I always think how more attractive a lot of European cities are than ours with trams, especially the older ones, clanking about.
As far as I can recall he said all his motorway service station charges are free of cost, so he normally has it on charge at work and stops for a break as he would if he was in a petrol/Diesel car as the range is (again from memory) 200-250 miles, He said he use to spend £6-7K a year on fuel for work and now doesn't have that cost, so think it works very well for him.
No objection here, completing the survey gave me an insight to the tax breaks etc. As you mention, the biggest fail point, and mentioned often (politic straying included) is battery range and charging facilities.
It wasn't politics, DMD, just a fact of life which will apply to nearly all countries irrespective of which parties are in power in them. Same as if everyone stopped smoking and drinking, everyone would have to pay more tax on something else.
Good point about the ecological impact of disposing of the batteries, I've no idea how much is recyclable, but making a battery, charging it with electricty produced from renewable energy, and then disposing of it must be better than the extraction of oil, refining it, making an engine to run on it, burning it and then disposing of the engine. I know - very simplistic, and needs a brain much better than mine to quantify it.
Trams and trolley buses are rubbish as they can only go where the tracks and power cables are, one breaks down and the whole line stops.
Of course, seeing as our grid can hardly cope as it is and with nuclear power stations closing, coal mines as well, and an inability to store excess electricity generated by wind turbines at present, in fact turbine owners are paid to switch them off, the question is how will all the extra electricity required be generated and stored?
It depends on how much of the raw material is realistically available to make the number of cells that would be required for the mass market. Even if there turns out to be enough, the ecological damage of extracting some of the elements is quite significant. Current[sic] battery technology also has a limit on how much more it can be developed without finding a different technique or materials.
Even if they can find a way of generating what's required, getting it to where it's needed will require significant changes to the existing network.
If I was a bit younger I would be working on it. But I am not expending time and energy to make a fortune for my kids to get all the enjoyment from. I would find a cure for the common cold and cure world poverty and bring about world peace but for the same reason.
Worrying about ecological impact of disposing of a battery and then bemoaning the closure of nuclear power stations with all of the ecological issues they create (yeah I know, politics) - just proves there is no easy answer to the conundrum of heating and transporting 60m people around the UK
I wasn't bemoaning the closure of nuclear power stations, though I think it short sighted. Have never notice the sandal wearing greens turning off their electric and shivering in the dark rather than use the electric coming across the Channel provided by France's nuclear power stations. Not to mention nuclear fallout knows no boundaries and they are nearer the .French ones than some of ours. Maybe they should move?
And while 60 million in Britain are trying to save the planet over in India and China billions don't give a ****.
I think a lot of people want something to be done about environmental issues. as long as it's everyone else that does it.
I know I might get shot down here but supposedly the worst effect for the environment was the burning of the amazon jungle (to make way for farming land) at least double the co2 then all the modes of transport in the world. Cue the guns
