All electric by Boris the Bogladite

[catcitrus]

here's a good summary of the pros and cons--long and detailed read --be warned--but hopefully educated
https://theicct.org/sites/default/files ... 018_vF.pdf

[garyboy]

great info .. but why have such reports got to be so long winded and verbose and painfully repetitive? .. to justify the expense and time? and to show how clever and technically minded the author is ??
also .. didn't we already understand the gist of this? .. .. manufacture/ use/ recycling .. ?

As far as Boris is concerned .. great guy, but someone has suggested his new initiative as a vote winner ???
Gosh .. `look wot he's doing for the environment` .. `should save the planet all on his own` ..
.. though clean air and energy efficiency is always a good thing .. though, like me, i suspect he is actually sceptical about all this `global warming` thing (as opposed to the `Natural Earth Cycle.`) .. as he says he `doesn't get it` ?

so .. Does anyone on here really believe the UK will stop selling new petrol/diesel/ hybrid vehicles in under 15 years ??????????????

[tuftywhite]

I'm looking forward to the majority of cars being electric.

If this is the case, it will lessen the probability that all vehicles are banned from city centres, including diesel and petrol vehicles. Also, it will lengthen the time for us to ride and drive our existing petrol and diesel vehicles.

If I look at the majority of my car journeys, they're all do-able in an electric car. I've even started noticing when I'm driving long distances, what I'd do if I were in an electric vehicle. Last summer on a trip to the south coast with the family, we stopped just south of Gloucester for a toilet break and lunch. This was easily a 30 minute stop, enough for most EVs to be charged to at least 80% from near empty.

So in reality, having electric cars is not really too much of an issue for a large proportion of people.

Also, unless you follow Fully Charged on YouTube on YouTube, or similar, you may be unaware of all of the technical improvements that are happening in the EV world. Battery tech is improving on a scale comparable to computers in the 80's, 90's and 2000's. I remember in 1997 not quite believing I had a 1GB hard drive. I now have a 1TB drive in my laptop and 256GB in my phone!

The important thing is to come to terms with the fact it's going to happen, and work out how you can make it work for you and plan for it - start saving for that diesel car to buy just before they stop selling them, or plan for solar panel installation so you can charge your electric car for free.

[Slowboy]

Solar array? You'll need to buy a bit of land then.

2 days ago at midday, my 4kw solar array was generating 36w.



Oh yes, and you'll need a few bus tickets

[Hugh]

Greetings,

Electric things can't be fixed with either gaffer tape nor a big hammer - so why would I want one

TTFN

Hugh.

[qcnr]

Consider the amount of energy used by petrol and diesel vehicles today. Now start generating the equivalent amount
of energy as electricity. Nuclear power station in every county? Then it needs to be delivered....
That is just 2 small problems...

[DavidS]

But your 30 minutes will be two hours because it will be like those cretins in filling stations who go and do a weekly shop while their car is left at the pump. Consider how many charging points will be needed at every garage. Will you be able to have an emergency box of electricity in the boot to get you another 10 miles when you run out in a motorway queue?

What percentage of car owners will have access to a charging point at home and/or work? The current rail network capacity surely can’t be increased enough to get sufficient commuter journeys off the roads.....and they still have to get to the stations. Even in the 60’s, bus services weren’t that great and only ran on limited roads.

I am not a total cynic as I think it could work for day to day use but really can’t see governments of highly populated countries investing enough money quickly enough. Happy to be proved wrong though. There will need to be too many changes beyond vehicle power to go along with this.

By the way, trucks, buses etc seem to get left out of all these plans.

[Chalky723]

If this is the case, it will lessen the probability that all vehicles are banned from city centres, including diesel and petrol vehicles.

They're already citing "particulates from braking and tyres" as a reason to ban even EV's.....

Some people just don't want the rest of us independently mobile....

D

[dodursley]

someone will start selling 'emergency' hydrocarbon fueled generator packs for EV

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

But your 30 minutes will be two hours because it will be like those cretins in filling stations who go and do a weekly shop while their car is left at the pump. Consider how many charging points will be needed at every garage. Will you be able to have an emergency box of electricity in the boot to get you another 10 miles when you run out in a motorway queue?

What percentage of car owners will have access to a charging point at home and/or work? The current rail network capacity surely can’t be increased enough to get sufficient commuter journeys off the roads.....and they still have to get to the stations. Even in the 60’s, bus services weren’t that great and only ran on limited roads.

I am not a total cynic as I think it could work for day to day use but really can’t see governments of highly populated countries investing enough money quickly enough. Happy to be proved wrong though. There will need to be too many changes beyond vehicle power to go along with this.

By the way, trucks, buses etc seem to get left out of all these plans.

City buses could go electric now. The vehicles exist, and are proven in use, with some operating in London. What doesn't exist is the supply and charging infrastructure to support them, which would be needed at every depot. Frankly, replacing old buses with Euro VI compliant vehicles represents a more cost-effective way of improving urban air quality at present.

Electric trucks for some urban distribution tasks are on their way: MAN and DAF are running pre-production rigids and tractors of 26-tonnes and up vehicles in commercial application on mainland Europe. Where it won't be coming any time soon is long-haul. Do you remember the Tesla 'semi' that was 'launched' in 2017, with deliveries commencing in 2019...nothing much seen of it since, because the batteries needed to take it 500 miles mean it has virtually no payload, and there is no charging infrastructure to support it.

The idea that a depot home to hundreds of trucks could draw enough energy to charge them up for a day's work every night without blacking out the neighbourhood is fanciful indeed.

Trucks may move away from diesel as we know it a s a fuel, but the path is probably via synthetic diesel and methane to hydrogen fuel cell.