Britain needs to press ahead with a ban on the sale of new hybrid cars with no plug from 2030 or risk taking “a catastrophic misstep” on the road to net zero, ministers have been warned.
Cars such as the Toyota Prius, which charge a battery from an internal combustion engine, need to be excluded from the list of vehicles sold in the UK from 2030 or there will be a “profound” fall in confidence in the government’s commitment to electric motoring, according to the representative body Electric Vehicles UK (EVUK).
Abjectly obvious attempt to gain legal privilege, no? Ban our competitors?
All new Toyota Prius are plug in hybrids. In fact most of Toyota’s hybrids are plug in ones.
or there will be a “profound” fall in confidence in the government’s commitment
Oh no, not a profound fall.
The bit I really like is where he says that if the Government doesn’t do this, the net-zero aim will become a laughingstock.
Say it ain’t so!
While the uk pounces about how to save the planet, China now has about 50 or 60% of new registrations being EVs. They do have lots of solar panels, but also lots of coal and nuclear power stations What happened to the country that led the Industrial Revolution.
“What happened to the country that led the Industrial Revolution?”
Socialism, both Red and Green.
There’s a variety of hybrid systems.
What they are complaining about is the mild hybrid systems as favoured by JaguarLandRover and Volvo, amongst others, which seems to use batteries changed by the engine to smooth out the power delivery. I’m currently driving an XC40 with mild hybrid power and frankly can’t see the point.
A Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle seems to be OK because they have the ability to run short distances and slow speeds on batteries alone so can pootle around towns with no emissions at the tailpipe. I’ve test driven one of those too and found the petrol engine was all too eager to cut in when I was accelerating. Or perhaps I’ve just got a lead foot.
Almost all PHEVs now have an ‘electric only’ button that inhibits the ICE from starting. But they’ll all start the engine if you ‘kick down’, because that’s the way they can deliver max power, for when you’ve made a poor overtaking decision and the artic coming the other way is getting rather close …
Most PHEVs have a battery range of 30-40 miles (manufacturer’s figures, so probably about 75% of that in practice). 90% of my trips are electric-only (but only about 50% of my total mileage).
“The inclusion of full hybrid technology would be a catastrophic misstep and make a laughingstock of the UK government’s world-leading zero-emission vehicle policy,”
Tall order, that one.
Can’t charge your car with a gas engine – but you can charge it with a coal-fired power plant?