wibblywobbly wrote:Now that the government has announced the abolition of petrol/diesel vehicles in 2040, I am wondering how this is going to work, and have they thought it through?
An electric bicycle can go about 20 miles, top speed limited to 15mph in Europe, way faster in the US. They can be derestricted to go faster, but are then classed as a moped, so need tax & insurance. Battery recharge around 3 hours?
An electric motorcycle can go 200 miles, top speed is unlimited, anything from 80mph to over 200mph. Battery recharge about 6 hours.
An electric car can go about 200 miles, top speed is unlimited, anything from 80mph to whatever. Battery recharge about 3-6 hours.
Sound great? Except not everyone has a driveway, so to charge the battery every house, apartment etc will have a charging cable from the house to the road. Two vehicles per house...6 hours charge time...that's a lot of cables running all over the place?
Charging stations? Hmmm, who is going to be happy driving 200 miles, and then having to stop for 3-6 hours to fill their tank?
There will be no profit in recharging stations, so either they are going to charge petrol prices, or the current fuel stations will shut down. In which case, where do you charge the batteries.
The batteries have a limited lifespan, and are hugely expensive, hence after a few years the electric car will lose a huge proportion of its initial cost.
The changeover will happen within 5-10 years. Not 2040. Only E-vehicles will be manufactured and sold, it's happening already, the petrol stations will begin closing, fuel will be harder to find, so people will start buying E-cars.
As for internal combustion vehicles, it should be pretty obvious that as more people switch to electric vehicles fuel sales will drop. No sales, no profit, so they will shut down. Fuel will become increasingly difficult to find. Who is going to buy a petrol or diesel car when it will be worthless within a few years?
Which industries will collapse?
Motorhomes, Caravans, Campsites, Tourist Industry, Haulage Industry, Oil Industry, Engine design and tooling, AA/RAC etc, Call Centres, Insurance, Petrol stations, Garages, OIl tanker crews, Shipbuilding.
Anything outside of a city will be unreachable without a lot of hassle.
Mass unemployment will happen on a global scale.
Practical example?
You live 400 miles from a ferry port, and want to go on a driving holiday around France.
Drive 200 miles, stop for 3 hours. Drive 200 miles and either get to the port 3 hours early and charge the battery before you embark, or wait 3 hours in France before continuing with your journey. Every 200 miles, stop for 3 hours.
No one in their right mind will do this, so the whole industry will collapse.
What is the alternative? Fly, Rail, Coach. None of which are electric powered. They will rack their prices up as they know that the public have no choice but to use them. The volume of passengers and the logistics of travel has the potential to descend into chaos.
More power stations will be needed, and that means nuclear unless someone invents something pretty quickly.
Be prepared folks....
