Category: Cars of our dotage

The New EV Chariot

A side view, so that I don’t have to blank the rego plates. 😎

Here we go! Everything is fine, except for the hundreds of pages of User Manual that I have to plough through every time I want to use or change a function.

It’s eerily quiet – spooky in Strine – but it does everything it’s meant to do with just a hint of a superior smirk if we don’t phrase our request in exactly the correct way. But we’re learning fast!

We’re trying to name her, but we haven’t yet reached agreement on what her name should be. Can any kind Charioteer make a suggestion? 😊

The Chariot is now an EV

Huh?

Well, not the Chariot precisely, but the conveyance used by our Boadicea to travel from place to place. We’ve put our ICE-powered companion out to grass- she was getting a little frail and battered around the edges – and purchased a bright-eyed, lecky-driven, millennium replacement.

Well, not quite, but the warrants have been signed, the executioner booked and the changeover set for the end of the month. Our extended test drive convinced us both that the future is already here, even for a pair of seniors like us.

Once we have our new chariot we’ll bore you with the details of our experiences, no doubt. 😎

EV = Electric Vehicle.
ICE = Internal Combustion Engine (petrol/gas or diesel)

A bridge but not for a while

Fifty years ago we all admired the new Forth road bridge – a modern, elegant addition to a proud Scotland.

Today it’s out of service until the new year, owing to structural failures. So commiserations to Embra drivers, thousands of whom will have to find a new route to work, or take the train or a temporary ferry.

Come on, Nicola! Get it sorted!

Driving in France

We rarely argue, but one thing that can set us off is driving. I get travel sick and can’t navigate from a map when moving. He’s not a good passenger. The invention of the Sat Nag has, to a certain degree, helped – but when we picked up the hire car at Nice airport I drove, as the Sat Nag refused to work.

So there I was, driving on the wrong side of the road, my feet operating the pedals (which are of course in the same order as they are at home) while my arms were trying to remember that the gear stick is on the right, the opposite side to what I am used to, whilst trying not to make my darling husband too nervous as he issued directions to me, often three times, with increasing volume, sometimes confusing his left and right. You can imagine, therefore that, after an early start (5 am) and little food Continue reading “Driving in France”

Bin ‘ot ‘ere

Our second week of 100 degree plus days and when the air conditioning on one’s car fails one is forced to get creative.

The window unit air conditioner was easily “foamed” into the right rear window, getting mains voltage requires the trunk mounted generator, a few sheet metal screws and she’s ready to go.
All-in-all a simple and elegant solution to an overheated commute.