gjm

More NZ price gouging Our Makita sander uses a rubber backing disc with 'hooks' that hold the sanding disc. After a lot of use, the hooks aren't holding the disc as well as they did and the paper discs have developed a habit of flying off in any direcction that takes their fanc. Being a Makita, you can buy spares. Yay! Part number 197468-0. In NZ, $42 - $50. In Oz, $20. What possible reasonable reason can there be for something so simple costing twice as much here?

The more used ones are more used than I recalled. $250 ?

Think I've seen this one before, but it's a good-looking car. PFL 318i, factory manual - asking $27900. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/3725723321

$300 ? Buy the new tyres, get the very good ones and the rims for free? I'll sort some pics ASAP.

I've got a set of Style 156 16x7 et34s with excellent Goodyear Optilife 20555-16 tyres - two of the tyres are virtually new (around $300) and have covered maybe 500km, and the other two are very good. I'm in Hawke's Bay, but may be able to arrange transport to Lower Hutt in the next few days.

Vink, Oldtimer GP, Nurburgring

Someone probably misread a /2 - seen lots of E30s cited (officially) as /2 or /4. (Number of doors.)

And then someone asks for pictures of the roof...??????

Depends on the type of fuel cell in use (unsurprisingly there are many type, depending on the electrolytes used) but they typically run cooler than a combustion engine - around 65C as opposed to 100C. Many fuel cells are insulated in order to maintain a consistent temperature across the whole cell, which aids efficiency. 65C is still fairly high, but the plan is for that heat to be recovered and used for cabin heating.

BMW is investigating production of a hydrogen fuel cell version of cars on its coming Neue Klasse (New Class) full-electric platform, according to Oliver Zipse. "In our view, hydrogen is the missing piece of the puzzle that can complement electromobility places where battery-electric drivetrains are unable to gain traction," Zipse said on the company's earnings call on Wednesday. The first cars on the Neue Klasse platform are due in 2025 and will initially include a sedan similar in size to the 3-Series and a "sporty SUV," Zipse said on the call. "We could also imagine a hydrogen drivetrain for this new vehicle generation," he added. BMW will start limited production at the end of the year of a hydrogen fuel-cell version of the X5 large SUV, called iX5 Hydrogen. "We are already thinking about a possible next generation." The iX5 Hydrogen prototype was first shown at the IAA mobility show in Munich in 2021. The car combines a fuel-cell with a battery to give a combined output of 374 hp. Filling up the tanks takes three to four minutes, BMW said. The project was partly funded by the German government. BMW is hydrogen's biggest advocate among German automakers as it plots a path to zero emissions. Others have been less keen on the drivetrain due to its high cost and the currently limited hydrogen refueling infrastructure. In 2020 Daimler said it would cease development of its GLC F-Cell fuel cell SUV. Among non-German automakers, Renault recently showed the Scenic Vision concept, which previews both the automaker's upcoming compact electric SUV, and a future hybrid powertrain that combines hydrogen fuel cells and lithium ion batteries. Toyota continues to sell the hydrogen fuel cell Mirai sedan in limited numbers, although it is not a battery hybrid like the Renault and BMW vehicles. And both Renault and Stellantis sell hybrid hydrogen-battery electric commercial vans. Fuel-cell proponents say the technology is well-suited for heavier personal vehicles such as SUVs that are often used for long trips and would need a large and expensive battery pack to match the range of smaller full-electric cars. BMW's openness to include hydrogen fuel-cells in its Neue Klasse vehicles indicates the flexibility of the platform, which the company has said is electric only. The Neue Klasse platform goes into production in 2025 at a new factory in Debrecen, Hungary. The platform will also be used in the company's Munich factory, which will produce vehicles based on it starting in 2026, Zipse said. BMW are to give a "glimpse" of a future Neue Klasse vehicle at the next IAA Mobility event, scheduled for September 2023 in Munich. This will offer "a spectacular digital experience for our customers."

Nope. No beeps for key in ignition, no beeps for headlights are on and key isn't in the ignition, no beeps or indicators for doors being open... It's just like the old days (although even ancient British cars had a light on the dash when headlights were on). It does beep when reverse gear is selected.

Ha! Feckin' work hack Nissan Lafesta, aka Uncle Fester, a veritable festering concoction of all that is unwelcome about vehicles, has NO onboard indication of lights being used (other than main beam). So being a conscientious individual, using headlights in low light, foggy, or other poor visibility conditions, you can arrive at your destination and not recall headlights are on. The taillights are sufficiently dim to be unnoticeable in daylight so walking away and looking back (why would you look back at such an undesirable POS?) doesn't raise awareness of lights being on. And the battery is tiny . I'm sure an old mobile phone has more capacity. So leaving the lights on without the engine running drains it to flat in about 14 seconds. So you carry a charge pack to jumpstart the engine of the miserable cage. Not a supplied battery pack or similar - one you have to buy yourself after finding you need it. Only place to sensibly keep it is in the back, under the floor, where there is an actually sensible storage space. Except the boot mechanism is electrically actuated, so once the battery is flat you can't open it! Dash lights? They'd flatten the battery even faster!

I think it was Bay of Plenty - somewhere between Tauranga and Opotiki. Moggies should have Lancia, Alfa or Fiat twin-cam engines. I used to know a guy who did these conversions on vans and Travellers.

Less of a rant, more of an 'annoyed with myself for missing it and losing the details.' A 1950 Ford Popular, looking more-or-less original except for slightly chunkier rims and tyres, fitted with a BMW M47 diesel engine and 5 speed manual gearbox. (And uprated suspension, brakes, etc.) What a great daily that'd make!

Not sure they're charging even that. Certainly not what the Customs website suggests:

Rip-off pricing in NZ. Looking for a new chainsaw. (I know what we need.) New price in NZ - $1375. I can buy exactly the same saw at full retail price from a shop in the US, have it packed and shipped to NZ, and it'll cost half of that. Interestingly, the NZ Customs website says "Since the total value of the goods is less than or equal to $1000, the duty is waived." And there was me thinking everything privately shipped in to NZ is now liable for duties.

Talk to Litchfield Motors. Have a read of Wired...

The Chinese are ever bit as short-sighted as everyone else. They can't see past a multi-billion population - hence the global buy-up of anything food or water related, despite having a huge country to use. Yes - there are issues in satisfactorily using the land they have, but that would make more sense than buying stuff from around the world and shipping it. Hydrogen could provide a way for NZ to become more independently powered. The tech exists although it's in infancy. It's the apparent lack of effort that is a concern. FirstGas don't even feature on the NZ Hydrogen Council, and a key member - Hiringa Energy - is essentially a husband and wife business.

Green hydrogen cheaper in Europe than natural gas Also, a joint venture by BP and Iberdrola plan to produce 600,000 tonnes of green hydrogen in Spain, Portugal and the UK. Meanwhile in NZ...? 😢 There is some activity but it is sooo slow. Talking to FirstGas, they expect something to start happening by 2035.

For Patrick Koller, boss of the new entity resulting from the merger between Faurecia and Hella, hydrogen is the real solution for the future to massively decarbonize mobility. It not only solves use case and economic model issues, but above all, it restores industrial sovereignty that could be taken by China in the case of battery-powered electric cars. Patrick Koller ensures that Sybio, his joint venture with Michelin, will be able to provide very competitive solutions from 2030. For Koller, Symbio - a company specializing in fuel cells, founded in 2010 by Fabio Ferrari, in which Michelin entered the capital in 2014 before transforming it into a joint venture with Faurecia in 2019 - is "a jewel, a diamond to conserve ". He says the hydrogen car will compensate for the shortcomings of the battery-powered electric car. According to him, they very different solutions. The first is an issue of sovereignty related to metal supplies. "We are going to move from a dependence on oil to an even stronger dependence on the rare earth elements currently needed for electrification, " he replied to journalists during the presentation of Forvia's half-year results. “90% of metal refining is done in China, ” he added. "While we only need platinum that can be recycled from catalytic converters" to make fuel cells. France has extensive experience with the hydrogen technology value chain. From an automotive perspective, the sector produces tanks (an essential and very expensive element to withstand the pressure), depressurization valves and the fuel cell. Symbio has also just opened a factory near Lyon which should make it possible to increase the production of fuel cells on a large scale in order to lower their unit price. The French hydrogen industry also includes hydrogen producers such as Air Liquide, but also EDF and Engie, which are investing massively in green hydrogen production capacity. Finally, a start-up, Hopium, even aims to produce very high-end hydrogen cars, to complete a quasi-sovereign value chain. For Patrick Koller, there is another major issue with the hydrogen car. According to him, this technology effectively solves the infrastructure problem posed by electric vehicles. Motorway areas will have to be massively equipped with fast charging stations, up to 80 per service station, but the cost of this infrastructure will not be borne by any economic model. "The investments required on the main axes are colossal to meet the needs of a few days a year," he says. Speaking of the economic model, the Koller estimates that he will be able to offer a complete hydrogen traction chain for a 100 kWh car for between 7,000 and 8,000 euros in 2030. “I don't think that battery technology will reach this price." Patrick Koller cites an increasing number of contracts and that his order book for the hydrogen activity has now reached 500 million euros. The contract with Stellantis (Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Mopar, Opel, Peugeot, Ram and Vauxhall) is an excellent opportunity, particularly in light commercial vehicles in Europe, but above all in American pick-ups, the most profitable segment of the market. The market potential is colossal, and present a solution to decarbonize the automotive industry. Koller strongly believes in carbon-free mobility (but not in 2035 contrary to the obligation adopted by the European Union), and that hydrogen will be the real solution. He qualifies, however, by insisting on the fact that the battery car has real arguments in many cases of use, in particular exclusively urban mobility. But he goes further than questions of mobility and judges that hydrogen will provide an answer to industrial decarbonization, and will make it possible to store energy. For now, however, the automotive market lacks models. Only Toyota, Honda and Hyundai have marketed cars (with BMW on their way), while waiting for the French Hopium. But for Patrick Koller, the first models will eventually arrive... He believes even Tesla will eventually get there.

Agreed. I have long supported hydrogen and related technology. There ARE issues but they are rapidly being overcome - the nature of the storage vessel on the vehicle has been one, but there is now technology for 'soft' cells which will obviously support variety of placement in vehicular configurations. Electric vehicles had the same issue. That the industry has rushed headlong into charging stations is a concern for the widespread rollout of hydrogen vehicles, but European plans for using current petrol and diesel stations for this is moving ahead at significant pace. Transfer of hydrogen from creation source to distribution point is being resolved through use of existing gas lines, and on-site production. It can happen. I feel it must happen.