but the non-polluting claim is a smokescreen

the cars have to be manufactured - which is inherently polluting and consuming

the electricity to run the things has to be generated - and afaik most electricity here is generated by gas and coal fired power stations

as I said earlier - when you get a real comparison, say a £12K hatch and £12K electric car (one that doesn't need the equivalent of a new engine every four years or so), things might get interesting

not just new cars either, which are run by a small proportion of the population

we need to see people able to choose between £5K/four year old secondhand petrol and electric cars

ps doesn't the Tesla cost nearly £200K?

 

Indeed; the politiciunts' attempts at limiting personal freedom of their vassals does have some unfortunate positive benefits and there's nothing wrong with increasing efficiency, reducing environmental impact and allowing the developing world a fairer share of resources.

An interesting comparo might be the CVCC engine; met pollution requirements without the need for an expensive, polluting-to-produce catalytic converter. Stratified charge technology could have been the way to go, so the politiciunts chose to kill it in favour of dumb American cats by tightening Nox rules. Of course the Eurolackeys followed suit.

You'll find a 1974 CVCC in a museum next to the electric cars...

Although I've long seen the benefits of electric propulsion for certain types of vehicle, the city car has another drawback; if you now need two cars because it doesn't work half the time, where do you put them both?

How do you charge one in one of those dreadful London suburban endless terraces so beloved of cocaigne socialists, without tripping up the pedestrians? I have an electric lawnmower (perhaps surprisingly!) and its tail is a shocking PIA.

 

Perhaps? Perhaps?



Say it 'aint so Nick.......

 

The pollution aspect is misleading is some cases, but there's a good argument that it moves the pollution from the urban populated areas and into other areas.
Perhaps it is a case of out-of-sight-out-of-mind, but on the other hand it would be nice if city centres weren't covered in fuel fog.

I think the biggest problem is the time they take to recharge.
You can't just fill up and carry on – so even as airport rentals or shared tourist city cars they might not work.

Most of the biggest changes to cars have occurred when a cars kicked arse on a track or a rally.
I think we'll see a big shift to electric cars when the Audi Quatro Electric wins a rally championship or an electric car wins the Le Mans 24 hour.
(assuming they are allowed to enter.)

 

Le 24 minuites du Mans, et 24 heures de recharger.

 

I know Mark; grassed area's a bit too small to justify anything decent.

Rob, electric cars will make smog worse in cities! Modern cat-cars have been hoovering up the crap spewed out by wasteful bastards heating their houses & making shit in their factories and power stations for years. And stinking diesel-buses, which are usually old knackers.

The petrol ICE is the good guy here, despite what the control-freaks tell you.

 

oh,the humanity.

 

nah, you just need a really long plug

 

Trouble is, diesels have been promoted as "green", because they have low CO2 figures, when they are anything but, especially for pedestrians etc. Never mind the racket they make, which is bad for "the environment in which people live".

A bit of peace and quiet is a good thing, something you espoused during the volcanic disturbances to air travel last year.

 

dont be silly


what you need is an overhead electric grid thing like dodgem cars.