This story was in the Sunday Times:

https://www.cityam.com/back-hydrogen-or-lose-out-to-europe-and-asia-in-green-race-bmw-warns/

7 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

This story was in the Sunday Times:

https://www.cityam.com/back-hydrogen-or-lose-out-to-europe-and-asia-in-green-race-bmw-warns/

As you'll know, I'm a massive fan of hydrogen and believe this to be the proper future of personal transportation, with EV being a messed up betamax stopgap! I see 'hydrogen' buses on the road frequently with one of the UKs top hydrogen innovators just down the road from me, WrightBus, owned by the JCB family, Jo Bamford.

Yep, rock on hydrogen...

We do have a UK hydrogen strategy, but seem to see little mention of it:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-hydrogen-strategy/uk-hydrogen-strategy-accessible-html-version

Of course, it's not "green" unless produced using renewable electricity, but for those situations where wind turbine production exceeds demand, which will probably become more frequent as wind turbine capacity increases, it's a viable way to store/use the surplus.

Edit: duplicate post due to finger malfunction!😀

26 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

We do have a UK hydrogen strategy, but seem to see little mention of it:

 

It states a target of 5GW by 2030, similar to out current nuclear capacity, which is now declining. I wonder who'll get sacked if target not reached? 🤣

Per Robin’s Diary, the government’s are definitely compelling manufacturers to make the shift to EV’s. Through regulations and legislation that disincentives manufacturing cars that are actually clean far beyond the wildest expectations of anyone who was working on the problem with vehicle emissions in the early 1970’s!

Truth be told, the reality is that the greenies and other tree hugging types will not ever be satisfied. Not if diesel trucks are eliminated. Not if commercial aircraft are erased from existence. Not if our homes are stripped of furnaces, water heaters and air conditioning. NEVER. That’s when they will be content. By then there will be no industry. No home construction. No consumer goods. No healthcare. Just scavenger tribes competing for the tiny spaces deemed adequate for them to prey on each other. That’s what they are reluctantly willing to admit that they might be satisfied with.

personally, I look at them and see a potential source of protein for my dog. They are perfectly fine with sacrificing my life and property to serve their agenda. I only want my dog to not be hungry.

2 hours ago, Scottman said:

Just scavenger tribes competing for the tiny spaces deemed adequate for them to prey on each other.

You mean like Paris ?

 

Edit: Sorry Scott I forgot that you may not have seen the news of what has been going on in France for over a week now.

Oh. I watch the global news! The French have been adding the ingredients for this miserable stew that they are in for several decades.

They have diluted the French culture to the point of extinction. They have Balkanized Paris to the point where they should begin to erect border fences to prevent the people from different areas from mixing and exploding into these scenes that flicker across our flatscreens.

The French have my sympathies. But that’s all I can honestly give them.

They have consistently voted for this outcome. I am sure that they will actually enact the draconian rules for motor vehicles and such. But I will wager my last nickel that they will have economic collapse and cultural meltdown before it is fully completed!

If they think America or England is going to fuel up a thousand cargo jets to fly over there and bail them out and then serve them hot meals. That isn’t going to happen.

 

Broken electric vehicles need 'quarantining' under government guidelines, driving up the costs for mechanics and insurers

Another headline in the Mail to which should be added, "... and, ultimately, EV owners".  So glad a popular daily is supporting the cause of common sense.  So rare these days.

These Nett Zero zealots have a massive problem with loads of things once the **** starts hitting the fan, but possibly one of the biggest issues is cars.

Motoring is relatively cheap now. I sold my old Focus (06 plate) for about £1.5K and with decent maintenance it might last up to 5 years. With none it'll probably still be good for two years or so and it was a car which could pretty reliably get you to Penzance or John O'Groats.
There is no way one of these electric cars, even second hand, will be available for anywhere near £1500.
And how will it get you from Sheffield to John O'Groats ?

Why should motoring only be the preserve of the well off ?

2 hours ago, Linds said:

Broken electric vehicles need 'quarantining' under government guidelines

Does that include the drivers ? 🤣

Toyota says battery breakthrough will lead to 745-mile EVs

https://www.techspot.com/news/99308-toyota-battery-breakthrough-lead-745-mile-evs.html

20 minutes ago, eddie eastwood said:

Toyota says battery breakthrough will lead to 745-mile EVs

https://www.techspot.com/news/99308-toyota-battery-breakthrough-lead-745-mile-evs.html

How long before you can buy one of those cars for £1500......

15 hours ago, eddie eastwood said:

Toyota says battery breakthrough will lead to 745-mile EVs

https://www.techspot.com/news/99308-toyota-battery-breakthrough-lead-745-mile-evs.html

Thanks for posting this.  V much a case of "we'll believe it when we see it" but what a game changer this could be ... it seems to me that the pressure on public charging facilities could be massively reduced making EVs a practical proposition despite the fact we have a government that couldn't organise a p*ss-up in a brewery let alone expand the infrastructure to provide sufficient charging points for the EVs currently on the road (along with their pathetic ranges).

Wow!! Who'd be prat enough to buy one of the current EVs now given this news??!!  Strikes me we could soon have fields full of abandoned brand new cars just like the Chinese!

Pleased to see batteries should be much lighter, smaller and less expensive.  Hope they are also less explosive!!

Finally, with ref to my comment above about the government, I acknowledge they do/did have an exceptional talent for organising p*ss-ups in 10 Downing Street during lockdown. 

 

40 minutes ago, Linds said:

 it seems to me that the pressure on public charging facilities could be massively reduced making EVs a practical proposition

Just as well, given that it has been often reported that Westminster has more chargers than Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield combined!😀

44 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Just as well, given that it has been often reported that Westminster has more chargers than Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield combined!😀

Sadly, that has massively contributed to the introduction of the 2030 ban on ICE. All the country's 'decision makers' gravitate around London, where public transport (when not on strike) is simply superb. I experienced it myself when I lived there for 2 years. Didn't miss my car one single bit. They think the whole country is like that, which as us common folk know, it isn't...

What's public transport?? 

Just now, iantt said:

What's public transport?? 

Icky

Just now, alexp999 said:

Icky

Oh, just googled it and luckily we don't have much of that. There's a train station , well a platform where you can go to a place called London direct on a good day. Buses?? Still looking for that endangered species. 

2 hours ago, StephenFord said:

They think the whole country is like that, which as us common folk know, it isn't...

Quite so. It is concerning now little actual knowledge seems to go into these decision making processes.

I see the Daily Mail  have adopted the issue as a "campaign" so we can expect it to get a good airing. 

Not editorial content, but there was a very good letter from a reader in there earlier in the week (you may not have seen it if you've defected to The Guardian!)😀

The reader was highlighting the continuing reference to "diesel" and "petrol"engines as if they could only use those fuels, and making the point that they are correctly either compression ignition or spark ignition engines (and in some cases both) and can be run on any suitable fuel e.g. recycled waste cooking oil, vegetable oils, ethanol, synthetic, etc.

The odd thing is that motor manufacturers know all this perfectly well but seem to go along with the BEV line. This may be connected to the apparent willingness of politicians to throw taxpayers money at the issue both in the form of subsidising production (eg battery plants) and the consumer transaction (e.g. by way of purchase price subsidies or "scrappage" schemes which are being talked of.) 

Toyota seem to be an exception and I continue to see wise words from their president Akio Toyoda along the lines that there is not one road to achieve carbon reduction but many that we should explore, and they continue to look at BEV, hydrogen fuel cell, and hydrogen combustion and quite possibly others he's not telling us about.

 

 

 

12 minutes ago, iantt said:

What's public transport?? 

Patchy as far as I'm concerned. I can conveniently hop on a bus right outside my house with a good service of up to 80 odd miles in a certain direction. Other more local journeys of up 3/4 miles can need 2 or 3 changes and it's usually quicker to walk!

The local rail station was closed in 1959 and there's been talk of reopening for years with no joy. So train journeys mean a bus or taxi to the nearest big station. 

15 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

The local rail station was closed in 1959 ...

Can't even blame Beecham on that, as he never got his massive cost cutting report on Britain's railways till 1963.

33 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Can't even blame Beecham on that, as he never got his massive cost cutting report on Britain's railways till 1963.

It's surprising now many people do though! I've seen several references to stations closed in the 50's as being "victims of the Beeching cuts".

54 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

It's surprising now many people do though! I've seen several references to stations closed in the 50's as being "victims of the Beeching cuts".

Why let facts get in the way of a good blame story 🤣

On 7/4/2023 at 7:32 PM, Scottman said:

They are perfectly fine with sacrificing my life and property to serve their agenda.

Do you think they WANT you to sacrifice your life and property for no benefit? Do you think that they all hate you?