have a right good fu,,ing look at themselves, they were the Idiots. I'll never forget.
After the artemis launch, the dumbness gets worse!!!! . Fake. Ai. Etc. We're fuc,Ed. Official.

 

[RedWhiteMonkey]

Diesel prices at 2,44€ (£2.12) this morning here in Germany. Glad I use an electric car for my work commute.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

There is no issue with supply. Russian sanctions were dropped at the start of the war, they are shipping plenty of sweet crude which is then refined into whatever product is required.

The price increase is part panic buying / part greed (inc our own wonderful government via fuel duty!…which can then spent on whatever they see fit).

Nearly new used hybrid car prices seem to have increased over past month.

 

[Up10]

So, apologies if I'm somewhat derailing a Cali forum thread. I have become something of an EV fanboy, and I just can't see why anyone with access to a home charger and 2p per mile motoring wouldn't feel the same way. I see almost zero downside with the new PV5 camper versus the Cali, and a ton of upside and long-term cost saving.

I am not opposed to EV, in fact we are cautiously investigating it at the moment. We are happy to go this route with a second vehicle, satisfied that we have a diesel Cali as backup. We appreciate diversification.
However, my experience of sustainability is that it works for only as long as there is a renewable source.
We will be ok through the summer, I am sure, with electric power but come the cooler season, there may be shortages unless the wind blows and the sun shines brightly.
We have agreements and links with Europe which may help.

Main Sources of Power Generation​

The current energy mix in the UK is dominated by the following sources:

Energy Source	Percentage Contribution
Natural Gas	39.4%
Wind Power	37%
Solar Power	Significant but less than wind
Nuclear Power	8.1%
Biomass	6.8%
Coal	0% (ceased generation since September 2024)

We are still generating nearly half our energy from carbon based fuels. We are still in transition and, until we can construct more alternative baseload power stations (not bio), develop better battery storage and improve the power grid, electric cars for every UK driver will be limited. I truly believe we will have power outages this winter unless the USA resolves some of the issues it has created.
We are lucky as, we can walk most places we need to go. EV vehicles are picking up in value so we will probably wait before changing our vehicles. We won't change our behaviour or panic buy but we will continue to keep our fuel tanks over half full as normal because we have older relatives who sometimes depend on us being there in a hurry.

 

[Mansfieldman750]

I am not opposed to EV, in fact we are cautiously investigating it at the moment. We are happy to go this route with a second vehicle, satisfied that we have a diesel Cali as backup. We appreciate diversification.
However, my experience of sustainability is that it works for only as long as there is a renewable source.
We will be ok through the summer, I am sure, with electric power but come the cooler season, there may be shortages unless the wind blows and the sun shines brightly.
We have agreements and links with Europe which may help.

Main Sources of Power Generation​

The current energy mix in the UK is dominated by the following sources:

Energy Source	Percentage Contribution
Natural Gas	39.4%
Wind Power	37%
Solar Power	Significant but less than wind
Nuclear Power	8.1%
Biomass	6.8%
Coal	0% (ceased generation since September 2024)

We are still generating nearly half our energy from carbon based fuels. We are still in transition and, until we can construct more alternative baseload power stations (not bio), develop better battery storage and improve the power grid, electric cars for every UK driver will be limited. I truly believe we will have power outages this winter unless the USA resolves some of the issues it has created.
We are lucky as, we can walk most places we need to go. EV vehicles are picking up in value so we will probably wait before changing our vehicles. We won't change our behaviour or panic buy but we will continue to keep our fuel tanks over half full as normal because we have older relatives who sometimes depend on us being there in a hurry.

The current war should make it clear that we cannot rely on gas from the Middle East, Russia or USA for electricity generation.

A sea change is already taking place. The coal fired power stations in the Trent Valley have gone, to be largely replaced by Wind Power from Scotland.
At present the Electricity Grid cannot cope and producers are being paid to switch off the turbines.
That is changing fast. The cables are being laid between Scotland and England.

Wind does not always blow. We need back up. That is small scale nuclear and Rolls-Royce is a world leader in this technology.

So you might think it could be a good idea to own shares in Rolls-Royce and the owners of the UK grid to take advantage of these big changes. That is National Grid in England and Scottish and Southern Electricity and Iberdrola ( Scottish Power ) in Scotland.

So how have the shares done in the past year,
Rolls-Royce up 81%
National Grid up 35.67%
SSE up 79.44%
Iberdrola up 41.63%
All plus dividends.

There you have it. £10,000 in each of these four a year ago and you would have a new California for £40,000.

 

[Up10]

The current war should make it clear that we cannot rely on gas from the Middle East, Russia or USA for electricity generation.

A sea change is already taking place. The coal fired power stations in the Trent Valley have gone, to be largely replaced by Wind Power from Scotland.
At present the Electricity Grid cannot cope and producers are being paid to switch off the turbines.
That is changing fast. The cables are being laid between Scotland and England.

Wind does not always blow. We need back up. That is small scale nuclear and Rolls-Royce is a world leader in this technology.

So you might think it could be a good idea to own shares in Rolls-Royce and the owners of the UK grid to take advantage of these big changes. That is National Grid in England and Scottish and Southern Electricity and Iberdrola ( Scottish Power ) in Scotland.

So how have the shares done in the past year,
Rolls-Royce up 81%
National Grid up 35.67%
SSE up 79.44%
Iberdrola up 41.63%
All plus dividends.

There you have it. £10,000 in each of these four a year ago and you would have a new California for £40,000.

I believe you may be hiding an inner capitalist!

I went to a lecture a few years back at which they stated that batteries in cars would be used to supplement storage for the grid. EV drivers would be encouraged to plug in when possible so excess energy could be stored and then taken back during high grid demand, therefore extending battery capacity in the UK. Is thus happening yet?

The downside is that you may not have energy in your car when you need it!

 

[Mansfieldman750]

I believe you may be hiding an inner capitalist!

I dabble. I have some SSE and National Grid shares but not enough to buy a new Campervan. More like a tank of diesel if I was to sell them, which I won’t.

SSE have 3 wind/hydro projects on the go which work on the same principal as cars feeding back into the grid. When the wind blows the surplus generation pumps water from a reservoir up to a higher one, for example Loch Lomond to Loch Sloy. When it’s calm the pipeline from Sloy turns the turbines to generate the juice, sort of like a water battery.

As Gerry Rafferty said when there’s clowns to the left of you and jokers to the right make your own electricity. Or words to that effect.

 

[Up10]

I dabble. I have some SSE and National Grid shares but not enough to buy a new Campervan. More like a tank of diesel if I was to sell them, which I won’t.

SSE have 3 wind/hydro projects on the go which work on the same principal as cars feeding back into the grid. When the wind blows the surplus generation pumps water from a reservoir up to a higher one, for example Loch Lomond to Loch Sloy. When it’s calm the pipeline from Sloy turns the turbines to generate the juice, sort of like a water battery.

As Gerry Rafferty said when there’s clowns to the left of you and jokers to the right make your own electricity. Or words to that effect.

And of course, Dinorwig which is a power station and battery combined. But we don't have the right topography for many of these battery systems so why not rely on a nation full of EVs for backup?
But perhaps we are getting a little

 

[Mansfieldman750]

And of course, Dinorwig which is a power station and battery combined. But we don't have the right topography for many of these battery systems so why not rely on a nation full of EVs for backup?
But perhaps we are getting a little

Ach, it’s a time honoured tradition to go off topic on the forum.
I’m done on here anyway. I’m going on Great Forum Fallouts for a fight with the Great Orange team.

 

[Wannabecamperman]

My wife and I have a Tesla each for 6 years now, don’t forget to knock off 20% for only charging to 80%, getting the t7 diesel in a couple of weeks, that will be the only ice vehicle we will own, just not enough range for a full ev camper yet

The 80% figure is recommended for NMC lithium abtteries.

Lithium Phosphate (LFP) as in my Model Y RWD is fine to 100% regularly, and actually recommended by Tesla.

 

[CaliBear]

I am not opposed to EV, in fact we are cautiously investigating it at the moment. We are happy to go this route with a second vehicle, satisfied that we have a diesel Cali as backup. We appreciate diversification.
However, my experience of sustainability is that it works for only as long as there is a renewable source.
We will be ok through the summer, I am sure, with electric power but come the cooler season, there may be shortages unless the wind blows and the sun shines brightly.
We have agreements and links with Europe which may help.

Main Sources of Power Generation​

The current energy mix in the UK is dominated by the following sources:

Energy Source	Percentage Contribution
Natural Gas	39.4%
Wind Power	37%
Solar Power	Significant but less than wind
Nuclear Power	8.1%
Biomass	6.8%
Coal	0% (ceased generation since September 2024)

We are still generating nearly half our energy from carbon based fuels. We are still in transition and, until we can construct more alternative baseload power stations (not bio), develop better battery storage and improve the power grid, electric cars for every UK driver will be limited. I truly believe we will have power outages this winter unless the USA resolves some of the issues it has created.
We are lucky as, we can walk most places we need to go. EV vehicles are picking up in value so we will probably wait before changing our vehicles. We won't change our behaviour or panic buy but we will continue to keep our fuel tanks over half full as normal because we have older relatives who sometimes depend on us being there in a hurry.

Not sure where you got your figures from, as it stating solar as significant but less than wind doesn't fill me with confidence in who came up with those statistics.
Maybe they are older as much has changed and is changing as we both increase solar and wind production and crucially bolster our national grid/transmission of electricity from those sources at greater capacity and more efficiently.

Official 2025 Figures from the UKs National Energy System Operator (NESO) energy mix was:

Wind 29.7%
Gas 26.8%
Nuclear 11.8%
Biomass 6.9%
Solar 6.5%
Imports 15.1%
Hydro 1.6%
Storage 1.6%

NESO classes Biomass as renewable, but that is a bit debatable. Nuclear is not renewable but is low carbon.
So taking things into consideration our electricity generation from wind and solar (36.2% combined) alone was more than that of Gas and biomass (33.7% combined).

If we include low carbon sources of wind, solar, hydro and nuclear then it is 49.6% (56.5% if we include biomass) and that is not including parts of the 15.1% imported electricity that are from renewable or low carbon sources generated from either France (mainly Nuclear generated), Norway (mainly hydro generated), Denmark (mainly wind), The Netherlands (mainly wind and solar) and Belgium (mainly Nuclear).
Our interconnect with Ireland is almost always export to Ireland rather than import.

I think power/electricity outages are less likely due to the above figures (and in winter, wind is at its highest production although solar has less daylight hours), more likely limits on oil/petrol/diesel and gas if we are outbid from the global market by other countries.

Also most of the UKs gas (79%) comes from both our own and Norwegian gas fields and only 14% comes from elsewhere.

According to NESO, Out of our total gas usage only 19% is used for electricity production, with 52% used in the gas distribution network, 22% is exported to Ireland and the EU, 1% is used in industrial and 6% used as storage.

If anything the Iran situation should show us that we should really be prioritising oil and gas for those things that cannot be easily ran from electricity, with the added benefit of helping making us more energy independent.
After all we can all make our own electricity at home with solar panels, but we can't make our own oil or gas (although baked beans might help).
Ps, sorry for the long post.

 

[dspuk]

So you might think it could be a good idea to own shares in Rolls-Royce and the owners of the UK grid to take advantage of these big changes. That is National Grid in England and Scottish and Southern Electricity and Iberdrola ( Scottish Power ) in Scotland.

Just a gentle correction on this as we work with the DNO’s (Distribution Network Operators) and I’d hate to think, as a Northerner, “England” was just the National Grid.

National grid just covers Wales and the Midlands, East and West. The remainder of the country is covered by other operators such as Northern Powergrid, one of my clients.

Scotland is covered by 2 DNO’s, and, for revenge, Southern England.

 

[Mansfieldman750]

Just a gentle correction on this as we work with the DNO’s (Distribution Network Operators) and I’d hate to think, as a Northerner, “England” was just the National Grid.

National grid just covers Wales and the Midlands, East and West. The remainder of the country is covered by other operators such as Northern Powergrid, one of my clients.

Scotland is covered by 2 DNO’s, and, for revenge, Southern England.

View attachment 146187

I never knew that and stand corrected. Still, its good that Scottish Power and SSE own parts of the Grid down here.
When we march on Carlisle, yes’ll aw be cut aff !

 

[Mansfieldman750]

Not sure where you got your figures from, as it stating solar as significant but less than wind doesn't fill me with confidence in who came up with those statistics.
Maybe they are older as much has changed and is changing as we both increase solar and wind production and crucially bolster our national grid/transmission of electricity from those sources at greater capacity and more efficiently.

Official 2025 Figures from the UKs National Energy System Operator (NESO) energy mix was:

Wind 29.7%
Gas 26.8%
Nuclear 11.8%
Biomass 6.9%
Solar 6.5%
Imports 15.1%
Hydro 1.6%
Storage 1.6%

NESO classes Biomass as renewable, but that is a bit debatable. Nuclear is not renewable but is low carbon.
So taking things into consideration our electricity generation from wind and solar (36.2% combined) alone was more than that of Gas and biomass (33.7% combined).

If we include low carbon sources of wind, solar, hydro and nuclear then it is 49.6% (56.5% if we include biomass) and that is not including parts of the 15.1% imported electricity that are from renewable or low carbon sources generated from either France (mainly Nuclear generated), Norway (mainly hydro generated), Denmark (mainly wind), The Netherlands (mainly wind and solar) and Belgium (mainly Nuclear).
Our interconnect with Ireland is almost always export to Ireland rather than import.

I think power/electricity outages are less likely due to the above figures (and in winter, wind is at its highest production although solar has less daylight hours), more likely limits on oil/petrol/diesel and gas if we are outbid from the global market by other countries.

Also most of the UKs gas (79%) comes from both our own and Norwegian gas fields and only 14% comes from elsewhere.

According to NESO, Out of our total gas usage only 19% is used for electricity production, with 52% used in the gas distribution network, 22% is exported to Ireland and the EU, 1% is used in industrial and 6% used as storage.

If anything the Iran situation should show us that we should really be prioritising oil and gas for those things that cannot be easily ran from electricity, with the added benefit of helping making us more energy independent.
After all we can all make our own electricity at home with solar panels, but we can't make our own oil or gas (although baked beans might help).
Ps, sorry for the long post.

I totally agree with your last paragraph. Although I’m all for home produced renewable energy, if there is still plenty of oil in our part of the North Sea and it can be extracted economically then get it out. Use it or sell it.
It’s a National Asset and the country is skint. Why wouldn’t you ?

If that involves sacking Ed Milliband first, that’s not a big job is it.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

If that involves sacking Ed Milliband first, that’s not a big job is it.

Probably for the best

 

[Betsycalifornia]

I totally agree with your last paragraph. Although I’m all for home produced renewable energy, if there is still plenty of oil in our part of the North Sea and it can be extracted economically then get it out. Use it or sell it.
It’s a National Asset and the country is skint. Why wouldn’t you ?

If that involves sacking Ed Milliband first, that’s not a big job is it.

Anyone can look at the mix of power generation pretty much live.

National Grid: Live

Shows the live status of Great Britain’s electric power transmission network

grid.iamkate.com

This is for the national grid live. Quite interesting if you’re into the stats.

Can also go down into the actual power generation sites with this one.
https://www.energydashboard.co.uk/live

 

[Vagophile]

There was a crisis in the 1970s. We struggled through with speed restrictions, reduced working hours, fuel rationing, then it was crisis over, business as usual.
France took a radical decision and decided to go nuclear.
Compare the difference now

 

[Mansfieldman750]

Spot on analysis. So, could be an extra €557 diesel cost on a 4,000km trip. I can live with that, or avoid it.
We are off after Easter, loose plan head for Southern Spain, Alpujarras maybe, 4,000km probably about right.
But we are not committed. Maybe just go as far as the Costa Brava and use a lot less diesel. Or just pooter about Normandy and Brittany and use not a lot of diesel at all. And save on tolls as well. The choice is ours.
Only thing certain is we are going. ORANGE MANIAC WILL NOT KEEP US AT HOME.

According to RAC diesel is around £1.58 in Spain. Spain it is then.

 

[Mansfieldman750]

Diesel in Spain is €1.85 to €1.90 and that was universal from San Sebastián to Salamanca which is where we are now.
There are no shortages and petrol stations are much more frequent than back home.
In France diesel varied between €2.20 at supermarkets to €2.70 on motorway.

This campsite is €23 per night with the ACSI card, San Sebastián was €27, we had 3 nights at Moliets Plage just north of Biarritz which was €19 a night plus a little tourist tax for a 5 star campsite.

So cheaper diesel ( in Spain anyway ) better roads, better weather, better food, cheaper and better campsites.

Don’t let the Orange Man Baby spoil your holiday !