Revhead Ramblings: What is the point of Elon’s 155mph tunnel?

Elon Musk and his Boring Company made quite a splash in LA last week. Instead of a personal flame thrower or a hat, they’ve instead unveiled 155mph tunnel for self-driving cars…

On paper it’s a single-file tunnel that can allow self-driving cars to travel at high speed with no danger of crashing, hitting anything or getting stuck in traffic. It needs no significant surface-level infrastructure and could cut journey times to a fraction of what Angelinos currently have to put up with.  Furthermore, it only costs $10 million per mile; I say ‘only’ as sub-city railways cost $900 million per mile…

The truth

This is all sounds splendid then, those who’re rich enough can effectively bypass the nightmare that is rush hour traffic and let their self-driving car do its thing. There are some flaws in this great plan however. Firstly, the tunnel can obviously only run one way at a time, to have opposite flowing traffic you’d have to double those costs and potentially the build time. It’s possible to get around this by, for example, flowing traffic into the centre of the city in the morning and then flowing them out at night; it’s hardly an ideal practise though.

The real figures

Elon and the Boring Company were very proud to announce that at full capacity, they could safely transport 4000 cars per hour or just over 1 per second. While this may sound impressive, a busy but free flowing Californian highway transports between five and 15 cars per second over a single point. Therefore, the tunnel won’t even scratch the surface of people’s traffic woes.

My questions

Elon has faced a barrage of questions on Twitter over the plans, even the director of the Hungarian Transit Museum labelled the project a scam! I’d personally like to know how new cars joining the system would be able to get up to speed quickly enough that they’re not rear ended, like my poor car was on Boxing day! Secondly how many people can leave from the same exit at once? Like any city or town, there are going to be certain places that are extremely popular and trying to force over 60 cars out every minute doesn’t seem feasible.

When he’s not accusing heroes of being overly friendly with children or abusing his workers’ rights, Elon seems to be a great guy who truly cares about the planet. Many people have suggested these public outbursts are often covers for further delays in production or to make people overlook another of his stupid comments. The Boring Company was supposed to be fun and full of fun ideas, like the flamethrowers. It seems that it’s becoming more of joke with each new announcement unfortunately…

Meet the Clickers – Pip Moxham

Episode 53 of Meet the Clickers sees us meet Head of Marketing Pip! We sat down last week to discuss celebrity crushes and the Wednesday Club!

Hi Pip, I hope you’re well. Could you tell us all how you started at Click please?

Before working at Click I used to work at a Digital Agency in Manchester, where I had worked for just over 6 years.  Ollie and I had discussed me working at Click for a few years but I wanted to wait for the right opportunity. I came in for a meeting with Gerry to talk about the skills that I can bring to Click and the vision for the future, he offered me the job and it has been a perfect match ever since.

I already knew a few of the Clickers from nights out and I’d already worked with Shaun Allcock and Steve Deighton in my previous job, not to mention that half of Click are actually my family haha so it was the perfect transition for me and I was kindly welcomed with open arms.

How has your job changed since you started with us?

When I first started at Click in November 2016 I worked in the Web and Tech team helping to organise the studio throughput and sprint planning. I then moved up to the Marketing department about 9 months later to work closely with Jamie to help to shape our fabulous Marketing Team.

My department is split into three sub departments, Click Dealer Marketing, Social Media and Content Creation, our responsibilities include work for our dealership customers as well as the overall marketing and communications for the business across different channels.

Have you and Ollie decided on the colour theme for the baby’s bike leathers yet?

Ha-ha, it will not be going anywhere near a bike or sidecar! He has got a Valentino Rossi baby grow but that’s as close as he’s getting.

With any luck he’ll prefer cars anyway! What do you wish you knew more about?

How to be a parent would be good!

How did you earn the nickname ‘The Scoffer’?

I sit next to super healthy Joe Podmore and he always gives me a judging look when I eat anything remotely unhealthy. At the moment I’m eating quite a lot of it too, so he’s got a constant frown of disapproval.

We all know Joe loves a Chico’s though, don’t feel too bad Pip! What’s the Wednesday Club and how do we join?

Wednesday Club started when my Dad came around every Wednesday for pasta and wine night, we’ve expanded our menu choices since then though! Ollie’s also involved in it and we did have a quiz team with the same name consisting of myself, Ol, my Dad, Joe and Jake Mallin. We weren’t very good, so we canned that off pretty quickly!

That does sound like a fun group to be in. Ron Munn mentioned the ‘Visitor Chode’ could you expand on this?

As bad as it may sound, the answer is actually quite innocent! I was speaking in a meeting and instead of saying Ron is auditing all our dealers that were using the Visitor Chat code on their website, it instead came out as Visitor Chodes… I couldn’t contain myself after that, so I had to end the meeting!

Haha, I’ve heard you make a few of those slip ups in fairness! Is it true that your celebrity crush bares a striking resemblance to your Husband, Ollie?

Oooh yeah, well I think he does. I’m a big fan of Jamie Dornan, I can’t help it. I think I saw him in Fifty Shades first!

Is it true that you’ve eaten at so many restaurants and pubs in the Staffordshire area that the county is thinking of introducing the ‘Pipchellin’ star, as you eat out more often than most food critics anyway?

I do like to eat out. I’d definitely be up for the Pipchellin Star though, I think I’d be a harsh critic! I’ve got a few places in mind already! As everyone already knows, I’m a big fan of pie (much to Joe’s amusement) so whenever I eat one I like I often report back to my friends. I quite like the Plume of Feathers; their pie is really good.

We do love a pie in marketing! None more so than Jamie! What trend do you hope makes a return?

I’d love to see double denim make a comeback!

What risks are worth taking?

Anything that makes you happy.

It’s a shame Ben Wood doesn’t use that logic when taking out another Vale season ticket; who could be happy supporting them? What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

You get out what you put in, so the harder you work the bigger your reward will be.

What do you love most about working at Click?

Of course, I love my fellow marketers, but I also love working for a family business. Working with their spouse would drive most people mad, but I love working with Ol and the rest of the family. It’s a great place where your ideas are listened to and valued, you also leave everyday knowing you’ve made a difference!

Spot on Pip, we really do make a difference don’t we!

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone for supporting this series throughout the year, it continues to be one of our top performing blogs and we’ve got big plans for it in the future… Don’t forget to join us again in 2019 to meet more of our Wonderful Clickers!

Al Bakes

What Will Happen to the Values of Used Cars in 2019?

used-car-values-2019
Year after year, car buyers have been willing to pay more for second-hand cars as their prices have inevitably risen. Values have increased by 42% in the last seven years compared to those of new cars, whose values increased by a mere 19% during the same period. Will used car values continue to rise into Q1, 2019 or have their prices finally reached their upper limit? 

After statistics revealed a very healthy 2018 for the used car market, manufacturers strive to leave car buyers with plenty of options in the new market throughout the upcoming year. Close competition in the industry means that prices of used cars are likely to increase, as are their values.

Where the Market is Going in 2019  

Jayson Whittington, chief car editor of Glass’s, believes that the future of used car values hugely depends on the volume of fresh auction entries in the first quarter of 2019, but more importantly that WLTP is a new factor that could impact the market next year.  

‘’Ordinarily fresh stock is limited at the beginning of January and combined with strong demand can lead to values rising.  

‘’However, over the past couple of years we have seen vendors holding back stock in December and releasing it in January, which has resulted in supply and demand being even. As we progress through February stock volume does reduce and prices rise’’, added Whittington.  

After researching trends in the used car market over the last 12 months, Whittington further added: ‘’There has been an increase in the volume of contract hire extensions over the past three months as a result of WLTP related stock availability issues.  

‘’In October, less cars were available in the market than last year and it is believed that this is related to the extension rate. If this continues into quarter one, then it is reasonable to expect demand to outstrip supply with prices rising as a result.’’ 

Taking this into account, Whittington expects that as we could face a spike in contract hire returns, demand will only marginally outstrip supply early in January, thus prices are likely to increase in February.  

The Effects of WLTP on the Market  

Head of UK valuation at Cap hpi, Derren Martin, is expecting values to drop in December but not nearly as much as they have previously. He also points WLTP as a contributing factor, as well as Brexit.  

“The first quarter is generally a strong period for prices, and we don’t envisage anything dramatic happening to alter this view. What is likely, however, is that prices will not drop as much as they traditionally have in the balance of this year, or therefore increase as much in the first period of next year. Prices of petrol cars, in particular, are already high so they are unlikely to go up in the short-term,” he explained. 

For more information about how Click Dealer can help your dealership’s performance, get in touch today by emailing us at [email protected], calling us on 01782 478220 or sending us a message via our contact page!