News1 min ago
The Car Debacle
47 Answers
so no petrol /diesel / hybrid cars to be sold after 2035 in the uk, fair enough, apart from the fact we would not have enough power supply to charge these electric ones up,(a power station takes a decade to build just one) given that most of these will be charged at night if your lucky enough not to live in a block of flats..street park or in a high vandalism area, solar power is useless after dark.. now what about the tens of thousand of HGV trucks on the road.. going electric ?? remember its 100% carbon cut ..the batteries would have to be supersize and bearing in mind they do hundreds of miles in a day, stopping to charge for god knows how long every 100 miles if your lucky, good luck to this
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There may be a revolution in car ownership. More people may prefer to use a mix of public transport/taxi/car rental than own a car that sits parked up either at home or at work for the majority of the time.
Government and councils are improving public transport (not quickly or well enough in my opinion) and car ownership costs rise year on year. It may be a viable solution. Use public transport to get to school/college/work; use a taxi where that isn't viable; hire a car for holidays/family outings.
Government and councils are improving public transport (not quickly or well enough in my opinion) and car ownership costs rise year on year. It may be a viable solution. Use public transport to get to school/college/work; use a taxi where that isn't viable; hire a car for holidays/family outings.
barry - // More people may prefer to use a mix of public transport/taxi/car rental than own a car that sits parked up either at home or at work for the majority of the time. //
That's more people who live in London, where the transport links are excellent, parking charges are exorbitant, and traffic is dreadful.
Add those factors in, and public transport is a preferable alternative.
Of course, policy makers live and work in London and imagine that everyone has access to excellent car alternatives as they do.
If the ventured north of the M25 occasionally, they can see the filthy slow late expensive buses we have to live with up here, and no tube or tram or late buses.
Then they would see why people are reluctant to give up their cars.
That's more people who live in London, where the transport links are excellent, parking charges are exorbitant, and traffic is dreadful.
Add those factors in, and public transport is a preferable alternative.
Of course, policy makers live and work in London and imagine that everyone has access to excellent car alternatives as they do.
If the ventured north of the M25 occasionally, they can see the filthy slow late expensive buses we have to live with up here, and no tube or tram or late buses.
Then they would see why people are reluctant to give up their cars.
Why not bring back steam cars? The Stanley Steamer set the world speed record in 1906 at 127 mph! Think if the technology had continued on the steam engine instead of petrol, where it might be now
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the problems that will need sorting before 2035:-
1. massively increased generating capacity, or an ability to store large quantities of electricity (which we don't have - electricity is generated on demand). the test of the robustness of any system will come after work when everyone gets home and plugs in all at the same time. (currently the system barely copes with electric kettles after EastEnders...). at a rough estimate, an extra 25Gw will be needed, how many windmills would that be?
2. currently Tesla uses 8000T of lithium a year to make and sell its (relatively) small number of vehicles. multiply that by some big number of zeros as the whole developed world switches to battery cars, and where is all that extra lithium coming from? and it's not just the automotive industry that needs it....
3. 80% of the world's supply of neodymium (needed for the motors) is controlled by China, which is the only developed nation that permits its mining, because of how destructively toxic the process is. already China is threatening to choke this supply in retaliation for US trade sanctions.
4, making a traction battery for a car currently creates 17T of CO2. even if battery production becomes slicker in the future making the battery would still be the equivalent of 2 years driving in a petrol car of today.
5. the previous administration, in deciding that railway electrification was too expensive/disruptive/any other adjective you can think of, forced the railway companies down the hybrid route, meaning that they are stuck with diesel traction for at least the next 40 years, well past "zero carbon" 2035. plus at this time, there is no credible alternative to the diesel truck, simply because any realistic alternative is so bulky/voluminous and/or heavy that payload ability is seriously compromised.
1. massively increased generating capacity, or an ability to store large quantities of electricity (which we don't have - electricity is generated on demand). the test of the robustness of any system will come after work when everyone gets home and plugs in all at the same time. (currently the system barely copes with electric kettles after EastEnders...). at a rough estimate, an extra 25Gw will be needed, how many windmills would that be?
2. currently Tesla uses 8000T of lithium a year to make and sell its (relatively) small number of vehicles. multiply that by some big number of zeros as the whole developed world switches to battery cars, and where is all that extra lithium coming from? and it's not just the automotive industry that needs it....
3. 80% of the world's supply of neodymium (needed for the motors) is controlled by China, which is the only developed nation that permits its mining, because of how destructively toxic the process is. already China is threatening to choke this supply in retaliation for US trade sanctions.
4, making a traction battery for a car currently creates 17T of CO2. even if battery production becomes slicker in the future making the battery would still be the equivalent of 2 years driving in a petrol car of today.
5. the previous administration, in deciding that railway electrification was too expensive/disruptive/any other adjective you can think of, forced the railway companies down the hybrid route, meaning that they are stuck with diesel traction for at least the next 40 years, well past "zero carbon" 2035. plus at this time, there is no credible alternative to the diesel truck, simply because any realistic alternative is so bulky/voluminous and/or heavy that payload ability is seriously compromised.
//Hydrogen may be the answer. Currently 300+ miles from a 'full tank'. //
the problem (well one of them) with hydrogen is the size of that "full tank". to do 300 miles on hydrogen would require a storage space ten times the volume of diesel fuel to take you the same distance. the other problem (well another one) is that the UK cannot currently make hydrogen, it's imported from the EU from which we've recently become publicly divorced from.
the problem (well one of them) with hydrogen is the size of that "full tank". to do 300 miles on hydrogen would require a storage space ten times the volume of diesel fuel to take you the same distance. the other problem (well another one) is that the UK cannot currently make hydrogen, it's imported from the EU from which we've recently become publicly divorced from.
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