President Trump 2.0

Originally Posted by Hugh

Agreed - much like Deepseek, probably vapourware, but the news release does its job by making the markets nervous.

However, tbf, BYD did start out as a battery company…

Update - a bit more detail here

Tesla can already charge 172 miles worth in 15 minutes, and XPeng and Zeekr can add about 280 miles and 342 miles of range in 10 minutes, so it may not be too fanciful.

https://www.theguardian.com/environm...lon-musk-tesla

A model 3 swasticar can charge from 10-80% in about half an hour using a proprietary supercharger that offers 250kW, (which for comparison is about ten times the maximum load a domestic supply can offer in the UK).

Assuming you have a battery that can receive a charge faster than that, and a charger that can supply it, to half that time needs 500kW. To do it in 5 minutes would need 6 times the power - 1,500kW. One and a half megawatts. And that’s just looking at the simple maths of ‘adding this much to the battery means passing this much through the charger’, without thinking about any inefficiencies. 1.5mW is about as much as a small business would use in a month. Supplying a line of BYD super-superchargers at Tebay services with enough electricity to charge even one car at a time in 5 minutes would be a serious undertaking.

From that article;

there are dozens of chargers on main roads as fast as 350kW.

Great, so that should cover the millions of cars on the UK roads then. No problem.

[mrmistoffelees]

To add a couple of points

In theory you can have whatever kW charger you want, but ultimately your battery SoC is going to dictate your charging speed

‘Fast’ DC charging will lead to the battery degrading more quickly

On that point, we should get back to the topic please.

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/bri...nt-2025-03-20/

The GOV.UK site used to say (in February, and before)

"The authorities in the U.S. set and enforce entry rules."

It now says

"You should comply with all entry, visa and other conditions of entry. The authorities in the U.S. set and enforce entry rules strictly. You may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules."

[ianch99]

Meanwhile in the Land Of The Free:

French Scientist Reportedly Denied U.S. Entry Due to Trump Criticism

A French scientist on his way to a conference in the United States was allegedly denied entry by Customs and Border Patrol over messages found on his phone that criticized President Trump’s science cuts.

The French newspaper Le Monde reports that on March 9, a space researcher was randomly selected upon arrival in Houston for a search, and CBP found messages criticizing the Trump administration’s treatment of scientists, which, according to the agency, “conveyed hatred of Trump & could be qualified as terrorism.”

Germany also issues travel warning for US ...

There is also anecdotal evidence that planes are playing to US much emptier than normal.

Yeah … missus and I have been anticipating the freedom of having a pretty much grown-up family and starting to think about exploring further afield and we had talked about visiting the US. Safe to say we won’t be going anywhere near it while Trump’s in office, nor are we likely to, if any successor anointed by him wins the 2028 election. It’s a shame.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Chris

Yeah … missus and I have been anticipating the freedom of having a pretty much grown-up family and starting to think about exploring further afield and we had talked about visiting the US. Safe to say we won’t be going anywhere near it while Trump’s in office, nor are we likely to, if any successor anointed by him wins the 2028 election. It’s a shame.

You're assuming there will be elections and Trump is going

Originally Posted by Chris

Yeah … missus and I have been anticipating the freedom of having a pretty much grown-up family and starting to think about exploring further afield and we had talked about visiting the US. Safe to say we won’t be going anywhere near it while Trump’s in office, nor are we likely to, if any successor anointed by him wins the 2028 election. It’s a shame.

Agreed - we have had half a dozen US road trips with two friends in the last ten years, and we had planned (but not booked) a trip to DC then down the coast, across to the Blue Ridge Mountain route, than back to the Carolina’s coasts, finishing up at Atlanta (friend is a very keen golfer, and we were going to visit Augusta (my son’s friend father is a member, and would have shown us round)).

That’s not happening now.

[jfman]

It seems quite odd to not do something you wanted to do because of who a country elected. The majority of people either stayed on the couch or voted for Kamala. Life is short.

Originally Posted by jfman

It seems quite odd to not do something you wanted to do because of who a country elected. The majority of people either stayed on the couch or voted for Kamala. Life is short.

Life is about choices - I choose not to visit somewhere where I may get ICEd or sent back to the U.K. because I have made social media posts which are less than complimentary to the current incumbent.



We visited the USA four times during Trump’s previous Presidency (mixture of road trips (California, Massachusetts/Cape Cod, & Florida) and visiting bro-in-law in New England) - the risk/reward ratio was different then.

Originally Posted by jfman

It seems quite odd to not do something you wanted to do because of who a country elected. The majority of people either stayed on the couch or voted for Kamala. Life is short.

Oh, I’m not taking a political stand - I’ve have left Scotland years ago if that was the case

It is because there is a small, but non-zero chance of being messed about with at immigration, for reasons directly connected with Trump and his policies. And the number of stories like this is mounting up on a weekly basis at the moment. I choose not to deal with that possibility.

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by Chris

Oh, I’m not taking a political stand - I’ve have left Scotland years ago if that was the case

It is because there is a small, but non-zero chance of being messed about with at immigration, for reasons directly connected with Trump and his policies. And the number of stories like this is mounting up on a weekly basis at the moment. I choose not to deal with that possibility.

Smart money is on him getting his third term if not directly then by proxy. The start of a dynasty

Originally Posted by Itshim

Smart money is on him getting his third term if not directly then by proxy. The start of a dynasty

He won’t serve a third term. There is no provision to suspend the US constitution (the only part he can suspend is ‘no jail without trial’.) and the constitution says he can’t have a third term, and that his second term automatically ends 4 years, to the hour, after he was sworn in. Even if he locks himself in the Oval Office he simply will not be the president any more. No mechanism to keep him in power exists.

It is entirely likely that, he having served only 4 years, the country will be minded to stay GOP, and the current VP is usually well-placed to get the nomination. Vance therefore stands a fairly good chance of becoming president in January 2029. However, Trump will be 82 by then and I’d be surprised if he’s in much of a state to pull many strings by that point. Frankly I’m not convinced he will still be in effective control of the government by the time his term ends.

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by Chris

He won’t serve a third term. There is no provision to suspend the US constitution (the only part he can suspend is ‘no jail without trial’.) and the constitution says he can’t have a third term, and that his second term automatically ends 4 years, to the hour, after he was sworn in. Even if he locks himself in the Oval Office he simply will not be the president any more. No mechanism to keep him in power exists.

It is entirely likely that, he having served only 4 years, the country will be minded to stay GOP, and the current VP is usually well-placed to get the nomination. Vance therefore stands a fairly good chance of becoming president in January 2029. However, Trump will be 82 by then and I’d be surprised if he’s in much of a state to pull many strings by that point. Frankly I’m not convinced he will still be in effective control of the government by the time his term ends.

Not so sure he's got a grip on things now.