Important point: This isn't an "EV only" law, hybrids will still be allowed.
The government does still plan to eventually go EV-only, but not in 2030.
The government does still plan to eventually go EV-only, but not in 2030.
The UK is making sensible small steps. That quoted rule has ended and now only electric cars are exempt from that tax. We’ve had high fuel taxes for a while, though frozen lately for poor reasons, rather than the planned increases.
https://www.buyacar.co.uk/cars/economical-cars/low-emission-...
Looks like the only realistic plan. All the “fully electric by 2035” plans that hardcore environmentalists love to pass have zero chance of going into effect.
Irrelevant. Fifteen years is almost a political generation. Punting pain ensures a punt. It gives cover for doing nothing during the timeline. And when expiry nears, what is the harm of another decade,
A slow phase-in spreads the heartburn to a palatable level. One slow-burn strategy is a creeping mileage requirement. Another is hybrids as a Trojan horse.
TL; DR I bet I could win an election in any blue-collar district running against implementing an ICE ban in 2035.
I’d love to buy an EV but I can get a decent petrol/diesel car for 30k EUR and no comparable EV.
I guess the jokes on me because I thought that people, society in general negotiate on important matters.
Is my observation wrong or are you reading me as only condescending, facetious, luddite, troll?
Similarly, COVID-19 doesn't negotiate, hence we mandate masks to avoid the anti-science people from getting the rest of us sick.
There is absolutely not a chance that the UK could have EV charging infrastructure equivalent to the current network of filling stations in place by 2030. Hybrids can be filled as normal, operate on petrol on motorways and self-charge for use in town.
The number of super chargers you need in public places per car is pretty low. Can’t imagine with 100% saturation you would even need 10% of the gas station population to serve the country.
Presently happens at home - for those with off-street parking. Plugging in and charging overnight makes a lot of sense for those that a) do have that and b) don't do long enough trips to need to charge elsewhere. But that leaves out an awful lot of people. And EV ranges aren't nearly as long as the manufacturers quote* in any but ideal conditions with a single occupant and no luggage. So filling stations will still be needed and they will all need superchargers.
* Yes neither are ICE's but this isn't a problem for anyone because there are petrol stations everywhere
IIRC, the original ban was going to apply to hybrids too - in 2035 - but now the government are bringing the ban forwards by 5 years for pure-ICE.
IMHO if governments want to meet their Paris Accord targets they should be focusing subsidies on getting the price of hybrids down to the level of the same model as a non-hybrid.
Reduces emissions in traffic and lights and helps build out charging infrastructure with plug-ins without an "over" reliance on stations.
Certainly also encourage BEVs, but I think an easy-is stepping stone is a needed given climate change.
But in any case, we don't need to reduce the CO2 produced by cars, we need to eliminate it entirely.
Society needs to get CO2-neutral urgently, and cars are actually the low hanging fruit as perfectly nice electric cars are already being sold. In contrast, we have very little ideas what to do about flying for example, except use precious bio or synthetic fuels.
I'll wager no manufacturer will be making them in a couple of years.
On the other hand, they have better range than either, generally, and keep the quick fillup time of an ICE, with optional short trip charging depending on equipment. Additionally range is good at slow speeds where electric wins, and at high speeds where ICE wins.
When the battery placement isn't criminally stupid (like c-max energi that guts the rear storage), the end result is a best of both situation.