Electric cars are coming....

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blackislegirl

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....but will we hear them when we're riding on the road?

Today's announcement that all new cars and vans to be sold in the UK will be electric from 2040 is commendable for many reasons. However, there is another side to this advance. Of concern to me, as someone who regularly rides on leafy country lanes, single track, with many blind corners, no footpaths and often no verges, is the silence of electric cars. These lanes are often 'rat runs' and I rely on hearing what vehicles are coming for my and my pony's safety.

And my old cat always used to wait on the pavement outside my house for complete silence before he walked across the road. I doubt he'd have lived so long if cars were silent.

And driverless cars? I have spent time in the Silicon Valley area. No-one rides on the roads in the Bay area....will driverless car software even be able to recognise a horse?! Or will we all be doomed to only riding on our own land in the future?
 
And what are we going to tow with? I have 3.0 Diesel with lots of grunt to tow two horses.
 
I think we're probably doomed anyway. There are too many cars and people just aren't considerate anymore.

I wondered about blind people and electric cars. There's a lady in our village that relies on being able to hear when getting around. She has a dog, but those dogs aren't trained to actually know when it's safe to cross the road I don't think.

I wondered about lorries. There are already electric buses in London, but what about the rest of the country? The running distance of the batteries is going to have to vastly improve for it to work, and what about power?
 
Where is all the electricity going to come from .
Where are the elements to make the battery's going to come from how long will they last and how will dispose of the spent ones .
We will simply move from being at the mercy of those who produce oil to those who mine the stuff they make battery's out of .
On riding we will have to be more alert the horses will get used to them .
Driver training can be changed to teach to to allow for the fact that other road usesrs can hear them .
We will just have to get on with it .
It will be awful for cats and wildlife .
 
How much energy is used in generating the electricity?

I'll be too old to ride by then but I think that sadly horses will have been driven off they roads by then anyway (pardon the pun).
 
It can't be beyond the wit of modern technology to fit vehicles with WiFi beepers that could be picked up by a mobile phone or other wearable device that would give riders advance warning of approaching traffic. They could useful for pedestrians (including blind), other vehicles and traffic control systems. I'm actually surprised that hasn't been done yet. Maybe it's just a matter of time.

Goldenstar said:
Where is all the electricity going to come from .
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That's a very good question. Increasingly green energy sources, one would hope!
 
We have several electric cars on campus at work, and they are lethal. They creep up on you and you can't hear them coming... I'm voting for fake engine sounds!

And yes to the point GS made, gold, lithium, platinum and palladium are usually required to make batteries - where are all of these "rare earth" metals going to come from to power all of these electric cars... and how easy are they going to be to dispose of/recycle?
 
Goldenstar said:
Where is all the electricity going to come from .
Where are the elements to make the battery's going to come from how long will they last and how will dispose of the spent ones .
.
Click to expand...

this is the biggest issue-its alright if you live in California.

by 2040 I expect I will be past riding and driving so forgive me if I don't care that much. until then I will nurse my wee fleet of diesels.
 
Fragglerock said:
How much energy is used in generating the electricity?
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Burning petrol is pretty inefficient and polluting; electric vehicles are more energy-efficient. A conventional car uses only 15-20% of the energy produced by burning the petrol or diesel. An electric car's efficiency is more like 80%. Of course, the energy in the battery has to come from elsewhere, but that process is more efficient overall. The energy comes from power stations that are typically twice as efficient as internal combustion engines. The exception is solar power, which has comparable efficiency to burning diesel (20%) but is much cleaner with respect to pollution and CO2 emissions.
 
Casey76 said:
And yes to the point GS made, gold, lithium, platinum and palladium are usually required to make batteries - where are all of these "rare earth" metals going to come from to power all of these electric cars... and how easy are they going to be to dispose of/recycle?
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Asteroids! Well, eventually perhaps - if humankind survives long enough.
 
I read an article a little while ago which did moot that they would need to be made with fake engine sounds to protect other road users.
 
if the manufacturers of these vehicles have invested the money to produce them, the materials to run them must be there, or maybe they are working on long term renewable sources of energy, not yet fully developed to run these cars
 
Casey76 said:
We have several electric cars on campus at work, and they are lethal. They creep up on you and you can't hear them coming... I'm voting for fake engine sounds!
Click to expand...

Agreed! A lot of our local taxis are now hybrid and you can't hear them coming - I think electric (or similar) has to be the future, but I hate how they can be right behind you and you have no idea. Other than fake engine sounds I can't see what can be done about it though.

I'm hoping that in the very near future companies will start investing in charging points - because it may be a lovely idea but until I can be certain I'm not going to run out of charge in the Highlands or on the moors similar, I'll be keeping the diesel staggering on. It's not that long since a couple of reporters from one of the big papers (can't remember which one) tried to drive the length of the country in an electric car and had to give up because so many charging points were broken that they just ran out of battery. (Can't find the article to quite it - sorry)
 
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asmp said:
And what are we going to tow with? I have 3.0 Diesel with lots of grunt to tow two horses.
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OH and I were discussing this point this morning when it was on the news. TBH, I think it's just a 'pie in the sky' idea at the minute. (Typical of Gove- Don't get me started on what he did to education!!) Until they have the technology to be able to produce electric cars with realistic towing capacity, I can't see the target actually being reached. 2040 doesn't seem a long timescale for such massive developments and, after all, it's not just us horsey lot who need vehicles to tow.
 
Goldenstar said:
Where is all the electricity going to come from .
Where are the elements to make the battery's going to come from how long will they last and how will dispose of the spent ones .
We will simply move from being at the mercy of those who produce oil to those who mine the stuff they make battery's out of .
On riding we will have to be more alert the horses will get used to them .
Driver training can be changed to teach to to allow for the fact that other road usesrs can hear them .
We will just have to get on with it .
It will be awful for cats and wildlife .
Click to expand...

OH works for one of the big electric infrastructure companies and says it hasn't been thought through properly. Their nightmare is everyone plugs in at the same time.

And I agree on animals. My cat absolutely knows the sound of my car (does not move off driveway, carries on washing her bottom) to any other car (runs to safety under hedge). I crawl down our little road at night to give the hedgehogs time to slowly disappear into the hedge.

I'm voting for fake engine noises too....
 
MotherOfChickens said:
spitfire!
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Oh that one's easy. Going back to the early 80s mind you....Morris Marina with the exhaust sheared below the manifold......well, nearly a Spitfire. Very loud in any case!

Fake noise the obvious thing.

And agree the infrastructure hasn't been at all thought through. But electric would be PERFECT for towing, delivers full torque from a standtsill.
 
SEL said:
OH works for one of the big electric infrastructure companies and says it hasn't been thought through properly. Their nightmare is everyone plugs in at the same time.

And I agree on animals. My cat absolutely knows the sound of my car (does not move off driveway, carries on washing her bottom) to any other car (runs to safety under hedge). I crawl down our little road at night to give the hedgehogs time to slowly disappear into the hedge.

I'm voting for fake engine noises too....
Click to expand...

When is anything thought through properly? There are many occasions where money has been spent on a good idea that however planet saving it appears just cannot work because the idea is in advance of the technology.

I will be old to care much about 2040 so I will watch the resulting confusion with interest.
 
Can we blame Gove? It was in the manifesto. I do rather think it hasn't been thought through but by saying it now they are trying to force the sellers arms to come up with something asap.
 
SallyBatty said:
Here's one

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/bmw-40-tonne-electric-truck

and another:

http://freightinthecity.com/2015/08...ntre-distrubution-in-rotterdam-and-amsterdam/
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Trouble is, most big HGV's travel 300 miles+ in a working day, so doing under 70 miles before having to be charged is plainly ridiculous, even the best are not capable of over 110 miles - yet.

Cars - currently electric ones are not able to go more than 125+/- miles without charge - so are we going to do away with many jobs that involve traveling on the roads - how are vets going to get about for example? And emergency services, anyone that travels for work over a fair distance!

IMHO its plain daft to even think about this 'ban' :mad3: and to even mention swapping engines - what a bunch of muppets - obviously never been involved with anything of the like!! Costs would vastly outweigh the total cost of the ruddy vehicle!!
 
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A few months ago the Government were panicking about power stations and how the lights might be going off intermittently! I suppose by 2020 odd they will have got their act together. On a selfish note I will be brown bread by then so not too worried !
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Trouble is, most big HGV's travel 300 miles+ in a working day, so doing under 70 miles before having to be charged is plainly ridiculous, even the best are not capable of over 110 miles - yet.

Cars - currently electric ones are not able to go more than 125+/- miles without charge - so are we going to do away with many jobs that involve traveling on the roads - how are vets going to get about for example? And emergency services, anyone that travels for work over a fair distance!

IMHO its plain daft to even think about this 'ban' :mad3: and to even mention swapping engines - what a bunch of muppets - obviously never been involved with anything of the like!! Costs would vastly outweigh the total cost of the ruddy vehicle!!
Click to expand...

Yes but remember the date is a way off, and battery technology is having money POURED into it the world over........
 
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