Electric Vehicles
- a Bad Idea

It is believed that the Treasury is considering a levy on motorists of about £1.50 per mile in response to a tax shortfall for petrol and diesel revenues. At the same time, Boris Johnson is saying that the government will ban the sale of diesel and electric cars from 2030.

It is difficult to imagine a worse plan for the UK economy.

The 'shortfall' in tax revenue exists becuse most motorists are in lockdown and have not been using their private cars. They are marooned at home until the lockdown ends.

A friend writes.....We already pay dearly for the privilege of using our cars on Britain's roads. I have just paid DVLA £173 to use my car for the next 6 months. I pay fuel duty every time I fill up the tank, plus 20% VAT. To put a new car on the road I must also pay Special Car Tax and VAT:

The only way to bridge the gap in tax revenues is to get everyone back to work and the economy running once again.

ND replies:

The general public does not realize that if petrol and diesel vehicles are no longer available, most of them will no longer have their own motor cars; they will not be able to afford them.

Why are the manufacturers not vigorously opposing this? The electric car is inferior in almost every way. It is risky to use in remote areas, especially in winter. It has a limited range which is decreased by low ambient temperatures (ref.1), using the heater or switching on the lights. If you get stranded in snow you are unlikely to be able to keep warm. You can't change the wheel if you get a puncture. The claimed advantage (low emissions) is not true; for every electric vehicle on the road there are increased emissions from the Grid, which is mainly powered by hydrocarbons.

There is also a political reason for not using electric vehicles. The materials for the batteries generally come from China. Why should money from our wind turbine subsidies go to Chinese manufacturing industry?

Michael D from Australia adds:

The right to repair is vanishing. Most electric or hybrid cars are connected to the mother ship or the 'cloud' and it’s not entirely clear if one owns or merely leases them. Furthermore you can’t store electricity in convenient jerrycans. This is another way to control who moves and where.

Covid has caused many drivers to keep their cars unused in the garage for a while. After keeping their cars in their garages for weeks some VW wners received in strange error messages when they attempted to use them after the lockdown.

The help hotline offered 2 options: (1)Wait for a technician, (2) Self- help.

The self-help consisted of scanning, signing each page, scanning and returning a 7- page non-disclosure PDF document. Then users received instructions on how to 'unblock' the car app for 15 minutes, to drive it outside where the GPS could get a stable fix. The car would resume normal operation afterwards.

However the bigger picture here is that remotely immobilising your car is a possibility.

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1. At 4F (-20C) most batteries operate at about 50% performance.