Horace Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 So the Government will give you ?5,000 if you buy an electric car in two years time. Anyone here likely to take the offer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Another crackpot idea from our crackpot PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Well the GM model has a 40ml range and can reach 100mph; but they don't mention the fact that it's still a metal box with 4 wheels taking up the same road space, and with it's exhaust pipe at the nearest power station. Estimated retail cost = ?15,000 (less Gordon's bribe) = ?10k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 for 10 grand you could buy a half decent S Class diesel with a 750 mile range and have enough left over to run it for 12 months!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 .... and still never get above 20mph round Town or join the same queue on the M/Way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 But drive it through France or Germany and it becomes an absolute joy Obs.... only the UK is against the motorist from fuel prices to planning road works, this country can't get anything right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Methinks, we are an overpopulated Island with less space per capita than France? Plus, they have a better rail system than us too; and it's nationalised! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Their whole transport system is better. It costs a fraction of what it costs us too. We can get from Paris to Nice on a direct TGV train and travel first class for less than ?400.00 return for a family! That is a total journey distance of almost 900 miles!! Can you imagine the cost over here? Granted it is cheaper on a plane, but I just don't like the flying experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 The joys of a national(ised) integrated transport system! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horace Posted April 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 So I take it no-one is switched on by electric cars! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateoflymm Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 How, where and by whom will the battery be charged? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 So I take it no-one is switched on by electric cars! Certainly not the ones that are available generally at the moment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Firstly aren't we supposed to be in a recession with an ever spiralling country debt. Where are the government planning getting the ?millions from to put in the infrastructure that is needed let alone the ?5000 hand out money..... ooh as if I need to ask that really... taxes/vat/and everything else will soon be going up Secondly.... How much will they give me if I just get rid of my car alltogether and don't buy an electric one. Surely thats better for the environment.. I'll do it for ?15k Thirdly.. even if I wanted an electric car I couldn't have one as someone would definately sue me when they tripped over the charging cable which would have to go over the public pavement outside my house.... Only the rich or frivolous will get one just so they can say they have one as a toy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sha Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Another way of the rich and frivolous getting dole outs of public funds! Why don't they just improve and subsidise public transport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egbert Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 .. even if I wanted an electric car I couldn't have one as someone would definately sue me when they tripped over the charging cable which would have to go over the public pavement outside my house.... Only the rich or frivolous will get one just so they can say they have one as a toy I am neither rich nor frivolous but I can park my car off the road (and in a garage at that) and if I couldn't I wouldn't have a car. I believe that instead of trying to reduce traffic congestion by pricing everyone off the road, the Government should make car ownership dependant on having off-road parking. Simple: no off-road parking, no car. It would also bring down the price of houses with no off-road parking which would help first-time buyers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Egbert, I remember a housing development being constructed a few years ago where there was no provision for cars and ownership of cars was banned under the covenant of the properties. I will see if I can find the details!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
de-stress Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 considering it will only run for 7 hours before needing re-charging,I think it's a no go.OK you may get a few trips to work and back,if your fairly local that is.But what about going on holiday?We'd need somewhere to re-charge somewhere along the motorway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 only electric car i could legally drive at the moment would be a sinclair c5. as for charging whilst going on long journeys. if you take the kids they could pedal along in the back charging the car and getting some useful exercise as well. not yet looked at an electric car spec and would like to know how long they do take to charge up. can just imagine people pulling into the charging station and having to sit around for several hours just to get enough charge to get home. but maybe that is the idea. sit around drinking expensive tea and coffee with the kids wandering around bored or spending fortunes on gaming machines to keep them amused. as for off road parking i live in a terraced street with very little space to park on the road let alone off it. the ligier i had would just about fit in the back with bout six inches to spare but my current one will not. if i had a smart car i might just squeeze it in. that is as long as i spend half an hour shifting wheelie bins out of the way that people leave out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 The cars of the future will run on hydrogen cells like the one on top gear a while back. Only waste is water. Problem is, can you imagine the joy on Browns face when he gets to charge 76p a litre tax on water!!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 By then, they'll be fighting wars over water! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateoflymm Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Again I ask, where do you plug them in? It's fine to set off on a journey with fully charged battery but say your battery is good for 100 miles and your destination is 60 miles away. To get back home you're going to run out of charge when you're 20 miles away. Has anyone really thought this through? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 I completely agree with your way of thinking Kate. I also wonder what would happen if you got stuck in a traffic jam. I think the big plan is to eventually have charging points all over the place but can you imagine the queues, it's not like queuing up for petrol and that's bad enough at times. The expense in implementing a country wide infrastructure will be astronomical and surely that will make the whole idea completely uneconomical Probably a really silly girly comment here... but couldn't they have some sort of dynamos fitted to the wheels that recharges the battery as they rotate you drive along, or maybe two batteries where one is charged in this way as the other one is being used then you swap over and vica versa if you see what I mean I bet all the electricity companies are rubbing their hands together in the hope that Gordie's latest daft idea comes off though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Kennedy Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Has anyone really thought this through? Doubt it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Dismayed!!! You've invented perpetual motion!!!!!! Oh sorry, maybe not I won't laugh, lots of people have thought the same sort of thing (put a wind powered generator on the roof to charge the batteries as you go along.............) but unfortunately the laws of physics are against you. The electricity would have to be produced by the usual means, gas, coal, nuclear (forget wind and solar). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 It was just a thought as my push bike light used to get it's power from my wheels going round, and I have a wind up radio and torch which gets their power from me winding the handles round Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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