DeanKB

Agreed! Some of LSP's greatest threads have been discussions that took on a life of their own.

Seems pretty clear, if you live in a cold-, or big-country, an EV won't really cut it outside of urban areas. But if you live in a tiny little wet country, EV's are a decent option for some people.

Our Ukrainian refugee still has family in Kyiv. She showed us a photo the other day of a missile flying past their apartment, but people are still going to work & carrying on as normally as they can.

Funnily enough, the Kona also has a normal 12v car battery, but it feeds off the EV battery when it needs to.

I used to have black hair, but that was before I got married. I can't blame Maria totally, we've been together 33 years now & I think father time is to blame. But if I'd murdered her instead of marrying her, I'd be out on parole by now.

Hyundai Kona batteries have a 7 year warranty, Hyundai must have confidence in them to offer that?

Which is why us modellers tend to develop little mini libraries at home.

That's because the heating in a Tesla seriously eats into the battery life, and hence range, especially when it's cold (which is when you need the bloody heating on!) One good thing about the Kona is that it's online, so when it's cold I turn the heating on via the app whilst it's still plugged in, so the car is nice & toasty before I get in, without eating into the battery. The cold weather reduces the range from around 300 to about 260 miles. Not an issue for me - I don't drive far & Wales isn't that cold (wet, yes...) - but if I lived in a cold, large place like Canada, I'd stick with petrol power, or a hybrid.

My build technique remains pretty much the same, but I've managed to build an enormous stash of modelling tools, from numerous bladed weapons, to an electric sander especially built for model making. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It's quite the feat to accumulate so many tools, yet remain stubbornly consistent in my modelling abilities.

I've had a haircut!

Books, every single time. I find online stuff very unreliable, whereas a book generally has some solid research behind it, copy writers, editors and peer reviews. Most of my books are digitised & held in Google Drive.

If I was you Mike, I'd also stick to petrol power. The loads you haul, and the potential distances you travel, makes an EV an unrealistic choice. Texas is almost 3 times bigger than the UK, and public transport isn't really an American strength. They'll take off in densely populated European countries first. They'll eventually get to the US, but only once the range increases to make them viable for those huge distances - which will probably be your son's generation, with a bit of luck, because EV's are great fun to drive - instant power, ridiculous levels of torque, the main problem is getting that power through the wheels without spinning them. A couple of times I've found myself doing a Tomas the cat impression, wheels rotating whilst I go absolutely nowhere, before the traction control kicks in.

"spavined". My new word for the day, I had never heard of this word previously.

I still find myself surprised that the 109 is THE most produced fighter aircraft in all of history. Producing 35k of them suggests the Luftwaffe was building them because they could, when production should have been centered around the Fw 190, Me 262, Ar 234, Ta 152, etc?

You're probably right about the lack of infrastructure. Here in Europe, with population density much higher and distances shorter, EV's are an easier sell. In a country where driving hundreds - or even thousands - of miles daily is not unusual, EV's are still some way short of giving useable ranges for massive countries like the US. EV's bursting into flames is something of an urban myth, with recent studies suggesting that ICE vehicles proportionally burn more than EV's. Batteries can be explosive, but tanks of petrol can burn and explode just as badly as EV's. Without being political, the oil issue is more of an attempt to tackle global warming & pollution, rather than developing EV's because oil is running out?

Must be another WNW-like discovery of kits sat in a warehouse somewhere, rushed to retailers to take advantage of the surge in demand that followed KH's demise?

Exactly! Easily my favourite from KH, even with fit & accuracy issues. But the Atlantic Ocean, USPS & HMRC all conspiring to make any imported kits prohibitively expensive. It only seems like yesterday, when WNW would ship $59 kits you wanted to the other side of the world, with no delivery charges or VAT. Those were the days, Peter Jackson not caring about how much money he was losing, as long as he had a new kit to build! I blame bloody accountants, you just can't trust them when it comes to creativity & art...

Italeri obviously looking at their domestic Italian market. At least it'll stop the PCM models being sold for absolutely stupid money on EBay, if this injected plastic kit comes in around the £100 mark?

Think Wingnut Wings. Quality 1/32 kits from New Zealand, high quality, but Tamiya expensive, with slightly left field choices. 100% worth the money.

Short answer is no.

One thing I've found with an electric car is that it needs very little maintenance. The brake pads last much, much longer, as the electric motor is used to slow the car, regenerating energy back into the battery. Services are also cheaper, with so many fewer moving parts. And fueling it for 8p per kWh gives an equivalent mpg figure of approaching 200mpg, with a full "tank" costing £5.12. BUT, repairs are a real problem. Somebody drove into the Kona, destroying a wheel, the wheel bearing bearing & the steering column. However, it took 3 months to fix, as garages kept turning the work down, as they didn't have sufficient trained staff for EV repairs, even though the battery & electronics themselves were untouched. You also have to plan routes with more care, as charger availability can be a bit hit or miss - I always have at least 2 chargers within range, as there's a good chance the first one you try doesn't work properly, is being used or doesn't actually exist!

I think it was up against one of the most aesthetically pleasing warplanes of WWII in the Spitfire, which was all curves & elegance. In comparison, the 109 looks like it was designed with a ruler, but to be a truly ugly aeroplane, it needs to be British.

I think the 109 is unrivalled for its choice of camo finishes, whereas Spitfires tend to be green & brown, which isn't the most striking of paint schemes. I love the famous 109 in North African camo

Toyota's are ridiculously reliable. We bought our son a little Aygo a few years back, and we've never had any issues with it whatsoever, despite being driven as a university run around for 3 years - students are not known for their car maintenance skills, and Kai struggles with toping the windscreen water bottle up.

Serious car! It looks like it's going very fast, even when it's parked. And the very shy & retiring bright orange makes it look even faster. That bonnet is huge, I'd imagine there's a hell of an engine under it?