Ban on new petrol/diesel cars by 2030 - AIBU to be excited?

[almostautumn]

The government are set to announce a ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. As someone who lives in a polluted city (London) and worries about the effect that carbon emissions are having on my family’s health, I’m so excited by this news because I think it will really change our children’s lives for the better. And it’s fantastic that it’s only 10 years away!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54981425

I can imagine the parking wars in built up areas with no drives!!
Oh yes, the Mumsnet of ten years hence:
‘Hey everyone, it’s another Electric Vehicle charging point parking thread! - Am I the CF or is it my neighbour?’

I actually think the legislation won't be needed. The cost of EVs are dropping fast, and will continue to drop, as the batteries are subject to Moore s law. Range is rapidly improving. They are more reliable than ICEs, and much cheaper to service, as they don't have the high temps and high pressures of an ICE. They have better torque. Tesla's new batteries are expected to be good for a million miles, so the lifespan will be much better than an ICE car. In a few years, there won't really be a reason to buy an ICE.

We have recently switched to a model x Tesla, anyone who thinks it won’t happen needs to go drive a Tesla.

Oh Jesus...

££££££££&£££££££££&£££££££££

We seriously looked into getting electric but living in a terraced house with no garage there is no way to charge at home, no points at work and very few in my city. I commute to work (30 miles each way) & without home or work charge points it wouldn't work. I agree with the government's aims but they will have to invest a huge amount into public charging points. Dundee have done well by installing them in council owned car parks.

But I diverge, the main point is using it doesn’t compromise on anything but expense in buying the thing at the first point.

Yeah that expense compromise is quite a big one.....£80,000 apparently, get your head out your arse.

It's the Toyota Mirai that's the hydrogen powered car.

@Ifailed

It must because I live in the SE, but I hadn't realised that for a lot of people the only electrical supply goes to street lighting, and not to peoples homes. If it did, then they could of course charge their car there.

Nah, in the north we still use candlelight and don't have them fancy telly boxes

The point is that yes, of course houses have electricity but most people don't park outside their homes so having an electric charging point built into your wall is pointless. There are rows of terraces up and down the country with no off-road parking, no garages, no driveways and people often park at the end of the road and walk as there's no space anywhere else.

So yes, I could have a charging point by the front door but when I park 25ft away from it, it won't be very much use to me!

As ever, MN and money issues eh! Yes they are expensive, I’m sure pricing will come down.

Things are always expensive, you can buy a model 3 for £30/40k. Which is still expensive for many, but doable. In time more options will appear from other manufacturers.

@Moonlightandstardust 30k would not be affordable for us, my car cost 5k!

Things are always expensive, you can buy a model 3 for £30/40k. Which is still expensive for many, but doable. In time more options will appear from other manufacturers.

£30/40K on a car? Not doable for the vast majority no.

@Moonlightandstardust

As ever, MN and money issues eh! Yes they are expensive, I’m sure pricing will come down.

Things are always expensive, you can buy a model 3 for £30/40k. Which is still expensive for many, but doable. In time more options will appear from other manufacturers.

Which is still more than a lot of people earn. Take off your blinkers.

You can get an early Nissan Leaf 2nd hand now at an affordable price - probably not enough battery range unless commuting local but others will follow.

@Moonlightandstardust

As ever, MN and money issues eh! Yes they are expensive, I’m sure pricing will come down.

Things are always expensive, you can buy a model 3 for £30/40k. Which is still expensive for many, but doable. In time more options will appear from other manufacturers.

Yep, cause we all have a spare 30k just lying around ready to buy an electric car

My current car cost me 1k, and even that was pushing it in terms of affordability!

[quote HappyChristmasTreeRex]@Moonlightandstardust 30k would not be affordable for us, my car cost 5k![/quote]
Same here. 30k is more than most people's house deposits, the vast majority of people just don't have that sort of money to spend on a car.

No electric vehicle can tow a caravan or horse box for more than 20 miles before it needs re-charging. That's several million caravanners and horse riders who won't be able to switch.

Seeing how there already are electric lorries driving around, I can't see that being much of a problem in 10 years time.

The point is that yes, of course houses have electricity but most people don't park outside their homes so having an electric charging point built into your wall is pointless.

Not forgetting that if you live on the sixth floor of a flat block, getting the car upstairs to charge it might be a bit tricky!

£30-£40k is doable??????
Good grief!
Get back into the real world please.

I have driven an electric 2014 Nissan Leaf for the last 3.5 years. In terms of the technology, that's ancient. Like 69% of the population, I have a driveway, and I charge it there from a standard 3-pin outside socket that we originally installed to run an electric lawnmower and Christmas lights. I bought it secondhand for about the same as an Astra/Focus/Golf of the same age and mileage, and have put about 33,000 miles on it (which would have been several thousand more but for the pandemic).

I've never serviced it, it sails through its MOTs, the only 'breakdown' has been a puncture, and the only real problem is that one of the washer jets keeps blocking (it's a design fault apparently).

Because its so old the best range in summer is a little over 80 miles, but I've never had real problems in finding charging away from home. I work at several sites and yesterday had to do a 40 mile round trip with no issues at all. New electric cars now have much better ranges. I've never run out of power, not least because the car will give you so many warnings that you need to charge.

Being asthmatic and sensitive to diesel fumes in particular I can't wait for the day when fuel-burning vehicles are consigned to scrapyards with just a few left for museums to show future generations how mad we were.

The affordability issue is a really big thing! We are prime candidates for electric driving as we don’t do very many miles, and few long distances. We are high earners. But even so, the outlay for a new EV is out of reach. I mean we could do it if we really really wanted to, but there are many other expenses we have to cover. So it’s not surprising that it’s not a realistic option for many people.

With this Government in charge I can't see the infrastructure being in place in time for this to work.
They also need to sort out the lack of engine noise issue. I live in a rural area and have already nearly been run over by an electric car on a road with no pavement who crept up behind me unheard. The nearest charging point to me currently is 15 miles away - and I live within 5 miles of 2 towns neither of which have one.

I've never felt the need for a car in London. (I appreciate some people in South London where the TfL network is a bit more patchy may disagree.)

However, when I visit friends who live - well, anywhere else, but especially rurally - it's obvious that you can't live well where they do without having a car to get about. So... I am a bit bemused by banning new cars. What happens when all the old cars break?

Is someone going to magically install a copy of the London Underground in every city and village in the UK? The Underground isn't even financially viable in London at the moment, let alone anywhere else.

I am incredibly excited OP. I don't drive and am sick of breathing in other people's fumes. I walk and use public transport even though it is often a pain in the arse to do so. We might eventually get an electric car when DS is older. We use Bulb so we are paying for green electricity.

There was a house we were considering buying recently but it was in the catchment area for a primary school on a main road with illegal levels of pollution, and that put us off in the end. Things would have been different if everyone was driving electric.

I can't wait to be able to breathe cleaner air. I wish the ban was being brought in sooner but I hope this will encourage more people to start buying electric now, as presumably it's going to be harder to find petrol stations after 2030.

I'd love it if we could have a national effort to put more and safer cycle lanes in cities too. I would love to cycle but it's not safe where I am. That would help cut down on emissions and I'd like to get a bit fitter. Whilst cycling won't be a suitable replacement for every journey, it could certainly replace a lot of the commuting.

@LondonlovesLola

There is talk about putting a charging point on every lamppost. Still won’t be enough though in areas where it’s all on street parking. Lampposts are fairly spaced out.

Lampposts? What lampposts? 😂
I’m alright (Jack) as I have a garage and drive but a good number of our neighbours have no drive and park wherever they can get a spot along the unlit road.

Cabling for street lighting is currently mostly shallow and low ampage. While there is some spare capacity where the bulbs have been changed to LEDs a massive amount of new cables down most streets with lighting would be required.

Because its so old the best range in summer is a little over 80 miles, but I've never had real problems in finding charging away from home. I work at several sites and yesterday had to do a 40 mile round trip with no issues at all. New electric cars now have much better ranges. I've never run out of power, not least because the car will give you so many warnings that you need to charge.

That's great, but lots of us live in places with absolutely no public charge points whatsoever. I'm a dog walker and drive between clients (walking 15 miles in between jobs is hardly practical though I'm sure someone will come along and say they do it three times a day ).

There are no public charge points near me or near any of my clients so my only option would be to charge at home. Which is great, but how am I supposed to work when my car is sat on charge (and that could only happen if nobody else was parked outside my house in the first place).

Teslas being called affordable, I must be on Mumsnet. 3 bed terraces around here cost £80k. Noone is buying £80k cars, or £40k used cars! I normally buy a car every 4 years. They're normally about 6 years+ old and I spend about £2k. I would never spend such an obscene amount of money on a car, and I commute 100 miles round trip for work every day.