Are EVs really the answer in the future? I do not think so.

[bl52krz]

I am the eternal optimist. Just waiting for when we have a nice freezing cold winter, with temperatures down in the minus zone for weeks. You can then sit in traffic jams that have been caused by all these new technological inventions. Problem is, you will be affecting the majority of people who still have ‘old technology ‘ ice cars. They will then become a black out maker as they suck up most of the electric generated........ or will they be allowed to? Smoke and mirrors come to mind. I’ m sticking with me ‘oss and cart’.

[coolcat]

I see the luddite movement is alive and well still

[baxlin]

Originally Posted by SideValve

Quick update - I bought the Morris 8 :¬)

Photos please, my first car was a 1937 Morris 8 2+2 Tourer (convertible to the uninitiated). DNN714.

[Lancpudn]

I wonder how many petrol stations will go the way of the Do-do or change to 'Charging stations' within the next decade when you see that the oil major Shell is wanting the UK government to accelerate the ICE ban & move the date forward to 2030.
https://thedriven.io/2020/07/20/shel...sales-to-2030/

[coolguy]

The last petrol station in my village (there used to be 4 as itis on the A6) closed about 4 years ago. Delighted to say an application to rebuild it was approved at Council last night (I am a member of the Planning Committee), but one member asked why there was no electric charge points shown on the plan. The applicant replied that whilst he would like to have 3 or 4 on site, at present the local Electricity supply would not necessarily stand the extra requirement.
We are not as far forward on this electric car lark as they would have us believe - thank goodness !

[bl52krz]

That is the problem with us Luddite people. We can see further than the end of our nose. All these ‘modern thinking people’ think only as far as that. I will make a prediction:- we will never, ever be all electric. There is no way enough cables to carry electric recharging will be installed. But best/worst of all, there is not enough electric generated, at the moment, or in the next 40 years at least, to supply all the e.c. With ‘juice’. If it ever happens, I will be long gone thank you. Technology is an evolutionary thing. What my Father thought was good, I took for granted, so it becomes the ‘norm’ for the day/date. Shame that e.c are a flash in the pan, so billions£ can be made from it before it dies a not very long life. History will have the answer.

[Lancpudn]

Originally Posted by bl52krz

That is the problem with us Luddite people. We can see further than the end of our nose. All these ‘modern thinking people’ think only as far as that. I will make a prediction:- we will never, ever be all electric. There is no way enough cables to carry electric recharging will be installed. But best/worst of all, there is not enough electric generated, at the moment, or in the next 40 years at least, to supply all the e.c. With ‘juice’. If it ever happens, I will be long gone thank you. Technology is an evolutionary thing. What my Father thought was good, I took for granted, so it becomes the ‘norm’ for the day/date. Shame that e.c are a flash in the pan, so billions£ can be made from it before it dies a not very long life. History will have the answer.

There are other plans afoot for us Hoi Polloi !!! there aren't enough battery supplies available now or on the horizon to get the vast majority of motorist out of ICE vehicles & into BEV's to comply with our Paris accord commitments , even with 8 gigafactories (at the last count) under construction across Europe & one planned (British Volt) in St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan in Wales.



Solutions being banded about now to keep in line with our Paris accord/UK environmental bill emission reductions is about prioritising battery supplies for public transport i.e. electric buses & electric delivery vehicles.


Regarding our Grid in the UK Times are changing so fast, UK & European countries are all being connected up (25% complete as of now) into one large electricity grid, When peak time usage in the evenings in say Denmark they will be able to balance electricity supplies from other countries on the network that are not in peak usage because of time differences and vice versa.



That's not including the V2G (vehicle to grid) 'Smart Grid' which is being field tested as we speak.https://www.gov.uk/government/news/30-million-investment-in-revolutionary-v2g-technologies https://www.electrive.com/2020/08/13/v2g-project-with-electric-buses-takes-off-in-london/



A quote from the UK National Grid.
"There are two aspects to whether we have the capacity to manage lots of EVs being plugged in at once – whether we have enough energy and then whether we have sufficient capacity on the wires that carry that energy to where it’s needed.


With the first of these, the energy element, the most demand for electricity we’ve had in recent years in the UK was for 62GW in 2002. Since then, due to improved energy efficiency such as the installation of solar panels, the nation’s peak demand has fallen by roughly 16 per cent. Even if the impossible happened and we all switched to EVs overnight, we think demand would only increase by around 10 per cent. So we’d still be using less power as a nation than we did in 2002 and this is well within the range of manageable load fluctuation."


https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories...ehicles-busted

[bikerdude666]

Pretty sure I posted in here somewhere to say we were looking at getting the MG ZS EV. I did some further sums, and even with the generous grants available, it still worked out cheaper to go petrol in the 4-5 years. Breaking even would’ve been nearly 6 years, with the hinderance if range and recharging on holiday. So my wife opted for a 2018 MG ZS petrol, and collected it Tuesday. £11,000 compared to the £26,000 for the EV.

One of the big issues was the charger. Couldn’t have it trailing across the path, and can only fit 1 car on the drive, which is my cars home. So without a lot of hassle it just wasn’t an option. And we live on a relatively quiet street. A busy city street will be a nightmare.

[coolguy]

One of the big issues was the charger. Couldn’t have it trailing across the path, and can only fit 1 car on the drive, which is my cars home. So without a lot of hassle it just wasn’t an option. And we live on a relatively quiet street. A busy city street will be a nightmare.[/QUOTE]

Never mind a busy city street - what about the thousands of Victorian terraces in small market towns and villages.

[steve-45]

Originally Posted by bikerdude666

I did some further sums, and even with the generous grants available, it still worked out cheaper to go petrol in the 4-5 years. Breaking even would’ve been nearly 6 years.

I have a feeling that within your time span above that the government will impose some increased level of taxation on electric vehicles to make up the shortfall in taxation caused by the public's switch to zero taxation electric vehicles.