The much vaunted 2030 deadline for the sale of new cars with combustion engines has had a change! Strangely not many seem willing to discuss this change as it makes their push for us al to drive EV’s seem miss guided!
The EU has now amended the rule on the sale of new combustion engined cars after 2030 to allow combustion engined vehicles powered by renewable fuel! Quite simply this now means the combustion engined car is not dead. There has been huge progress in developing e fuels and they are already used in many motorsports including F1. Porsche has invested billions in a new e fuel wind powered plant while other manufacturers are now pushing to develop e fuels and hydrogen as a power source for the combustion engined car. Many busses in the UK now run on hydrogen!
The beauty of e fuels are they produce no emissions, and can be stored and distributed via the current “ petrol” station network as well as being used in a combustion engined car with no modification. Perfect solution and its coming fast!
So why the hysterical drive to push people into EV’s which are not actually “green” not to mention the horrendous public charging infrastructure or the range issues suffered by most.
No one can deny its a good thing to reduce carbon emissions, re cycle and so forth. However unfortunately a lot of the methods by which we need to do this have not been really thought out. Our government wants to see 1 million electric cars on the road by 2030! Not a hope! Why? Because as each time I road test an EV it rams home one simple fact. The charging infrastructure is bloody hopeless.
What is the true carbon footprint of an EV verses a petrol or diesel?
“Under present conditions the overall carbon footprint of an EV is similar to that of a conventional combustion engined car, regardless of its size” Thats the conclusion of a Study by the Institute for Energy and Environmental research in Heidelberg. Remember the bulk of electricity is still produced by fossil fuels. Car companies need to flog EV’s to meet their emission targets so its a quick fix for thembut are you really helping the environment by buying one?
Sure as an EV moves its “Zero Emission” thats great for cities and the immediate environment in which the car is driving but and here’s the but, its overall climate benefits are limited. It takes more energy to produce an electric car than a conventional one. Fact! Furthermore battery disposal remains a big enviornmental issue. Fact! The mining of the materials such as copper and cobalt needed for the batteries is causing its own environmental issues, deforestation, polluted rivers and contaminated soil in addition to human rights issues of workers involved in this mining in places like The Congo. Fact! So the true carbon footprint of an EV is not as environmentally friendly as manufactures and governments would like us to believe. It is however a quick fix way for these bodies to show they are reducing “Emissions” and helps them hit their emission targets. But will we end up being told in 10 years or sooner. Hey you can buy a new combustion engined car powered by e fuel!
Remember when the greens pushed diesel as the way to go?
The current climate hysteria needs to be tempered. Some hard facts need to be accepted. Im not against EV’s but its a fact that their overall carbon footprint is not as “Green” as we are led to believe and not much better if at all than a conventional modern efficient combustion engine.
Until our electricity is produced in a “Green” way driving electric is just burning fossil fuels but at source rather than in the car.
So remember the future of motoring will not be solely EV’s. Renewable fuels and hydrogen is on the way…fast!