Are we on the brink of an electric car revolution?

ReserveGrowthRulz · Post by **ReserveGrowthRulz** » 14 Sep 2019, 02:25

emordnilap wrote:More hype?

No. Combust hydrogen and oxygen, make water. Chemistry, not hype.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 16 Sep 2019, 12:05

And more.

ReserveGrowthRulz · Post by **ReserveGrowthRulz** » 16 Sep 2019, 15:36

The meek shall inherit the (EV) world!

Nissan Leaf Will Beat Tesla

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 16 Sep 2019, 16:04

Especially in the US where the fossil industries are fighting dirty

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/ ... ar-1729429

At least 8 states are introducing punative taxes on electric cars that are at least double the tax take they get from fossil fuel cars.

Mind you, blowing up the largest oil processing plant in the world will not harm EV sales.

ReserveGrowthRulz · Post by **ReserveGrowthRulz** » 16 Sep 2019, 21:14

PS_RalphW wrote:Especially in the US where the fossil industries are fighting dirty

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/ ... ar-1729429

General market competition isn't about "fighting dirty", but just "fighting".

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 17 Sep 2019, 18:14

Yawn.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 18 Sep 2019, 12:52

https://www.ecowatch.com/koch-brothers- ... belltitem4

In 2019, eight states passed new fees for EV registrations or increased current fees, and of these, Consumer Reports found that all but one would be "extremely punitive" â€” or would cost EV drivers at least 50 percent more than the gas taxes paid by the driver of an average new gas-powered car.

All told, there are already 18 states with EV fees higher than the annual gas tax equivalent for an average new car, and at least eight more punitive fees have been proposed.

ReserveGrowthRulz · Post by **ReserveGrowthRulz** » 18 Sep 2019, 13:51

PS_RalphW wrote:https://www.ecowatch.com/koch-brothers- ... belltitem4

In 2019, eight states passed new fees for EV registrations or increased current fees, and of these, Consumer Reports found that all but one would be "extremely punitive" â€” or would cost EV drivers at least 50 percent more than the gas taxes paid by the driver of an average new gas-powered car.

All told, there are already 18 states with EV fees higher than the annual gas tax equivalent for an average new car, and at least eight more punitive fees have been proposed.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 18 Sep 2019, 14:39

I don't know about the US, but in the UK there is a government grant to buy an EV, currently GBP3,500. This is a reduction from earlier grants of GBP5000, and is likely to soon to be reduced further or eliminated entirely. Already, most Tesla models do not qualify.

Also EVs pay zero annual vehicle licence fees, but so does my 10 year old diesel.

All new cars have a purchase tax (VAT) of 20% in the UK, so the 3500 'grant' is simply a reduction in the tax we pay on EVs.

That said, electricity is taxed at 5%, petrol and diesel at about 120%

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 03 Oct 2019, 12:31

Transport minister is again trying to increase motorway speed limits to 80mph using the excuse that more and more electric cars are on the road and these are zero emissions.

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/car ... ars-642785

ALL cars at 80mph consume 30% more energy than at 70mph, electric or ICE. (Because at that speed only wind speed is significant, and drag increases with square of speed) Electric cars are not zero emissions, in the UK the latest 12 months generated 250g CO2 / KWh.

In practice energy consumption would increase by more than 30% because a lot more acceleration and braking would be needed on our congested motorways , and people who currently drive at 80mph anyway would simply increase their speed to 90mph

And then there is the carbon footprint of all the extra high speed crashes that would result.

careful_eugene · Post by **careful_eugene** » 03 Oct 2019, 14:42

PS_RalphW wrote:Transport minister is again trying to increase motorway speed limits to 80mph using the excuse that more and more electric cars are on the road and these are zero emissions.

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/car ... ars-642785

ALL cars at 80mph consume 30% more energy than at 70mph, electric or ICE. (Because at that speed only wind speed is significant, and drag increases with square of speed) Electric cars are not zero emissions, in the UK the latest 12 months generated 250g CO2 / KWh.

In practice energy consumption would increase by more than 30% because a lot more acceleration and braking would be needed on our congested motorways , and people who currently drive at 80mph anyway would simply increase their speed to 90mph

And then there is the carbon footprint of all the extra high speed crashes that would result.

In addition to this, our motorways can't cope with 80mph due to congestion. Highways England have spent the last few years creating managed motorways to control traffic flow i.e. slowing traffic in advance of busy junctions in order to maintain the flow.

Post by **adam2** » 03 Oct 2019, 15:20

I would like to see the present motorway limit kept at 70, but enforced better.

On most single carriageway rural roads I would like to see the limit reduced from 60 to 40 MPH.
In most residential streets I would like to see to see a 20 MPH limit instead of 30.

woodburner · Post by **woodburner** » 07 Oct 2019, 21:34

What is a â€œresidential streetâ€�. I think the speed limits which you would like would be disliked by the majority of people. They would, and probably will be imposed when all new vehicles will be fitted with gps technology to allow remote restrictions and monitoring.

One of the reasons for 20mph zones is that autonomous cars and manually controlled cars can exist together. Any faster and bad things happen. This will be possible only if 5g is rolled out everywhere.

No use in Brussels as they have stopped the installation. wonder why.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 08 Oct 2019, 11:13

A residential street is one with houses along both sides, which most people will recognise unless they are being deliberately obtuse! The actual speeds in many residential streets in inner cities, from my experience of working as a Highways Engineer in local government, is usually about 20mph or less because of parking along both sides of the road so Adam's thoughts on the matter are not far off what actually happens. 20 mph limits are now being rolled out across the country as a safety measure rather than a fuel saving one.

Post by **adam2** » 08 Oct 2019, 11:41

Indeed, 20 MPH speed limits are being rolled out in many residential streets. I would like to see this considerably expanded.

IMHO, 20 MPH should be the normal or default limit in residential streets. The existing 30 MPH limit could be retained for a minority of situations where it is judged appropriate.

Reduced speeds would render cycling safer and more attractive.