It’s being directly extracted from underground brine so no mining necessary. I assume that the exhausted gas pockets have lots of lithium brine in them and they can use the existing gas extraction boreholes to get to it.
3 Likes
Looks like China’s going to clean up by taking the lead on safety.
I liked the bit in this article on how they are going to mandate that after an accident the electricity of an EV must auto-switch off “to avoid electrocution”.
Without the grille it’s just a beige blob.
I am sure they will use other colours, but can’t a designer do a little better
Sadly the present fashion in car design is either a box or a blob, with odd features stuck on the outside to try to differentiate a little. But Mercedes vans/people carriers have always looked a bit carp TBH - there’s a steady stream of them going through our village every day taking rich folks to Soho Farmhouse.
I could understand that Merc being owned by a dentist
I saw a big car coming towards me the other day, it looked like a gigantic house brick and totally nasty indeed. Did not recognise the marque on the front so presumed it was Temo special. I would put a bag over my head if I owned it TBH.
Let’s face it, the Americans know a lot more about oversized house bricks on wheels 
1 Like
Don’t disagree with you there, the Tesla Cybertruck for a start looks like my wedge I put under the door to keep it open and shaped so you feel you could cut your hand off touching the edge.
1 Like
But they generally manage at least an essence of style, even if not especially attractive. I see this as car makers following the trend set by Tesla for their EVs, and then the design spreading like a dose of clap to all cars out of desperation to look relevant and modern.
How? Tesla’s don’t have a grill at all but BMW and now Mercedes are trying to complete for the ugly prize?
It’s just trying to differentiate their Tesla-influenced blobs from the other blobs. The trend comment was about car makers in general.
It’s looking like it’s the end of the road for my dirty diesel (akshually it’s a diesel hybrid… but I can’t think of any funny alliteration that works for that).
I’ve been eyeing up an EV for a long time, and like the look of the Renault 5 and the Kia EV2. I think there’s a couple of R5 owners here (John was one, iirc), so would be grateful to hear feedback from real world owners rather than just journalists and YouTubers. Are you happy with it? Does it live up to the hype still? Are there any bad points they don’t mention in the reviews that you’ve come across? Thanks 
Had our R5 since December 2024, no issues with it at all. Understanding and controlling the various operating systems and driving aids took a little time but no big problem.
1 Like
I’ve had my R5 just over a year. Generally it’s a great little car. Points against it are that it can be a bit tight to get in and out of. I’m about 1.84 and its just about ok. Back seats are a waste of time as bugger all leg room and it would have been be better as a 2 door. The back seats do fold down though.
ICE is somewhat quirky, depending on its mood, but that may be operator error.
Range can vary enormously depending on your driving style, selected mode and the weather.
Go take one out for a test drive, it wil make you smile. BTW, I’ve got a Pop Yellow one.
2 Likes
That’s the one I have my eye on!
Looks like the likes of Peugeot, Renault etc have got a bit of catching up to do on technical features of EV’s…. This site provides good info but the weight of advertising on it has got so extreme I try to remember to view it on a browser with ads disabled
Quick update on my situation…
Took the R5 for a test drive last week. Absolutely loved it. I don’t think any other car has put such a big smile on my face for a very long time - and that would’ve been when I did a Porsche Experience Day and got to drive some stupidly expensive cars.
Despite that, the boot and back seats are just a tad too small, so sadly I shall not be getting one. Instead, we also took a look at the Kia EV2 and took it out for a spin today. It’s certainly not as much fun to drive as the Renault but it’s more practical and quite a bit cheaper too. Just need to get the garage to give us a price for trading in our dirty diesel before we sign on the dotted line… Oh and for the French government to approve the EV2’s eligibility for the state handout.
3 Likes