When will battery costs bite?
I was interested in your article ‘Buy
them before we do’ (Autocar, 8 May).
I’m a life-long sports car owner, so
seeing the BMW i8 for as little as
£39,991 prompted me to visit my
local BMW dealer.
The car’s performance can’t be
questioned, but the dealer couldn’t
answer my concerns about battery
l i fe or t he c o s t of r e pl a c e me nt. D o e s
this mean the buyer of seemingly
well-priced used electric and hybrid
cars could be hit with exorbitant
costs for replacement batteries? The
government wants us to buy EVs,
but I haven’t seen any manufacturer
offering this information.
Ple a s e do a n a r t ic le on t he s ubje c t.
I’m sure people would be interested.
Obviously battery life will depend
upon many factors, but it would be
go o d t o k now w h at t he s e a r e.
Stephen Rhodes
Via email
A lost Lotus customer
I was the owner of six new Lotus
cars, from a 1992 Elan through an
Elise, Exige, Exige 2, Exige S and
Evora. I now have a launch edition
Alpine A110, and I eagerly await a
new Supra GR. While the new Lotus
Evija is stunning, it is at a price
incomprehensible to your average
Lotus aficionado. Currently I can
get two superb sports cars (as above)
for less than the price of a high-spec
Evora, which would normally have
been my next purchase. For the
s a k e of a lon g f ut u r e I hop e L ot u s i s
looking back to its roots and at cars
pitched to appeal to the likes of me.
Colin Hunt
Via email
Silverstone’s good ol’ days
Colin Goodwin’s Silverstone
experience (‘Challenge accepted’,
24 July) rang a few bells. Visits to
‘The home of British motor racing’ in
the mid-1960s got me hooked. On a
standard admission ticket you could
drive around the perimeter and park
outside Becketts. Early editions of
the Classic event were a highlight,
providing unfettered access to
LETTER OF THE WEEK
Dealer’s despair
MATT PRIOR’S PIECE about ambiguous car
names struck a chord (‘Tester’s Notes’, 24 July).
I bought an early Ford Ka, and trying to book
it s f i r s t s e r v ic e pr ov e d t r ic k y. “I ’d l i k e t o b o ok aservice for my Ka” (pronounced ‘car’, as per Ford’s
advertising). “Certainly sir, what vehicle is it?”
“It ’s a K a .” “ Ye s si r, I ne e d t o k now w h ic h mo de l ...”
Now in my 60s, I’m having different problems.
Yesterday I was in a dealer looking to buy a new
car. First I had to convince them I wanted to pay
for the car and keep it. And no, I don’t want an
SU V. T he n I w a nt e d t he sm a l le s t w he e l s p o s si ble ,
ideally steel. Leather? No thanks, too hot in summer,
f r e e z i n g i n w i nt e r. Su n r o of? A s a sl aphe a d I ’ v e s p e nt
t o o muc h of my l i fe w it h a s u nbu r ne d b onc e , s o no. Fi n a l l y, he at e d s e at s?
No, they make me feel as if I’ve wet myself, and at my age I can do that
my s e l f. My e n g i ne e r i n g ba c k g r ou nd m a k e s me lo ok at t h i n gs f r om a
practical viewpoint, but my wife says I’m a salesman’s worst nightmare.
Vinni Rogers
Via email
priceless machinery and driving
legends. The unveiling in 1999 of the
BRDC’s swanky new palace was a
slap in the face for faithful customers,
and the more recent ‘Wing’, with
its attendant denial of the riff-raff ’sright to roam, was the final straw.
Jamie Buchanan
Via email
Scorching Scala
You say the Skoda Scala 1.5 TSI
“offers reasonable performance”,
including a 136mph top speed and
0-62mph in 8.2sec, in a “sensible,
useful car” (First Drives, 24 July).
Just how much performance does a
sensible, useful car need?
My Octavia has the same engine,
and it has more performance than
it needs for a family car. I think
the forthcoming mandatory speed
limiters are a knee-jerk reaction
to the increasing performance of
e v e r yd ay c a r s. Hav e w e b e c ome
turkeys voting for Christmas?
Duncan FinlaysonVia email
XE needs racing kudos
Rather than rushing out more new
models, which may or may not fix
its ills, JLR must make better use of
w h at it ’s got. Ev e r si nc e t he X E w a s
launched, I’ve been waiting for a
serious promotional campaign. None
of its premium rivals got to their
present positions without a high-
profile motorsport programme.
An obvious start would be the
BTCC. Jaguar vaguely refers to its
motorsport heritage, but it should
mean something here and now.
Formula E won’t do it: it has a tiny
following, few are potential Jaguar
bu y e r s a nd it ’s i r r e le v a nt t o t he X E.
David Dunbar
Via email
A taxing letter
As a reader of Autocar for over 50
years, I have enjoyed the magazine
a nd , u nt i l t he r e c e nt i s s ue , h av e not
had any major disagreement with
editorials. However, I challenge your
comments about Lewis Hamilton
(C om me nt , 2 4 Ju l y). Ye s , he i s a go o d
driver (not the best) and is lucky to
h av e t he b e s t c a r at pr e s e nt. I hold t he
belief that it is 80% the car and 20%the driver which wins races.
I find Mr Hamilton hypocritical in
playing his ‘British’ card for support.
Like many other superstars he has
avoided paying British income tax.
He h a s b e e n v e r y a gg r e s si v e i n t h i s.
R e me mb e r t he s a ga of c l a i m i n g VAT
on h i s pl a ne w he n it l a nde d i n t he I sle
of Ma n? He i s pa id £ 4 0 m i l l ion p e r
year (£109,000 per day!). His fans
pr oba bl y t a k e t h r e e y e a r s t o e a r n t h at
daily amount and they pay tax on it.
Good luck to him for being paid
s o muc h. He shou ld r e me mb e r t he
rest of us who pay tax to support
our services, of which he was a
beneficiary when growing up. It is
WIN
Letter of the week
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and maintenance kit
worth £48
62 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 7 AUGUST 2 019
Silverstone challenge struck a chord
Lewis Hamilton is a great ambassador
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