James May: The weekly Telegraph column by James thread

Boom! MrNice1, Stoney 0. Technically speaking there's nothing in the way of autotrains with chargers; lack of investment and perceived need is all that's in the way, which is sadly true of most good but unexploited technology.
 
Here is a portion of the response I received from Nissan:

Thank you for taking the time to personally contact us about your interest in the Nissan Electric Vehicle.



Is Nissan going to network with Amtrak in order to encourage them to install charging capability on their Auto Trains?

We are forging strategic partnerships with key state, local and regional governments and utility companies designed to jointly work towards the development of an Electric Vehicle infrastructure. However, we do not have any partnership with Amtrak at this time. For more information about our infrastructure efforts please feel free to visit www.theevproject.com

.



We appreciate your time, and encourage you to share our contact details with friends and family. For your convenience, we can be reached:

And Amtrak:

Thank you for contacting Amtrak.

Please note that we have forwarded your email to the appropriate department.
 
Last edited:
One further logistical obstacle is the limited run of the Auto Train. Unless it expands its service beyond the single route that it's currently on (an expansion that I would wholeheartedly get behind), such a charger installation is a niche market at best.
 
That is a problem, though the entire electric car market is also really a niche market right now. I read that Nissan will likely sell less than 10,000 Leafs (Leaves?:lol:) in the United States this year. It would still be interesting if they could put a small number of recharging stations on board.
 
I created an account today and commented on James' Telegraph article. Now I know what you guys have been talking about with the comments stuff. Does anyone want to form a lynch-mob with me to get rid of stony?

Stoney sounds like a scientist who recently had his funding pulled.

At least, when James gets geeky, it tends to clip the wings of the "Gang of Four" a bit. Suddenly rozbif, esscoss, DebsF and the other one can't comment on everybody else's comments because they don't actually understand them. It makes a refreshing change.
 
Stoney sounds like a scientist who recently had his funding pulled.

He also sounds like a scientist who doesn't know how to apply science. Science without application is about as useful as sugar that doesn't dissolve.
 
In all my travels, I've met few men of science who would be so ignorant as to claim that the only way to make electricity on a train would be by doing something that would violate the laws of physics.
 
In all my travels, I've met few men of science who would be so ignorant as to claim that the only way to make electricity on a train would be by doing something that would violate the laws of physics.

Fair enough, I was giving the angry fucker too much credit. I thought he was saying it would be pointless, which a merely narrowminded person might say, but after rereading it and losing a few hairs and bits of my soul, he is just being an argumentative pisshead. Pricks like him give people who know science a bad name.
 
Last edited:
I really wish the government put effort into better ways to make electricity because like james said, using oil to make electricity to put into the car isn't saving oil. Even if we weren't talking about fueling cars alternative sources of energy, I bet if homes were fueled by something other than mostly oil filling up the car would get a great deal cheaper.
 
Jesus. I don't know what that Stoney nutjob is on about, but it seems like someone urinated in their Cheerios. Troll in the dungeon!
 
As soon as I saw the headline "And the world's best car is..." on the Telegraph Motoring website, I knew immediately that it was the Citroen AX review. That man's work is just that memorable.
 
With James still in Australia, it's another Greatest Hits edition in the Telegraph this week.
This one is back from May 2004 and has James complaining about the fuel price which at that moment in time stood at 81.9p per litre. :oops:
 
Last edited:
To give it some context for the out-of-towners, today it stands at around 132.9 per litre.
 
To give it some context for the out-of-towners, today it stands at around 132.9 per litre.

I think your decimal point is in the wrong spot. Or at least I hope so!


Edit. Assuming that you meant 1.329 a liter. If so, then that's about....?8 50p a gallon....but convert that to an American dollar which makes it roughly:

About $13.60 a gallon. :blink:

Just makes you think....maybe we don't have it so bad over here. I mean, sure, I'd love dirt cheap gas, but it's still cheaper here than most people get it. :)
 
Last edited:
I think your decimal point is in the wrong spot. Or at least I hope so!


Edit. Assuming that you meant 1.329 a liter. If so, then that's about....?8 50p a gallon....but convert that to an American dollar which makes it roughly:

About $13.60 a gallon. :blink:

Just makes you think....maybe we don't have it so bad over here. I mean, sure, I'd love dirt cheap gas, but it's still cheaper here than most people get it. :)

James's piece was written when fuel was 81.9 pence (or ?0.819) per litre. It is now 132.9 pence (or ?1.329) per litre

Or, chuffing expensive
 
Edit. Assuming that you meant 1.329 a liter. If so, then that's about....?8 50p a gallon....but convert that to an American dollar which makes it roughly:

About $13.60 a gallon. :blink:

Which gallon are you using? If that's imperial gallons rather than US gallons, the figure goes down to $11.33. That's something most Americans can't get a grip on. Just an example: I was living in Frankfurt in 1989, and my parents paid a visit. At the time, gas in America was something like $1.25 a (US) gallon. My mother saw a sign at a German gas station that said 2.50. She got indignant about gas at 2.50. Then I told her, "That's marks per liter. To get dollars per gallon, double it." The blood drained out of her face.
 
At current prices/exchange rates, gasoline in the UK is currently US$8.09 for a US gallon, $9.68 Imperial, or $2.13 a litre.
 
Top