All of the green politicians seem to believe that the future of transport is electric. I think this is a blind alley. At best, all that using electric cars does is shift the pollution somewhere else i.e to the power stations. Of course, this suits the people that live in cities who make the decisions about the whole country on the basis of their experience which is nothing like the experience of us country folk (I won't start on about London, expletives are forbidden on here}.
Electric cars are a non-starter, mainly because:-
1/ Battery charging is highly inefficient. You don't get out as much as you put in and it is painfully slow.
2/ Battery manufacture is {at present} dependent on scarce raw materials which will cause severe pollution in the mining/manufacturing process.
By 2040, the car manufacturers are supposed to stop making cars powered by fossil fuels. By then, I will be 85 or pushing up the daisies so it will be someone else's problem, So, come on you boffins on the forum, What is the best answer? Hydrogen fuel cells, maybe?
Hydrogen fuel cells have been around a very long time, my understanding is that they were even used on the Apollo missions as Hydrogen fuel was the power source, I worked for one of the world leaders in fuel cells back in the 1980's (I even made one) the trouble has always been the high energy required to liquefy and also the vessels required for the safe storage of liquid hydrogen. For example, during the 2012 London Olympics there was a fleet of hydrogen powered taxis used for ferrying around high ranking IOC members, all very nice and clean, it was reported at the time that every taxis had to be transported to Swindon on a trailer for refuelling. The so called Hydrogen economy with it's promise of clean energy has stalled entirely due to these unsolved isues resulting in a nonexistant infrastructure and is the reason why electricity has emerged as the favoured solution.
There are many problems associated with a fully electrified transport system that we are all aware of, I think for personal transport a new approach is required that takes into account the fact that most journeys are over short distances with sole occupancy and could use technology that's available today! We are tied into a legacy system from IC technology that has brought about vehicles that are very inefficient due to their weight and speed, if we took a lightweight approach with vehicles that have maximum speeds that were lower then the efficiency improves dramatically. I'm talking about the use of speed pedlecs, if the current laws were changed to allow a top speed of 30mph (350W or 500W max) for all holders of a full driving license (car or bike) with the compulsory use of approved head protection you could potentially make a big step forward in urban personal transport with readily available technology.
That is an interesting and attractive concept in many ways John. I think that the problem(s) with any solution involving cycles (even fully powered cycles) though are, firstly, our weather and, secondly, lack of the ability (space) to provide proper cycle lanes.
I recently flew into Barcelona, en route for a riding holiday in Andorra. Barcelona is a city that is wonderfully set up for cyclists; it is largely level, there are wide smooth cycle lanes alongside most thoroughfares and racks of inexpensive eBikes are readily available for point-to-point hire.
On the day I arrived, the city was virtually grid-locked because it was raining and the cyclists had reverted to using their cars. How many people are really going to brave the UK weather and traffic on a bike on a regular basis?
