Piff Poff

And the infrastructure is a huge problem in Alberta. We have dire public transport as an alternative. OHs place of work have had to install charging points as Ford starts to have a bigger EV commitment. They installed 2. That's how small the market is here.

There are a few things I dislike about the car market here, they push you to having something big, they push you to having an automatic. Both those options use more fuel than a smaller manual car. We really struggled to find a smaller vehicle for me. We can only afford a 2nd hand older car. The next time I need to switch my vehicle I think I'll end up with something I hate to drive.

Gozit

+1.

I'm keen on the idea of EVs. I'm not keen on the idea of being forced to buy one. I am the same as you, small engined manual lightweight vehicle and the EV market has not put out anything enticing that I want to buy. I don't like teslas, and ford's Mach E and Fusion electric (now discontinued) are both super heavy, clunky vehicles with poor handling compared to what I drive now.

They are going to have to do something to appease petrolheads or we will continue to resist EVs. Even if the petrol and license fees cost more.

I could maybe be swayed on being allowed to own a petrol car for weekend/recreational use and an EV commuter, but even still I think that's a little heavy handed. People should have choice of what kind of car they want to drive.

Jingsamichty

Nobody will be forced to buy an EV, just like nobody was forced to buy an ICE vehicle 100 years ago. It's just technological evolution.

I've just done the best thing ever for reducing my vehicle use... moved to a city. I've sold our second car and my motorbike, and our remaining car, a diesel Land Rover, has done a total of 120 miles in the three months since we moved to the city.

Gozit

The government saying they are going to stop sales of new ICE engines in 2035 definitely feels like I will be forced to buy an EV if I want to buy a new car after 2035, or stick to used cars/imports from other countries. It's not a natural technological advancement if governments force it, and i'd argue it's not an advancement, it's just a different kind of car.

If it was a technological advancement then we would stop selling ICE cars naturally, not because the government introduced a law to force it.

Shard

It is an advancement, the ICE was developed a century ago, the EV is currently being developed. There are vested interests in the oil and auto industries that seek to prolong the life of dated and environmentally unsound technology, hence the government steps in to address the market failure. There will probably be some cottage industry in new ICE cars permitted once the shift has taken place, there will certainly be enough vintage ones around.

Danny B

People felt the same way in the 1900's when they were forced to give up their horse and cart. Cars replaced horses largely because of pollution (horse shit), and now cars are one of the leading cause of the planet’s Co2 pollution.

We are almost a quarter into the 21st century, it's time to gradually make the switch. Horse to car transition took 50 years.

Jingsamichty

Nobody is forcing you to want a new car.

Your argument is like saying you're forced to buy a house with an indoor toilet.

Gozit

Cars don't last forever. I drive maybe 25-30k kms per year, my car is less then 5 years old with 110k on it. It won't last forever. When the time comes that it has to be replaced, like Piff Poff I would like the ability to replace it with something I actually like rather then just something that goes from A->B. At the moment, EVs that provide any kind of thrill are about 2x as expensive as an equivalent petrol enthusiast car, due to low demand, new technology and just higher cost. Maybe by 2035 that will change and there will be more palatable options on the market then just Tesla and the Mach-E.

Gozit

And people still drive horse and cart based off religious objection to cars (mennonites.)

okonumiyaki

For the last ten years at least, modern automatics have been slightly more fuel efficient than manuals - the old 'torquematic' ones that absorbed power are long gone, and they are better about being in the most efficient gear/ power band than most humans. Agree about bigger cars though.

I drive a toyota hybrid corolla - absolutely fantastic at doing its job - yes, it is white goods motoring, but I think that is a compliment to it!

Jingsamichty

It's not all about you, you know . I too would like the ability to replace my current car with something I actually like, but as I can't build a car myself, I will just have to select a car from what is available in my budget at that time- just like I have always done.

Instead of focusing on the car, why not think how you might be able to reduce your time spent driving? 30,000 km per year is quite a lot, and wasteful in terms of time, fuel, tyres, wear & tear... the less time you're in your car, the less it matters what it is.

dbd33

We're all in that boat. In my case I drive a vehicle appropriate to the task at hand. Sunday cruise, Healey. Summer errands, BMW cabriolet. Fetching heavy or smelly stuff, Ranger. Commute in dull weather, hybrid, mostly in EV mode. The latter two could be replaced by an electric Ranger. The mileage on the convertibles is negligible.

How to stop the horses from crapping is a bigger environmental challenge; currently I gather up the turds and blast them across the fields using a diesel tractor. Many people do. Tractors commonly run all day for three seasons. Electric tractors will really change the world.

Piff Poff

I HATE driving a automatic. I do it when I'm using OHs car or the truck, I do not enjoy it at all. Might be different if I was stuck in stop start traffic everyday for my commute but that's not a likely scenario.

It's bad enough that only 18% of vehicles in North America currently being sold/manufactured are manual transmission. My options for a vehicle when I need to replace my mini will be even more dire than it was this time around.

At least I'll have my summer classic to drive. Wind up windows, manual transmission and cassette radio, awesome!

R I C H

If you live rurally in the UK, infrastructure makes the purchase of an EV impractical. A 20+ mile round trip to recharge at a low voltage rate and subsequent multi-hour wait (assuming the charger isn't already in use), is hardly appealing. With no off-street parking or streetlighting for infrastructure to potentially piggy-back off for the convenience of overnight charging, an EV makes no sense.

okonumiyaki

If you live rurally in the UK, most will have off-street parking/ garage.