Are we being forced to go electric?

[glasgowcyclist]

Plus there's Uber.

And car clubs, where you only pay for what you use. Massive annual savings over owning a car that spends 95% of its time on the driveway.

 

[MrGrumpy]

50 miles a day ? Has he worked out how much that's costing him ?

Let's hope business becomes more local after Covid. Silly traveling into a city to do something you can do at your kitchen table.

It’s temporary and we may see if I can get him closer to home but he will still need to drive ! PS not everyone works can work from home /sigh

 

[yello]

I was going to mention car clubs and the like. Car sharing, official or otherwise. They can be a part of any solution.

I had a friend in Berlin who, along with a group of friends, started their own car share scheme and, yes, it ended in tears BUT it didn't need to have. It was started with the best of intentions, and genuine buy-in . Maybe it just needed a little more acceptance and understanding, give and take... and praps a little less selfishness on the part of some. Dunno. Point is, it could have worked!

 

[gavroche]

Considering that personal motorised transport has only been available for the great unwashed for about the last hundred years it's a amazing that so many now find it indispensable. What did people do before when travel was much more arduous?
Now there are very good fast transport links, apart maybe for some rural areas and home grocery delivery is available. Plus there's Uber.

Before the advent of the motorcar, most people only travelled within 10 miles of their homes as methods of traveling were slow ( horses) and the roads were awful. Then came the bicycle which made it easier and faster but roads were still pretty bad until the car came along and the authorities had to make better roads eventually.

 

[Gillstay]

Where does the electricity come from ? Wind power ? Diesel gensets ...........and more diesel gensets ....... and even more diesel gensets .... or green electricity as EON call it ......
If your happy with children mining the essential minerals for batteries in the Congo ....... ?????

As your driving around have you missed the wind and solar farms, the panels on houses ?

 

[Deleted User]

Any of you given any thought to the service industry?
We all want mobile phones, electricity etc who fixes and maintains the infrastructure do you think?

Maintenance engineers that's who, how do you think they get from site to site and what alternative is there, an engineer employed local to every site on standby?

Some lads I know will take 2 days travelling to the Highlands to fix a fault but that's the world we live in, can't have it all.

 

[MrGrumpy]

As your driving around have you missed the wind and solar farms, the panels on houses ?

Plenty wind turbines round my way but from what I’ve gleaned there is still not enough !!

 

[MrGrumpy]

Any of you given any thought to the service industry?
We all want mobile phones, electricity etc who fixes and maintains the infrastructure do you think?

Maintenance engineers that's who, how do you think they get from site to site and what alternative is there, an engineer employed local to every site on standby?

Some lads I know will take 2 days travelling to the Highlands to fix a fault but that's the world we live in, can't have it all.

Apparently we can all work from home

 

[Deleted User]

Apparently we can all work from home

Yeah right, who looks after the cons or the school kids or fixes your phone transmitters, that's just the people in my house and up until recently patients (wife now retired).

 

[MrGrumpy]

Yeah right, who looks after the cons or the school kids or fixes your phone transmitters, that's just the people in my house and up until recently patients (wife now retired).

Not disagreeing with you as maintenance engineer myself I know where your coming from !

 

[Deleted User]

Not disagreeing with you as maintenance engineer myself I know where your coming from !

I realise that and agree with you.

 

[classic33]

I don't want to get into a game of genuine need top trumps, but the only person entitled to lecture others on car use is the person who does without one.

Which, I'm guessing, disqualifies about 99% of contributors to this thread.

Don't own a car, can't drive and I'd not lecture anyone on their others on car use.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

Before the advent of the motorcar, most people only travelled within 10 miles of their homes as methods of traveling were slow ( horses) and the roads were awful. Then came the bicycle which made it easier and faster but roads were still pretty bad until the car came along and the authorities had to make better roads eventually.

It was actually the cycling lobby that pushed for better road surfaces first.

It's ironic that if they hadn't, the motor car would probably have never become as popular as it was useless on the old cart tracks.

 

[Cycleops]

Before the advent of the motorcar, most people only travelled within 10 miles of their homes as methods of traveling were slow ( horses) and the roads were awful.

Maybe around 200 years ago but before Mr Beeching swung his axe branch lines served a huge amount of even villages.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

And car clubs, where you only pay for what you use. Massive annual savings over owning a car that spends 95% of its time on the driveway.

More likely obstructing a road