Cheaper holidays EV charging

Posted on 21/07/2023 11:42 by JohnM20

I can't remember who the politicians were, unfortunately, but on two occasions recently on TV the word "hydrogen" was used in the same sentence as "electric cars". Is this "diesel-gate" all over again when there was a push by the government for us all to convert to diesel cars- and now they have changed their corporate minds and electric is the be all and end all  - or will it be hydrogen?.

I've no objection to electric vehicles in principal but I don't think the dots have, even yet, been joined up properly regarding the unintended consequences and the hidden, less obvious costs of a mass changeover. As nutsy commented, it should be evolution not revolution driven by our want to change to electric vehicles for their own sake and not because of any incentives or compulsion to do so. 

Posted on 21/07/2023 09:57 by DavidKlyne

Nutsy

I think the problem, had the Government not decided to set a deadline by which new ICE cars could not be sold, would not have provided the incentive for manufacturers to switch to EV production? The decision acts as a catalyst for action. I don't think it would have worked any other way. 

The problem for those of us on forums like this is that to continue our hobby an EV is generally not at the right stage of development in terms of range. Chocolate Trees and Andrew Ditton are perhaps pioneers in the use of EV's for towing but the compromises they are willing to make I suspect would not sit comfortably with the majority? As far as I can see motorhomes are even further behind and because its a much smaller market I suspect it will be some time before we see a conventional motorhome powered by batteries. There are a few prototypes around but until I see at least one EV motorhome in the range of all the major motorhome builders its difficult to see where the future is leading us. It will come I am sure.

I have always quite liked the idea of road pricing and was disappointed that the idea was dropped by a previous Government mainly because of the hysterical  reaction by the motoring press. How could road pricing not be a fairer way of replacing the rather blunt instrument we now have VED. I think the technology could be quickly put in place as it's already in use, and example would be motorway tags in France. 

David

Posted on 21/07/2023 07:57 by NutsyH

CT

First of all I note that whilst you totally reject Daily Mail reports, you happily quote from the Guardian. Have you seen the Governments own Transport Committee report on EV's? Not exactly in support. What you can't debunk is the fact that the UK generates a tiny proportion of the world's carbon compared to China, India, Asia in general and the USA (although Biden is giving huge subsidies to change this).

To answer your question - no, I do not object to the technology nor do I object to financial market subsidies. However, you must recognise that if we listen to the Just Stop Oil fanatics we would be all living in caves again. Oil and coal will be around for many years, like it or not. Transition should be slow and occur naturally.

My objection is the political manipulation, which to a certain extent is also financial in the tax breaks that are available. HMG are being totally dishonest (nothing new there) in their promotion of net zero in general (not just EV's) without coming clean on what it is going to cost the ordinary "man/woman in the street".

I'll say this again - if EV's were so good, legislation would not be required to make us all buy them. I totally accept that in the right circumstances EV's have their place - regular town/city driving, home charging facilities, no great mileage needed between home and back.

My wife could use one for her daily trip to the gym, and probably will when her next car change comes along - but she should not be forced to do so by politicians who will be long gone when the poo hits the fan in a few years time. However, she would not even attempt to do a 200 mile round mway trip including the M25 to see our daughter in it, one of my proper cars would disappear off the drive.

To keep this thread caravan based - Winter trip to Southern Spain towing the caravan? CMC paying for charging points? By all means allow it from the pitch and pay for it, but don't load the cost of installing charge points on to the rest of us.

I also wonder how road charging would work. If restricted to EV's only then fine as GPS could do the job , but that couldn't possibly work for the 30m plus ICE cars that will be around for the next 20 years. There simply is not the finance to erect cameras and gantries nationwide.

If the technology could be found for ICE cars, I would welcome it as my mileage is low, and in the case of my summer toy 90% of its 2400 a year mileage is not in the UK but I pay the usual VED for it.

EV's have their place, I fully accept, but should not be compulsory.

Posted on 21/07/2023 20:33 by DavidKlyne

As we move to a world where the majority cars are EV's (maybe later hydrogen powered) how do you charge by emissions which is the current way of doing things. I suspect that road charging would work by monitoring only major roads outside of built up areas so whether the infrastructure would need to be as extensive we have yet to find out. The beauty of Road Charging is that it can be adjusted, by the type of vehicle, the time of travel and could also take into account any congestion/LEZ areas that a car travels through. All sounds a bit Big Brother if, as I do, watch detective series it seems they can pin point you mobile phone would monitoring where you have driven be such a big deal. Initially the set up costs have to be paid for out of taxation but will pay for themselves as time goes on. Unless we have a new Government with a commitment to introduce such a scheme (no indication from any party yet) it might not happen in the next 10/20 years. By then AI will probably be predicting where we are going before we do

David 

Posted on 21/07/2023 20:28 by

On the subject of Spain,  it is a very big country and 700 km from  the French border to  Malaga or 13-1400miles from Calais.  Having read the description of a modest trip to the lakes from the south of England the idea of tackling a significant  journey with recharging breaks every 100+ miles really doesn't seem feasible. 

Posted on 21/07/2023 21:17 by ChocolateTrees

It’s entirely feasible, just maybe not desirable for some. For others the “constraint” of only travelling 200 miles or so a day might be part of the attraction…

Posted on 21/07/2023 21:17 by ChocolateTrees

It’s entirely feasible, just maybe not desirable for some. For others the “constraint” of only travelling 200 miles or so a day might be part of the attraction…