Electric Vehicle Affordability.

A glance at the Gridwatch website shows that any extra load  at the moment will require more CCGT supply so the longer term generation mix will determine if EV's really are Green.?

Feels like CCGT's have always been the easy option for us on the UK. Whether it's wind not blowing or sun not shining we need more low carbon generation to fill the gaps. For all its potential issues long term investment in nuclear has to be part of the mix.

I don't suppose we could try a simple solution like making the cars, electric or otherwise, rather smaller, lighter and slower? You know, like enough to carry 1 or more people and a bit of stuff from A to B? 

Oh no, of course not, out of the question, what a silly idea! 

I think you may re-invent the motorbike, or the tuk tuk. 

It does need the current health and safety superiority to wind it back a bit, as such machines are of course slightly more dangerous than the re-inforced tanks that are currently de-rigour.

Mike.

Au contraire.   In a collision those two ton tanks are far more likely to kill or injure a pedestrian or cyclist than is a tuk-tuk

Yes but they are not as important as the driver or passengers as far as the vehicle safety standards that drive construction are concerned. Given we do not segregate cyclists and cars in the UK I'm inclined to agree with you, that we should consider this more, but it is not the assumption made here.

Mike.

I suspect in practice, weight isn't the issue vis-a-vis hitting pedestrians & cyclists - the momentum transfer to such of being hit by 2000Kg or (guess) 500Kg isn't going to be much different. At least very recently cars have tried to avoid to many sharp bits at the front. 

OTOH, said 2 tonne car is typically 2.1 metres, or more, wide, so is a darn sight more likely to hit a pedestrian or cyclist than your tuk-tuk which is, I guess, about 1.3 metres or so. Unless of course driver caution & skill increases to compensate.

But 2 tonnes is always inherently more polluting, and energy consuming, in multiple senses than the mentioned tuk-tuk sized vehicle. 

Even if it was not the case - I'd be in favour of a hard look at the true risks - I suspect we could perfectly well allow such things without all the roll bars and airbags onto UK roads - perhaps like tractors not on the M-way, or maybe speed limited but for a lot of situations that would be perfectly OK.

I note with amusement the recent hoo-haa about allowing car licensees to once again tow 3,5 tonne trailers without an extra test - I guess the folk worrying about how many extra deaths this will cause have not realised that a normal car licence always did allow you to tow, just needed to be behind a farm tractor or a building site vehicle. 

The weight limit for agricultural tractor and trailer combinations is 31 tonnes. The trailer itself is limited to 18.29 tonnes (including any load imposed on the tractor through the hitch). Not so many tractors in the city where legislation is made I suppose, so no-one notices, but  the class F tractor ticket is still awarded automatically if you have a plain  ‘B’  car  licence.

Mike.

EV s need to be clear air machines that run around city centre at minimum cost to the owner.

We need mini 4 door or micro 2 door EV not expensive high polluting  hybrids