Electric cars

[bluethrunthru]

To be fair your profession would be in the transport etc (I don't assume to know the ins and outs of every profession, and too many to list) but there has to be ways to do things better than we are now. It isn't exactly great for your quality of life or physical health (back etc) if you are doing those long journeys so often.

Somebody in the team I worked with used to do occasional long distance travel to Q&A accommodation. Essential travel, obviously, necessary for the sake of covering against liability and but if we had more joined up relationships maybe we could have relied on partner agencies' quality assurance more often.

It’s not something we can solve with top down utopianism, the solution needs to be bottom up.

But there are so many areas of current our way of life where financial factors have led to huge unnecessary waste.

Agreed - I can't teach you what I learned over 40 years. The lift engineers and boiler engineers are all professionals who are trained at other companies - eg Otis - and inspections was a career progression using their qualifications they gained. We used to train people - we may start now- there's about a 20 year gap part of which we filled with foreign qualified labour - and thats gone now. I have had loads of job offers since I retired but am not interested I have retired and thats the problem...........as it is with haulage and so many other industries. Some younger knobheads will argue thats the problem with my age group - unionised so we got good pensions - which shows how blinkered they are to their own future prospects and pensions - welcome to capitalist Britain

 

[Mr Kobayashi]

Agreed - I can't teach you what I learned over 40 years. The lift engineers and boiler engineers are all professionals who are trained at other companies - eg Otis - and inspections was a career progression using their qualifications they gained. We used to train people - we may start now- there's about a 20 year gap part of which we filled with foreign qualified labour - and thats gone now. I have had loads of job offers since I retired but am not interested I have retired and thats the problem...........as it is with haulage and so many other industries. Some younger knobheads will argue thats the problem with my age group - unionised so we got good pensions - which shows how blinkered they are to their own future prospects and pensions - welcome to capitalist Britain

I don't think we are very far apart. Why did your company and others like it stop training domestic staff? I'm sure the reasons why are problem not very good ones. Short termism etc.

It’s not just the fault of companies, the downgrading of technical and vocational qualifications obviously played a part too.

I don't find the argument blaming previous generations for using union protections to look after their pension interests very helpful.

Fact is even if people were unionised as much nowadays it wouldn't have the same effect because they don't have half the power they used to have and workplace solidarity is something that exists in only a minority of occupations.

Many pensions are tied into commercial property, which are leased out on upwards only rent reviews that pressure companies to keep costs low in other areas, increasing the squeeze on worker remuneration.

 

[bluethrunthru]

I don't think we are very far apart. Why did your company and others like it stop training domestic staff? I'm sure the reasons why are problem not very good ones. Short termism etc.

It’s not just the fault of companies, the downgrading of technical and vocational qualifications obviously played a part too.

I don't find the argument blaming previous generations for using union protections to look after their pension interests very helpful.

Fact is even if people were unionised as much nowadays it wouldn't have the same effect because they don't have half the power they used to have and workplace solidarity is something that exists in only a minority of occupations.

Many pensions are tied into commercial property, which are leased out on upwards only rent reviews that pressure companies to keep costs low in other areas, increasing the squeeze on worker remuneration.

It wasn't my company - it was my industry. You kinda realise as you get older the ladder has been pulled up behind you - it was the same with diversity. Every year we did a "training module" on line to show we understood the company's recognised diversity programme - then went back to teams that were exclusively white middle aged men.
The recognised recruitment routes were to attract engineers with engineering backgrounds - the people they were looking for had professional qualifications and experience an insurer just couldn't provide - they are testing not producing and assembling. The same with fraud investigation - many ex-plod retire and go into that - and insurers can't provide 25 years Policing as training.
The two major businesses where I worked I joined when there were non-contributory final salary schemes. As union membership fell the businesses pounced and made changes to pension arrangements. The Unions looked after members and retained contribution benefits and final salary schemes - its not hard to understand really. I don't think you are right - were more workers unionised they would hold more away - particularly now when workers are in demand.

 

[Mr Kobayashi]

I don't think you are right - were more workers unionised they would hold more away - particularly now when workers are in demand.

You are right, but only up to a point. Anti-Union legislation has diminished the overall effectiveness of unions. That needs to be repealed too.

Angela Rayner: “Repeal the anti-union laws of the 1980s”

In September 2014, Labour Party deputy leader Angela Rayner (then an official of public-sector union Unison, not yet an MP) spoke at a Manchester Trades Council public meeting about the need to rep…

www.google.com

I said companies, not just yours. Your company wouldn't be able to provide training directly but they are long-term stakeholders in the training of engineers. It is not unreasonable for them to play their part in supporting that, whether thats offering grants, sponsorships, a levy on services to go into a pot for this. Government should assist in playing their part. Just throwing out ideas.

Lost adjustors and fraud investigators are obviously vital cogs in the commercial machine. We shouldn't be relying on foreign workers to cover shortfalls for yet another sector.


We have veered off of the topic of electric cars though. So we should probably leave it there or move to another thread.

 

[bluethrunthru]

You are right, but only up to a point. Anti-Union legislation has diminished the overall effectiveness of unions. That needs to be repealed too.

Angela Rayner: “Repeal the anti-union laws of the 1980s”

In September 2014, Labour Party deputy leader Angela Rayner (then an official of public-sector union Unison, not yet an MP) spoke at a Manchester Trades Council public meeting about the need to rep…

www.google.com

I said companies, not just yours. Your company wouldn't be able to provide training directly but they are long-term stakeholders in the training of engineers. It is not unreasonable for them to play their part in supporting that, whether thats offering grants, sponsorships, a levy on services to go into a pot for this. Government should assist in playing their part. Just throwing out ideas.

Lost adjustors and fraud investigators are obviously vital cogs in the commercial machine. We shouldn't be relying on foreign workers to cover shortfalls for yet another sector.


We have veered off of the topic of electric cars though. So we should probably leave it there or move to another thread.

Just to finish - why would insurers pay towards training in other industries whilst providing inadequate training in their own and at the same time push up premiums which people already think are too high? Its an economy wide issue which was "solved" by recruitment from across Europe. These were not poorly paid jobs btw nor were conditions poor so it wasn't cheap foreign labour.

Back on topic - electric vehicles in the current format are not the answer.

 

[Mr Kobayashi]

Just to finish - why would insurers pay towards training in other industries whilst providing inadequate training in their own and at the same time push up premiums which people already think are too high? Its an economy wide issue which was "solved" by recruitment from across Europe. These were not poorly paid jobs btw nor were conditions poor so it wasn't cheap foreign labour.

Back on topic - electric vehicles in the current format are not the answer.

I wasn't under the impression they were, self-evidently they couldn't be if they required highly qualified staff with 20-25 years experience.

It touches on something that has been pointed out as an oddity on the governments reshaping of economic immigration, that they are focusing on reserving low paid jobs for British workers and not higher paid higher skilled jobs. In most countries it is the opposite.

It’s something that I expect them to do on their own, but as I said, they are stakeholders. So are government, so are consumers, we all have a contribution to make. It's up to the experts to work out the long term solutions to these issues.

 

[bluethrunthru]

the Ducato E in this video has had no takers as of the Dusseldorf Caravan Show because of the range and charging issues

 

[bluethrunthru]

On holiday last week a friend has spent a year in a Leaf - well I say a year its actually 7 months. The last 5 months she has been driving her o/h's diesel Audi - reason? Range and charge time. She works for the local authority which incentivised EV use for work. However same local authority has not overseen provision of charge points so it became a pain to keep it charged whereas a diesel can be fuelled in minutes. He o/h has the EV - he works from home and needs a car @ 3 time per week to go to the gym. He keeps it plugged in on standard supply at home in the garage and such is the trickle charge he can't keep it topped up to the same level so once a week goes to a fast charger to top up.

I noticed today on my return home there are 3 fast chargers in town. One I have mentioned at a garage that has queue's - the two others are behind the Town Hall buildings. Some fucking genius has - when approving the installation of a walk in Covid test centre - has seen the 2 chargers there INSIDE the fencing so they cannot be accessed. The fact there has been no outcry shows how little those charge points are used.

 

[trueblue gio]

Got my company electric car a month ago (Tesla Model 3). Cannot charge at home as I am in a flat. Found a free rapid charger nearby (goes pay end of Oct) got to Leicester and back for no cost. Had a bit of range anxiety but I am gradually trying out all the local different chargers on supermarket car parks etc. to get confidence that they work etc. If they were all designed the same with the same payment method like a fuel pump that would make more sense. Even on paying at a supercharger it is about 1/2 the cost per mile of my previous petrol and then on top of that the massive reduction in company car tax. It was a no brainer for me, it is harder though if you doing it with your own money.

 

[willipp]

Just got a Hyundai Kone mild hybrid yesterday and so far really like it. The electric generates from the breaking so no plugging in and charging, but even just in the time ive used it im getting 65 mpg which considering my last car averaged about 35, should hopefully save me plenty of money on petrol.