Plans To Ban Petrol & Diesel Vehicles By 2040.

[10ClarionSt]

This baffles me (not difficult, I hear you say!). There were reports earlier this year that the National Grid was down to the last 5% of reserve power at one stage during the winter, and they were struggling to meet demand for electricity. If that's the case now, how are they going to generate enough electricity for millions of battery powered cars? That's a massive demand on the National Grid that doesn't even exist just now.

[mikey4444]

Very good point 10C !

Leaving aside the total inadequacies of present electric cars, just where is all the juice going to come from to charge millions of cars in the future ?

[ummmm]

I thought the exact same thing.

[Hopkirk]

Don't worry, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will be fully developed by then. Just water out of the exhaust.

[THECORBYLOON]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/uk-households-electricity-production-batteries-storage-greg-clark-business-secretary-tech-investment-a7856586.html%3famp

[ToraToraTora]

pipe dream, we can't formulate policy for next week let alone 23 years hence.

[dannyk13]

Can't imagine how big the batteries will be for a heavy goods vehicle.

[Old_Geezer]

Baffles me too. We are complaining that we are near a limit re supplying electricity, because the government were too incompetent to build more nuclear power stations, and green options still aren't a good substitute (and IMO are likely to be supplementary sources anyway). We have cut down on coal and oil. Yet someone is hoping that will all be sorted enough by 2040 to be running down petrol and diesel transport ? And at the same time some fool is trying to say that we will all be generating our own power in our own homes; talk about cloud cuckoo land.

The only option is to have a difference source of power. Maybe someone has found a way to create vast quantities of hydrogen, or power cars on water, or maybe the nuclear car is just around the corner ?

I have to think that this is wishful thinking. The hope being that it 23 years either something turns up saving the government's face, or everyone forgot the strategy that failed so someone can gain publicity here & now, being seen to be doing something (daft), and not have to take the ridicule when the time comes.

[ToraToraTora]

TBF I think they are referring to cars only, no mention of trucks, ships, farm vehicles, motorcycles etc.

[Hopkirk]

Once hydrogen fuel cells are seen as the future, and the huge profits from producing hydrogen become obvious, the market will kick into action. My guess is that countries with plenty of sunshine will fall over themselves to build solar powered hydrogen production units.

[fiction-factory]

I think the idea is that renewable sources such as wind and solar n be used for batteries.
But I think this is a reaction that has been forced on the governemnt and they know it will be someone else's problem

[EDDIE51]

Let us hope the government can see that we need to stay in Euratom after leaving the EU so that we can access fuel for our new French / Chinese Nuclear power stations. Last I heard Mrs May was still determined to leave, which would mean negotiating a new deal outside Euratom. As there is a worldwide shortage of nuclear fuel that will obviously involve paying a lot more!

[jason.p]

As far as shortages in the national grid are concerned, hopefully advances in storage systems (such as battery, flywheel etc) could go some way to redress the situation. I may be wrong but I understand that any excess produced when the grid is full (like when the wind blows and the turbines turn). At the moment I'm sitting looking at 10 such turbines which have been idle now for the best part of a week, and they're in the process of installing 28 more!!

[ToraToraTora]

stop it with the Euratom BS eddie.

[ToraToraTora]

Hydrogen is a dead duck hoppy. Electric generation wastes 80% of the fuel used to generate it, then we use that to separate hydrogen from water, that wastes 80% also so basically 4% of the original energy is left in the hydrogen, incredibly inefficient.

[anotheoldgit]

Not to mention, the recycling of all those large batteries.

It was suggested that perhaps the vehicles could charge themselves when in motion, but wouldn't that be Perpetual motion, which is impossible?

[ludwig]

The charging points will all be connected to diesel powered generators, so there won't be any drain on the grid.

[weecalf]

the money collected from oil and petrol billions and billions a year . My question what gonna replace that as it pays half our MPs wages

[TWR]

I doubt this will happen, the people it would put out of work, the suppliers, the people they employ, the office staff, do you think it will happen?

[ToraToraTora]

"the money collected from oil and petrol billions and billions a year . My question what gonna replace that as it pays half our MPs wages " - fret not they'll have to use the fuel to generate the huge increase in lecky anyway. Electric cars in effect need 500% more energy than those powered directly by fossil fuel. Electricity may be clean at the point of use but it's not at the point of generation (when using fossil fuels). It is also an incredibly innefficient use of energy.

[aelmpvw]

i thought the plan was to ban NEW petrol/diesel vehicles by 2040? ... it will be many years before the effects of that kick in