Brexit, for once some facts.

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,164
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If only citroen made a derestricted version that did 50 mph like the microlino that I gather is finally in production for 13k it would be so much more useful
I agree, and if the Swiss weren't involved the Microlino would be far cheaper too. It remains to be seen if other countries will approve it in these safety obsessed times.

The Ami is made in Morocco to keep the price down but would need double the power, a much bigger battery to get it to 50 mph and a number of other changes to make it safe at that speed. And it might not benefit from all the same bureaucracy free quadricycle laws then.
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,164
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Microlino footnote. To get all the claimed benefits it costs at least 21,000 euros. At 13,000 euros and being heavier it's close to the Ami on range and will get less if using the 50 mph.
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jonathan.agnew

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Dec 27, 2018
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Microlino footnote. To get all the claimed benefits it costs at least 21,000 euros. At 13,000 euros and being heavier it's close to the Ami on range and will get less if using the 50 mph.
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I get the romantic, innovative appeal of the ami or microlino, but rationally a barely used smart ev with four years or so of remaining warranty is of course much safer and better than both
 
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flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,164
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I get the romantic, innovative appeal of the ami or microlino, but rationally a barely used smart ev with four years or so of remaining warranty is of course much safer and better than both
I fully agree, but there is another personal factor I haven't mentioned. With various interests including entomology, I've spent much of my leisure life in the hilly countryside alongside, but now at 86 with heart problems my access to it is getting increasingly restricted.

The solution eventually (and at my age eventually means soon) could be an off road mobility vehicle, but in a flat with only one remote garage I cannot accommodate an e- car and that, not even the Smart-for-Two.

But having measured up, I can easily get in the narrow and short Ami and an all-wheel drive versatile and stable off road mobility vehicle with access around each for charging access etc., so even at 86 I can be a Hells Angel with even teenagers getting jealous !!

And for the most common 2 and 4 mile trips, I don't need the Smart's extra refinement, just the sufficient comfort of a bus that is there for me exactly when I need it. Also, in the confined and parking choked area I live in, the tiny Ami has a number of real driving benefits, the turning circle smaller than that a London Taxi being just one of them.

Finally used electric Smarts are gold dust, selling typically at around £16,000 at two to three years old, and there is no way I pay that or go back to an ic car.
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guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
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You must have really needed that spring water? Or was it for the fun, an experiment?
There's no water supply at the 12 mile distant large garden I use to grow veg. It's owned by a guy who also owns rather a lot of a nature reserve - I was originally incensed when I saw someone had extended a lawn and flower beds to the path running through one, but a complaint to the Council revealed he owned that part. He's a retired molecular chemist who has refused to sell the land to housing developers despite big offers, having bought this large swathe of land with his new build some years ago... anyway he now hires it to some growers of vegetables. After someone snitched to the water company about him providing water from his domestic water supply to us growers (someone had connected a hosepipe), they forced a water meter install. So now everyone has to carry in their own water - it's a shorter distance to the hills and back (8 miles) than it is from my home (24 miles round trip). 12 miles carrying heavy trailers like that is a scrary experience. 4 miles from the springs is doable, now that I can avoid the steep drops towards a ravine by cutting across a gold course by road, which isn't a private road after all.

I tried something similar a few years back (on a 100kg cargo trailer, behind a pedelec). Bizarrely it didn't work at all, couldn't stop the train weight with the bicycle (am 17, 18 stone). Have no idea how parents pull multiple toddlers in bike trailers
Stopping the trailer is still difficult. I'm in the middle of the green "Healthy weight" range according to the NHS BMI calculator, but I need to lose another 9 pounds, then I'll "Build back better!" lol. Went for another 2 mile slow jog today - leg muscles haven't repaired themselves yet, ache a bit. But my body hummed with a healthy feeling happiness afterwards. Gym, nature's urban jungle gym, who cares? Good fer ya that slow jogging.
 
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guerney

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Sep 7, 2021
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Sicilly was a complete surprise - one expect something like naples on steroids (mad, emotional, uncontained, some risk of aggression) and instead it's profoundly civilised, polite. But also just rough enough not to be on eggshells. Highly recommend it.
A few more weeks and the eggshells would have given way? I find "Holiday mind" is formed to see danger in visited places in quite an inappropriate light. Given enough immersion time, the descent can be revelatory.
 
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guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,363
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I get the romantic, innovative appeal of the ami or microlino, but rationally a barely used smart ev with four years or so of remaining warranty is of course much safer and better than both
SUV owners might be dissuaded by thoughts about those small wheels, their short suspension travel vs our many deep potholes and road bumps. Beefy suspension would go a long way towards making them more appealing?
 
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guerney

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Sep 7, 2021
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Truss looks like a red button pusher to me. HRT has a lot to answer for.

Complete Tory meltdown will be highly amusing to observe.

 
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Woosh

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May 19, 2012
20,348
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Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
Snap election is always a stop loss strategy. Gordon brown could have used it in pretty similar situation.
 

oldgroaner

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 15, 2015
23,461
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Truss looks like a red button pusher to me. HRT has a lot to answer for.

Complete Tory meltdown will be highly amusing to observe.

Well if I was faced with taking on a job equivalent to being the gunner on a Russian T72 for Putin in Ukraine, this is probably a number one option I would choose. :cool:
 
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oyster

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2017
10,422
14,609
West West Wales

oyster

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2017
10,422
14,609
West West Wales
We don't need to see any more of her - I dislike her enough already. It was probably when she started serious cosplay as a reincarnation of Thatcher (using official photographer to take what were effectively party and personal political pictures) I started to fear she might make it.

It seems likely that the tories have got what they asked for.

The more Tory voters see of Liz Truss, the less they like her, polls show
 

jonathan.agnew

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 27, 2018
2,400
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Truss looks like a red button pusher to me. HRT has a lot to answer for.

Complete Tory meltdown will be highly amusing to observe.

Fixed term parliament act's gone, she doesn't have a personal mandate to govern (tripe she paraded during hustings is blatantly appalling). It may be a deliberate attempt by the conservative party to escape the festering mess it created
 
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jonathan.agnew

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 27, 2018
2,400
3,381
I fully agree, but there is another personal factor I haven't mentioned. With various interests including entomology, I've spent much of my leisure life in the hilly countryside alongside, but now at 86 with heart problems my access to it is getting increasingly restricted.

The solution eventually (and at my age eventually means soon) could be an off road mobility vehicle, but in a flat with only one remote garage I cannot accommodate an e- car and that, not even the Smart-for-Two.

But having measured up, I can easily get in the narrow and short Ami and an all-wheel drive versatile and stable off road mobility vehicle with access around each for charging access etc., so even at 86 I can be a Hells Angel with even teenagers getting jealous !!

And for the most common 2 and 4 mile trips, I don't need the Smart's extra refinement, just the sufficient comfort of a bus that is there for me exactly when I need it. Also, in the confined and parking choked area I live in, the tiny Ami has a number of real driving benefits, the turning circle smaller than that a London Taxi being just one of them.

Finally used electric Smarts are gold dust, selling typically at around £16,000 at two to three years old, and there is no way I pay that or go back to an ic car.
.
There is also the me micro (that does 48mph, outaccelerate a twizy, has aircon, heating and electric windows and a 10 kwh battery that gives an official 90 miles for £11k). But it is an idiosyncratic choice as you describe (I fancy an mg4 despite youtube videos about mg's and corrosion)
 
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guerney

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 7, 2021
11,363
3,226
There is also the me micro (that does 48mph, outaccelerate a twizy, has aircon, heating and electric windows and a 10 kwh battery that gives an official 90 miles for £11k). But it is an idiosyncratic choice as you describe (I fancy an mg4 despite youtube videos about mg's and corrosion)
A conversion of any vehicle you want is possible. I've seen easy to fit convesrion kits, but they're only available to garages. Electric Peel P50 with uprated suspension?
 

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