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An End To Non-Electric Cars By 2030 ...

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andy-hughes | 16:38 Fri 20th Nov 2020 | News
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Does anyone seriously think this is anything beyond Boriis's personal pipe dream - along with cycle lanes here there and everywhere - or do they seriously think this is a feasible policy?

My view is that, in the future, a non-petrol / diesel engine will come, possibly powered by a battery the size that fits in a TV remote, and rechargeable in the vehicle, lasting about fifty years, but that is a long way off.

In the mean time, the initial forays into the notion - such as we have now, are clearly hamstrung by the expense of the vehicle in the first place, combined with lack of valid distance range, and a complete absence of viable charging facilities, and I don't see any of that altering in nine years.

Any views?
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I have a Mobility car which gets me from A to B. This is because I have severe arthritis and can only drive a car that has power steering and is automatic. Fortunately, I am (so far) able to drive my car although I do have to ask my daughter to put petrol in it as I cannot squeeze the petrol pump. My car is due for renewal in 2023 by which time I will be 77 yrs old! Do you envisage any problems for me if and when my next car is due for renewal, it could turn out to be electric? Would I need some kind of smart phone (which I haven't got) to be able to use wireless charging?
They're not going to stop making fossil fuel cars in the next 2 years, Barsel.
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Zacs - // Well, the worldwide sales figures would seem to contradict you, AH. Maybe people are adapting their travel arrangements? //

I could be entirely wrong in my reservations, it would not be the first, or indeed the last time.

Interestingly, it's times like this when I really do feel my age - I can see a change that I not only do not wish to adopt, but can clearly see is designed for generations younger than mine.

That is absolutely not a criticism - making the world work for younger people is how progress works, I would never want to stop that.

But part of be feels safe in the knowledge that in 2030 I will be in my mid-seventies, and coming to the end of my time as a driver so i can pootle on with my petrol car until I give it up permanently, and then not worry, so I am not going to be affected directly.

However, I would want to be sure that my children and grandchildren are equipped with something a lot better than a real version of a child's toy, which is where we are now.
Something which gets my wife to work for half the price of a fossil fuel vehicle and can out-accelerate a Mini Cooper Works whilst not having any emissions and doesn't need servicing until 2022 is no child's toy, Andy.
I love my diesel car, nothing better.
And I love mine, Sparkles, but the Mrs's Mini is a really great drive.
The first electric vehicle was in 1832 and Electric carriages were widely available by 1900.
It was the discovery of vast oil fields in the US and middle east, and the commercial exploitation of that resource which resulted in cheap fuel, and the dominance of the internal combustion Engine.

It has taken 120 years for us to realise the shortcomings of petrol, its poisonous emissions, its ownership by despots and the bloody wars to secure our supply.
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Zacs - // Something which gets my wife to work for half the price of a fossil fuel vehicle and can out-accelerate a Mini Cooper Works whilst not having any emissions and doesn't need servicing until 2022 is no child's toy, Andy. //

I didn't say it was a child's toy, I said it was the real version of a child's toy, and I believe it is.

I can balance each of your pluses with a minus, but you are happy with your car, so fine, no argument.
Does the Mini have a spare wheel, Zacs, or just a blow-up kit?
// Something which gets my wife to work for half the price of a fossil fuel vehicle and can out-accelerate a Mini Cooper Works whilst not having any emissions and doesn't need servicing until 2022 is no child's toy, //

but you've also said it has a range of 100 miles. set against the mini cooper that you've out accelerated but are now travelling twice the posted battery range, which will get you to your destination first?
Andy, I know you might not hear this very often, but I entirely agree with you. I do find it strange though that you said in 2030 you will be in your mid seventies and coming to the end of your time as a driver.I have just turned 74 and yes ok, I am nearer to the end of my driving years, but at the moment, I don't feel anywhere near giving up on driving as I enjoy it and have never had an accident in my 50+ years as a driver.I'm actually more concerned if I am capable of understanding the new technology involved. As I said earlier, I don't have a smart phone because I have absolutely no idea how to use one and I'm not going to start learning now, but one of my neighbours who is 90 yrs old said to me recently that she is finding life very difficult lately as your life tends to be reliant on having the internet, smart phones etc and this is a worry for me also. I want to know if there will be anything about having an electric car that is going to cause me a problem mentally and physically.
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Barsel - // Andy, I know you might not hear this very often, but I entirely agree with you. //

True - but always nice to read thankyou.

//I do find it strange though that you said in 2030 you will be in your mid seventies and coming to the end of your time as a driver.I have just turned 74 and yes ok, I am nearer to the end of my driving years, but at the moment, I don't feel anywhere near giving up on driving as I enjoy it and have never had an accident in my 50+ years as a driver. //

To be clear, I will be 'coming to the end ...' insofar as, I will have been driving for nearly sixty years by them, and with the best will in the world, I will have a realistic ten years left, so in relative terms, it is nearer to the end than the beginning.

But like you, I love driving, and I have no intention of giving up any of the things I enjoy until I have to!

As I pointed out to one of my grandsons on the way home from school, I was 66 a fortnight ago, but I still wear Doc Marten shoes and Levi jeans, and listen to Metallica at cavity-threatening volume - age is just a number!!
// listen to Metallica at cavity-threatening volume //

ah - a subscriber to the Ted Nugent mantra - "if it's too loud, you're too old...."

:-)
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mushroom - // / listen to Metallica at cavity-threatening volume //

ah - a subscriber to the Ted Nugent mantra - "if it's too loud, you're too old...."

:-) //

Absolutely!!

The famous phrase "Turn that down ..." was never uttered when my girls were growing up, I always played my music far louder than they ever did!!
Well yes, age is a number, but I wouldn't say it was only a number.With age comes other problems as I am finding out. Apart from my body deteriorating physically, my brain is also deteriorating mentally, and I know I may get into trouble for saying this, I do believe that as a woman, I am less capable of understanding (shall we say) mechanical things, than some men. For instance, there are probably lots of things my car can do that I don't know about. I'm not proud to say this, but I don't even know how to open the bonnet! So, if I'm still driving when Mobility tell me I can't have another petrol car, it will be electric, I want to know if I will be able to cope with it. As I said earlier, if something is going to be wireless charging, I will be stumped.
Andy, I think this applies to you?
Growing Old is Mandatory But Growing Up is Optional
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Barsel - // Andy, I think this applies to you?
Growing Old is Mandatory But Growing Up is Optional //

If you look it up in your book of Phrases We Should All Live By, you'll see a little picture of me next to it!!!
An electric car would suit me – 95% of the time. My usual journeys are either under ten miles, 30 to 40 or between 200 and 280 miles. And that’s where the problem comes in. The 200 mile journeys I make are often made in one hop, occasionally with a ten minute break to use the facilities. My longer journeys usually involve a 30 minute stop for refreshments. I cannot see any way, with current technology, that I could make these longer journeys with any degree of confidence.

Good luck to those who fancy the idea of an overnighter every time they want to travel a couple of hundred miles. Cost is not an issue for me (though I would not pay twice as much for an electric version of the same car I can get for half the price) and unless the technology and infrastructure is radically improved, I shall buy myself a sturdy diesel or petrol model in 2029 and hopefully it will see me out.
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Barsel - // Well yes, age is a number, but I wouldn't say it was only a number.With age comes other problems as I am finding out. Apart from my body deteriorating physically, my brain is also deteriorating mentally, and I know I may get into trouble for saying this, I do believe that as a woman, I am less capable of understanding (shall we say) mechanical things, than some men. For instance, there are probably lots of things my car can do that I don't know about. I'm not proud to say this, but I don't even know how to open the bonnet! So, if I'm still driving when Mobility tell me I can't have another petrol car, it will be electric, I want to know if I will be able to cope with it. As I said earlier, if something is going to be wireless charging, I will be stumped. //

I sympathise entirely.

I think it's fine to generalise and say that women understand mecahnics less than men, because as a generalisation, it's absoutely true.

I also know that, like you, in time there are going to be developments that will be for young people, and as an old person, I will neither cope or be catered for.

The beggest example happening now is the notion that everyone has access to the internet and can communicate on line, which is clearly so for young people, less so for older ones.

I am lucky to embrace the internet, but I know that there are inovations round the corner that i will neither understand or be able to utlise.

I'm not complaining, as i said, that is how the world progresses, and it has to be based around the young and growing, not the old and deteriorating.

I did have a glimpse into the future when my grandaughter, who is twenty-three now, showed me her first I-Phone a few years ago.

As I attempted to grapple with some of the facilities it offered, failing entirely she took the phone off me and exasperaedly advised me - "Grandad, youre so last century....!!"

I couldn't really argue, so I retired to a private space for a little weep ...

Just kidding, I laughed out loud, because she is right!!
By 2030 you might be running your cars on Soylent Green!

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