https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/25/britain-to-ban-sale-of-all-diesel-and-petrol-cars-and-vans-from-2040 End is near for Europe I am afraid. Robb
I checked my mortality table, I won't have to worry about it...... I'd say most on this forum are in the same boat ��
And so it begins ... we knew it was only a mater of time: Britain bans gasoline and diesel cars starting in 2040 - Jul. 26, 2017
I anticipate everything that makes cars exciting will be gone in 2040 then. I think this is frankly overly ambitious but time will tell.
To be fair, it's 23 years away ... that's a long time. Bottom line, the day is coming. And all it will take is a catastrophic earth event to solidify the dates. Most people don't like to drive, and will be happy with a self-driving electric. We will need to have our say, somehow.
Well only if you ignore all the threads over the past few weeks highlighting similar stories from much of the rest of Europe........
If anybody wants to see the rank hypocracy and stupidity of Europe this is it. they keep their government coffers afloat through a gas tax, how will that work. Where will the power come from. Most importantly after the mandated diesel debacle. ruining health in the goal of C02 reduction, how are they going to cope with battery production and disposal. This is just a measure to ban cars. While many of us may be gone by then, or too old to care, the impact on the auto indistry is now. Why kill a major employer. in any event reading between the lines its about banning diesel cars now, something the euros through gov mandates encouraged for decades. Inetrestingly a major source of pollution is speed bumps. makes sense come to a near slowdown and then accelerate every 50 ft. Since its the guardian we can see its all about banning private cars, private property is next.
I may not be dead by then, but I ain't gonna' be driving, that's for sure. Good luck to the rest of you.
Hopefully I am still driving then age 76. Its will be like that Sci Fi movie where cars banned. Ill go out at midnight in the boxer, an outlaw sppeding through the auto drive drones at 150. Because my car has no electronics they wont be able to track me. I think there is an outlaw group in Kapn who already do these midnight high speed runs. Of course we'll need drone evasion tech, and maybe every street will have a camera. Hopefully errant youth will take care of the cameras. Personaly I am waiting for the snapback of all this gov controll and seeing the whole house of cars collapse from its own fragility. A big reason why the car had such an impact in the USA was outr sens eof personal freedom and freedom of movement. I dont see that sense of freedom of movement getting snuffed out, at least in 40% of us anyway. Maybe it will be like flying. Controlled zones and free zones.
All kidding aside and forgetting about the politicians who are useless In 30 years God willing the only ones driving gasoline other than commercial will be us. It's like a polo pony today a rich mans game. They mail the gas at 12 dollars a gallon in 5 gallon drums just like racing fuel. Only 100 years ago 75 percent of all the people in the U.S. we're still using a horse! How many today? I was the first of many in1980 with Hemmings sending letters to my congressman Telling them there would be hell to pay if you take away our LEADED GASOLINE! How dumb were we? Worrying about coating our intake valves, meanwhile we were breathing in lead fumes. So times change My kids like all the rest under 40 have zero interest in a car, unless it's free, maintenance free and someone else drives them in it! So I will be the last old man on my block as the kids laugh at the guy with black smoke coming out the pipe, but again after us, like whale oil, coal stoves and an analogue phone It will be the end. I think this is why overall prices are coming way down, no interest in the next generation Imho Gtjoey1314
No. This is a red herring. Over the last 10 years the electricity generated in the UK has actually fallen 20% because demand is lower due to better energy efficiency - LED lighting etc. Even the worst case view of an extra 50% is perfectly achievable in the historical context. UK's electricity output grew 400% in 20years from 1950. Even through the recessions of the 70s etc, it grew 35% in the 20 years to 1995. True, the extra capacity needs to come from greener power stations for the big switch to make sense, but let's not forget that efficiency gains are still being made all the time elsewhere, particularly lighting. The real obstacle will be the car industry's vested interests.
The beginning of the end is already here. Jaguar & Mercedes investing heavily in electric car racing instead of sports/saloon car racing? Hybrid hypercars so complicated that almost nobody can work on them? Self-driving everyday vehicles? No hydrocarbon vehicles sold in England in 22.5 years? All of these trends are, unfortunately, consistent. I'm concerned about the environment as well, but the politicians voting on this issue in 10-15 years will not be people who grew up fascinated by cars, racers, designers, or the romance of Aston Martin fenders being hand-hammered over wooden bucks, Enzo Ferrari starting his own company, or Colin Chapman gazing at a DeHavilland (sp?) warplane and then sketching the Lotus Elise. If you, like me, find all of the above fascinating and you enjoy looking at a vehicle and figuring out how (or sometimes, if) it works, then yes, you are going to lament the golden past. On the other hand, in 22.5 years many of us will be out to pasture and it will be the next generation's world. They have the right to perpetuate it, improve it, or ***k it up just like every previous generation. I hope they choose well.
Moderators: I think this thread is far too interesting and important to sit in the relatively obscure section it's currently in. May I request that you consider moving it to "General Automotive" or somewhere more prominent? Thanks!
A colleague of mine is working with the electronic design in EV consumer charging stations. The stations are being designed for home use with intelligent modules that allow the charge to be remotely switched on and off throughout the charge cycle as the grid demand rises and falls to give users a fair portion of the electricity available without overloading the grid. So, your nearly discharged 250 mile (supposedly) range electric vehicle is put on charge when you get home for an overnight charge. You get in it next morning and it only has been charged 30% due to high grid demands. So not only do you have 'range anxiety', you also can't sleep at night due to 'charge anxiety'! This is here and now in 2017. Imagine what it will be like in 2040......
No one knows it all. We are definitely living through a period of change. My own guess is these governments are using dates that are sufficiently far enough out that they can withstand some adjustment as they grow nearer. Yet, these dates serve as a way to layout a goal. I think there are many many issues and places where things are hypocritical, but I think the writing is on the wall for ICE only powered transport. I think that is going to apply across the board to commercial vehicles as well as personal transport. As the question pertains to our beloved Ferrari. Yes, there are no guarantees and the seas they must sail look like they could be getting choppier from this point of view. On the other hand, their brand and product has never been stronger. I suspect they will find a way to navigate this "brave new world" with success. For example, maybe the push to get them seen more as a luxury brand than a car brand is not simply a cash out but also an intelligent strategic admission of changing circumstances? Time will tell. In the mean time, I'm driving my Ferraris!
The trouble is a Tesla S has a 75KWH Battery (more in the future to increase range). A kettle uses less than 2KW, so to charge a Tesla fully that's like having your kettle on for 37 hours or to charge it in the claimed 3 hours using a home charging point, about 12 Kettles on at once, for one car! Sorry, but i don't think the grid will cope with demand if everyone goes electric.
Ah yes, makes me wonder, how are you going to generate the necessary power for several billion cars? Install solar panels in every desert existed on Earth? Wind power? Or power generated by nuclear power plants like ITER? Funny I read these kind of reports when lately they're discovering even bigger fossil fuel reserves in the Mediterranean.
UK produces about 1000GWh of electricity per day. UK cars drive about 690 million vehicle miles per day. To use your Tesla example, say with 300 mile range, that's 2.3 million charges per day which at 75kWh a pop is about 170GWh or about 17% of current daily capacity. Bear in mind that in the last 10 years LED bulbs and more efficient appliances have cut our use by 20%. In other words, UK grid USED to carry not dissimilar mounts of electricity 10 years back. Really, electricity is not a big deal. Bigger issues are raw materials for battery production, keeping the oil industry lobby happy etc.