New petrol and diesel car sales will be 'banned from 2030'

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my take on this is why should councils be expected to pay to install charging points? they didnt pay to build petrol/diesel filling stations. locally there is an ev van being used by a contractor on a council contract that cant do a full day without needing a top up charge. when i suggested to thd company they perhaps didnt have thd correct vehicle for the job, i didnt get an answer!

Vans are a mixed bag.

Down here in London, all Amazon delivery vans, and most of the supermarket delivery vans, are 'zero emissions'. But traffic in London is very slow, and the city is densely-populated, so a range of 60-70 miles on single charge is more than enough for the slow start-stop drive that a delivery van will do around Central London. However, away from city centres, i.e. out in the suburbs or when driving between towns, the story is obviously very different.

So an EV van isn't suitable for regional work, both because of the reduced range due to the higher weight of the van and payload, and because of the need for load carrying volume which limits the physical battery size.

But in city centres, an EV van will actually work much better than a Diesel van. I can see on my EV that it loves slow traffic, and in fact the remaining range hardly drops when not moving, or when moving slowly (the electrical consumers - heating or AC etc - don't really have a significant effect on the battery charge level). This is a contrast to a Diesel van, where slow moving traffic is a killer for mph, burning fuel unnecessarily, and having to rely on awkward Start/Stop technology that shortens engine life.

With 300+ miles range now the norm for most new EV private cars, they are just over half the range of a typical Diesel car, but still, they have become borderline on-par with ICE for most use profiles in terms of range (the majority of people do not have a daily commune in excess of 300 miles). But for vans, the technology isn't quite there yet, other than for in-city driving, which is the only place where EV vans can have an edge over Diesel vans.
 
Interesting insight from those who’ve purchased an EV, keenly predicting the future.
Fascinating to see if industry agrees, as not a day goes by without I read of another alternative idea involving hydrogen in one form or another. Infrastructure costs to EV’s seemingly playing a significant part in many’s future plans. Can JCB be so wrong 🤔
Personally I’ll sit on the fence and wait for developments. Mind with so much money being pledged for the EV’s future, who could afford to let it fail. VHS or Betamax. 🤔


The problem with hydrogen is what " colour it is! Blue or Green. JAPAN the second highest user of coal to produce electricity post Fukushima is trying to reduce its local CO2 footprint by effectively exporting its emissions to Australia and re-importing its energy in the form of Blue Hydrogen
 
The problem with hydrogen is what " colour it is! Blue or Green. JAPAN the second highest user of coal to produce electricity post Fukushima is trying to reduce its local CO2 footprint by effectively exporting its emissions to Australia and re-importing its energy in the form of Blue Hydrogen
Only hydrogen from renewables or carbon capture is viable IMO. The other big problem is storage as it pertains to vehicles. The Plasma Kinetic system claims to be on a par with industrial bottled hydrogen regarding weight and bulk. That is where the standard (1.5m tall) cylinder (at 175bar) weighs 65kg and contains 0.6kg of hydrogen. Roughly 100:1 weight:content ratio. Toyota's Mirai does a little better with a tank weight of 87.5kg capable of storing 5kg of hydrogen at 700bar. 87.5kg of carbon fibre tank isn't a cheap proposition and neither is a fuel cell containing 30-60kg of platinum apparently. ICE running on hydrogen doesn't stand a chance with a storage weight:content ratio of 100:1 so it looks like battery EV is all that's currently viable to replace ICEs - unless platinum and thus fuel cell prices drop substantially.
Green hydrogen for any static heat process should still be explored though IMO not least as I'm far from confident electrical distribution networks are going to cope with increased electrical demand or their inefficiencies are acceptable.

Japan off-shoring its CO2 footprint to Australia - isn't that what the UK proposes with its meat farming deal with Australia?
 

As I argued.... EVs aren't the solution to all our environmental - or transport - issues.

I have a view that E-bikes are the way forward. But bicycles - even folding ones - are awkward to store and to take on public transport or carry in/on a car.

I wonder if the the little battery scooters aren't a better fit for mixed mode urban transport. Much more compact and portable.
 
I have a view that E-bikes are the way forward. But bicycles - even folding ones - are awkward to store and to take on public transport or carry in/on a car.

I wonder if the the little battery scooters aren't a better fit for mixed mode urban transport. Much more compact and portable.

On proper segregated cycle lanes for safety, I would agree but I'd go further and say for what an electric bicycle seems to cost you can buy a proper electric motorcycle or scooter styled motorcycle with storage and some weather protection. I'm dismayed when I read electric bicycle tests where the bike costs £5000. I wonder what planet they are on as keen cyclists prepared to pay that sort of sum for a bicycle are generally in it for the exercise and would not be interested in electrical assistance. A commuter would want something much more substantial and safer for that sort of money.
 
I'm dismayed when I read electric bicycle tests where the bike costs £5000. I wonder what planet they are on as keen cyclists prepared to pay that sort of sum for a bicycle are generally in it for the exercise and would not be interested in electrical assistance. A commuter would want something much more substantial and safer for that sort of money.

Most of the information out there about cycling is for those pursuing it as a specific interst. Proper utilitarian bicycles are unusual.

And the informal advice out there often comes from those witha specific interst and the general views as to what is good and bad is just parroted.

If you want to see failure in the UK cycle retail market it's out in the open for all to see:

(a) The dominance of chains and derailleurs
(b) lack of mudguards
(c) lack of chain guards
(d) lack of sit up bicycles
(e) lighting not provided as standard

I find that very few people who actually 'advise' friends and family on *practical* bicycles have much actual experience of hub gears and belt drives.
 
Most of the information out there about cycling is for those pursuing it as a specific interst. Proper utilitarian bicycles are unusual.

And the informal advice out there often comes from those witha specific interst and the general views as to what is good and bad is just parroted.

If you want to see failure in the UK cycle retail market it's out in the open for all to see:

(a) The dominance of chains and derailleurs
(b) lack of mudguards
(c) lack of chain guards
(d) lack of sit up bicycles
(e) lighting not provided as standard

I find that very few people who actually 'advise' friends and family on *practical* bicycles have much actual experience of hub gears and belt drives.
This is really true in the UK. And if you look at continental Europe its a completely different picture. Plenty of "Dutch" bikes and being ridden by all sorts - from young folk to the elderly. And what i find interesting/refreshing is there doesn't seem to be any snobbery about what utility bike you have. Last time i was cycling in the Netherlands/Belgium/Germany and France prior to covid i also saw an increasing amount of electric "Dutch" bikes with many i would say "Retired" folk all out for a day cycling on them. Fantastic! And you see loads of people of all types cycling to the pub etc of an evening. So completely different to the UK mindset. And yes provision for cyclists is better there's no question but not everywhere is like that. What is different (in my experience) is the general lack of cars on the road compared to the UK, and the space afforded to cyclist by car and lorry drivers so even when there is no provision it's still quite nice to cycle.

Often i also hear the argument of the weather in the UK not being conducive to cycling, but this isnt really true. I was in Germany recently and it was tipping down. But the commuting/utility cyclists were still out in force - with various types of chaps and capes etc to keep dry.

But the UK hasn't always been like this. My Grandad (as a plumber) used to cycle from Molesey to the centre of London to work and back each day, with all his tools on his bike - this would be the 1950's to 19670's. Im assuming he used to get his copper and lead delivered to site mind! I think we all just got a bit lazy in the UK and prefer to sit in a traffic jam than get on a bike. Im a keen cyclist and im just as guilty, though i am tempted to bring back a Dutch bike when i next cross the Channel.
 
No electricity, no petrol or diesel dispensing either.
On the other hand, with an EV at the door with V2L capability I could have powered the house - or gone somewhere else. As I could have in my ICE - until it ran out of fuel. My postcode begins AB....
 
On the other hand, with an EV at the door with V2L capability I could have powered the house - or gone somewhere else.

Hmmmmm.

While powercut = True do​
begin​
Plug EV into house​
run EV battery down to a given threshold (make cups of tea, have shower)​
drive EV to fast charge point and 'refill'​
drive EV back to house​
end​

Now if you had two EVs ......

If you managed say 45 kWh out of the EV then that's enough .... well I'm the old moaner about how much an EV refill consumes in household terms ... for quite a bit of household use.

I think there's more that could be done with this - what about EV to EV transfers - and the possibility then of 'in flight' recharging for those doing long non-stop journeys. You could have 'tankers' cruising the motorways and the EVs hook up on the move. (I suspect that we'd need a boom type system to hook up to the EVs rather than probe and drogue).
 
Hmmmmm.

While powercut = True do​
begin​
Plug EV into house​
run EV battery down to a given threshold (make cups of tea, have shower)​
drive EV to fast charge point and 'refill'
drive EV back to house​
end​

How is that possible when the entire area is in blackout?
 
Its about as possible as recharging on the move with a boom ! 🤣🤣
 
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Its about as possible as recharging on the move with a boom ! 🤣🤣

So you think probe and drogue would be a better solution?

Or maybe on the move wireless charging?
 
I can't see any on the move charging becoming available (not in my lifetime anyway)
 
I think there's more that could be done with this - what about EV to EV transfers - and the possibility then of 'in flight' recharging for those doing long non-stop journeys. You could have 'tankers' cruising the motorways and the EVs hook up on the move. (I suspect that we'd need a boom type system to hook up to the EVs rather than probe and drogue).
Nurse! The curtains!
 
Induction charging from what ive just read is wireless charging from a fixed unit not on the move ?
 
Induction charging from what ive just read is wireless charging from a fixed unit not on the move ?
As far as I’m aware, in the UK there’s only static induction chargers in public places, however there are stretches of road with induction loops embedded in test facilities, but you didn’t hear that from me, right? 👀

Edited to add: but there are sections of public road outside of the UK which are already used for testing.
 

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