Those crazy French

[Gob]

France is set to ban the sale of any car that uses petrol or diesel fuel by 2040, in what the ecology minister called a "revolution".

Nicolas Hulot announced the planned ban on fossil fuel vehicles as part of a renewed commitment to the Paris climate deal.

He said France planned to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Hybrid cars make up about 3.5% of the French market, with pure electric vehicles accounting for just 1.2%.

It is not yet clear what will happen to existing fossil fuel vehicles still in use in 2040.

Mr Hulot, a veteran environmental campaigner, was appointed by new French President Emmanuel Macron. Mr Macron has openly criticised US environmental policy, urging Donald Trump to "make our planet great again".

President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement in June was explicitly named as a factor in France's new vehicle plan.

"France has decided to become carbon neutral by 2050 following the US decision," Mr Hulot said, adding that the government would have to make investments to meet that target.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40518293

[BoSoxGal]

Vive la France!

[Guinevere]

Macron and the french government are recruiting American climate scientists to go work over there, too.

I can't wait to see what kind of progress they make. All the more reason to move there one of these days.

[Crackpot]

I'm of two minds on this

1. Might not be vey wise when there isn't a long range option available (unless they plan on mandating natural gas which doesn't seem wise)

2. Gives France all the power to define standards and forces the government to install infrastructure to support electric.

I the end I think agressive goals are a good thing but lofty goals should always be tempered with what is actually possible

[MajGenl.Meade]

M. Hulot dit: "Tout le monde voyage en canoë"

[rubato]

Volvo will soon only make hybrid and all-electric vehicles. And there are more and more manufacturers making all-electric vehicles. Tesla, GM, Nissan, Toyota, BMW, KIA, Hyundai, VW, Fiat, Ford. The goal seems very reachable.


yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

M. Hulot dit: "Tout le monde voyage en canoë"

Pas de canoë, c'est un kayak

[Crackpot]

But still no solution to the range problem.

[rubato]

The Tesla model 3 has a range of 215 miles, they're getting there. The upmarket model S has a range of 335 miles. More than enough for most car trips.

[Crackpot]

Not according to auto blogs or the EPA

[rubato]

Those are the EPA numbers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_S

The EPA official range for the 2017 Model S 100D, which is equipped with a 100 kWh (360 MJ) battery pack, is 335 miles (539 km), higher than any other electric car at the time.

"blogs" are not reliable sources of information, generally speaking.


yrs,
rubato

[Guinevere]

I do a LOT of long distance driving of 150-500 miles 1 way -- CT, VT, ME, MD -- often multiple times a month. A fully electric vehicle wouldn't work for me because of the range issues. I will seriously consider a hybrid for my next vehicle, though.

[rubato]

In a little while perhaps this will be avail.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=17859

A car that charges itself.

yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

French hybrid

[Jarlaxle]

An issue I have heard little about is that many people simply have no way to charge an electric car.

[rubato]

An interesting question is; how will the rest of Europe react? If Germany follows suit a lot of the smaller countries will have an incentive to do so as well.


yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

The UK is just as bad...

The UK plans to invest millions of pounds to explore how the batteries in thousands of electric cars could help the power grid and drive take-up of the cleaner vehicles.

British businesses will be able to bid for £20m of government funding for undertaking research and trials of vehicle-to-grid technology, which officials believe holds “enormous potential” benefits for drivers and the energy system.

The announcement comes on the heels of a week of good news for electric car manufacturers and battery-makers.

Volvo said it was turning its back on cars powered solely by an internal combustion engine, France declared it would ban sales of diesel and petrol cars by 2040 and Tesla revealed plans to build the world’s largest battery storage plant in South Australia.

There are now more than 90,000 electric or plug-in hybrid cars on UK roads, which currently only draw electricity from the grid when owners recharge them overnight at home or for half an hour at rapid charging stations in towns, cities and motorway service stations.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... power-grid

[dales]

Meanwhile in the USA........

[dales]

An issue I have heard little about is that many people simply have no way to charge an electric car.

Many apartment and condominium residents do not have access to 220VAC.

Besides, who wants to wait hours for a full-charge?

Gas and go!

[Jarlaxle]

Pretty much that. And I think I need to wash my Caddy tomorrow...it looks kind of lousy. Fricking black paint.