The Day of the Electric car is nigh

[mercalia]

well 2040 to be precise

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/25/britain-to-ban-sale-of-all-diesel-and-petrol-cars-and-vans-from-2040?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=236589&subid=23601318&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

and the end of petrol and diesel.

[meic]

That only gives them 23 years in which to change their minds. Whether or not this "promise" is kept depends entirely on whether or not it becomes convenient to do so as the deadline approaches.
The deadline can always be extended decade by decade as needed.

Something which was close enough that action was needed now would be significant.
This is giving car manufacturers the green light to develop and produce their next generation of cars with fossil fuel engines.

[PH]

Big headline but where is all the leccy coming from, oh yeah probably shale gas....
And the carbon footprint of vehicle manufacture is huge, whatever the motor type.
What's needed to save the world is a considerable reduction in consumption, anything else is messing about on the edges. It won't happen till there's profit in it, so no time soon...

[Ben@Forest]

Last production in 2040 presumably means petrol/diesel engines in cars and vans will still be common till 2060. I wonder how many vehicles used on the road are pre-catalytic converter? (Though I guess most of them are used for very low mileages per year)

[mercalia]

Well the London to Brighton Vintage car rally could be interesting - eventually the only time you will see petrol cars on the road, like seeing steam trains

[meic]

eventually the only time you will see petrol cars on the road, like seeing steam trains

But not in our lifetimes!

[Ben@Forest]

eventually the only time you will see petrol cars on the road, like seeing steam trains

But not in our lifetimes!

And really I think they'll still be common if petrol is available - on Sunday the club run was overtaken by two pottering vintage motorbikes, both two stroke - the smell was pungent!

[mjr]

Too little, too late and too large. They should be offering more incentives and infrastructure for electric bikes and velomobiles: subsidising purchase and battery replacement (which would cost far less than for electric cars), providing charging points and most importantly, smoothing cycling infrastructure so e-bikes don't have to waste energy braking and accelerating so much (which would have an obvious benefit to non-e-bikes too).

[Bonefishblues]

Too little, too late and too large. They should be offering more incentives and infrastructure for electric bikes and velomobiles: subsidising purchase and battery replacement (which would cost far less than for electric cars), providing charging points and most importantly, smoothing cycling infrastructure so e-bikes don't have to waste energy braking and accelerating so much (which would have an obvious benefit to non-e-bikes too).

The market will take care of this. We will be electric powered in the main long before this time. The technology has taken big strides in the last year-18 months and the consumer will twig shortly. Govebite only.

[meic]

Govebite only.

It should be that announcements like this actually mean something. It should be an advanced warning, letting you plan a different strategy for the future.
They have misused them as a substitute for policy and we have learned to ignore them as being totally hollow and signalling nothing but the governments total unwillingness to actually do anything on the issue and instead to wait for events to plot our future for us.

[Bonefishblues]

Indeed - far enough in the future not to scare the horses/car industry, whose strategic plans already pre-date this by many years, I'm sure.

The vessel needs loading...

[landsurfer]

Am i right in thinking the roads are not exactly full of electric or hybrid HGV's at the moment, or even in development ?
Suppose we could start using electric trains to move more goods around.
Burning wood pellets, imported by ships burning BUNKER fuel, from the USA , to produce the electricity.

[Bonefishblues]

Please do not click if bad language offends, but it made my slightly childish side laugh on the subject

http://sniffpetrol.com/2017/07/26/by-20 ... XhskYqQzs8

[thirdcrank]

Let's take this in context.

The last govt., lost a High Court case about plans for reducing air pollution - or rather lack of plans. Obliged to do something, or appear to do so, the newly-resurrected Gove has to come up with something which costs as little as possible but spins well. A general aspiration to stop the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines in around a quarter of a century. In the meantime, I've heard reports elsewhere that the oil will run out long before that. Apart from that, removal of some traffic-calming to and similar measures to smooth traffic flow, some very local restrictions on traffic and indeed nothing which might upset any drivers at all.

[al_yrpal]

It's sad that this is only headline reaction politics. Only 30% of the smog is caused by vehicles, no mention of those awful inefficient woodburners, industrial emissions etc? Typical politicians!

Al