Electric cars.

We will end up importing back all the good road worthy cars that have been exported.

 

Probably, when a report from RTE says the following, fudging the numbers.

Not only is there no hope of the Government hitting its target of having 945,000 electric vehicles on Irish roads by 2030, its 2025 ambition of 195,000 EVs is essentially reliant on fudging the numbers by including vehicle types other than Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) - the only true zero emission vehicles on the roads," Geotab Vice President for Ireland & UK, David Savage said

 

They will just tighten up the MOT so as to make older cars not repairable.

Its all about forcing us off the roads, not sure where they will get their taxes from when they achieve their aim.

They were saying on the news tonight that lots of people are already finding running a car too expensive.
The country will grind to a halt and everyone will be looking for a job within walking distance as public transport doesn't really work for most people.

 

I don't think there's much chance of that in the UK. The cars in Cuba are awesome. The cars in the UK have been having their souls sucked out for decades.

True story. My son asked me a little while ago about wheel spins. Now, I've grown out of that sort of thing, but seeing as my teenage son asked, it was my duty to educate. So I told him any car will wheel spin if you give it enough throttle before letting the clutch off. Off we went to a quiet car park to demonstrate. First gear, clutch down, revs to the red line, let clutch up. There was the tiniest tyre squeak then the engine started limiting itself, a light came on, and we moved off under full traction.

All is not lost though. On another occasion, last winter, we found a frozen car park. Again, I'm far too grown up to be silly, but I won't pass up an opportunity to educate my teenage son in physics. I would demonstrate what happens when the back tyres lose grip while cornering. The combination of ice and a handbrake would help with that. I demonstrated the principle, purely for educational purposes of course, a few times. Then we decided to leave.

A newer car came in. I watched, puzzled, as the newer car accelerated on the ice, then slowed down, turned a few times, and didn't skid once. I couldn't understand why the driver didn't simply operate the handbrake. I told some work colleagues later. They told me that some of the newest cars don't have a handbrake. I was shocked. I asked, how on earth do you spin them on ice, I mean purely for practicing skid recovery of course, not for fun. Apparently you can't. Apparently the computer in then now enforces maturity.

Conclusion, in a few years time, we'll all be driving cars so boring we are likely to die of boredom behind the wheel. But that's probably ok, because cars will be driving themselves soon, so will still take your bored stiff body to it's preprogrammed destination.

 

At 20 MPH,

 

@pete It's pretty obvious what Governments will do to recoup the lost tax from ICE vehicles. They will whack the cost onto EVs.

 

The government are having a right good laugh. They must be in stitches. They funnel everyone into car dependency, then make everyone think it's their own choice so they defend it vigorously. Everything about car ownership is getting rapidly more expensive, and people still defend it. If anyone proposes any kind of alternative, you just drop the 'war on motorists' line and everyone immediately rallies back to the government line of defending car dependency.

 

@Clueless 1 v2 I don't need my car to do wheelies or handbrake turns but I do want it to be comfortable, spacious enough for us, the shopping/occasional plants and trees/the dogs and even passengers and for the engine to be responsive enough to get me out of trouble when idiots are about.

Given where we currently live has no buses we will need cars to the end of our days. By then I'll be quite happy to have one I can tell where to go - assuming they're reliable by then.

It will happen eventually but I shall put off buying an electric car as long as I am able - don't approve of the way the minerals needed are mined by children and indentured (slave) labour or the damage those mines do to the environment.

 

I see, The Alliance of British Drivers, is calling for the 2035 ban on combustion engine cars to be scrapped and grants for EV's to end.

Bob Bull, chairman of the ABD, said: “The public must not have their right to choose removed and public money must no longer be thrown at subsidising new EV sales and usage".

“The tax system has for years given huge advantages to persuade fleets and business users to adopt EVs".

“This is not ‘free money’, it is paid for by the hard-working and struggling people of this country. Enough is enough”.

The only plug-in vehicle grants available for Britons through the Government are for wheelchair accessible vehicles, motorcycles, vans, trucks and taxis, there is also tax breaks for those who use the fleet sector, but nothing for Joe public.

Below are the current grants, which is paid for with our money.

• Wheelchair accessible vehicles - up to 35%, capped at £2,500
• Mopeds - up to 35%, capped at £150
• Motorcycles - up to 35%, capped at £500
• Small vans - up to 35%, capped at £2,500
• Large vans - up to 20%, capped at £5,000
• Small trucks - up to 20% capped at £16,000
• Large trucks - up to 20% capped at £25,000

 

Why does this Bob Bull chap think he has the right to speak for all of us? It seems to me he's a bit of a hypocrite. He seems to be having a go at one group for pushing an agenda, while himself pushing an agenda.