The Alliance of British Drivers’ position on the imposition of the 2030 ban on pure ICE (internal Combustion Engine) vehicles; followed by hybrids and motor cycles in 2035, is not purely because we are dismissive of the use of electricity to power road transport vehicles; rather it is because of the irrational urgency which has been imposed on it by Government.
Electric vehicles, or perhaps that should be the technology of battery power, is still in its infancy; and certainly the requisite charging infrastructure is decades away from being stable, reliable and adequate.
The Cradle to Grave report is available here.
Do we need this rush into these bans?
Over seventy per cent of the Earth’s surface is water; hence no vehicles. This leaves a remaining land mass of less than thirty per cent, with the UK taking up just 0.16 per cent of the land mass. Hardly much cause for concern?
Would you buy an electric vehicle if you could not home charge?
For millions of people the option of home charging is just not available because they live in flats, tower blocks; or in one of the millions of Victorian style terraced houses, which incidentally already have problems now, with just trying to park!
The real reason for the ban?
For many decades, various Governments have unleashed many campaigns of intimidation on those choosing to drive. Despite all this misplaced attempted demonisation of ordinary folk; in excess of 35 million of us have chosen to still carry on driving.
But now a new weapon has been added to Government’s armoury; enforced electrification!
Mass electrification is going to cause real problems for many families (especially those on low income); who see car ownership as a way of life – which also benefits society immeasurably.
EV (electric vehicle) transport is expensive to buy, depreciates rapidly, has a battery limited life-span, incurs higher insurance premiums, and suffers from much lower post-accident repairability.
Who will suffer the most? Those that can least afford it!
Look around your supermarket car park and see the high number of £2,000 to £3,000 cars. This will, of course, depend on the area in which you live. Why? Because that’s all their owners can afford! So the “getting people out of their cars”/ electrification agenda is just solely about transport, but society and the way it moves, What the Government and its supporters call “Modal Change” is actually aimed at gradually and remorselessly priced people off the road!
Footnote.
Recently (27/03/23) it has been announced that the EU (not the UK yet) has back-tracked on those ICE cut-off dates; as long as special synthetic and other CO2-neutral fuels are used. Will today’s cars run on this fuel? While this is currently not absolutely clear, what is for certain; is that they will be a lot more expensive per litre!
