Goodbye to private motoring...from just 9 years?

Herzlos

Ebe_Scrooge said:

AdrianC said:

 And fuel oil will be in use for marine transport for a LOOOOONG while, as well as bitumen, and as well as other products used for non-fuel uses...

See, that's something that puzzles me.  Presumably the whole point about getting rid of ICE cars is to reduce global pollution.  I've seen figures banded about that suggest one of those very large cargo ships emits as much pollution as 50 million cars - surely, the massive global shipping trade chucks out a whole lot more pollutants in the grand scheme of things than all the cars in the world.

Why not focus the time and money on getting those ships to run on nuclear?  The technology for nuclear propulsion has been used in warships and submarines for years, so it's not as though it's technically difficult.  Sure, it'll cost a fair bit - but wouldn't that have a far greater impact overall than just getting rid of ICE cars?

Bingo, doing something about the supertankers would make a difference to global emissions. I suspect the reason these ships haven't gone to nuclear power (which would presumably save a huge amount of weight/space in fuel) is because no Governments want nuclear reactors to be roaming the ocean in private hands.
I'm not sure how bad the emissions on a ship are per ton of goods shipped though, compared to a transit van.

However, cars are responsible for most of the local pollution so moving from combustion to batter makes cities and the road side nicer so is well worth doing.

Supersonos

Deleted_User said:

I have a new phone, same size as my old one (3 years old) with a battery that is 2x the capacity in the same space, 

Are you sure about that?

Battery tech hasn't really advanced for many years.   Phones/computers etc. have become much more energy efficient, but batteries have largely remained the same.  Want more capacity?  Add more batteries.

Tesla have a tech that squeezes a little more watts per kilo, but it's less stable.

Supersonos

Deleted_User said:

I have a new phone, same size as my old one (3 years old) with a battery that is 2x the capacity in the same space, 

Are you sure about that?

Battery tech hasn't really advanced for many years.   Phones/computers etc. have become much more energy efficient (just look at Apple shifting to ARM-based chips partly to get better battery life), but batteries have largely remained the same.  Want more capacity?  Add more batteries.

Tesla have a tech that squeezes a little more watts per kilo, but it makes the batteries less stable.

Herzlos

EdGasketTheSecond said:

What the governments and Greta's of this world don't get is that the enjoyment of a car is not to get from A to B but about the throb of the engine, the smell of the exhaust, the vrrooom as you rev up in the driveway or at the traffic lights; the oil and grease on your hands when you service the car. Where's the fun in driving a souped up milk float?

Leaving the oil burners in the dust and still being able to have a conversation with your passengers?
Saving so much money on fuel that you can go play with a track car at the weekends?
Lets also face it; the vast majority of car owners just want a box to get from A to B otherwise the Nissan Micra would never exist. If everyone who wasn't a petrol head went electric, then there'd be more petrol left for the enthusiasts...

Herzlos

Supersonos said:

Deleted_User said:

I have a new phone, same size as my old one (3 years old) with a battery that is 2x the capacity in the same space, 

Are you sure about that?

Battery tech hasn't really advanced for many years.   Phones/computers etc. have become much more energy efficient, but batteries have largely remained the same.  Want more capacity?  Add more batteries.

The charts on energy density over time don't agree with you.

Dr_Crypto

This is what the stable owners must have been like in the early 20th century. 

“Just stick with these horses for now. We don’t know how these cars will work. Horses are much cheaper and a proven technology. Just wait until there are petrol stations everywhere just like stables. You can change in horse at any stables, they don’t break down etc.”

Flight3287462

Herzlos said:

However, cars are responsible for most of the local pollution so moving from combustion to batter makes cities and the road side nicer so is well worth doing.

Sounds great, except for the destruction and child labour used to extract the rare earth minerals etc that are required in the production of these cars.

Battery powered cars are the Betamax of the industry, a technological dead end.

EdGasketTheSecond

Herzlos said:

EdGasketTheSecond said:

What the governments and Greta's of this world don't get is that the enjoyment of a car is not to get from A to B but about the throb of the engine, the smell of the exhaust, the vrrooom as you rev up in the driveway or at the traffic lights; the oil and grease on your hands when you service the car. Where's the fun in driving a souped up milk float?

Leaving the oil burners in the dust and still being able to have a conversation with your passengers?
Saving so much money on fuel that you can go play with a track car at the weekends?
Lets also face it; the vast majority of car owners just want a box to get from A to B otherwise the Nissan Micra would never exist. If everyone who wasn't a petrol head went electric, then there'd be more petrol left for the enthusiasts...

In the end you won't save much on fuel because the gov't need to make up lost revenue on petrol and diesel. There will be a per mile tax introduced for electric cars to pay for all the infrastructure they will need. How many sub-stations and power points for each block of flats?

ToxicWomble

Something like £ 40bn a year I think that will need to be found.

It will be likely that running an electric vehicle won’t be cheap anymore - interstingly, I wonder if existing petrol/diesel cars will get hit with a double whammy.

We could be looking at some serious “car poverty”

How about instead of punishing motorists like this there is an big effort in funding and upgrading public transport so people have a choice

John_

Supersonos said:

Deleted_User said:

I have a new phone, same size as my old one (3 years old) with a battery that is 2x the capacity in the same space, 

Are you sure about that?

Battery tech hasn't really advanced for many years.   Phones/computers etc. have become much more energy efficient, but batteries have largely remained the same.  Want more capacity?  Add more batteries.

Tesla have a tech that squeezes a little more watts per kilo, but it's less stable.

Battery technology improves a few percent per year.