Will Covid-19 kill the electric car or the opposite?

I think it will be seen as an opportunity to regenerate to a 'new normal' where lots of things are done differently. Commuting will definitely be reduced, but it is an opportunity to change how that reduced amount is done. Wearing, for me, an unusually Keynesian hat I see an opportunity to spend and develop our way into a new, greener future.

Mass EV adoption only happens when the tech and supporting infrastructure is in place.

So if the Government are looking for a project to spunk the magic pennies up, then this must surely be a front runner.

It’s an enviro wonk’s wet dream, Charging network, road pricing and mass surveillance in one fell swoop. And if anyone gets another funny cough you can subjugate the plebs (sorry, save lives and protect the NHS angels) at the flick of a switch.

I think it’s time to roll back some of the crucifying regulation that has mullered the car industry and others.

We have a pleb here although he is not in government, just an ex copper. He phones the elderly neighbour and tells her not to let me get her shopping or put it away for her. Apparently I am killing people, the fact that I have spoken to nhs 111 and been cleared for what I do is of no importance. SOME people are just losing it and trying to take everyone else with them. Nowt so queer as folk as the saying goes.

Companies are still considering electric cars but the charging infrastructure is not going to be a top priority after this lockdown in my opinion. The amount being spent on grants and furlough is going to be anything up to 10yrs of EU subs so there is going to be a hell of a lot of debt to be repaid.

The reduction in global pollution has been 8% with almost no-one going anywhere. Pardon the French but WTF is the other 92% coming from - that appears to be continuing despite us all sitting around doing nothing and it surely must be more important to tackle the 92% instead of the 8%.

I don't think that oil will stay cheap long term but I think the ICE still has a long way to go until a proper EV charging structure is in place and the cost of EV's falls significantly.

The 8% figure was on the BBC news last night and my immediate feeling was I thought it should have been 25/30%. 8% really isn't a massive shift for all the empty roads, factories and offices.

I'd have thought it would be more too. Perhaps we have to assume that the reduction in emissions from general travel and industry / commerce are being partly offset by extra emissions from web servers, delivery vans and home power use?

Because basically the number of people are the core issue. Bg population = big pollution. Whether we move, stay still or hold our breath, the basic issue remains the same. Trouble is population seems to be the great unmentionable in the debate. 

There is a clean fuel being developed for aircraft, why not for cars too? Battery alone will not be able to power cars for the majority for a long time yet on cost grounds alone. Society seems to muddle along doing nothing positive and then goes completely batcrap for one solution. Weird and not in a good way.

Well, not really. As we move to more and more renewables electric vehicles offer a solution to what we do with the surplus power they generate when there is reduced demand. i.e at night.

A friend of mine alleges he has had some sort of smart box installed and the Leaf will supply power to his house while he isn't using it.

Promising it might be but it isn't being used to market electric vehicles.

This. We all breathe out and many of us eat the animals that also breathe out.

Also during this lockdown I assume most households are still using electricity, gas, coal, wood to keep the same number of people warm / cool whether they were in the office or at home, so fuel-use-footprint has just shifted from the office to the home. Which begs the question: how many people will claim a tax rebate for the additional fuel use or charge it to their expenses?

As to electric cars vs ICE: cars will be both a personal transport and leisure / luxury item for a long time. The electric ones will carry out the former task, the ICE ones the latter. In fact given the total lack of use of the railways in our area that huge network of electrified permanent-way is just begging to be converted to some kind of charge-as-you-drive road so people can use a small personal metal box to get to London instead of a steel-plastic-aluminium germ container with windows.

I know there’s a Harry’s Garage thread, but this video he’s put together on the electric car market is ace.



And for any cycling fans, that bike at the end is a specialised Levo turbo. A mate has one, it’s £5k of loveliness, I’m not much of an off road cyclist but that machine adds a level of fun that I’ve never come across before in an mtb.