Andrew Dwyer

My last but one U.K. rental was October 2019 and no mention of any utility bills, as usual, until my last U.K. rental in August 2022. It really surprised me and, although i do carry some documents with me, i had nothing with the address I supposedly live at, maybe i did have my “ address “ listed on the bank website I’m not sure. In fact i thought I was being hounded by some over zealous Europcar rental guy as up to now haven’t heard anyone else come across this …. until NanLaew’s post above.

Thanks, I have done the license check code thing many times since 2016 but this was the first time, 18 months ago, i was faced with the utility bill request. I don’t remember how i managed to convince him to okay the rental but i do remember the rental guy wasn’t letting it go easily.

What version are you on now ?

Exactly my thoughts, never been asked before, wondered if it was a new rule.

Thanks Martin, the last time I rented a car in the U.K. was 18 months ago with Europcar, they asked to see some utility bills with my name and the address on the driver’s license ( U.K. license ). Firstly I had no utility bills ( it’s my daughter’s address) and secondly my U.K. license was using an old address ( my father’s ). I managed to get them to accept the rental but vowed I would use my Thai license next time. I ordered a new U.K. ( updated address ) license and now wondering whether to send it here as a backup in case the Thai license has some problems. Hence my question about Thai license for U.K. rental.

I know that this has been asked before but am looking for some up to date information. I have a 5 year Thai license and wish to use it for renting a car in the U.K. in April. I also have a valid U.K. license but would prefer to use the Thai one if possible. ( it’s a long story ). So, any recent U.K. rentals with a Thai license and anything I should be aware of ??

Yes, I was thinking that also, if it’s not going to withstand a pressure wash then I would rather know now !

Following my success with dipping the BYD badges I decided to tackle a wheel today to see what it looks like. Put the car outside just enough to wash one rear wheel and tyre, making sure all the water is gone is paramount so I left it cooking outside for a while then back under the carport for some further cleaning with some alcohol wipes. Put some of that tyre wall black cleaner stuff on as recommended by the YouTube videos. Masked it up to protect the paintwork, rotor and brakes. Gentle first coat. 4 or 5 more coats, using almost a whole can. This is Flat Black, gives a Matt finish. I was super happy with this but slightly less so when I removed the plastic covering the rotor/brakes. Ideally painting the brake caliper and the rotor mount would have been preferable as they seem more prominent now the wheel is black, so will decide about that before tackling the rest. What does the team think, should I bother painting the caliper/mounting or stick with what I have ?? ( NOTE: if you zoom in you can see the surface rust that appears after washing and right at the top where I rubbed some off with my finger , not present on the other 3 rotors ).

Not sure that the OP knows what it means either !!

Yes, quite possible, your idea to do a weekly heavy brake test makes sense.

I had to brake sharply recently and heard a grating noise, so much so that I stopped and had a look to see if anything was obviously wrong, it wasn’t. Tested my brakes a few times after that and the sound slowly disappeared. I put it down to the fact I had had the car washed the previous day which can leave a layer of surface rust apparently.

Sounds like a concrete strategy !

Make a will to give your wife/partner access to your bank account funds upon your passing. Be prepared that this could take months, if your wife/partner is not financially stable ( job or money in her bank account ) then make a short term solution for her to deal with immediate financial matters. Whether you choose money in the safe, money in her account or any other method is up to you. Using the ATM card and pin method is not advisable and could cause problems as stated above many times.

Certainly seems to have been a lot of rumours floating around about the price for this EV. https://carnewschina.com/2024/01/05/xiaomi-is-getting-nervous-about-su7-pricing-rumors/

That is a nice car without a doubt, a shame they couldn’t tell us the all important $$$ !, also I wonder what the battery chemistry is ?

So, today i tackled some Elastic Dipping, had bought the stuff for the previous car but when the Seal started to appear the project got shelved. Anyhoo, had watched some YouTube videos about it and it was easier than I expected. The front looks particularly good if i do say so myself ! How long it’ll last and if it will withstand a vigorous scrubbing or jet spraying at the car wash is another question.

Now that’s a healthy discount ( 300 + 280k ) but only to the end of the month !

Coming to a Seal near you !! So, it has happened, some Chinese guy has developed an app to turn the 360° cameras into a Sentry mode and Thais are all over it !! Obviously in its conception but could pave the way for something more professional. Recording from all 4 cameras while running or parked is definitely something interesting, how much will it stretch the 12v battery is a big question ? ( the Sinjet recording only front and back is limited to 24 hrs for sake of the battery ). Someone commented on another FB post about this subject that Deepal already has this option but i can’t find any info to confirm that.

As said by @sathornlover , yes can derate down to 6A via the app. 16A will give you a max it 3.7 kw/h on single phase and 11 kw/h on 3 phase according to the spec sheet.

Did you know that with the ABB wall charger app you can see your total or monthly/weekly/yearly or even a custom period usage in an Activity Report and have it sent to your email address !! I am going to tell you how as it is not so obvious. So, swiping left on the Dashboard brings up Statistics which, by default I think, shows you your last 7 days graph. Click on Last Activity brings the itemized list for the last 7 days. Click on Last 7 Days and you have the options of Time Period. Click on your choice and OK gives you an itemized list of all your charging sessions for that time period. Click on Export to choose what to send and in what format. Click OK and your email address should be listed for you to Export. Now, the question WHY ?? I don’t know, tax reasons !!

This is true, whereas mpg is often the maximum economy you can get from your ICE car ( only to be exceeded by using unorthodox measures) EV’s have a range “ guessometer “ using a variety of methods ( NEDC, WLTP, CLTC ) supposedly based on normal driving habits which include highway and urban driving. WLTP is the standard which comes closest to driving in reality. Some EV’s will use a Dynamic range, based on your own physical driving habits, similar to the remaining miles/km’s function on an ICE car. My car has determined my average range via a Dynamic option. On New Year’s Day I took a trip ( 205 km ) on mainly highways, driving up to 120 km/h and mainly at around 100 to 105 km/h the 205 km took 250 km off my remaining km’s ( range ). Driving back the exact same route, a couple of days later, i encountered heavy stop start traffic and the 205 km took 189 km off my range. So, contrary to normal ICE driving, stop start or urban driving is better than highway driving for economy as regeneration braking creates energy. So, beating the “ mpg” is possible in an EV but usually means some form of driving based purely on economics.

Difficult to keep up the high standards set by season 1 , season 2 was a little slow but picked up and season 3 was a cracker !! I class True Detective in the same way as Fargo, which was superb until season 4 but then redeemed itself with season 5 . All imho of course.

So, I added DC charging stations layer to Google Maps: Then choose a location, ideal if you are travelling somewhere and want to know the charging options near your final destination. All the chargers show, including PEA Authority chargers, sadly missing on the native BYD sat nav . Looks like originally designed by a MG owner as MG showrooms show and BYD showrooms do not but the ReverSharger charges are there so it’s all good .

Hopefully it is not just the uncensored version of that photo ……. you could lose some readers if it is !!

In the case of ABB charger, if you are using the free vending option then you just plug the charger in your car and charging starts. If not using this option, for the reason that anyone can charge their car from your charger, then I believe you need to use the RFID card or start charging from the app.