Electric Cars EVs Top 10

 Looking to drive  emissions-free? These electric cars may tempt you

Pressure is growing on UK motorists to ditch their petrol and diesel-powered vehicles and switch to pure-electric cars, but which are the best electric cars available to buy now on the UK car market?

Here Auto Express reveal their top 10 picks of the current EV options and give you some top tips that will help you decide whether an electric car is right for you.

(For top tips mentioned and full details about each model see full article – click Auto Express link at bottom of this article)

There are more electric cars than ever to choose from so we've picked the top 10 best electric cars you can buy in the UK now

1. Tesla Model 3

We've waited a long time for the Tesla Model 3 and find it's in a class of its own

2. Kia e-Niro

Kia’s electric SUV offers a big electric range at an affordable price point

3. Jaguar I-Pace

Game-changing SUV puts Jaguar at the front of the premium EV pack

4. Kia Soul EV

Funky looking Kia Soul EV injects a bit of quirkiness to electric car market

5. Hyundai Kona Electric

Hyundai Kona makes use of battery sharing to create one of the best EVs on the market

6. Renault Zoe

The Renault Zoe is one of the cheapest EVs but also one of the best

7. Polestar 2

Polestar's second electric car aims to take the fight to the Tesla Model 3

8. Tesla Model S

Tesla's Model S shows little signs of ageing with outstanding range and practicality

9. Peugeot e-208

The Peugeot e-208 brings electric sophistication to the supermini segment

10. Mercedes EQC

First Mercedes in EQ line up is the EQC and it sets a good precedent

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 https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/electric-cars/86169/best-electric-cars-buy-2020

Article condensed by jibberjabber

Top 10 Electric Cars - For Miles Per Battery Charge

 

 Top 10 electric cars for miles per battery charge  - based on manufacturer's laboratory tests and sales brochure specifications.

 Compared with a real road test drive - by 'What Car' test drivers on closed roads

 Because  there will be a difference between real road conditions and manufacturer's laboratory tests - we find what is an average difference.

 Not all 10 electric cars were compared using both methods, but the results from those that were, will show the typical miles discrepancy between miles expected and actual.

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At Joint = 9th . is the Audi e-tron

Price: £60,650

Official range: 239 mile

 The Audi e-tron is not cheap - it's a large family SUV with a premium interior and a lot of of hi-tech. Our Test figures show actual miles travelled were within acceptable tolerance of the manufacturers official 239 range.

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Also Joint = 9th. came Nissan Leaf e+

Price: £33,295*

Official range: 239 miles

 The Nissan Leaf e+ is the lowest price electric car of the top 10 - a family hatchback built in the UK at the Sunderland plant - with an official range of 239 miles, but in What Car's road test was measured to be 217 miles - very impressive for the lowest price model in this list.

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At 8. Mercedes-Benz EQC - Version: 400 4Matic

Price: £65,720

Official range: 259 miles

 The Mercedes-Benz EQC is a stylish electric SUV with a hefty price tag. In road tests it was 20% short of its claimed driving range - 259 miles claimed -  209 miles actual. It's a large SUV - crammed with all the tech gizmos you'd expect for £65,720.

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At 7. Volkswagen ID.3 - Version: 1st Edition

Price: £35,880*

Official range: 260 miles

 Volkswagen's electric ID.3 1st Edition hatchback has only recently arrived in the UK. It's similar in size to the VW Golf but is all electric.

 This ID.3 1st Edition - as the model name implies starts Volkswagen's all electric-car programme with prices of this ID.3 1st Edition hatchback EV model planned to match comparable internal combustion engine cars as quickly as possible.

The ID.3 First Edition is so new an arrival - no road tests or battery degradation analysis has been conducted.

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At 6. Hyundai Kona Electric - Version: 64kW

Price: £39,500*

Official range: 278 miles

 While the official range is 278 miles, when What Car road tested the Kona Electric it managed 259 miles on a full charge. That's impressive and one of the closest road test miles to the official figure.

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At 5. Kia e-Niro - Version: Long Range

Price: £36,850*

Official range: 282 miles

 The Kia e-Niro and Hyundai Kona Electric are sister cars that share a similar battery power source.  But the Kia claims to have a longer range, though in a one off real road test was beaten by the Hyundai - early days perhaps?

 This Kia e-Niro placed in fifth spot is based on the claimed 282 mile range for its larger 64k battery version.

However, What Car's one off road test found the figure was lower than the official 278 miles of sister car Hyundai Kona Electric, reaching 253 miles.

 A reasonably priced electric family car, this will be near the top of lists for many EV car buyers.

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At 4. Jaguar I-Pace - Version: EV400

Price: £65,195

Official range: 292 miles

 The Jaguar I-Pace is a SUV rival for the Audi e-tron and Mercedes-Benz EQC and beats both for miles per battery charge. Jaguar's first electric car is seriously good and hugely popular with early EV buyers.

 The Jaguar I-Pace oozes class, and packed with performance, is comfortable, and most importantly – capable of taking up to five adults on a relatively long journey. The I-Pace is so good it has won award after award, including the 'World Car of the Year' for 2019.

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 At 3. Tesla Model X

Version: Long Range

Price: £82,980

Official range: 314 miles

 The Tesla Model X Long Range offers up to 314-miles on a full battery charge. In road tests it was substantially shorter, which could  be due to the  huge - and weighty - 'Falcon-Wing' doors. 

     - 'What Car' hasn't tested the latest Long Range version, but did measure the older 100D variant with the same battery capacity and found it could cover just 233 miles. Geotab says the average Model X in 2018 lost 1.3 per cent battery capacity after a year.

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At 2. Tesla Model 3

Version: Long Range

Price: £46,990*

Official range: 348 miles

 The Model 3 is the most affordable way into Tesla ownership.  Even with the government's grant, buyers will have to find over £40,000 for one      

 The Tesla 3 is a compact executive saloon offering the lowest price way in to Tesla ownership - and this Long Range version is just eligible for the Plug-in Car Grant - by £10. It was the UK's most registered car in April and May this year.

 While it promises a decent range on paper, when What Car? tested this 348-mile version, it only managed to cover 211 miles fully charged - down almost 40 per cent on the official figure?

 The actual miles on test were short of the official figure but it performs better for slow battery degradation. Losing just 0.2 per cent on average of capacity after 12 months, according to Geotab.

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1. Tesla Model S

Version: Long Range

Price: £77,980

Official range: 379 miles

 The Tesla Model S is the Daddy when it comes to EVs at present, with the longest claimed range and some impressive performance figures - it  is the car that pioneered long-distance journeys in a battery vehicle, and it continues to lead the way in 2020.

 Roomier than the Model 3 and not as heavy as the Model X, the Model S is the Flagship EV of  the Tesla range - a long chassis to house the batteries and no heavy doors weighing it down to affect performance.

 What Car? hasn't tested a Model S Long Range or any Model S with this battery capacity. On average, batteries in 2018 models degraded by 1.1 per cent in the first year, says Geotab.

 Note: Models with a * next to their price are those that qualify for the Government's £3,000 Plug-in Car Grant

 Article summarised by jibberjabber.

 To read article in full with pictures of the e-cars and videos click this link -

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-8713111/These-electric-cars-longest-quoted-ranges.html

5G Speed - faster than Muhammad Ali?

  

5G Speed - faster than Muhammad Ali?

 5G, the fastest since Muhammad Ali said - 'Ah'm so fast when I switch the light off ah'm in bed before the light is out!

 Breaking News Today Sept 11. 2020

Dear Ivor, 

Apple to build at least 75 million 5G iPhones to hit markets in – October-  a few weeks time!

 How we got to 5G - summarised. (Link to full version at bottom of this post)

 

In the 1980s 1G pioneered wireless telecommunications – with mobile phones like bricks!

 2G introduced a digital standard, circuit-switched technology.

 In 2008, Apple’s 3G iPhone was revealed, and was twice as fast as its predecessor, half the cost,had built-in GPS (and thousands waited all night outside Apple shops to buy it)

 In 2009 came the current 4G standard.

 Bringing Uber taxis, posting photos to Facebook, connecting on FaceTime and streaming movies on Netflix.

 Those are just four examples of the dramatic revolutions that internet speeds bring about.

 And now that is about to get a whole lot faster…

 And a whole lot bigger.

 Currently, 99% of devices connected to the internet are either PCs, smart-phones or tablets.

 In total that’s 6 billion devices all connected – talking to each other.

 But 5G will increase the number of devices connected to the internet to 50 billion.

 Think cars… traffic lights… watches… shoes… bicycles and much much more.

 Artificial intelligence…

 Robots....

 Self Drive vehicles…

 For 5G in greater detail read my post

 https://yourfuturebythefuturist.blogspot.com/2020/09/5g-speed-fasten-your-seat-belts-for.html

 

Plant Meat Burgers - Selling Like Hot - Err - Meat Burgers!

 "Animals convert grass and grain to meat. My mission was to do the same without involving animals"

 In 2011, at the age of 57, Stanford biochemistry professor Pat Brown quit his job to launch his plant-based “meat”  company 'Impossible Foods'

 Like it or not, plant foods will increasingly have to feed the world's population.

 The use of animals to convert grass and grain to protein is inefficient and destructive to the planet, and will become an extravagant luxury, Professor Brown tells CNBC 'Make It ' Programme.

 We will have to feed more people from less land - to show what is at stake for the planet - the plant crop of soybean occupies 8% of earth’s land area and produces 150% more protein than animals do from a similar area of land.

 It also uses less fertilizer pesticides and water, and is far cheaper.

 Professor Pat Brown's 'Impossible Foods Company' with its 'Plant Meat Burgers', is a fast growing $4 billion Brand.

 'Impossible Food's' juicy meat-tasting vegan burgers, are served in more than 17,000 restaurants worldwide, including  Burger King, White Castle and Starbucks. They are also sold in 8,000 grocery stores.

 In a video, Professor Brown talks with a Presenter on CNBC 'Make It' programme, about his life before 'Impossible Foods' - (Link to video interview at bottom of this post)

 CNBC Presenter - 'How did you create the Impossible Foods Burger'?

 Professor Brown - 'Animal meat is popular because it's delicious - but the animal is converting grass and grain, just as we wanted to do without involving an animal.

 We thought this is a scientific problem. We needed to understand how animal meat gets its flavour.

 We hired molecular biologists, biochemists, biophysicists and basic scientists, to find and unlock what makes animal meat delicious.

 How could we find and isolate the properties in animal meat that people enjoy so much?

 We discovered when animal meat is cooked a kind of magic happens – there’s an explosion of aroma and the flavour completely changes.

 A change of chemical activity like that, told me it was caused by a catalyst that we had to find.

 We found the catalyst creating that magic flavour  is - Heme!

 If you throw Heme into vegetable broth it tastes like meat'.

 Professor Brown said that last year 'Impossible Foods' sales increased threefold. This year it’s set to increase again.

 It is The Future.

 Article summarised by jibberjabber

 For article in full and video interview with Professor Brown click this link-

 https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/08/31/impossible-foods-turned-plant-based-burger-into-a-billion-dollar-brand.html

 

It's behind you Tesla - Oh yes it is. Polestar2 !

 The Polestar2 electric car is not a household name yet.

But Volvo, it's world famous Swedish parent, does give its new luxury electric vehicle offspring, Polestar2, a pedigree start.

It needs it, to take on Tesla Model 3, the best-selling electric car in America, there is some serious catching up to do.

Starting now, as the first models arrive in the US from Polestar’s manufacturing facility in China.

Polestar 2 is not just any EV. It’s the first electric car to have a brain powered by Google. The Android Automotive operating system controls everything from the radio to heating and air conditioning to navigation. 

It is great to drive. The Polestar 2’s electric motors are highly capable at delivering power with subtlety and ease. There’s nothing jerky about the acceleration, just smooth refinement. The car grips the road and the steering feels precise. The central touchscreen is large and easy to navigate, creating a user experience that felt intuitive but not distracting. The advanced driver assist system was no Tesla Autopilot, but it got the job done. 

The specs of the Polestar 2 are well-reported — but here’s a refresher -

78kWh battery pack

291 miles (470 kilometres) of range

408 horsepower

0 to 60 mph in under 5 seconds

Starts at $59,900 (though Polestar has said it wants to eventually sell a $40,000 version)

The lighting scheme is very cool. There are “Thor’s hammer” front headlights that are common across Volvo’s line-up. In the rear, the full-width wrap around LED lights are reminiscent of KITT from Knight Rider. 

The Polestar 2’s interior, is comfortably sparse and 100 percent vegan, with no animal products used. 

The car has vegan textiles, though a Nappa leather option is available. Beyond that, you can add a performance package, metallic paint, and 20-inch rims. That’s as much configuration tinkering Polestar will allow.

Volvo’s Polestar 2 with Android Automotive is how all car software should be designed

The Polestar 2 has a key — a chunky looking fob, made irrelevant because the car can be turned on with  your phone. Once seated, close the door, press the brake pedal, and click the gear shift to the desired direction.

When the weather demands full attention, having a voice-command system is handy. And Google Assistant, which is built into the Polestar 2, is as good as it gets.

“Hey Google, play The Ramones.”

Android Automotive System is very impressive. The voice recognition is excellent, Voice commands in most vehicles are ordinary, because car companies lack the level of computing technology that tech giants Amazon and Google command.

Having the virtual assistant at beck-and-call while driving the Polestar 2 is incredibly useful for navigation, tinkering with the HVAC, music selection and more. 

Voice recognition is more than a novelty. It can reduce driver distraction. Being able to toggle by voice between - directions, temperature, and Spotify - while keeping your eyes on the road, makes for better driving. 

Polestar’s Android operating system won't quite do everything for you --it can’t adjust the bass or treble - and it has terrible taste in jokes -

“How do you make a tissue dance,” Google Assistant said, after I asked it to make me laugh -  “Put a little boogie in it.” -  Ugh!

Fortunately, the experience of driving the Polestar 2 more than made up for its corny voice assistant jokes.

I found it to be one of the best EVs I’ve ever driven.

The Polestar 2 is fast, it holds the road, and it feels well built with enough technology to impress without overwhelming.

“Hey Google, when can I drive this car again?”

Read article in full here -

https://www.theverge.com/21365032/polestar-2-hands-on-first-drive-electric-android-automotive-photos-range

This article summarised and shared by jibberjabber.

5G Speed - Here's what your future looks like!

 

5G speed, the fastest since Muhammad Ali said -  'Ah'm so fast when I switch the light off ah'm in bed before the light is out'

If you've only heard conspiracy theories about 5G, what follows will show the massive positive changes it will bring the world.

5G will allow a top surgeon in Harley Street to operate on a patient anywhere in the world… from the comfort of his own operating room in London.

Last August a surgeon in China performed the world’s first remote operation – BRAIN SURGERY…

And he did it USING 5G TECHNOLOGY.

That 5G news item and all the other 5G revelations in this post, came to me as I gloomily wondered how the world economy will recover from the virus devastation?

Because of my age, my first thoughts were conditioned by the last time a comparable catastrophe struck the world.

The 1930s Depression.

But, ever the optimist, I thought, we are more advanced now. I know of life changing new technology that is rumoured to be near success, such as nuclear fusion, which will replicate the energy of the sun and provide the world with virtually free energy.

But now I think 5G technology will be first to revolutionise and create change beyond recognition, and its being rolled out now.

It answers the puzzle in my mind, why governments seem confident to borrow more and more money even though we are already Trillions in debt.

Yes, 5G has it's doubters and accusers.

They believe 5G has something to do with the Covid-19 crisis.

You can find people who believe the government is engineering vaccines to contain toxic substances that 5G will ‘push’ into your cells…

Others believe it reduces the amount of oxygen in the air - slowly suffocating anyone in the immediate vicinity of a 5G mast

But there is someone against every invention.

In the 1500s, Swiss scientist Conrad Gessner lambasted the printing press, calling the flood of new information ‘confusing and harmful to the mind’...

The first automobiles were accused of encouraging teenagers to have casual sex, commit crimes and disobey their parents...

When televisions first entered households, people reported being spied on through the screen...

More recently, there were similar doom predictions about the greatest innovation in recent times: the internet.

In its early stages CNN ran a report stating “Email hurts IQ more than pot.”

Three years later The Times mocked the Telegraph for saying it made people "Mourn for the good old times when mails came by steamer twice a month."

What this shows is that humans have a psychologically ingrained resistance to change.

So fast is change that it seemed like yesterday that telecoms companies rolled out the very first ‘1G’ mobile network.

Things were simpler. No texting. No Camera. All you could do was call each other. And the maximum speed was just 2.4kbps.

To put that in context, it would have taken you 33 days to download an HD movie .

Still, even that created an explosion of creativity and wealth.

Motorola was the first company to release a mobile phone to consumers.

Remember this house brick size mobile? - Not that long ago either.

Then the Nokia 3210. In the late 1990s, everyone and their dog had one.

It was the 3210 that characterised the 2G revolution.

This was the moment mobile phones became truly portable. And it caused the number of people using them to skyrocket from 1 in every 10,000 people…

To 16 in every 100 people and counting,– globally.

No one was even thinking about downloading HD movies back then. But if you had, it would have taken you a day and a half.

But then came 4G and everything changed.

15 minutes to download an HD video.

And the ‘App Economy’ exploded! Almost overnight billion dollar apps like Uber, Deliveroo, and Spotify burst onto the scene.

And of course the company that made it all possible – Apple – Their stock price has gone through the roof.

And now it’s 5G’s turn.

With 5G, that HD movie will take all of 2.5 seconds!

That’s 100-times faster than 4G.

Every time we get a major upgrade in download speeds, new ideas blossom and fortunes are made!

There are many more reasons why 5G is the only topic to steal mainstream media coverage from that of Covid-19.

That explain why the government has given telecoms engineers laying 5G infrastructure the same ‘key worker’ status as doctors and nurses fighting Covid-19 in hospitals.

Why, during the coronavirus panic, Boris Johnson made Britain's plans to implement 5G a priority in parliamentary debate…

For example

Remember what I said earlier about 5G enabling a top surgeon in Harley Street to operate on a patient anywhere in the world… from the comfort of his own operating room in London.

And how last August a surgeon in China performed the world’s first remote operation – BRAIN SURGERY! …watch by video

After the operation Dr. Ling said, ““The 5G network has solved problems like video lag and remote control delay experienced under the 4G network… And you barely feel that the patient is 3,000 kilometres away!”

This breakthrough is because 5G brings speed and eliminates lag.

It means there’s no delay in devices talking to each other, even over huge distances.

Which opens up hundreds of new uses for the technology…

As you’ll soon see, it is no coincidence MIT scientists call 5G technology “a technological paradigm shift, akin to the shift from typewriter to the computer”.

Nor is it a coincidence Bill Gates has taken a $650 million position in 5G. And to indicate scale he said the changes it will bring will eventually be worth “10 Microsofts”.

Some of the largest and biggest tech firms in the world are staking the future of their businesses on 5G.

Apple is preparing every single one of its devices to integrate with this tech…

So is Samsung… and Sony.

Google, Tesla, Motorola, Bosch, Cisco and Microsoft are all staking billions on what’s coming.

Take a look at this forecast from research firm CCS Insight – it shows the expected number of 5G smartphone subscriptions over the next 5 years.

They predict a jump from 4 million subscription next year…

To 2.61 BILLION by 2025.

That’s 60,492% growth.

Just as previous ground-breaking technology created new start ups, 5G will change the business landscape beyond recognition.

Feel better now?

I have far more revelations of what 5G will transform - Why it is essential for widespread growth in self drive vehicles? And could it make Broadband unnecessary? - next time.

Bitcoin - Latest

While ordinary stock market shares are yo yo-ing with uncertainty, technological giants Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and similar, are positively soaring .The covid pandemic is accelerating transition to the digital and technological age.

But the best performing asset of the last decade was Bitcoin. Still prone to sudden sharp up and down price movement, but overall trend is up, and traditional banks are starting to get interested. 

Interest in cryptocurrencies is rising because businesses and holders of cash fear that government support payments to individuals and businesses, weaken the U.S. Fiat currency (Fiat - from the Latin 'It shall be'-  Fiat money that has no intrinsic value, i.e it's just paper! - but governments decree 'It shall Be' legal tender). 

This is confirmed by traditional banking institutions, like JPMorgan Chase, cautiously hedging digital currencies onto their platform. 

In May, the largest retail bank in America, JPMorgan, which has historically 

been a staunch 

opponent of Bitcoin, announced it is already processing crypto transactions on its platform, and plans to create JPM Coin, a digital currency tied to the dollar. A crypto coin available universally, not requiring any changing, will speed up and reduce costs of sending money anywhere in the world.

 In June, CoinDesk reported that PayPal and Venmo are considering joining the crypto community by offering direct sales of cryptocurrencies. Earlier in August, we saw Goldman Sachs bring in a new head of digital assets to scale up its crypto operations.  

Crypto—once the reserve of gamers, coders, and early tech millionaires—is now a place where more people have access to an alternative system giving greater control over their wealth.

Anyone with a smartphone can access crypto without waiting for banks to open or a debit card to arrive. What's more, because crypto is decentralized, and uses a public ledger to show or hide records, there is a level of transparency that government programs do not provide.

For the most part, crypto currencies have operated in a world of their own. But in 2020—amid the coronavirus pandemic—interest in crypto has boomed. That interest is mainly with investors and speculators and causes high volatility as they try to make money buying the dip and selling the tip of price movement.  

Bitcoin won't be generally accepted for daily bread and butter shopping until there is some price stability. Finding the price of potatoes and other staples has risen dramatically between home and shop will see to that.

The value of money is changing. As Americans continue to receive financial assistance and businesses utilize (PPP) Payroll Protection Programs, the value of the dollar is dropping. Earlier this week, the U.S. Dollar Index was at its lowest level since May 2018.

So more people will hedge money from the devaluing dollar into gold and silver, the traditional alternative stores of value. And now cryptocurrencies give another option.

Bitcoin is established. There is a reason why the most prestigious university endowments, such as those affiliated with Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, all invest in crypto funds. 

If you have spare funds that you can afford to lose - (cryptocurrencies are prone to high volatility in their early years) - then invest some in Bitcoin and Digital assets. 

The Future is Digital. 
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@ijavee/bitcoin-latest 
 
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