Current issues - Coventry

Hi all, An issue so relevant to the commercial & manufacturing history of Coventry, as well as its future, regards the new battery plant. Electric vehicles have at least two huge hurdles to mount. The high cost of the vehicles from new, as well as the huge cost of a replacement battery. Manufacturers generally offer three years warranty on batteries, but if one does fail, as one Merc owner found out recently, the cost of replacement was £15k. Let's hope that something can solve this battery issue. Current technology uses the science of rare earth metals. That's the issue, they are rare. Why are rare earth metals so important for electric vehicles? Rare earth supplies are crucial because more than 30 companies have hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid and battery EV programs underway, and 18 million vehicles will use nickel-metal-hydride and lithium batteries by 2025. The search appears to be on for sources of rare earth metals. Astronomers believe that the rare metals are generated from huge supernova explosions, producing the heat & fusion energy that produces the high end elements. Possibly the nearest that we come to manufacturing a rare metal is titanium, originally produced in the UK, by engineered explosions. I don't pretend to understand the process, but I can see why they are rare. I'm not a chemist either, so I would welcome any comments on this. Titanium is irrelevant for batteries, but I wonder what scientific work is taking place regards battery performance materials.

Mentioned in another thread, but worth highlighting here… Improving Air Quality – changes to the road network

Hi all. Who made that noise? Hey Larry, pick your phone extension up, it's him again! This post may need to be moved, as I'm sure that discussions of a similar nature have been vented previously. (Vented, do you get it?). Over the years, friends of mine have told me about quirky noises around this huge area in North Coventry. I believe that the historical mining industry is the origin, with so many coal mines, long gone, but the network of tunnels, like a labyrinth with many layers at different levels. No matter how good the filling in was, gaps will always be left. The groundwater I believe is the noise maker as it forces air through chambers, almost like blowing a trumpet. I beg your pardon! Please keep off the beans.

Sounds more like something faulty on a car and if it goes on regularly it might be an Uber.

Sky Blues / Wasps home in the news again

MR. Apposite really. There are enough organisations after public money to fill the arena.

Or maybe not? Ridiculous plans for highway next to Coventry primary school likely to be scrapped.