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Ten years to go until electric...

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paulbaker1954:
Personally am all for it overall but like many see this as a massively overambitousnplanndesigned to make the gov feel smug. All electric will happen eventually, after all fossil fuel,supplies are not infinite.

What worries me is what will happen to the classic vehicles, these after all are a part of our history and should be preserved for road use. Maybe we will have to hang out and night on street corners to score fuel from a neighbourhood dealer 😂😂😂

I will probably be near a box or in one by then but my son is desperate to inherit my four.

Like all gov plans all laudable but not thought through. As many have said it’s the charging infrastructure that’s the big stumbling block.

sye:
My business has been running a Nissan E-NV200 electric van for five years now. It's used for local deliveries and does around 100 miles to a charge. We also have 16kw/h solar panel installation and air source heat pumps. The 3-phase charger charges the van in around 3 hours using self-generated electricity and the business can claim all of the vans purchase cost, so it's effectively a free van and free miles.

All of the business heating is done through air source heat pumps. Brilliant bits of kit. Heat in winter and cool in summer. Each one consumes around 3.5kw and produces 7kw of heat or cooling. Very clever tech. The result of the solar panel installation, the use of all LED lamps and air source heat pumps is that we pay no electricity bills every year. We are always in credit and earn a little from it.

Jan (my O/H) has an E-Niro that is just brilliant. Proper car that does 300 miles to a full charge. Comfy, quick and very cheap to run. We have 3.5kw of solar panels on the garage roof that generates enough excess electricity to cover the cars requirements, so free miles. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. There is no doubt that electric cars are the immediate future. AFAIK, commercial vans and lorries are not included in the 2030 deadline, just cars.

I agree that the infrastructure is not ready for EV's and that the amount of electricity required will increase massively. There is a simple solution though. All new home should be built with heat pumps and fitted with solar roof tiles. The additional cost at the build stage is half of the retrofit option. If every new or existing home could generate 3kw/h of electricity during daylight hours then usage would be greatly offset.

I'm a bit of a dinosaur too and drive a 3l V6 TDI car which I'm not going to change but I can see the benefits of EV's and certainly see the environmental benefits of such a change.

MrDavo:
When we were in the US we stayed in Massachusetts with a couple. She had a Prius hybrid, but while she was busy saving the planet, he had a V8 pickup truck, plus a boat with twin petrol V8s, that did gallons to the mile!

McCabe-Thiele (Ted):
I am not convinced that our global warming is substantially man made. Unfortunately research grants at UK Universities are not given to anyone who want to look at alternative causes. All we are doing at the moment is moving the exhaust pipe from individual vehicles to power stations. The production of batteries is far from clean if you look at all aspects including the mineral mining. Can't see electric powered equipment in mines. I believe the carrot works better than the stick. I am at an age where I will never buy a new electric car. I've only ever purchased one brand new car in my lifetime. Due to the government grants on new cars I feel tax payers are indirectly subsidising the Tesla buyers as well as the Nissan Leaf.

SumpMagnet:
The 'hybrid' market is a crazy thing.

People pushing 'self charging hybrids' need to be given a stern talking to, as these things are the worst on every level. You have a battery vehicle lugging a big heavy petrol generator. When you run the generator, you have an inefficient charging setup. Run it as a petrol car, and you have a battery pack load to lug about...worsening the fuel usage.

Plug in hybrids can at least charge from external sources and properly use the petrol motor for emergencies....but...you still have that weight of redundant power supply to carry with you all the time reducing efficiency.

Ships and trains use an electric/fossil fuel combo, but they don;t pretend to be green...and do it for sounder engineering principles in vehicles where weight is less of a penalty.

But...if we all have electric vehicles....there will be a need to generate a LOT more power, and I suspect the current thinkers will be forced to go back down the nuclear rabbit hole sooner or later. It solves todays problems...and defers the consequences to teh next generation. Nice....

When it comes to efficient commuter vehicles.....light weight and simplicity should make electric motorcycles viable.....yet they are still stupidly expensive, and oddly limited. Aside from those illegal deathtrap scooter things that plague the roads and pavements of London. Zero is as close to a major manufacturer, but I won;t pay £15k for a bike with limited spares availability and no backing from a major manufacturer. Not when it delivers performance on a par with a 5K conventional bike. Of course...I can buy the cheap version without the long range battery pack...and charge it every other day. Though I did see a KTM offroader a while back with a 50mile range...and a removable pack you can charge off a 240v socket. Would get me to work and back for a day...but without charging infrastructure, it would be easy to charge in my house. If it's light...quick off the mark....and able to easily hit 60mph....that's plenty for town.

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