I think all major social changes tend to hit certain classes more. I'd all but guarantee that the gov will do another scrappage deal on fossil fuel cars - but that will be in exchange for a new car. So the people who have never bought (and could never have bought) a new car in their life, will be forced into keeping their old cars - but the shift in finding re-fuelling points will be exponential - so as EV people are now finding it hard find fuelling points, fossil fuel car drivers will have the same issue as the switch progresses. And how many garages will invest in mechanics to fix fossil fuel vehicles? Hopefully by then 2nd hand EV prices will be low enough to move on. I had hoped that driverless cars would be prevalent by then, and I wouldn't need to own a car that sat on my drive doing nothing 99% of the time.
Ditto for houses. My plumber has been looking into retraining in installing heat source equipment. At some stage, old fossil fuel heating will be unmaintainable as the balance swings to heat source. I take what @raisingirl says, but the housing stock in the UK is old/ageing (https://www.statista.com/statistics/292252/age-of-housing-dwellings-in-england-uk-by-tenuree/) and again it will be a massive change for people having trouble just finding the mortgage (let alone all those people who invested in buy-to-rent) - for me, given my roof is still original 1930's - I'm not sure fitting solar panels wouldn't cause more issues than it's worth. So it's that maintenance ripple effect eh? But again, the cost of maintaining what I have (or being able to find someone to maintain it) will reach a crossover point.
"Tomorrow's problems" says he, burying his head in the sand again after checking his pension fund statement and realising it took another hit again this year. But I do have a pension is the positive thing eh?
I’ve just been reading about electric car charging.
It’s estimated that over 72% of car owners have off road parking outside their homes. I anticipate in the next two or three years there’ll be a very substantial increase in charging points at supermarkets, town centre car parks, pubs, gyms and, especially, workplaces. In urban areas many lampposts will be adapted to double as charging points and, overall, I think the transition to electric vehicles will progress pretty smoothly.
When I was working my daily commute was nearly 50 miles a day but as modern EVs typically do 400 miles on a single charge a weekly top up would have been sufficient for my needs. My next car, on order but delivery not until November, is petrol driven but I am fairly certain the one after that will be electric. When we had a new wall built in the garden recently we also used it as an opportunity to lay conduits for power cables to the garage. It has no power at the moment and is 35 metres from the house so it made sense to make double use of the diggers and the workmen.
Do you not think it may end up like the VHS/Betamax '..you pays yer money and you takes yer choice...'? Going by Nissan's recent announcement, it doesn't seem like battery standardisation is moving too fast. But if induction charging does come in, what happens to pluggable? And if, as I think it will, induction-as-you drive (https://tec.ieee.org/newsletter/february-2014/wirelessly-charge-electric-vehicles-by-induction-while-driving , https://www.wsj.com/articles/these-companies-want-to-charge-your-electric-vehicle-as-you-drive-11610965800) eventually takes off (and I see that as the way to go) then what point re-charging centres at all? And if I can see that, do you think the big fossil fuel energy providers will be falling over themselves to build EV re-fuelling centres that have built in obsolescence? Maybe the gov could have a winner here as well and make the inside lane the recharge lane - and force all those inconsiderate sods who hog the middle and outer lanes to actually move over for once! Two grumps in one post - win-win!
I personally think that the market is hopeless at this. If 8 track, minidisc, DAB, laser disc all come and go and they're really inconsequential, can you afford to have different standards when there are far reaching consequences? The market wants change as the market makes money out of change. The UK was one of the first with rail networks - and we're suffering today because our rail infrastructure suited the levels of use from 100+ years ago.
What if the UK goes pluggable as that suits, but the EU goes induction? Imagine all those electric lorries with limited range and nowhere to re-charge. But that couldn't happen could it? Who would be so stupid as to have different railway gauges?
Edited to add: Hosta has a point - that figure seems a bit high doesn't it? But I suppose it's how that is counted. Is that 72% of properties in the UK have off road parking for at least 1 car (per resident in case of flats etc) or is it 72% of the cars can be parked off road (ie where the residences have space for multiple cars)? - and if the second, then big houses have a stupid effect on the stat. I wonder how many cars you could park at Buck House? I find it difficult to think that it's the first, given the number of cars parked on-road (we have what 30 million households and and equal car pool) .
Induction charging is extremely unlikely to become the main or even a common method of charging EVs. Just look at the lack of progress in rolling out fibre broadband and imagine digging up every main road in the country to implant induction loops. We can't even manage to electrify some of our major rail lines!
Induction charging is extremely unlikely to become the main or even a common method of charging EVs. Just look at the lack of progress in rolling out fibre broadband and imagine digging up every main road in the country to implant induction loops. We can't even manage to electrify some of our major rail lines!
@Suesyn, re public transport in London, pre covid I would completely agree. As a londoner I never drive in Central London but locally I know people who had given up their car, went back to them when the virus hit.
You don't have to dig up all roads. I would guess that 'a' model is to have induction plates at home, then the major urban areas (planning would say where) would have charging for their public transport infrastructure anyway. The vehicles would then need smaller batteries (which has a double whammy of increasing the range due to less carried weight, and using less heavy metal and mining resource - don't forget the world will be going electric - so resource is a major issue). The vehicles would only need enough charge to ensure they can get to the next charging area. And unlike pluggable, you don't get there and find the charger(s) is in use as the vehicles are charging as they move.
Personally If I were an energy company, I would look to induction rather than pluggable - as short term, as the infrastructure is built, non-home based recharging centres would still be needed and wouldn't be wasted. But then you need induction ready vehicles.
The figure normally quoted for households with drives is 60 to 66%. However non-drive properties are also more likely to be non car-owning households so the % of cars without a drive is around 70%.
In apartment complexes I am sure a few charging points can be fitted in most and it cannot be too difficult to arrange a rota system so people can charge their vehicles without hassle. I also foresee the rise of ‘charge on my drive’ options in the same mode as ‘park on my drive’ to the mutual benefit of the driver and the home owner.
I have no specialist knowledge in these matters and, to be frank, little interest in cars but, prior to having conduit cabling installed, I read a bit about the way the market might be changing. What I foresee is sales of electric vehicles exceeding sales of ICE vehicles within a couple of years. When that happens, and as the sale deadline for ICE vehicles draws closer, petrol and diesel cars will swamp the second hand market and prices will be low. The move to electric cars will hasten.
I think we will adapt fairly readily to cable charging. If so, the impetus for induction charging will lessen and I expect induction charging might be restricted to public transport and taxis in the bigger urban areas.
I think the 72% is based on insurance sourced figures for insured cars. You know the part of the form asking where the car is parked overnight or when not in use. That means 72% of all insured cars.
Of course I do not believe that high percentage figure one bit and if I'm right about its source I think the insurance companies have been on the end of fraud in a lot of cases over the off road parking. I'm sure nobody here puts off road when they only have on road parking!
Posts
It’s estimated that over 72% of car owners have off road parking outside their homes. I anticipate in the next two or three years there’ll be a very substantial increase in charging points at supermarkets, town centre car parks, pubs, gyms and, especially, workplaces. In urban areas many lampposts will be adapted to double as charging points and, overall, I think the transition to electric vehicles will progress pretty smoothly.
When I was working my daily commute was nearly 50 miles a day but as modern EVs typically do 400 miles on a single charge a weekly top up would have been sufficient for my needs. My next car, on order but delivery not until November, is petrol driven but I am fairly certain the one after that will be electric. When we had a new wall built in the garden recently we also used it as an opportunity to lay conduits for power cables to the garage. It has no power at the moment and is 35 metres from the house so it made sense to make double use of the diggers and the workmen.
In apartment complexes I am sure a few charging points can be fitted in most and it cannot be too difficult to arrange a rota system so people can charge their vehicles without hassle. I also foresee the rise of ‘charge on my drive’ options in the same mode as ‘park on my drive’ to the mutual benefit of the driver and the home owner.
I have no specialist knowledge in these matters and, to be frank, little interest in cars but, prior to having conduit cabling installed, I read a bit about the way the market might be changing. What I foresee is sales of electric vehicles exceeding sales of ICE vehicles within a couple of years. When that happens, and as the sale deadline for ICE vehicles draws closer, petrol and diesel cars will swamp the second hand market and prices will be low. The move to electric cars will hasten.
I think we will adapt fairly readily to cable charging. If so, the impetus for induction charging will lessen and I expect induction charging might be restricted to public transport and taxis in the bigger urban areas.
Of course I do not believe that high percentage figure one bit and if I'm right about its source I think the insurance companies have been on the end of fraud in a lot of cases over the off road parking. I'm sure nobody here puts off road when they only have on road parking!