I think its a difficult thing to predict. How could have predicted where we are now , say 50 years ago?

The one thing I would say, is that its likely to be driven by the growth markets. That isn't western Europe and the US those are mature markets. We are already seeing some very capable cars coming out of China (and can be higher quality then some from established makes).

Fusion power will definitely be an enabler if anyone can make it work since much of the issue is energy.

What you can rely on is that the current technologies will keep on progressing, electric range will improve, charging times will drop, the ability of a car to self-drive will keep on improving.

Its interesting that you pick up on imports of EVs from China, because I suspect that 100% of European car makes source Chinese made parts and its only assembly that occurs in Europe (I know for sure that this it the case for some makes). So there isn't much difference in shipping a car if you are already shipping most the parts.

Now who remembers the electric milk float which was pretty common once upon a time?

Hello Roger:

The ones I remember in London did not have a cab structure but were guided by the milkman walking ahead of the electric powered section.

Milk Glass bottles were locally recycled (washed) and reused. 

Here where I live, glass containers are not recycled.

Peter Brooks

Palm Bay FL

The UK used to be the world leader in EVs back then.  Because we had electric milk floats, and nobody else had any EVs to speak of.

Somebody should swap the lead acid battery from a milk float with a lithium one.  The up-rate the motor.  A 90 MPH milk float would be fun.  Probably not a 3-wheel one, though.  That would be scary.

The ones round our way used NiFe cells, not lead acid, as they were pretty much indestructible in terms of mis-charging and running flat They did add the best end of a ton to the weight though. They even had their own category on the drivers licence - a milk float only licence, like a tractor licence still is, was granted at 16 I think - the rules dated from a school leaving age of 15 or before - which feels not all that long ago (I was, just, already at school when the change from 15 to 16 came in, my parents where at school when it changed from 14 to 15.).
The charging rig they had at our local dairy was changed to a modern  Thyristor based thing in the 1970s, and ran much cooler than the resistor banks it replaced, but the radio interference it generated was problematic from more than half a mile away, it took ages to get it acknowledged and then fixed.

Mike.

Peter Brooks said:

Here where I live, glass containers are not recycled.

You're joking? We've had glass and paper recycling for at least 30 years (if only skip sized bins in supermarket car parks to start with) and  normal kerbside refuse collections started recycling glass, paper and metal (tin cans) at least a decade and a half ago. Most now accept rigid plastics as well now and a few soft plastics and even tetrapacks'. And that's ignoring all the WW II  "salvage" schemes.

   - Andy..

Peter Brooks said:

Here where I live, glass containers are not recycled.

You're joking? We've had glass and paper recycling for at least 30 years (if only skip sized bins in supermarket car parks to start with) and  normal kerbside refuse collections started recycling glass, paper and metal (tin cans) at least a decade and a half ago. Most now accept rigid plastics as well now and a few soft plastics and even tetrapacks'. And that's ignoring all the WW II  "salvage" schemes.

   - Andy..

that's ignoring all the WW II  "salvage" schemes.

to be fair, most of those have been superseded,

But it is interesting how fast things change, back in 1993 I was part of a team that took some Scouts from the group I helped with at that time from Essex to Kandersteg in Switzerland, and two things surprised me during that visit that now don't.

One was petrol priced in litres, when were still using gallons - not a surprise exactly more of a confusion, and the other was that on the campsite all the waste was separated, glass, metal, paper& card and food waste. I do remember thinking that while a good idea it would never be possible in the UK - well of  course it was and everyone was issued with extra bins and within a decade we were all doing it - now we just need all the  local authorities to have a common scheme for what goes in each bin.

I was not at all surprised that my UK debit card could get Swiss francs out of a cash machine halfway up a mountainside, but some of the older leaders in the party were impressed.

Progress.

Mike.

The garbage is collected by a private company which is hired by the City.

Periodically the contract goes from one company to another.

We used to be able to recycle glass bottles etc but the new latest company sees glass as a problem during sorting as they are usually broken by the time they get them.

Maybe the problem is really that no one wants crushed glass anymore. Crushed glass used to be used in the production of new glass - for example glass used in making Osram filament light bulbs.

Peter Brooks

Palm Bay FL

Concerning visiting Switzerland and experiencing a different way of life from that in the UK.

I first visited Switzerland on a school sponsored trip in 1949 - It had a tremendous impact on me!

Peter Brooks

Palm Bay Florida 

The other key to the Swiss recycling system is that you have to pay to dispose of anything that cannot be recycled. It either goes in a special bag that you have to buy or in a normal bin bag with a special sticker again that you have to buy, 35 litre CHF 0.90. Anything too big for that has to be taken to the local recycling centre where they take it at CHF 0.40 per kg with a minimum charge of CHF 2.

There are 'Rubbish Police' who will check incorrectly disposed of rubbish and if they can identify it as yours you will be fined.

Busted! On patrol with the Swiss ‘rubbish police’ - SWI swissinfo.ch