Cybertruck reservations.

[Jez_GB]

if only for a lively debate!

Are you serious?!, do you realise the consequences of your argument? you are playing fast and free with our right to use the roads for no charge via VED!!!

But seriously, like all of us EV'ers, I currently enjoy the "free" VED, however the reality is this cannot continue long term and it seems to me that a much fairer system would be based on a sliding scale which takes account of the "amount of road consumed", akin to the suggestion made by your friend. If that were based on say, weight, then larger vehicles; farm machinery for instance, would also be contributing (that doesn't stop the damage, but goes some way to paying for it). It might not be a popular suggestion amongst the EV community (or farming community), however our vehicles are much heavier than equivalent ICE, ergo they cause more wear to road surfaces over time.

You pulled the pin, I lobbed the grenade in - I declare this debate open

 

[Jez_GB]

Apologies, my last post was off topic, I should have added the following rider...

I've cancelled my Cybertruck reservation on the strength of the announcement from JLR

 

[MrBadger]

Around here it's not the size of cars that's a problem, but the ever-increasing size of farm machinery.

There is nothing quite like the milk tanker coming towards you at 4am to alert your senses.

 

[tess19]

I dont understand why they dont get rid of VED and tax the fuel instead. That way, less admin, overseas cars pay, high mileage vehicles which uses the road more pay more and less chance of escaping payment.

 

[MrBadger]

Or just tax road time and use

 

[Jez_GB]

I dont understand why they dont get rid of VED and tax the fuel instead. That way, less admin, overseas cars pay, high mileage vehicles which uses the road more pay more and less chance of escaping payment.

EV drivers would still pay nowt - while it makes me happy, it's hardly fair or equitable. I guess at some point the exchequer will decide that our electrons need taxing (and probably way before the balance tips from fossil fuel) and will devise some cunning plan

 

[Zakalwe]

As the son of a farmer I understand the need for big and efficient machinery, but there should be a limit to the size of kit that can be driven on public roads.

There are.
2.55 metres is the maximum legal width of any agricultural vehicle. You can bring wider vehicles but permits are required.Over 3m needs police notification and permission from each force travelled through. Over 3.5 metres requires an attendant and police permission. Over 4.3 metres requires DoT notification. There are similar rules on length, height and weight.

The problem is that some roads are little more than tarmacadamed footpaths but this is simply an effect of the place one chooses to live.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

There are.
2.55 metres is the maximum legal width of any agricultural vehicle. You can bring wider vehicles but permits are required.Over 3m needs police notification and permission from each force travelled through. Over 3.5 metres requires an attendant and police permission. Over 4.3 metres requires DoT notification. There are similar rules on length, height and weight.

The problem is that some roads are little more than tarmacadamed footpaths but this is simply an effect of the place one chooses to live.

The other problem is that many arable farmers ignore the law in rural areas, for the simple reason that it's not policed very well. Our lane has less than 2m width of tarmac, so pretty much every tractor that comes down it ends up with its tyres running on the very narrow verges either side. The tractor towing a combine header that took out a neighbours wall last year is a good example. The tractor was just within the max width limit, but it had a 10m header on the back, so was really restricted in terms of the minimum turn radius it could make. The fact that the header single axle trailer wheels were right at the back made this even more of an issue.

It seems to be the farms growing large areas of rape that cause the most problems locally, as they seem to opt for combines with the widest headers they can buy. Years ago a combine with a 6m header was commonplace, now they all seem to be up around 10m to 12m, which may be fine in areas where any roads they need to use are reasonably wide, but they are a PITA on really narrow lanes.

So far I've spent a few hundred pounds trying to prevent further damage to our fences from farm machinery, in the form of horizontally laid power poles staked into the verge, and that's on top of us giving up around a metre of our land all around by setting the fences back from where they are supposed to be. With hindsight I should have put the new fences where the old ones were, and just get the farmer to cough up to repair them every time they get damaged, as at least that used to act as a sort of limit on the size of machinery he used. I think he saw us moving our fences as a green light for him to go and buy bigger kit . . .

 

[26ct2143]

Unfortunately as smaller farmers are having to pack-up due to being financially unviable, we are renting out our land to fewer, ever becoming larger operations, which are having to use very large kit to get the job done in the ever decreasing weather windows we have.

I do think we are now close to reaching the maximum size of combines.
The guy who I have rented my land to has a 35ft cutting width combine header (probably about 45ft long on it's trailer), which has a trailer with steering axles front and rear.
It is strange to tow, but does get around the bends much better.

There are also far too many young lads driving agricultural machinery that's effectively the size and weight of an artic lorry. But they have only been driving a few years in reality.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

There are also far too many young lads driving agricultural machinery that's effectively the size and weight of an artic lorry. But they have only been driving a few years in reality.

I learned to drive on an old Fordson when I was about 12. Spent part of my summer holidays driving the grain trailer to and from whichever field was being harvested. By the end of the summer I was deemed competent enough to tow the trailer alongside the combine, on the move, whilst it was emptying the hopper.

Not sure it helped when I came to driving a car, but it did mean I learned a fair bit about how to manoeuvre a trailer.

 

[26ct2143]

I learned to drive on an old Fordson when I was about 12. Spent part of my summer holidays driving the grain trailer to and from whichever field was being harvested. By the end of the summer I was deemed competent enough to tow the trailer alongside the combine, on the move, whilst it was emptying the hopper.

Not sure it helped when I came to driving a car, but it did mean I learned a fair bit about how to manoeuvre a trailer.

Yeah I remember all too clearly the days of no air conditioning on tractors, so the windows are either open and all the dust from combine comes inside, or windows closed and it's a sweat box sitting behind a 7 litre turbo diesel, and sitting on top of a huge hot gearbox. lol.
Ah those were the days. Kids get it easy...

 

[UrbanSplash]

Anywayyyyyy.... how big is the Rivian compared to a CT?

 

[26ct2143]

Think rivian is more UK pickup size.
Last time I looked at it, not only was it v expensive, but it couldn't carry 1 ton in the back.
Meaning under UK rules can't claim vat back on it.
So that's useless for me.

But maybe something might change on that?

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Yeah I remember all too clearly the days of no air conditioning on tractors, so the windows are either open and all the dust from combine comes inside, or windows closed and it's a sweat box sitting behind a 7 litre turbo diesel, and sitting on top of a huge hot gearbox. lol.
Ah those were the days. Kids get it easy...

Our old Fordson didn't have a cab (or a rollover bar, but this was the 1960s). Didn't have a battery, either, the yard was on a slope, so the trick was to park it at the top every night and hope it would bump start OK.