2030 - No new ICE cars to be sold

That is correct as per the North London outage,  thousands could not get power as the system could not cope,

And the upgrade ? north of Newcastle is to help stop it happening up there

What is your take on it?

Good get out

It matters not,  the Area affected was because the system was not able to cope with the power required

And the facts are to many people wanting power when not enough was available caused the system to fail

Actually, the main cause was two providers dropping off grid at the same time. A Danish owned Wind Farm off Hornsea, and a German owned Gas Fired Power Station somewhere else. Never mind, after 1st January, it will all be ok, as we will have taken back control.........🙄

Now excuse me, we have a herd of Flying Pigs passing over, and I want to net a few.......

It wasn’t all about London, it knocked out a good bit of Wales and elsewhere as well. Londoners didn’t cope as well, that’s all. So big story.....in London. Some of them even had to climb stairs in the dark, and took photos of themselves doing it. On phones that have an inbuilt torch........🙄

That is just as the NG engineer stated and expects others to follow,  as we do not have the infrastruture to cope ,as possibly mentioned before 

Last time I looked, Wales was slightly larger than London. Mind, the sheep are different........

Anyway, I know I am right, because my BIL’s uncle has an Aunt who owns a dog and the dog is walked by someone whose brother is related to a women who pushes the buttons at NG HQ and she said this is what happened.........so there🤪

I think the caravan and motorhome clubs and the relevant leisure industries need to get together on this and do some serious lobbying - and fast!

Leaving aside the issues about charging, cost and all the environmental impacts associated with batteries that will affect all drivers, there are specific issues that could prove fatal for this industry. Electric motors have the power and torque to tow or propel. That's not the problem. The issue is battery capacity. My diesel tow car drops from 40-50mpg to 25-30mpg when towing (towing range 300-350 miles). That additional energy use will also apply to any electric tow car, so the range of an EV will drop from (say) 250 miles to around 150 miles.

To build an equivalent all electric towing vehicle, apart from the substantial cost of more batteries, there would be their significant additional weight (which would have to be transported even when not towing). I have read some suggesting the extra batteries go in the caravan. That's a huge cost for batteries that would rarely be used and, critically, would substantially increase the weight of the caravan, thus impacting on the ability to tow and its stability and give something else for certain "low life's" to steal.

The overall weight of car+van (or a motorhome with adequate range) would be well over the current 3,500kg limit, so everyone would also need the (pointless) B+E licence to tow. That is assuming that anyone will be making all-electric tow cars with sufficient towing capacity and 4WD (or making them at an affordable price). The current trends are to reduce the towing capacity of cars, drop 4WD and lighten caravans to the point of extreme fragility.

Then there is the issue of charging at the camp sites, particularly at and after peak arrival times. I have been to some campsites that struggle to provide for a 16A outlet on every pitch. The implications of doubling or tripling such demand in many rural areas would often be impossible for the local grid and cabling to meet (even if the normal local demand for EV charging could be met - which is also questionable). BTW - even in urban areas, your local street will probably not have the supply capacity to charge all the cars and vans parked there once the majority become EVs. This concept means we have to rewire the entire country! (and try funding that in the vast rural areas of Scotland!).

Hydrogen powered vehicles may offer a solution, but the concept needs much more development and infrastructure than can be achieved in 9 years (or probably 19 years).

Of course the construction, equine, boating and farming industries also need to be able to tow significant loads (e.g. a typical 2-horse trailer weighs 2.1 - 2.2 tonnes laden, with no weight allowance or space for batteries) and those needs are also mostly located in rural areas. The caravan industry needs to get together with these groups and make the case for the ongoing availability of diesel tow cars (most trucks will remain diesel for a lot lot longer and so the fuel should remain available), at least until a viable alternative becomes available.

Having said all this, I still fear that many campers will be priced and taxed out of the market. No worry, you can fly to sunny Spain for a holiday - that will be much better for the environment and the UK economy!

Very well put Airborne

I am no engineer, but would it be possible to use the axle on the caravan to generate power to help charge the batteries whilst on the move. thereby extending the distance the tow vehicle could travel without needing a recharge.?

Has that actually been introduced, as the the DVLA licence categories don't reflect it or even mention it?

DVLA Licence Categories

That is correct but as with F1 cars braking effort can be used to produce regenerative power.  Not sure how well it would work on a caravan though.  Probably quite difficult to transfer the power to the car.  Heavy cables?  High cost?  Extra weight?  Nightmare?

My thoughts too. Adding extra weight to the caravan to regenerate power would, therefore, make the measure self defeating. The heavier caravan would use more of the car's battery power to tow it.