You could have the most diametrically opposed garage in the UK
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What else do you drive?
- Thread starter benclear
- Start date
You could have the most diametrically opposed garage in the UK
My most environmentally friendly car is my s13 200sx. I've had it 25 years during which time most folk have used the carbon waste buying 6 or 7 other cars. It had to have it's first new exhaust yesterday, has always got me home whatever went wrong and has a real spare wheel with a tyre that winds up the guys at qwikfit 'cos it's dated '93 and shows no sign of deterioration.
jimbo_hippo
Member
Alongside my Model 3 is a 2017 30kWh LEAF and I continue my attempts to save the planet with...... erm.... well... erm....
We plant trees relative to the distance of each trip and it has meant a lot of flights saved (6 people to Barcelona in this rather than 6 flights is somewhat carbon-footprint positive) but I do look forward to an RV built on the Tesla SEMI chassis for guilt free festivals and stuff.
We plant trees relative to the distance of each trip and it has meant a lot of flights saved (6 people to Barcelona in this rather than 6 flights is somewhat carbon-footprint positive) but I do look forward to an RV built on the Tesla SEMI chassis for guilt free festivals and stuff.
We always run one "larger" car and a small one for town trips and buzzing about. A series of German jobs have been replaced by a M3P but we still run an Up! turbo which is great when we know parking and access will be dodgy. It's also quick but nothing like the Tesla. Oddly it's becoming more and more difficult to drive the more I drive the Model 3; pedals, knobs and levers everywhere!
MrBadger
Badger out
When there's a sensible small city car EV we'll be right on it! I reckon maybe 18 months away so not too long. Next year we will be road-tripping through France in the Model 3 rather than flying, so we're getting there (slower of course!)
jimbo_hippo
Member
Well with a plastic free house, a bamboo toothbrush, bottled milk, farm shop vegetables, no unnecessary flying, 2 EVs, 6kW of Solar plus Tesla Powerwall, much as I love her, Greta can quite frankly do one until someone invents another way for 6 people to go on holiday and to 22 events every summer without having £20K worth of camera kit in a tent!
..rather makes the point that the west's problems are down to overindulgence..
jimbo_hippo
Member
Events may/may not be your job but the sheer mass of people driving to such, the carting of equipment to set up, flying in the acts, the volume of chemical toilet mess and garbage and camping gear left behind, deisel power leccy...
Its all part of the herd behaviour of believing one has a 'right' and a need to keep up with everyone else - holidays abroad, non essential chattels and so forth - new this and that instead of make do and mend. None of it really contributes to happiness
It's hard to put the clock back to when folk were happy locally with friends in their neighbourhood and real community spirit and when a holiday really meant something instead of just getting bladdered by a distant pool and not leaving the hotel apart from the de rigeur organised day trip.
I see this in a small way whenever i pull in to a service area to supercharge. I'm sitting in my car reading the paper with my thermos and sarnies and watch the coaches and cars come in .. the sea of people automatically queueing to buy take-out coffee and some polystyrene food and adding to the mound of garbage and monies going to companies that avoid UK tax.
Sorry its my usual rant
Stop spoiling the mood pgkevet!
We all know the risks of such sweeping and polarising generalisations, we should all be pretty much expert at keeping it in check by now.
This started as a nod to car enthusiasts who ARE getting value from their cars, they love them. My slant was that many of us who love cars have historically been conflicted by the environmental consequences but have now been afforded the opportunity, by way of Tesla (and others) to do something about it.
I’m not selling my house and buying a small holding just yet or anything but lots of people are moving in the right direction and moving there quickly (sic).
Save those sandwiches and thermos for watching the world burn
jimbo_hippo
Member
There are some interesting points in there pgkevet. I get what you're saying. But everything has a different slant on it. My view is that you change what you can whenever you can. For me, the key to saving the planet isn't living in the woods eating twigs. Even us humble Brits haven't strived for our freedoms to give them up entirely and even if those of us that are conscious of our actions bought log cabins and horses and carts, the prevailing 'what's in it for me' approach to life from most won't catch up until the sun literally ignites them on a Spanish beach. My ideal view of the future is creating a mentality/tech that lets us do the same stuff in moderation with minimal impact on the planet. For what it's worth, my background is event staging for these events and I'm also a cameraman so I'm often there working but to simply say that as an excuse would be dodging your valid point. Say I was just a normal punter, I could arrive with no plastic, watch some bands who are at least powered by renewables and at best solar (difficult at a UK festival as it's usually still throwing it down long after a solar battery bank is depleted) and leave, driving a zero emissions motorhome having enjoyed the camaraderie, inspiration and joy these events bring. I believe we need to change the way we enjoy ourselves, not give upon enjoying ourselves. We can't go back to beating a wooden hoop down the road with a stick for entertainment because we live in an enlightened world and it's generally a good place. We just need to find new ways to do that. Many festivals are already on it and you can't discount the awareness that many of them promote and hopefully some take home having seen.
Our RV is our bugbear. If we are desperate to be SEEN to be all green, it makes no sense. But the fact we travel, see parts of the world we'd like to keep and act accordingly for me is a key part of the freedom of the open road. We have solar and batteries onboard so when we're stationary, we're using a shed load less than a hotel we might use. And we're connected to nature or cities or even just the joy of travelling, all the time with open eyes. We've decided to give the RV one more season then reevaluate the 3K miles it might do in a year. In the meantime, I think our efforts daily give us a little bit of leeway because we're properly changing our daily lives in this house. Even Christmas this year is minimal gifts and sustainable influenced where possible. We love our Tesla. My other half loves her LEAF. We love our solar and Octopus Agile. We generally love life. But we have our eyes open. That does mean, I believe (feel free to challenge me) that we are trying to be the best people we can without becoming other people.
I do find one common thread though. I get a finger pointed at the RV every time someone discusses the planet with me. What they see is a big diesel engine. They never see the 6 people travelling to Barcelona in it this summer with zero flights. They don't see us being self-sufficient when we're parked (which is most of the time). They don't see us not checking into a hotel which I'm damn sure is using more power than us. And they don't see the opportunities it brings us and in turn enlightening our lives. They seem to assume we're just driving around with one finger at the environment burning fuel like we don't care. We don't need a 5.9ltr Diesel in our daily cars. But you do at the moment if you want to move a 12 tonne motorhome and it's not much less economical than the euro boxes either.
Anyway, some interesting points but we have definitely hijacked the thread. I'd be happy to discuss elsewhere.
Back to 'other vehicles' eh?
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My apologies for any mood killing.
I'll point out that i didn't buy my Tesla to save the planet but 'cos I wanted to play with the tech and also for the simple reason that I'd hoped FSD might keep me motoring longer as i age - though i think that's a daydream too far. I suspect that I'll have little more than 10 years before some age restriction/deterioration takes me off the road and i doubt FSD will be advanced enough to deal with sufficient cases to prolong that.
I applaud those who do change their lifestyle to be less wasteful but the reality is that it's only those who are well off that can afford to or intelligent enough to want to.
Back to cars:
There's no doubt the S is the best car I've ever owned from the viewpoint of comfort, instant torque and all the other bits we all know about. My 200sx is still more fun as a drivers' car - having to anticipate where and when to apply power due to turbo lag, it's inherent tendencies to drift and fishtail, the lack of airbags and older fashioned brakes and needing to use auditory clues as to how it's running and very little in the way of stability control.
I'll point out that i didn't buy my Tesla to save the planet but 'cos I wanted to play with the tech and also for the simple reason that I'd hoped FSD might keep me motoring longer as i age - though i think that's a daydream too far. I suspect that I'll have little more than 10 years before some age restriction/deterioration takes me off the road and i doubt FSD will be advanced enough to deal with sufficient cases to prolong that.
I applaud those who do change their lifestyle to be less wasteful but the reality is that it's only those who are well off that can afford to or intelligent enough to want to.
Back to cars:
There's no doubt the S is the best car I've ever owned from the viewpoint of comfort, instant torque and all the other bits we all know about. My 200sx is still more fun as a drivers' car - having to anticipate where and when to apply power due to turbo lag, it's inherent tendencies to drift and fishtail, the lack of airbags and older fashioned brakes and needing to use auditory clues as to how it's running and very little in the way of stability control.
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