Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

Don't you just love the way governments encourage people to do stuff - e.g. buy diesel cars - but then decide it wasn't such a good idea after all and punish those who followed that advice... :spin:

In these days of 'convenience is king', I don't think a lot of people are going to be very happy faffing around in the dark, wind, raid, snow for example, plugging their cars in every day or two just to keep them reasonably usable. For those families which need more than one car, these problems will only be compounded. Yes of course there'll be those who have plenty of suitable off road parking who'll be able to pay for the best/quickest charging technology or even be lucky enough to charge their vehicles while they're parked in the office car park. What about those who don't have those options though? Are they going to find themselves effectively priced out of cars? :shrug:

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

But something has to be done. The very air we breathe is toxic and the danger level has been surpassed. We're all going to have to make sacrifices. At least electric is an option and we're not being told to give up our cars with no alternative. You can bet too that there is a vested interest in retaining the purchasing power of as many customers as possible.

What other solution is there?

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

At present that may be the case with cars but you still have HGV haulage and plant and machinery. The energy demands there are huge and present battery technology just can't handle it.

There is a possible alternative though, at present available as a one cylinder engine and being marketed. It may be possible with further R&D to produce 4,6,8 &12 cylinder engines, who knows?

Link

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

Human achievement is too great to list. I'm sure we can come up with better batteries; the government has focussed minds with the deadline!

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

A bit beyond moving to electric, which I think will happen sooner than 2040, but I believe car ownership itself won't be around for long. Instead people will call self-driving cars and be assigned one from a fleet owned by Google/Apple/Uber etc which will complete their journey then zip off somewhere else. With these cars being active more than most cars are now the cost per trip could be far less than what we effectively pay now for ownership, fuel, maintenance and insurance.

The benefits are massive: Less space will be required for parking as we would have fewer cars and those not active could go to a remote place rather than near town centers etc.

It's much safer as these cars could go faster, react quicker and make fewer mistakes than humans do plus they could communicate with each other. Imagine all these cars being networked and able to make adjustments to their speed/mapping based on the load of other cars up ahead.

It would solve this problem of charging as you no longer worry about parking or re-fueling cars.

I think before too long it will seem crazy that humans spent large amounts of money to own cars which spent most of their time parked and were driven by humans with their slow reaction times and who used signals to communicate to each other about their intentions.

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

I think the future is driverless cars, no ownership. You'll have an app on your phone to book a car for your journey. If you are taking a long journey outside the range of the car then one will be available at a certain point in the journey, change cars and your first car will proceed to a recharging point.

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

Now there you see is what is much more likely to be the reality. We're currently being allowed to labour under the notion that we can continue to have the freedom and flexibility we currently enjoy with our cars by switching to electric vehicles but that can't be the case for the reasons I've given above.

Whether we agree with the negative environmental impact of traditional car ownership/usage or not, the real world effect of these changes to what have become fundamental freedoms needs to be made clear to the public.

Right now I'm wondering how happy people are going to be having to pack/unpack their 'auto' car with the stuff they need for work/leisure every day, possibly multiple times a day. I'm wondering how many disabled friendly 'auto' vehicles will be available or whether the disabled will just have to wait longer to get anywhere because the wheelchair friendly vehicles are in short supply. There's a whole long list of potential problems with all of this and given the stakes, i.e. global warming, that might be something we're going to have to accept but that doesn't alter the fact that this all needs to be thought properly through. 2040 seems like a very long way away but it's no time at all in which to fully address the considerable societal changes that this is going to involve. Of course there will be positives and there may be little choice but we need to be aware of and accept the negatives as well don't we?

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

What about the freedom to drive out into the countryside I'm sure all this driverless tech will be great and more convenient for the majority but what about those of us who want to just go to the middle of nowhere for a rest. Really cannot see the infrastructure covering 100% of the country even by 2040 so it isn't all rosy and green in the future but no doubt those of us who enjoy that will be given the lecture about sacrifice for the greater good.

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

No problem, your 'auto' car will just take you there and drop you off then head off to do whatever else it needs to do to save the planet. Of course you won't be able to leave your picnic or anything else in the car for later, you'll have to carry it all with you until it's time to summon the next 'auto' car to pick you up and take you home. Sounds wonderful doesn't it... :rolleyes:

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

Don't forget the Government will know every step of your journey.

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

But if you've done nothing wrong how could you possibly object. Just like the cameras in your bathroom and bedroom. Welcome to the surveillance future.

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

And maybe things will 'progress' so that they'll even be able to decide where you wind up. I can see it now, your 'auto' car will turn up at your door but instead of going off to work it takes you straight down to the police station to answer questions about your political affiliations... :erm:

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

That is always a possibility.

Re: Petrol & diesel vehicles ban (2040).
 

Yes it is. We're heading towards a society in which we can be controlled very easily because all the things we need to be independent will be able to be controlled by our masters at the press of a button. Money, transportation, communication etc., there'll be nowhere to hide. How much better for the environment (i.e. easier for our glorious leaders) it would be if we could be treated almost like farm animals and allowed to go anywhere and do anything we want as long as our 'keepers' agree... :erm: