Electric cars

[neilob]

What's the latest thinking on CTC policy for electric cars? Like many, I guess, I rely on hearing as much as sight (yes, wrongly) and can see total carnage when amost-silent electric cars become widespread. There was a suggestion once that they would have noise generators to protect cyclists and pedestrians but I've not heard (sorry for the unintended pun) any more on this. Is CTC taking it on board??
Neil

[kwackers]

A lot of cars these days are very quiet, often it's the tyre noise that alerts you to them. Ultimately people probably need to just get used to looking rather than relying on their ears - it'll pay dividends for them with bicycles too!

Imagine a pedestrian that looks first and doesn't just step out in front of your bike! No, it's not utopia, it could be the future...

[Si]

Lot of people ride with music pumped straight into their ears. Likewise a number of deaf people ride. Neither group seems to be overly disadvantaged in so far as riding is concerned so I guess we'd all adapt fairly quickly.

Imagine a pedestrian that looks first and doesn't just step out in front of your bike! No, it's not utopia, it could be the future...

Yep, might turn things to our advantage with people putting more emphasis on looking than just listening.

But I'm sure that the 'boy racers' will all have aftermarket V8 emulators fitted.

[skrx]

I'm willing to rely less on hearing and more on vision if it means our cities are quieter.

Electric cars are only silent at very low speeds anyway.

[kwackers]

Actually I look forward to the day when the air doesn't stink of car fumes, hard to imagine what it'll be like... Perhaps we'll just find the car fumes have been masking something a bit less palatable...

[neilob]

Thanks for the responses. My fundamental question is not whether electric cars are good (they are!) but whether they represent a new risk on the road we need to get used to. Does CTC have any position on this....and is there any merit in mandating a noise generator so that pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders are aware of traffic that would otherwise be mostly silent?? We, as cyclists, already experience many near-misses when pedesrtians step out in front of us. I suspect that there will be a significant increase in casulaties if there isn't some action on this.
Neil

[kwackers]

I think the idea of 'noise generators' on cars is laughable. Is there going to be an 'official' version or will they be like ring tones?
I can imagine people buying the latest version of "Crazy Frog Rides a Tornado Jet" for their chosen 4x4 (with battery trailer).
Then there'll be those who 'turn up the wick' so that they have more 'presence' on the road...

The transition will be relatively slow and people will adapt, no need to worry unduly.

[Si]

May be they should be fitted with bells?

[kwackers]

May be they should be fitted with bells?

In a nod to the old 'red flag' days I think they should be preceeded by a cyclist. Oh wait! They usually are...

[gilesjuk]

Bikes are quiet too, many pedestrians use sound to determine if anything is coming too. Some of them step off the kerb without looking.

[paulah]

it may be to cyclists advantage if electric cars were commonplace as pedestrians would have to learn to look. As for them being quiet, it's all relative - standard cars a extremly noisy so an electric car seems quiet. If electric became the standard then we would all be able to hear a lot more so they would be safer.

[montmorency]

After seeing small electric buses in use on the smaller streets in the historic parts of Florence, I was converted to the idea that at least in similar circumstances, they were probably a good idea. Better than the huge particulate-emitting diesels common in England at the time.

However, I also had the (serious) thought that, in order to warn pedestrians and cyclists of their approach, they should carry "cow bells". I still think that would be a good idea, and could extend to electric cars as well.

If only to annoy J. Clarkson...

[gilesjuk]

Electric motors are hugely powerful and have the potential to be faster 0-60 then petrol.

An electric motor would easily snap the driveshafts if you didn't step in the power gradually. Look what a silly little motor can do on your electric drill or screwdrivers.

People moan about range but on a daily basis if I drive I do about 20 miles, a car that can do 112 miles on a charge is perfectly good enough.

What I want to know is who pays for all the electric if councils have charging bays on the streets?

[661-Pete-oldversion]

Up until the 1960s and 70s there was another form of virtually silent transport on our city streets, one which is still much in evidence overseas, if not in UK. The trolleybus. I don't recall any problems with those. The answer is you need to rely on more than your ears to be safe, on any road.

What I want to know is who pays for all the electric if councils have charging bays on the streets?

I'm sure they'll have got all that worked out. Probably you'll insert a credit card in a slot, and it will debit your account automatically. As happens at many petrol stations nowadays.

One problem I can anticipate once this takes off, is that the government gets a lot of revenue from vehicle fuel tax and if this goes and is not balanced by the normal VAT levied on domestic electricity, they will need to make up the deficit somehow. So possibly a higher rate of VAT on the electricity supply provided for charging vehicles? But if that's so, what's to prevent those who do have the benefit of a private driveway or garage, from running an extension lead from their house supply and drawing power at the lower rate?

Hmmm.. questions; questions.

[Si]

What I want to know is who pays for all the electric if councils have charging bays on the streets?

the ones that I saw looked like combined charging points and parking meters.