Are EVs really the answer in the future? I do not think so.

[Lancpudn]

Oxford city council have just released their plans for ZEZ (Zero Emission Zones) https://airqualitynews.com/2020/01/0...one-published/

[steve-45]

Originally Posted by Lancpudn

Oxford city council have just released their plans for ZEZ (Zero Emission Zones) https://airqualitynews.com/2020/01/0...one-published/

Again, it’s not really about reducing pollution as polluting vehicles will not be banned but have to pay a toll.

Sounds more like a revenue generating scheme to me !

[SideValve]

I've decided my next car is either going to be a pre-war Morris 8 or a Nissan Leaf. All depends on how long the 75 keeps going. If it lasts till I retire I'll get the Morris. If not I'll go electric. I'm not bothered about global warming - mostly because most people seem to be buying big fat gas guzzlers so me saving 1000 gallons a year against the billions they use seems a tadge futile. But petrol is a finite resource, I cant see it doing anything other than going up in price over the next five years, and I can save enough money to buy a tidy motorbike, or a fun holiday, or just a shed load of nights out with the missus just by making by next motor electric rather than gas-guzzling.

[CMOORESY]

With MG John all the way, could have taken the words out of my mouth.

Seems to me, no-one questions the right things anymore. Man made global warming is a theory at best and not scientific fact. It isn't and never has been constructively debated and anyone who dares question the logic are silenced (David Bellamy).
It should send a shiver down everyone's spine when terminology such as 'climate crime' is being banded around.

Probably one of the most environmentally friendly acts anyone can do is to recycle a car, yes really. Keep it doing what it was designed to do for as long as possible. the real pollution and strain on resource is generated making vehicles.

[SCP440]

Originally Posted by steve-45

Again, it’s not really about reducing pollution as polluting vehicles will not be banned but have to pay a toll.

Sounds more like a revenue generating scheme to me !

Exactly, I work in Oxford city a couple of times a week. My choice is a buy a new van that complies at a cost of £20k plus or pay the £1000 a year.

All I will do is probably add the £10 a day to the customers bills.

I did look into the purchase of an electric van but the only one that is available is the Transit and that is not big enough for my needs.

The real problem in Oxford is all the buses, some days there can be a dozen or more all in the high street at one time and most are nearly empty, yes they are all going to a different place but do we really need all these buses if they are not being used and don't get me started on the park and ride. The last time I used it we parked up and had to wait nearly 45 mins for a bus. On the return we had waited over 30 mins when we were told by an Oxford bus employee that we could be waiting a long time because they had a breakdown and two drivers had not reported in. We ended up walking back to our car and still had not seen a bus by the time we had walked back ( 35 mins )

All Oxford council are going to do with this scheme is turn it into a ghost town, they spent millions on that new shopping centre complex with a huge underground car park that is filled to capacity most Saturdays. If it is going to cost you another £10 on top of the parking charges to use it my guess it wont be used but lets wait and see.

[SideValve]

Oxford will always be a problem - poor roads, a highly populated student town and a popular tourist / shopping destination.
Trying to keep drivers out seems sensible but it always comes at a cost to those that actually need to drive in such as residents & tradesmen. I dont mind the park & ride when I'm visiting but it just doesnt work if you need to cart tools etc around.
Having said that, as long as you can avoid the busy periods the Westgate has is pretty good and seems to have lots of chargers - not that I'd need then 10 miles from home.

Speaking of which - I think the tipping point will come when petrol station owners see their revenue starting to drop and start closing them. People worry about range anxiety but there are three places in my town where you can charge an EV and only one where you can buy petrol. There are likely to be more charge points in future but if the petrol station goes it will be a pain. True there are plenty in neighbouring towns but it irritates (1st world problems alert!) if I have to go out of my way to fill up. 99% of the time I could run an EV entirely from home and never have to go out of my way or stop at a filling station again.

[DMGRS]

Wholeheartedly agree - while I go back and forth on if I like electric cars, good for the environment they are not.
Until we completely get rid of fossil fuels you're just moving the pollution elsewhere - not to mention the chemicals needed to make the batteries!

A lot of the UK's power comes from combined cycle gas turbines at the moment - a result of nuclear power stations being quite old and some being 'mothballed', and the closure of most coal-fired stations too.

[bl52krz]

I suppose we could all go and live in caves, lionclothes and all that.If you believed all the rubbish put out by (a) people with a slanted view on everything in life. (B) people who stand to make a lot of money out of the modern idiot.(3) And the fool who spouted that we have 3years to make a big change or we are all doomed. Well let me tell you, one year of that three have already gone. So get ready to kiss your backside goodbye in two years time. Oh dear. Was hoping to make it to 100. Still never mind, I might manage to get a ride on a Dinosaur.

[SCP440]

What annoys me is the poor motorist is blamed for all this but there are 2800 passenger airline in the air at one time https://www.flightradar24.com/51.28,-0.29/2 zoom out to see the whole world, shocking isn't it.

Thousands upon thousands of gallons of fuel is being burnt by these in the upper atmosphere and I don't see that being criticised or controlled. I am sure I read somewhere that these aircraft between them are using 10,000 gallons of fuel per minute.

That with all the ships carrying passengers and cargo all burning huge amounts of diesel with no catalysts or DPF.

If we are going to do something if in dead we need too the whole planet needs to take part, not just a little island off the coast of Europe because as far as I am aware we all breath the same air.

[Halkyon]

Originally Posted by CMOORESY

Man made global warming is a theory at best and not scientific fact.

Gravity is a theory, Newtonian mechanics is a theory, the standard model of Quantum mechanics is a theory, we have a theory that the earth is mostly spherical rather than flat, and that the earth orbits the sun. Theory; that is what we call our models of how the world works in science, nothing is ever "fact", just 99.9% likely to be predictive of reality - true or fact in layman's terms. This terminology reflects the fact that the scientific method is the most powerful, self-disciplining, self-correcting and robust methodology for understanding reality that we've ever come up with. The public understanding of the scientific method leads to ideas such as the one quoted when we indulge in motivated reasoning (looking for evidence of your opinion rather than the opposite). Unfortunately the Internet search enables any crank to find whatever information they like.



Electric cars are not perfect, environmentally, but they are far less harmful. Letting the perfect get in the way of the good is not a sensible way to live one's life or run a society, as the perfect rarely or never exists.