SkodaMart’s ‘green air’ solution.

Jez

Jez

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Tax people based on mileage, not on engine emissions.

We already have a near perfect environmental tax on burning fuel in this country....our heavy rates of fuel duty. This perfectly taxes someone as mileage, economy and therefore overall emissions are a direct result of fuel consumed. If anything, VED should be scrapped and this should all simply be loaded into fuel duty for a perfectly "fair" system (although lets not go down the rabbit hole of EVs with their near zero tax rate, who knows what will happen to these).
 
Soldato
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Perhaps sell some of your extensive vehicle fleet, like that totally unnecessary large engined sports car you drive whilst telling everyone else their choice of car is irresponsible?

They don’t really make a van that’s greener at this moment in time.
(That has the range I require)
I may gain 10mpg tops buy upgrading it nothing more.

Nothing I have said is irresponsible, I have admitted that I love vehicles, I am proposing a real world alternative to trying to force electric vehicles onto every one.
(Which is farcical at best, criminally irresponsible at worse).

also let me explain what ‘afford it’ means.
My Z4, and BMW motorbikes are virtually depreciation proof.
My berlingo is just a tool, it’s already earnt it’s living so again it’s pretty much free motoring.
I could go buy a brand new BMW car tomorrow If I wanted one, but why would I want to loose all that money sat on the road and depreciating just so I could boast at the bar?
 
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Soldato
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Regarding air pollution - I have to disagree about electric cars not being at least part of the solution. Travel to any city centre where there is still heavy traffic running through it, and the noise and fumes are horrific. Being in a electric car - having to sit behind an ICE pouring it's pollution directly into your air intakes is incredibly annoying.

Regarding moving the pollution generation to elsewhere, electricity can be generated cleanly - and there have been massive and ongoing improvements in clean power generation. Just looking out at our coastline around the southeast to see the sheer number of wind turbines, and the fields full of solar panels proves that.
.

Cycling or walking in heavy traffic is just as bad. (Same as being sat in your EV, worse in some cases as your respiratory rate is higher).

If we could supply all the electricity from renewable sources in this country it would certainly fix one of the main issues I have, with EVs.
But there are many others such as charging times, battery supply, distribution infrastructure required to charge these cars.
Honestly imagine how it would be if we all had one?
 
Soldato
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Yes I forgot the only difference between a new Z4 and a 15 year old one is the ability to boast at the bar. They are otherwise an absolutely identical ownership experience.

Is it?
I’ve read your posts many times, don’t own a BMW without a warranty etc.
I service mine on the drive outside my house.
It’s been pretty much like any other car I’ve owned so far (but less reliable).

It really doesn’t matter either because they are worth next to nothing.
 
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Got to be one of the most bizarre threads ever this

I dont think anyone, literally anyone is saying that Evs are perfect
Range anxiety, charging times, charging point availability etc. All simply challenges to resolve, one thing we are particularly good at as a species
Already fixed to all intents and purposes for Tesla drivers

OP really seems to be falling for the "dont let perfect be the enemy of good"

Sure some electricity may have to be generated in greenhouse gas generating plants, but that can vary over time and can again be fixed.
 
Soldato
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Got to be one of the most bizarre threads ever this

I dont think anyone, literally anyone is saying that Evs are perfect
Range anxiety, charging times, charging point availability etc. All simply challenges to resolve, one thing we are particularly good at as a species
Already fixed to all intents and purposes for Tesla drivers

OP really seems to be falling for the "dont let perfect be the enemy of good"

Sure some electricity may have to be generated in greenhouse gas generating plants, but that can vary over time and can again be fixed.

exactly the opposite of what I am saying.
I’m saying that we could make good changes now without waiting for the perfect EV solution.

(which doesn’t & never will exist with world population in its current state).
 
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exactly the opposite of what I am saying.
I’m saying that we could make good changes now without waiting for the perfect EV solution.

(which doesn’t & never will exist with world population in its current state).

You absolutely are

Your mixing a load of things into one, but your EV one is particularly bizarre, your sounding more CT than anything in this regard

By just about every metric in regards air quality Evs are better than ICE. Yes they are not perfect, but they are good.

Of course driving less will reduce pollution
It will also shift it. Come January the net greenhouse impact will be worse than in June from WFH. In june no one uses heating so all the people working at home will have used less to travel but pretty much no diff from being at home. That will be radically different in Jan when everyone has heating on, Having a large number of people in concentrated buildings is far more efficient than then all spread out at home heating houses.

I just dont think you have thought it through. You mention 10mpg over 50mpg as if its insignificant, thats 20% more MPG. Thats massive in the grand scheme of things, if we could all simply reduce our consumption by 20%, well its not technically, lets say get 20% more done for the same amount of input energy thats a massive step.
 
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I try to walk whenever possible. It infuriates me when people drive such a short distance to the shops. I've started cycling a few places although to be honest I don't cycle enough. I'm about to buy a motorbike (admittedly mostly for fun) but the environmental impact will be much lower if I take that longer distances than a car.
 
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All electric vehicles do is move the pollution elsewhere, what’s the point of having ‘green’ city centres when the Scottish coast has been turned to power stations (only and small percentage of U.K. electricity is from genuinely renewable sources, but even then what are the environmental costs of making and installing wind farms?)
Government said:
The share in electricity generated from renewables was 44.6 per cent in Quarter 2 2020, the second highest share on the published data series. There was a corresponding decrease in the share of generation coming from fossil fuels to 35.1 per cent. This is only the second time that the share of generation from renewables exceeded the share of generation from fossil fuels.
I think this is a pretty significant amount of renewable electricity to be honest. Renewables as a percentage of total electricity production has risen by 11% in the last couple of years. The fact that in 10 years the vast majority of electricity could potentially be renewable is something to strive for. Then all the EV cars start to make a lot of sense.

https://assets.publishing.service.g...ta/file/920610/Electricity_September_2020.pdf
 
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moving HGVs onto rail would reduce tyre pollution.
I hear this argument often, spouted by people clueless as to how the logistics industry works and forgetting that the vast vast majority of delivery points are nowhere near any kind of railway line and ignoring that HGV’s are actually one of the most efficient vehicles on the road - yes mine is currently averaging 11mpg but you need to remember it has the aerodynamic properties of a small building, a 13.6 litre engine, pulls a lot of weight yet still manages to achieve roughly a quarter of the MPG of your average family car.....
 
Soldato
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I think this is a pretty significant amount of renewable electricity to be honest. Renewables as a percentage of total electricity production has risen by 11% in the last couple of years. The fact that in 10 years the vast majority of electricity could potentially be renewable is something to strive for. Then all the EV cars start to make a lot of sense.

https://assets.publishing.service.g...ta/file/920610/Electricity_September_2020.pdf

Right now Grid watch is showing 42% of our power is from renewable energy. That's immense. And over the years it will only get better.
 
Soldato
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I think this is a pretty significant amount of renewable electricity to be honest. Renewables as a percentage of total electricity production has risen by 11% in the last couple of years. The fact that in 10 years the vast majority of electricity could potentially be renewable is something to strive for. Then all the EV cars start to make a lot of sense.

https://assets.publishing.service.g...ta/file/920610/Electricity_September_2020.pdf
I think this is a pretty significant amount of renewable electricity to be honest. Renewables as a percentage of total electricity production has risen by 11% in the last couple of years. The fact that in 10 years the vast majority of electricity could potentially be renewable is something to strive for. Then all the EV cars start to make a lot of sense.

https://assets.publishing.service.g...ta/file/920610/Electricity_September_2020.pdf

As I said I’m reading this off my phone so it’s hard to read the links.
I’m genuinely shocked that the percentage of renewables is so high.
I will have a further look when I get home.
 

Jez

Jez

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I hear this argument often, spouted by people clueless as to how the logistics industry works and forgetting that the vast vast majority of delivery points are nowhere near any kind of railway line and ignoring that HGV’s are actually one of the most efficient vehicles on the road - yes mine is currently averaging 11mpg but you need to remember it has the aerodynamic properties of a small building, a 13.6 litre engine, pulls a lot of weight yet still manages to achieve roughly a quarter of the MPG of your average family car.....
Your truck achieving that level of relative fuel economy is actually the point which Skodamark is making, regarding cars being ridiculously overpowered in his view. For perspective, your truck hauling a gross mass of 40t, and assuming what, 450hp(?) is a shockingly low power to weight ratio of just 11hp/t. This equates to a heavy Mercedes passenger car such as the one i drive, being fitted with a diesel engine producing just 20hp. Or to reverse the equasion, my car has a power to weight ratio equivalent to your truck having 6700hp.

His point is that in theory a car such as mine does only require about 20hp in order for it to haul itself around (at the same rate as a lorry). Just think of the fuel economy which would be achievable from a very small 20hp diesel - the thing would be barely displace more than a large ride on mower.....
 
Soldato
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We already have a near perfect environmental tax on burning fuel in this country....our heavy rates of fuel duty. This perfectly taxes someone as mileage, economy and therefore overall emissions are a direct result of fuel consumed. If anything, VED should be scrapped and this should all simply be loaded into fuel duty for a perfectly "fair" system (although lets not go down the rabbit hole of EVs with their near zero tax rate, who knows what will happen to these).

perfect response to the same point I was going to raise.
 
Caporegime
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On the road....
Your truck achieving that level of relative fuel economy is actually the point which Skodamark is making, regarding cars being ridiculously overpowered in his view. For perspective, your truck hauling a gross mass of 40t, and assuming what, 450hp(?) is a shockingly low power to weight ratio of just 11hp/t. This equates to a heavy Mercedes passenger car such as the one i drive, being fitted with a diesel engine producing just 20hp. Or to reverse the equasion, my car has a power to weight ratio equivalent to your truck having 6700hp.

His point is that in theory a car such as mine does only require about 20hp in order for it to haul itself around (at the same rate as a lorry). Just think of the fuel economy which would be achievable from a very small 20hp diesel - the thing would be barely displace more than a large ride on mower.....
Initially I was on about freight being moved to rail but I concur with your points absolutely, yes, mine is 450 BHP and even at full weight (44t Gross) it isn’t underpowered imo at all, I’ve driven a few 620 - 730 BHP trucks and frankly they are way more than any haulier other than those pulling extremely abnormal loads would require - but great to have the power on demand, much as I’m sure you find with your car.

Where do I sign for a 6700 BHP truck? :cool: :D
 
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