Author: Bal Bansal

I was speaking to someone today, whom had asked me – should I get an electric car?

My answer… there’s a few things you need to consider.

1. Have you got/getting a charge point at home?
2. How many miles do you do during the week?
3. Do you drive over 250-300 miles (incl. a roundtrip) regular?
4. Do you want a new new car or a second hand (new for you) car?
5. Are you ok to plan some of your longer journeys?

You see, it is quite simple – but the above questions really will help you. In fact… the first question is quite essential.

Then I was asked… are EV’s the future?

Now, that’s a great question.

The current push is on EV’s.

Remember when they said diesels are the best and we should all be driving them.

Well… there’s other options and who knows where this could go.

The other options are…

Hydrogen – like the Toyota Mirai

Ok, this is a cut-away image that shows what’s behind a hydrogen car – but the essential thing is, it’s an option away from electric.

Power is generated by converting the chemical energy of hydrogen to mechanical energy, either by reacting hydrogen with oxygen in a fuel cell to power electric motors or, less commonly, by burning hydrogen in an internal combustion engine

Now what’s the difference between these, electric and petrol?

Any other cars to consider?

Yes!

e-Fuel.

eFuels are produced with electricity from renewable sources, water and CO₂ and are a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. eFuels can be used in existing infrastructure and thus decisively and affordably reduce CO₂ emissions

Porsche are leading the way with e-fuels, but we’re still a way off from having it all readily available. But there’s hope we can keep alot of our current cars as is… maybe.

So in all reality, with the ban coming in 2030 (ban of selling new petrol or diesel only cars – you’ll still be able to get hybrids), the optionsa are limited and with the push, as mentioned earlier, to electric… the option would be electric or hybrid.

So with that I leave you to prepare yourself, have a charger installed at home and start thinking more about your journeys.

Cars will be around. Don’t think, in the UK, we can do without them. As much as you try to say use other transportation modes… the problem is, trains are expensive and cars can often still work out as a viable option…. not in all cases, but majority.

Now, how we listen to music has changed alot.

From the trusted vinyl, to cassettes, to cd’s… to (remember minidisc?) and then we could save music files on our ipod/device and more recently, being able to stream music… from our favourite streaming provider.

I’ll be honest – not sure what will be next. I think there’ll be an element of AI – that’ll be able to sense your mood and behaviour and play something applicable from your playlists without you having to select something. So whilst AI will play something for us, at times we want to be in charge and select what we want. And with that… recently, vinyl’s have been selling. And selling quite well!

No longer just a niche hobby for dads and hipsters, vinyl is experiencing a major resurgence in mainstream music. According to the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) annual revenue report, vinyl records outsold CDs in the US last year for the first time since 1987, selling 41 million units against 33 million for CD.

Vinyl record sales have consistently increased over the last 16 years which is crazy thinking how streaming services have become the norm! This is all according to the RIAA report published on Thursday, now accounting for 71 percent of all physical music format revenue. The growth margins here aren’t trivial, either — while physical formats as a whole increased by 4 percent, earning $1.7 billion between 2021 and 2022, vinyl sales alone accounted for $1.2 billion, experiencing a 17 percent increase in sales compared to the previous year!

Wondering what is going on here…. well, there are several factors driving the vinyl revival. Many audiophiles claim the format provides a warmer, more authentic sound compared to digital. Nostalgia also plays a part for those who lived through the golden age of vinyl, but younger generations are driving sales too, praising the format’s tangibility and artwork. Artists for the Gen-Z and millennial demographic made up a significant number of record sales in 2022. Taylor Swift was the highest-selling artist last year, selling almost 1.7 million vinyl records alone! Wow!

So… whilst many of us have gone digital with our music needs – there is a growing number of folk who prefer the old, warmer sounds of a vinyl record. Though… whilst that is nice at home, you won’t be able to play it in your car… something, that for sure is a hobby.

And it’s these non-digital type of hobbies that are on the increase. Yes – there’s an element because it’s mainly for the music, but it’s also covers, the artwork, the material with the vinyl, and so much more. It’s holding that physical product in your hand.

In conclusion – we’ll continue to stream most of our music, because of it’s flexbility but.. there’s an increasing sense of enjoying our music. And that’ll be mainly via vinyl.