Prices of the electricity we use to charge

[lenny]

 

[lenny]

Typical energy bill to fall £238 a year from April under new price cap

Bills will fall to the lowest for two years under the new price cap, but charities warn costs are still high.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Woosh]

When I read your above post I was certain that you have completely misread the Russia / Putin position.

Latvia borders Russia and has between a quarter and a third Russian Population so they know a lot more than most of the Russian position.

I've just been listening to Krisjanis Karins who was Latvia's Prime Minister up into last year and is still a current Minister. He believes, like others in Europe, that Russia is a current threat to NATO neighbouring countries.

He categorically insists that Russian policy will not change at all if Putin goes.
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he can't say anything other than Russia will be a constant and present danger to its neighbours, more so those with a large Russian population like his own country.
However, Putin is so different to Gorbachev and Yetsin, so there is no reason to think that change can't or won't happen.
I listened to Campbell and Stewart interviewing Anthony Scaramucci yesterday. Once you pass the slight exuberance of Scaramucci, he's got such an interesting insight into Donald Trump and explains very well how political fund raising damages America's institutions and how Trump is in love with dictators like Putin and Kim Jung Un. Recommended.

 

[saneagle]

Shell are closing all their hydrogen filling stations in California. That must be very annoying for anyone there, who invested in a hydrogen car. The rumours are saying it was for safety reasons, but probably just not economical to do it on a smal scale. The Japs are still investing heavily in the technology, but not much point in buying one if you can't fill it up.

shell pull out of california hydrogen - Google Search

www.google.com

 

[flecc]

Shell are closing all their hydrogen filling stations in California. That must be very annoying for anyone there, who invested in a hydrogen car. The rumours are saying it was for safety reasons, but probably just not economical to do it on a smal scale. The Japs are still investing heavily in the technology, but not much point in buying one if you can't fill it up.

shell pull out of california hydrogen - Google Search

www.google.com

It's a mixed position here, still expanding but three sites previously closed being too small to upgrade:

UK loses three hydrogen fuel stations this year

The UK’s hydrogen refuelling network has taken a hit this year, with the closure of three Motive sites.

www.fleetnews.co.uk

The fact of our increasing numbers of hydrogen fuel cell buses probably makes our position rather different from the US one.
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[Woosh]

You need 40kwh to produce 1kg of hydrogen. 1kg of hydrogen generates 20kwh in your fuel cell. Hydrogen is at least 100% more expensive than battery. Battery gravimetric capacity can be improved up to 5 times current level, so hydrogen cannot compete for the foreseeable future.

 

[flecc]

However, Putin is so different to Gorbachev and Yetsin, so there is no reason to think that change can't or won't happen.

Yes he's completely the opposite, but once again a misreading of the true Russian position. They really have swallowed the "Nazis in Ukraine" line more completely than I could ever have imagined could happen.

I watched Sean Langan's documentary, "Ukraine War, the other side" in which he had access to everywhere, including the front lines, and it was very revealing. I'd felt convinced at the outset the Russians would have edited it before allowing it back out to the West, but they hadn't. They heavily edited their own reporters, but left in all of Sean's questioning and challenges.

Perhaps not so surprising, since the whole 1 hour 49 minutes exposed the Western lie that the Russians fighting in Ukraine are demoralised with low morale. It's more the opposite than I could have believed before. Whether recruits, volunteers, regular soldiers or their elite forces, they all expressed a total belief in their cause, even those who were really frightened and wishing the war would end weren't questioning the need.

They all seem to believe the the Ukrainians have taken leave of their senses and are convinced that Russia will prevail. Most think Russia will take Kiev, replace the government there with a pro Russian government and then withdraw and enjoy peaceful and friendly relations again. That even includes the very obviously highly intelligent, like the mature surgeon working near the front line.

Interestingly that fits with what I've long been saying, that Putin and Russia do not want to possess Ukraine, just as they've already proved that they did not want to possess Georgia. It's long been very clear that they prefer a shield of friendly neighbours, even if they have to make them friends, to having NATO right up to their borders.

You can probably still view Sean's documentary via the ITV player.

Thanks for the Scaramucci interview recommendation.
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[flecc]

You need 40kwh to produce 1kg of hydrogen. 1kg of hydrogen generates 20kwh in your fuel cell. Hydrogen is at least 100% more expensive than battery. Battery gravimetric capacity can be improved up to 5 times current level, so hydrogen cannot compete for the foreseeable future.

True, but once again, this is not all about climate change. Air pollution is a much bigger and more immediate issue in our cities and very large towns, so an energy cost to get rid of diesel becomes acceptable meanwhile, until we find better ways.
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[Woosh]

True, but once again, this is not all about climate change. Air pollution is a much bigger and more immediate issue in our cities and very large towns, so an energy cost to get rid of diesel becomes acceptable meanwhile, until we find better ways.
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but we already have a better way of dealing with pollution, electric cars and buses. There is no real need for hydrogen, especially when most of it is still produced from natural gas. The only way that hydrogen is justified is when it's a by-product like in nuclear reactors. Even then, it would be better just to burn it on site. I can see a small possibility for those who want to setup solar to hydrogen in the Sahara but there again, it's doubtful that it would work economically.
BTW, did you see the demo of Tesla FSD V12? Quite a progress.

 

[flecc]

but we already have a better way of dealing with pollution, electric cars and buses. There is no real need for hydrogen

No we haven't yet for buses, even when stuffed full of cells in every space to a potentially dangerous degree, like the staircase full of them. The battery electric buses are ok for most routes, but we are using the hydrogen fuel cells for the longer routes.

And our London bus hydrogen is a by product already being produced anyway.

BTW, did you see the demo of Tesla FSD V12? Quite a progress.

Not yet but I will watch. Hopefully better that Musk's disastrous attempt at demonstrating it recently when it scared him!

Elon Musk’s FSD v12 demo includes a near miss at a red light and doxxing Mark Zuckerberg
/ The 45-minute video was meant to demonstrate v12 of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving but ended up being a list of things not to do while using FSD.

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[Woosh]

Not yet but I will watch. Hopefully better that Musk's disastrous attempt at demonstrating it recently when it scared him!

Elon Musk’s FSD v12 demo includes a near miss at a red light and doxxing Mark Zuckerberg
/ The 45-minute video was meant to demonstrate v12 of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving but ended up being a list of things not to do while using FSD.

The video on the Verge website is last year.
This latestest release was earlier this week. I'll dig out the video for you.

There is still a lot to do but progress is pretty rapid.
I did like the way it handles road bumps and parkings.

 

[flecc]

There is still a lot to do but progress is pretty rapid.
I did like the way it handles road bumps and parkings.

Definitely much improved in some areas but still falling well short in others. One step backwards for each one forwards is a clear indication of not coping with the scale of the complexities.

Nothing I've seen persuades me from the view that we will never have full self driving in private cars due to the diversity and complexities of their common usage. Clues in the video are having to take control in a car park to direct the car into the most likely lane where there could be vacant spaces, something that requires a human brain, previous experience and judgement. Being unable to escape a car park due to an unmarked exit that once again required uniquely human guesswork. The gambling brain in other words, not logic or AI.

And another very human aspect, courtesy. Stopping for a car reversing out of a bay but blocking the pedestrian waiting to cross, where I would have combined both with a friendly smile and wave across for the pedestrian. AI will never do that.

I also believe that the new Tesla approach of cameras and AI only and no Lidar or Radar is a big mistake that will bite them hard at times. Refraction, reflection and dazzle can be insoluble problems with only single plane polarisation available to deal with them if there's no Radar or Lidar. But bringing those two back returns to not being able to cope with the input complexities.

Answers are still a very long way away.
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[sjpt]

No we haven't yet for buses, even when stuffed full of cells in every space to a potentially dangerous degree, like the staircase full of them. The battery electric buses are ok for most routes, but we are using the hydrogen fuel cells for the longer routes.

Maybe the answer is the trolley bus.

From Copilot:
According to the web search results, there were 327 miles of trolley bus routes in London in 1933https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/stories/transport/londons-electric-trams-and-trolleybuses, when the London Passenger Transport Board took over the system. The routes peaked at 68 in 1940, with a maximum fleet of 1,811 trolley buseshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybuses_in_London. The last trolley bus routes were converted to diesel buses on 8 May 1962https://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/13th-april-1962/36/last-of-londons-trolleybuses.

 

[guerney]

Trolley buses with plenty of room for ebikes and small lightweight folding electric cars please.

 

[flecc]

Maybe the answer is the trolley bus.

Having fond memories of them during my eight years in Bournemouth I fully agree, but of course they and we generally have unwisely got rid of them while many other countries still keep them.

But they do have their problems, mainly with sharp turns derailing their booms, a regular occurrence in some spots in Bournemouth. Their triple axle buses emphasised that aspect. Our English town and city roads would need extensive corner and width reshaping for any widespread smooth re-adoption of trolley buses, much of it impossible without a lot of demolition.
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[lenny]

 

[soundwave]

£117.48

 

[guerney]

The video on the Verge website is last year.
This latestest release was earlier this week. I'll dig out the video for you.

There is still a lot to do but progress is pretty rapid.
I did like the way it handles road bumps and parkings.

It'll be interesting to see if it works as well on dry roads, when cars and other objects aren't reflected and appear smaller.

Are cyclists still sometimes invisible to Teslas?

Beta testing "self-driving" cars on public roads should be illegal.

 

[Woosh]

It's already released to the public since Wednesday. Tesla staff can upgrade their cars before the public release.

 

[guerney]

It's already released to the public since Wednesday. Tesla staff can upgrade their cars before the public release.

They should all be considered pre-release/buggy until they actually work safely with other road and pavement users, this business of using the rest of us as guinea pigs is insane.