Quizzes & Puzzles1 min ago
Is The Penny Dropping......?
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are people finally realising that electric cars are not viable for most? They are great if you live near work and never go very far but the infrastructure is still a joke if you are proper road user.
Have we reached the point where those that were ever going to buy in have now done so?
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I think your saturation point remark is indeed quite plausible. A major technological breakthrough is required before the markets boom.
Perhaps a recharge on the move with cables (or whatever) in the road (similar to the old steam locomotives picking up water from mid-track troughs) is an answer, but this of course would require major changes to the road infrastructure (similar to the original telephone cable upheaval to footpaths).
I'm glad you used the railway example canary because I think we will end up with car versions of the deisel electric trains. Not deisel of course but a small petrol engine on board that only charges the batteries when needed. That way things like "range anxiety" can be eased and more people will be confident in using them. They can charge when the opportunity arises and won't be totally useless when there is no opportunity.
I love my Ev Mokka. I just pootle from place to place in it and charge it up once a week/fortnight when it needs it. It's quiet, easy to drive and suits me down to the ground. This is our second EV and the next one will also be an EV. we have a charger installed at home so the 'infrastructure' doesn't bother me at all.
The trouble is, the government does not properly recognise the problem, let along have a proper solution (which is o ditch the targets, forget the imposition of "fines" on companies just going about their business, and let the market decide whether they are popular or not. This demonstrates what I mean:
"There are flexibilities in the system, allowing manufacturers who can’t meet the targets to buy "credits" from those that can."
No, no no. Car manufacturers do not want to get involved in a ridiculous scheme which involves buying permission to sell their products. They just want to make cars that people want. And there are large numbers of people who, at least at present, simply do not want an electric car.
If the government insists on continuing their journey to "net zero" (and there are plenty of reasons why they should not) the only reason for it can be so that they can strut their stuff on the world stage, crowing about their achievements. There is no other reason because, as is often said, the UK could reduce its emissions to absolute zero tomorrow and it would not make the slightest difference to any climate problems the world is said to face.
The argument that we must "set an example" is shot. We've probably set one of the best examples in the world and the big hitters are still hitting big with no signs of doing anything else.
During the Brexit campaign (and ever since) it was constantly bleated that no country should deliberately make itself and its citizens poorer. That's precisely what this mania for net zero is doing and it will make any losses incurred as a result of Brexit seem like a walk in the park.
If the government wants the country to help it to achieve its somewhat pointless goal it needs to take them along with it and not antagonise them. They need to make the use of electric cars more attractive and this means installing more infrastructure because, as it stands at present, it is hopelessly inadequate.
