mx5cartalk.com

This is a good step forward....as always, we are lagging behind in AU good thing Abbott got shafted.
I guess the big trend will perhaps be electric conversions instead of Turbo conversion to our beloved cars.

there is a guy in Qld who does electric conversion inc engineering. He was saying $30K for the conversion. Hopefully these conversion will become more common & reduce in price.

Petrol isn't going anywhere for a long long time, our cars will still be legal to own, drive, buy and sell. New cars for sale will be emissions neutral one way or the other, either hydrogen, plug-in, or e-fuels. But the legislation won't be retroactive.

I'm hoping e-fuels become more prevalent, these are synthetic fuels that are emissions neutral. Porsche and other companies are investing heavily in this area. It might mean we need to re-tune our cars, but ECU options exist to do just that. It might be a higher cost option that electricity, but for a fun "sometimes" car, that's acceptable.

Of course, if you'd rather a plug-in electric conversion they should be available too and I can see the fun there too as the technology progresses.

I don't think there's ever going to be a single way forward. And I don't think the current legislations around the world are fully set in stone, they'll evolve as technology progresses. However, I think setting emissions targets and legislation to achieve them is important and we are lagging behind badly.

If that guy in QLD would instead pay me the $30k to convert my car to run on electricity I still wouldn’t do it.

Until charging times come down massively, electric cars are only feasible for a very small sector of the public and a joke for the rest.

ManiacLachy wrote:Petrol isn't going anywhere for a long long time, our cars will still be legal to own, drive, buy and sell. New cars for sale will be emissions neutral one way or the other, either hydrogen, plug-in, or e-fuels. But the legislation won't be retroactive.

I'm hoping e-fuels become more prevalent, these are synthetic fuels that are emissions neutral. Porsche and other companies are investing heavily in this area. It might mean we need to re-tune our cars, but ECU options exist to do just that. It might be a higher cost option that electricity, but for a fun "sometimes" car, that's acceptable.

Of course, if you'd rather a plug-in electric conversion they should be available too and I can see the fun there too as the technology progresses.

I don't think there's ever going to be a single way forward. And I don't think the current legislations around the world are fully set in stone, they'll evolve as technology progresses. However, I think setting emissions targets and legislation to achieve them is important and we are lagging behind badly.

Agree Petrol isn't going anywhere since industry will need it for some time yet.Especially for air travel ....but for the private consumer it sounds like the way to go. Petrol will probably get more & more expensive and become probibetive for the private consumer.
Infrastructure needs to change .

I just hope the governement isnt telling us hogwash wit EV's like they did with diesels. While diesel has a place in industry. no clue why its being offered to private people

Petrol isn't going anywhere for decades for private use. Think about how long it will take for everyone to swap to EVs, once they are practical and the infrastructure is in place, how many 10+ year old cars do you see each day? It will take at least that long for used EVs to filter down the used market to be affordable, and then there's questions about their reliability. Hell my Liberty is 14 years old, and other than old infotainment tech (ie, a CD stacker and radio only - not even BT), it's perfectly suitable, reliable and fun.

All sorts of environmental issues will come up with EVs in time, the impacts of manufacturing and disposal will no doubt raise many concerns. But those concerns might be less than those associated with petroleum, the lesser of 2 evils, I don't know.

I expect in time I will have an EV main car, to do the duties of my current Subaru Liberty - if they ever make an EV station wagon! But the MX-5 will remain petrol powered and dríven for my lifetime I have no doubt.

We do need politicians to get off their arse and start planning infrastructure and incentivise uptake. We need better adoption, but we don't have facilities to charge. If you have a house, maybe you can charge overnight in a carport or garage, but what do you do if you can't use your garage because it's a storage room? Or if you live in an apartment? Charge times are actually quite fast now for properly spec'ed charge stations, I think it's like 80% in 20 minutes, but how many of those do we have, and are they available on interstate journeys?

We have a long way to go with EV car affordability and infrastructure, but I don't see any initiative from those in power to incentivise and drive it like they do in the EU.

ManiacLachy wrote:....if they ever make an EV station wagon!

Here you go!

https://youtu.be/YnTlQW57lUg

ManiacLachy wrote:But the MX-5 will remain petrol powered and dríven for my lifetime I have no doubt.

I actually expect the next generation to be, at very least, a mild hybrid.

Nevyn72 wrote:

ManiacLachy wrote:....if they ever make an EV station wagon!

Here you go!

https://youtu.be/YnTlQW57lUg

ManiacLachy wrote:But the MX-5 will remain petrol powered and dríven for my lifetime I have no doubt.

I actually expect the next generation to be, at very least, a mild hybrid.

I meant my car specifically, new cars will certainly need to meet EU standards going forwards for sales. But that hybrid will add weight! The NE will be quite far removed from previous generations I expect.

ManiacLachy wrote:The NE will be quite far removed from previous generations I expect.

Not at all!
It's called a Fiat 124 Spyder...The NF is called an Abarth.
They're a lot like the ND!

* Yes, yes, semantics but people referring to the next generation of MX5 as an NE is a pet hate...

Given the VIN codes NE & NF have already been used, the next MX5 will be an NG.

With the trend toward emissions free vehicles the NG will stand for 'No gas'...

Are they really coded NE and NF? I had no idea about that! Yes, they are quite similar to the ND in that case

ManiacLachy wrote:.... Yes, they are quite similar to the ND in that case

except hit with the ugly stick..... imho..

rascal wrote:

ManiacLachy wrote:.... Yes, they are quite similar to the ND in that case

except hit with the ugly stick..... imho..

Depends on the angle...

rascal wrote:

ManiacLachy wrote:.... Yes, they are quite similar to the ND in that case

except hit with the ugly stick..... imho..

.. and gearbox. Is the turbo engine a Mazda, or from Pastaland? That sort of change would almost require a new designation.

and this is why I am hanging on to my NB8B.
This is all bullshit. There are countries that have no intention of doing anything other than paying lip service to changes related to environmental pollution and forcing people to drive EVs is just a distraction from the real issue.
When the real global polluters - we know who they are - have ceased to wreck the environment then I will consider moving to a vehicle that doesn't use fossil fuels. Of course the environment-damaging processes involved in manufacturing those vehicles will be conveniently ignored.
Fortunately that will not be in my lifetime.
Stuff the EU - like the UN, they are a bunch of hypocrits and the UK was smart to leave.

Rocky wrote:When the real global polluters - we know who they are -

That would be us, amongst many others....

Rocky wrote:Of course the environment-damaging processes involved in manufacturing those vehicles will be conveniently ignored.

Because they are no different to the environment damaging processes of manufacturing ICE vehicles...

Rocky wrote:Stuff the EU - like the UN, they are a bunch of hypocrits and the UK was smart to leave.

while I agree with that theres a big devide here about europe and the eu / unelected lawmakers & self-appointed government (but thats another story )

governments agree & sign-up to these ideas knowing that that it will be someone else's problem in 10-15 years so they can tick whatever boxes are needed

the infrastructure for ev use can only work with serious technological improvements

the UK's power generation grid is old and not able to handle much more than it already supplies & I guess other countries are the same?

not forgetting the environmental damage from making the batteries etc.

Rich.