JIMNY IS DEAD

Shell, BP et al are not petrol retailers.  It's a completely different business.  My local Esso is owned by EG Garages (the Issa brothers).  Petrol retailing is barely profitable, which is why they need a convenience store to stay afloat.

300bhpton wrote:

Roger Fairclough wrote:

Last week on a part M5 and part A and B roads including Stroud and Cheltenham, I averaged 45 mpg. I never use high revs and cruise control is pointless in modern day traffic but I still keep up with the traffic - except on the M5 - and I don't have to thrash the motor to do it.
Anyway, this is getting off topic. The Jimny is dead and we may never see it's like again. I had a lot of fun in my SJ and drove all over the UK and won lots of cups in RTV trials. I now have a Gen.4 as my daily driver and I love it and the fact that Jimny drivers wave at each other.

Roger

I have to say 45mpg seems unattainable in my vehicle. Maybe running at 45mph and resetting the trip while moving on the motorway.

However “keeping up with traffic” is a very loose term. I’d wager you were not running near the speed limit. GPS wise you’ll need to a fair whack over the speedo reading of 70 to be in with a chance of doing a real 70mph. A minimum of 3500rpm in top gear.

In my experience running over 3000rpm has a big impact on mpg in the Jimny. But sub 3000rpm will be 50-55mph running with the lorries.

As for EV’s. I personally loved how the MINI Electric went. Only 170hp but it flew and had a top speed of 95mph.

The same motor setup in a Jimny would be awesome. Although toning it down to 130-140hp would be fine if it helped the range. But it would need double the range the MINI offered. A real world 200 miles would be fine. It’s not that I do 200 miles every day. But I may also not be able to charge every night either and if you wanted to go green laning a 100 mile range could end up more like 40 miles if you driving off road. And we haven’t even mentioned towing yet!

I’d guess with the Jimny you still want a transfer case too. Proper slow and controlled off road would need different gearing, even with electric motors. Maybe a twin motor axle mounted or transfer box mounted motor setup would be an option instead of a larger single motor.

45 mpg is not an impossible figure for me. My best so far is 49 mpg but yes, that may be a combination of all good factors. I drive at 55-60 on motorways as the saving in time over 70 is very small. My 40 miles on the M5 at that speed cost be maybe 7 minutes over driving at 70 mph. I stayed in the nearside lane at a respectable distance and had a nice stress free run. And all I lost was 7 minutes. No,  I do not reset the mile-ometer when driving. I reset it when I fill up. That way I have the average mpg  calculated on that tankful. The fuel consumption that you get is dependent on the way and the where you drive. I am a member of the IAM and my final instructor was the Chief Superintendent of the Durham Police driving school and he had me driving across the Durham moorlands at speeds over 100mph. Sorry if this sounds as if I am blowing my own trumpet, but keeping up with the traffic does not require you to drive at the limit. 

Roger

I had the Swindon to Northampton office record for years.  No speeding was involved - it was a case of picking the time, the route, and being in the best lane for the roundabouts on the A43.  It can't be done as quickly these days as the Silverstone bypass adds distance and time (you used to be able to go through Silverstone village at a surprisingly generous speed limit), much of the A420 is 50mph and the Cherwell Valley junction is an absolute dog's dinner since they rebuilt it (twice).

Rogerzilla wrote:

I think the number of petrol stations will collapse and that is what will really push the move to EVs.  There aren't enough petrol stations as it is, and they have to sell a LOT of fuel just to break even.  When EVs get to, say, 25% of the UK fleet, I think only major towns and cities will still have somewhere to buy fuel.  Paradoxically, it will be the rural drivers, who can more easily justify needing an ICE vehicle, who won't have easy access to fuel.

 

Hmm - not convinced - as mentioned, I don't believe they'll run out any time soon, but perhaps more importantly commercial users will continue to use diesel vehicles for the foreseeable future. Adoption of BEV for commercial purposes has been negligible other than in inner cities (at least so far). 

There will be petrol and diesel at filling stations for years to come. There is a big industry refining and distributing the stuff and as long as there is demand that will continue.

The price might go up, especially if The Greens gain a foot hold, but they can sell new hybrids until 2035 so don’t worry, get that new Jimny while you still can.

Robin

While my view is coloured by living in Australia, and while EV's work in major cities they only work if you have your own garage and a home charger, which many people don't and is the main reason 50% of EV owners here say they will switch back to ICE vehicles once they can afford to.
what's hurting them is that depreciation is so high that they can't afford to sell, if yiu spend 80k say on an EV and you get a 5 year loan, if you decide its not working and want to sell it after 2 years, you mill be lucky to get 40k for it.
you buy a jimny here say a 2022 that sold for 42k, it's still getting between 35k and 40k.
big 4x4 Ute's and other ICE vehicles are similar, not nearly as good, but spend 80k on an ICE vehicle 2 years ago, and it's still worth 60k or more now.

There are pros to this, it does make second hand EV buys a bargain, but they are only a bargain as nobody wants to buy them, you buy an EV here it looses almost 50% the moment you drive it off the lot, if i sold my Jimny, id get more then i paid for it, figure that one out, I cant.

But there's an interesting article here. caredge.com/guides/electric-car-prices-and-depreciation

You see the catch 22 of buying a cheap depreciated EV is that there has to be just as many people willing to loose 50% of their money within the 1st year and a half of ownership as there are people willing to buy EV's at a vastly reduced price.

There are 30 year old suzuki's here that have a higher sales price then a 10 year old EV. And that's what's ultimately going to hurt them.
the government can try and save them by making them mandatory, but that will only work just so long, eventually people will stop buying new ones if they keep loosing so much money and its too expensive to keep the old ones on the road.