The complete ban on petrol and diesel vehicles in seven years time was always an insane idea. As it gets closer, some are breaking ranks. Germany being one. So now we are seeing what should have been an obvious solution – an alternative fuel source for the ICE.
With new petrol and diesel cars set to be banned from showrooms in the UK in 2030 and across Europe from 2035, there could still be life in the internal combustion engine beyond these deadlines, according to leaked documents.
A draft proposal from the European Commission – reportedly seen by Reuters on Tuesday – will allow sales of new cars with internal combustion engines that run only on climate neutral e-fuels.
There are caveats of course – any such arrangements must be solely run using this carbon neutral fuel, but that isn’t the issue here. The real issue is that cracks are starting to appear, and keeping the ICE going with some sort of cleaner fuel was always the obvious next step anyway. There might be an alterative to the ICE at some point, but milk floats aren’t it and never will be. They are heavy, expensive and environmentally disastrous. Only a fool would invest in one. On the bike front, no one seems to be taking the bait – apart from possibly the little commuter scooters, but although we use them for training, I don’t see them out on the streets.
Is this the first leak in the dam? I wonder. I do hope so. I want to watch as the whole rotten edifice comes crashing down. I also want to see lynchings and lions, but that’s just a pipe dream.
This will change to read cars that are carbon neutral.All private transport off the road.
That’s just a pipe dream. Not when I come to power it won’t be. If only. lol
it didn’t like my emoji so I had to use the lame lol
Of course it’s always been a moronic fantasy. There simply is no practical alternative to the internal combustion engine (*) and the only thing that can be done is some sort of alternative fuel.
* that comes even laughably close to matching it for convenience and efficiency.
There is nothing else on the horizon. What had been happening is the realisation that removing personalised transport – the wettest of wet dreams for the anti-humanists which they would desperately love to do – would have truly massive economic and societal consequences for which they would not be able to pass the buck.
Dams seldom fail in a gradual manner!
I’m relishing the mis-selling scandal the smug wankers who have bought these toys will doubtless try to manufacture.
Wonder if we’ll be seeing any insurance scams with milk floats. Hope nobody sets one on fire near me @
Being an old fart, I do not have much longer for this world.My only ambition now is to live long enough to see this whole mad, mad world come crashing down about the Eco warriors ears and to be able to say,”We told you so!”
At 62, I’m pretty much the same.
Infantilizing the population serves the short term aims of the (also infantilized) wannabes. Indeed, short term thinking (for want of a better word) is a primary, perhaps the primary, characteristic of such people.
But children are astonishingly vicious and cruel.
What will happen when the infantilised destroyers realise – as they will – that they have been lied to and are not going to get their way?
A milk float mis-selling scandal will be one thing perhaps and it will be hugely entertaining.
Cunt pumps, stupid meters, the realisation that 15 minute gulag and ULEZs won’t just affect the “nazis”.
Hugely entertaining will be putting it mildly.
The carbon neutral trope needs to be challenged whenever it raises its head. The narrative that carbon dioxide emissions are harming the climate is quite simply false. Despite this, that narrative is constantly used to justify the most absurd policy decisions. Part of the problem is that so much is now invested in solving this non existent problem that for those in power it is impossible to admit it.
Quite so. CO2 is the staff of life. I fear that tearing down the powerful eco-industry will be somewhat harder than most on these pages would like.
I see a council has decided to lay waste to an ancient orchard to install carbon-neutral public transport, that will shave less than 2 minutes off journeys. This is the sort of insanity that’s going on.
I would recommend listening to J Peterson podcast with Vivek Ramaswamy about this whole subject, and how this “climatism” is just the latest religion.
The energy density of hydrocarbons is just astonishing. They’re transportable, stable and predictable. Which is why they’re such a good energy storage medium.
Batteries just don’t cut it, not enough range without carrying a load of them. But then it takes hours to charge. And if it’s cold, a third of your range disappears…
Fantastic.
They only really make sense for a fraction of the population.
I’ve been saying for ages that artificial diesel and petrol are the solution.
Unless there’s a sudden leap in technology, like we had in WW2.
“I’ve been saying for ages that artificial diesel and petrol are the solution.”
We don’t need a solution, there isn’t a problem. Of course oil will eventually run out but not any time soon.
If we can manufacture our own artificial fuel, we can stop being forced to do business with the Saudis, Americans, Russians or anyone else. Build a few nuclear plants to power artificial manufacturing. Away we go.
Still with the bloody climate change though. As long as they beleive carbon dioxide is damaging the planet, we will never be left alone
I’ve always assumed it wasn’t going to happen. What can’t, won’t. And once the big cheeses at Toyota and Stellantis started saying complaining, the cracks were bound to appear. (Hell, GM has all-but pulled out of Europe, leaving just a trickle of Corvettes and Cadillacs, and there are rumours that Ford will too. Ford.)
That said, after the Covid madness all bets are off.
“Saying complaining”? Sometimes I wonder if someone’s putting something in my tea…
Ford is doing something weird.
They’re pulling out of the car market completely in the US except for the Mustang and heading into just making pickups and SUVs.
In Europe and the UK, they’re reducing their car lineup and only doing electrics, trying to move upmarket. They’re cancelling the fiesta! One of the best selling cars of all time in UK. Because electrifying it is too difficult to do while retaining a usefully functional vehicle.
I wonder if the politicos who have decreed this ev only nonsense have considered the consequences. People won’t be able to commute to work, lower mobility, less money to spend, harder to go away for a few days. The economy is going to take a big hit.
Yes ! I’ve had 4 Fiestas. Just bought my last one brand new. Ford don’t want me as a customer anymore, me or millions of others apparently.
John Cadogan is no fool, suggest to watch this video of his explaining the evil chemicals released when a battery car catches fire.
If see one firing up i’m making tracks for anywhere upwind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhHQ202FZtU
Hasn’t changed my mind about battery cars one iota, never wanted one and won’t be having one.
I find it interesting that car manufacturers are now only running TV ads for electric cars. Presumably they are happy to be pushing their brand name knowing that the ICE cars in their range will sell themselves.
The lack of opposition from the oil companies, to electric vehicles, suggests they know something we only suspect.
Regarding the rush to EV’s, an unintended consequence is the recent plummeting in value of second hand EV’s, where at car auctions, anything over seven years old only attracts low bids on the circuit.
Have a listen to this guy. https://youtu.be/3WG8gmjC-4g
Well, given that the batteries will be nearing end of life, that’s hardly a surprise.
The thing about the batteries on a second hand EV is presumably there is no way of knowing how much life is left in them. Is there any way of testing them to see how sound they are? The mileage on the car may give some clue but that doesn’t really tell you how many charge cycles there have been. So, it is no surprise that a used EV is going to be worthless if you have to factor in the price of a new battery pack just in case.
Regarding those TV ads, Ford seem to be suggesting that you can drive their electric car around the world. Presumably accompanied by a Diesel Transit with a genny in the back.
I want one. No electric vehicle for me.
The aim of the game is not to replace personal transport with EVs. It’s for us the plebs not to be able to have personal transport and rely on “public” transport and 15mins cities.
EVs flaws as I see them are the energy wastage due to their higher weight and the fact that you have to carry the batteries all the time, for the same weight regardless of their charge. I’m sure there will be improvements in batteries, but as an engineer explained, petrol is molecular energy and batteries have electronic energy, and the physics say that the latter will never carry the same energy for the same volume (or something).
That said, I recently replaced my motorcycle battery with a lithium version, and the weight saving is just amazing.
They have been recommended to me for the Indian FTR, the OEM one not being particularly impressive.