It was going to happen sooner or later

[Ben Stratford]

A neuclear powered HJ60 with a range of 10 light years.
Oh, i just woke up damn

 

[Towpack]

The main problem the UK is facing is that's it's becoming so densely populated that nuclear power is the only practical solution. Wind power is far too land hungry and unreliable. Similarly, wave power from the sea couldn't be done on a large enough scale and, unless there's a major breakthrough in the efficiency of solar panels, power from our limited sunshine is impractical. Even a combination of all these won't be enough to replace conventional fuel burning power stations IMO even before we're all forced to drive around in electric vehicles.
As far as the current crop of electric vehicles go they're massively over priced IMO. Fewer moving parts with only an electric motor a gearbox and a few batteries yet a BMWi3 starts at over £33K! No chance. JMO

 

[chapel gate]

Like it or not, nuclear is the future. We keep kidding ourselves it isnt.. put the waste into capsules and fire it into the sun..

 

[Biscuit]

It's only a ban on new car sales from 2040, I don't think we'll see much difference in the market until 2030 at the earliest, at which point diesel and petrol get cheaper as people switch over. But yes, a good excuse to enjoy them all the more while you can...

 

[chapel gate]

Someone questioned if electric vehicles have the grunt to tow, the worlds largest exervator is electric. So they undoubtedly do, range in the short term will be a factor, but imagine a vehicle with a roof made of integrated soler panels that will self fuel within a couple of hours..

sometimes only the imagination is the limitation.

 

[Dave_S]

TBH I'm less worried about a proposed ban on new vehicles 20+ years from now, than some of the proposed short term actions - massive increase in road tax, fuel duty, extended low emission zones, border control issues... stuff that screw up our use of vehicles now and in the near future.

And as someone said above, these things are often based on half-truths and inadequate data... hence a few years ago actively encouraging people to switch to diesel.

My own view - current gen electric vehicles are a technological cul-du-sac and we need a completely new approach to vehicle power. What that is, who knows...

 

[Towpack]

we need a completely new approach to vehicle power. What that is, who knows...

Hydrogen fuel cell. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and the waste product is (mostly) water. Expensive to develop but a no brainer in the longer term IMO. Batteries still have some way to go to be a realistic power source for the 'average' vehicle. Not only size and capacity but also charge rate will have to be significantly improved down to minutes rather than hours.

As far as torque goes it's one of the big plus points of electric motors with max torque being available from 0 rpm.

There will have to be some disincentives to buy new petrol/diesel vehicles long before the 2040 deadline, otherwise there could be a rush to buy them in the run up to the ban.

 

[StarCruiser]

Torque won't be an issue. And imagine having a true 4x4 with electric drive to each wheel giving unhindered articulation, weight saving (to compensate for the batteries), no loss of traction with one wheel in the air and no need for diffs or diff locks.

The huge mining dump trucks have 3000hp engines driving them via all electric drive lines and massive excavators are grid connected usually at 3300 or 6600 volts AC. Electric drives could have seriously more torque than you might think. Have you seen the electric drag car and drag bike on YouTube?

 

[chapel gate]

Torque won't be an issue. And imagine having a true 4x4 with electric drive to each wheel giving unhindered articulation, weight saving (to compensate for the batteries), no loss of traction with one wheel in the air and no need for diffs or diff locks.

The huge mining dump trucks have 3000hp engines driving them via all electric drive lines and massive excavators are grid connected usually at 3300 or 6600 volts AC. Electric drives could have seriously more torque than you might think. Have you seen thevelectric dragvcar and drag bike on YouTube?

Exactly...

 

[Dave_S]

No argument about the electric motors... the challenge is getting the power to them. Current battery tech??

 

[chapel gate]

Current soon turns into past..

Excuse the pun..

 

[StarCruiser]

Current Li Ion batteries can dump their charge very quickly giving huge power bursts. You've only got to look at the F1 KERS system which dumps over 100hp into the driveline for a short burst. Technology will improve batteries. It's the charge rate and longevity that need addressing, and the penchant for self ignition if damaged!

 

[BobMurphy]

On the 'Channel 4 News' this evening, Jon Snow was saying "All petrol & Diesel cars are to be banned by 2040". He repeated it a couple of times.

I thought - "He's either got that wrong, or he's trying to get people to think along those lines in order to change Government policy".

I'm afraid the policy will change many times before that date and it won't involve Governments spending vast amounts of cash on improving public transport, building Power Stations, Creating thousands of re-charging points or researching Electric heavy-haulage. It will evolve into another Income Stream.

There will be lots of Opposition cries about doing it sooner but whichever Government we have at the time will know that its a hot potato and a sure-fire vote loser if they simply force people to give up their cars.

Whatever happened to Catalytic Converters and Particulate filters - surely they can be retro-fitted to provide an interim improvement in emissions while untethered Electric Propulsion Technology grows up and settles down ??

Motorcycles haven't been mentioned (yet) .

Bob.

 

[Dave_S]

LEAVE MY BIKE ALONE!!!

 

[Chas]

There has been talk of building thousands of recharging points for electric cars will this mean they cannot be recharged at home? seems like a very good, for the government, tax collection scam.

 

[Shayne]

Infrasture is where the money needs to be spent , increase the speed limit on motorways , ring roads around towns and cities , effective and efficient public transport within those towns and cities , keep the traffic moving , get people where they are going and they turn the engine off .

Traffic and parking in Douglas Isle of Man is dreadful , so they built a hospital on the outskirts with enough parking for a good percentage of those driving to Douglas for work . I'm not sure of the exact timetable but a bus drives to and from the hospital all day every 20 minutes or so along with every other bus that vaguely ventures near it with a bit of a detour .

Every morning you will see office workers walking or cycling into town having taken advantage of the free parking and being happy about it because they have discovered a clever keep fit program all on thier own .

Of course its a much smaller place with far fewer people but its a proven principal that works and while there's no one fix a thousand such applications nationwide would make a great deal of difference .

 

[flint]

The money going on Hinkley and Wylfa would surely have been better spent on renewable technology (free solar panels?), yet the electrification of the railways in Wales and other places is cancelled and projects like the Swansea barrage are in doubt, while the Chinese are romping ahead with solar technology and electric car production. Battery technology is progressing, but at present still heavily reliant on lithium (interesting to see where the lithium for batteries is coming from: http://investingnews.com/daily/reso...ithium-investing/lithium-producing-countries/ , huge deposits have also recently been found in Afghanistan).

 

[StarCruiser]

That sounds like there was common sense involved in that Shayne. As common sense is discouraged in this country it would never happen here or if it did it wouldn't be long before some idiot started charging people to park there and ruined the whole thing. When governance is kept compact and lean, good things can happen.

 

[BobMurphy]

When governance is kept compact and lean, good things can happen.

There's a line in one of the Gilbert & Sullivan Comic Operas that goes . . "The government did nothing in particular - but did it very well" .

The Victorians understood the advantages of a 'Hands-Off' approach as well.

Bob.

 

[Rodger]

Just a small point re the mining dump trucks - The electric wheel motor ones are powered by an integral diesel generator but have a gross tonnage of 470 whereas the conventional driven (4000bhp V20 quad turbo) gross at 550 tons. That's one more bucket full per trip. My son drives them in BC Canada and where does the coal go (?) - to power UK power stations. That type of coal also comes from Oz, Germany and China.
Personally I think hydrogen is the way forward but it is delivery and containment that present the problems although a while back Honda were supposed to have found a way.

Regards,

Rodger