The UK new car sales figures peaked in 2016, just ahead of new more penal taxes on buying new vehicles came in with higher Vehicle Excise duties. Since then car sales have fallen by 1m cars a year to just 1.6 million.
The industry seems to be in denial about this. It usually blames a semiconductor shortage which got in the way of making more vehicles.
Clearly the tax was a turn off, though never mentioned. So was the government decision to ban new diesel and petrol car sales by 2030 allied to great pressure to buy all electric cars. The public was put off buying the traditional products by the uncertainties created by a future ban. They were not persuaded by the merits of EVs, fearing lack of range, lack of charging points and disliking high prices. They expect government to have to introduce taxes on electric power for cars when EV ownership takes off to offset the loss of fuel duty, making the total electric costs of owning and running even higher.
Why doesnât the industry recognise it is not offering the products people want at attractive prices? Why does it design the EV schemes without thinking about the practicalities for many of us of a reliable working car that can be refuelled in five minutes at a readily available filling station and has a 500 mile range ?
It seems the industry spends its time discussing product design with governments and not with customers. As a result it has a demand problem which government policy has helped create. Maybe the idea is to have far fewer new cars as a means of cutting CO 2, as scrapping an older diesel and buying a new electric is heavy on the CO 2.
The UK industry faces the prospect of closing all its current diesel and petrol car plants in the next few years. It is making slow progress at putting in replacement capacity for all the electric vehicles government wants us to buy instead.Maybe the industry idea is we should import even more vehicles once electric is all we are allowed.
December 28, 2022
Exactly the bonkers anti-car, net zero lunacy means the logical and cheapest thing to do for nearly all people (and produced far less CO2 should that bother you and now new car and battery has to be made) is just to keep your old car going as long as you can until they tax or force you off the road.
A new EV can easily cost you ÂŁ1 a mile just in depreciation and finance costs. Then after about 8 years you will need a new ÂŁ15K battery or a new car. Plus very many people simply do not have any parking/charging space for them at home.
EV cars often advertise as zero emissions, another dishonest claim. Emissions elsewhere cars in reality and generally rather higher ones.
“Toyotaâs Chief Says Electric Vehicles Are Overhyped
Akio Toyoda says converting entirely to EVs could cost hundreds of billions of dollars and make cars unaffordable for average people”
Sensible chap, Is this the real plan? Does not even save any CO2 either.
December 28, 2022
LL
â Sensible chap, Is this the real plan? â
It would seem soâŠ
All the conspiracy theories since the beginning of lockdown, we have seen them come to pass. Some have been thwarted such as vaccine passes and mandates, but it continues apace with the net zero rubbish.
A lot of Telegraph readers have said they will keep their current vehicle for as long as possible, and some will change them for new petrol and diesel just before the ban comes in.
As some wise people have said, this great reset will fail, because human nature has not been taken into account. But theyâll create a huge mess trying!
December 28, 2022
The government is going to enforce reducing quotas of ICE vehicles on manufacturers, so thereâll be fewer new ICEs available to buy up to 2030 and they will therefore cost significantly more than now. In that way the freedom loving Tories will achieve parity, or near, of purchase price with electric vehicles.
December 28, 2022
Whilst the rest of the world laughs at us destroying ourselves. Can anyone really believe that the millions of 30 year old Mercedes etc. run in poor countries like Africa and the far east are going to be replaced by electric cars? Total nonsense from an out of touch elite who like to virtue signal without even bothering to look at facts and just jump on any old fashionable band wagon. Either that or they are certainly out to destroy this country and our way of life. Sunak and MP’s will have no such worries, obviously.
December 28, 2022
+1
December 28, 2022
Who or what industry in their right mind would set up, invest or remain in UK 7 under Snake and Hunt!
JR, you and your colleagues have placidly let coup of govt take place, allowed the pro EU duo destroy any prospect of manufacturing business being in UK! Allowed N.Ireland to be given away to EU and passively allowed EU to prevent GB businesses working with N.Ireland ones. You and colleagues allowed steel industry to fold through high energy, allowed closure of coal power plants but support Chinese ones, closed storage of gas, stopped drilling for oil and gas, stopped fracking and made clear to all companies they will be taxed out of existence if they dare try! To add insult allow Snake to give away ÂŁ11.6 billion in reparations for being successful in sharing industrial revolution to world to reduce poverty around the globe.
277 current Tory MPs voted for Mayâs vassalage of UK to EU and Sunak and Hunt on a mission to make sure that is implemented against the wishes of the people of this nation.
December 28, 2022
Hope, ++++++
December 28, 2022
That’s just a few of the reasons why they won’t be getting my vote.
December 28, 2022
Wrong, Hope. May’s deal never passed Parliament. The deal we have is Johnson’s and Frost’s. Yes it is a rubbish deal, yes every Conservative MP supported it – but at least get right whose rubbish deal it is. (Though any deal will be rubbish, Brexit is rubbish, we have put up huge costly trade barriers and got NOTHING in return)
December 28, 2022
+++ so true, Hope
December 28, 2022
As I remember it, Frost was en route to no deal when Johnson stepped in to sign up to the pro EU ‘trade agreementl’. Under instructions of big business no doubt and to the detriment of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.
December 28, 2022
Then you have places like Oxford and other cities restricting your car to tiny regions of the city anyway using digital fine gates. Making you car far less useful anyway.
December 28, 2022
Well the Great RESET is a fraud. It attempts to con the ‘world’ into thinking a levelling up of the poor and under privileged is underway. No it isn’t, it actually is removing choice and decision making from the masses and making the richer even richer. Supposed to be planet aware, its end game will be the opposite.
December 28, 2022
Hang on JR, not industry Your party and Govt.! Stop passing the blame, again.
Johnson said the public would rightly feel duped to be encouraged to buy diesel cars by the govt then tax them! What was Johnsonâs last view? It was okay for him to recently visit Rupert Murdoch in Montana on a private plane though!! Or to have a holiday in Goldsmithâs villa in Spain! How many security staff also had to go. Your govt needs to stop telling us what not to do while clearly doing the exact opposite.
Who stupidly agreed to copy EU level playing fields on environment, state aid, competition and energy to make UK less competitive!!
Mini is moving to China because of expensive UK energy- your govt.âs fault.
Your minister said it was so last century for each person to own a car!
Ford Transit moved to Spain because your govt. cowardliness to cave to EU!
Govt spending ÂŁ15 million on advertising telling us to cut down on heating while we pay to heat their second homes and Grace in favour homes to party in!!!
Your party/govt. has failed in every major policy issue of government, it is surprising to find that Labour is now right of the Tories!
Just get out.
December 28, 2022
I thought they moved the Transit production from Southampton to Turkey.
December 28, 2022
Correct. My son lost his Eastleigh job.
December 28, 2022
Why did it move to Turkey? Industrial costs set by EU!!
December 28, 2022
âŠ.. a cheap ÂŁ80m EU loan to ramp up production of Transit vans in Turkey was also signed off just months before Fordâs devastating Southampton announcementâŠ.
âŠ..The loan from the European Unionâs bank, owned by Britain and fellow member states, was agreed in June as part of a billion dollar investment plan â about ÂŁ600m â for Fordâs sprawling 395-acre site in Kocaeli which is taking over production of Transits from SouthamptonâŠ..
No comment from Osborne who was a director of EUbank.
December 28, 2022
Hope
Youâre correct, there was a time when car manufacturers followed the peoples buying habits and secured its profit from the consumer purchase â now it does what governments want and secures profit from government grants, loans and subsidy and can rise the consumer price due to the government part fund/subsidy on list price
This new business model (tesla model) has been very successful to the manufacturers and the green lobby …not the taxpayer
December 28, 2022
Hope. 100% correct.
December 28, 2022
Ford Transit went to Turkey 2012/13 cost taxpayers a fortune.
December 28, 2022
Hope, +++++++++++
December 28, 2022
I’m in my sixties and it’s fair to say that I’ve never witnessed a Government that is so despised and disliked. Thankfully it has zero chance of re-election and will be out for many years if not for ever. People won’t forget the consequences of the mass immigration policy on their health and other public services including housing, congestion, education etc. English people to the back of the queue. Highest taxes ever as they have failed to reform the benefits system and in work benefits. The true reasons for the recent rises. The cost of our energy because of their failure in energy policy with net zero, whilst importing fracked gas from America and Qatar, refusing to frack our own. Madness. HS2, the Northern Ireland protocol, the fishing deal, the level playing field rules, madness. Woke and pc everywhere, particularly in all our health and public services and its leadership unreformed by the Consocialists. Banning our ICE’s because of unproven science. It’s time for your Party to go, Sir John.
December 28, 2022
Sharon
“A lot of Telegraph readers have said they will keep their current vehicle for as long as possible, and some will change them for new petrol and diesel just before the ban comes in.”
What if fuel duty becomes prohibitive?
– We have ways to make you do what we want!
December 28, 2022
It is interesting that Elon has released facts since taking over twitter that prove that a lot of supposed wild conspiracy theories were actually true. FBI and others paid twitter big money to peddle lies to the public. It’s clear a lot more of this must be going on using other channels too.
December 28, 2022
It seems to me similar goes on within the British public sector, the BBC, and the supposed complaints bodies which all actively push certain agendas and suppress obvious truths which anyone who has seen stuff first hand knows, despite it obviously being suppressed publicly. Indeed a lot of cancelling of people goes on as well to try and keep the truth hidden.
December 28, 2022
Look at the cost of even a modest new car with a discounted price. They cost a small fortune now.
You cannot park in many places that used to be available. You cannot drive into central London without the possibility of incurring an additional charge. Much of the existing road space is now allocated to cycle lanes or pedestrianised in towns, increasing gridlock.
When times are tight people postpone or abandon major capital expenditure. An anti-driving stance only reinforces that type of decision.
December 28, 2022
UK caved to EU to stop building the iconic world beating Land Rover!!
Let us all consider that your govt. has taken the destruction of cars to the destruction of farming because of its emission lunacy.
JR, remind us why all those British Leyland warehouses were full of grain and butter mountains in the early eighties while Geldoff sang feed the world?
Was it not your party and govt. who promised to free farmers from EU Cap and EU regs to produce food and dairy produce when out of EU, but now pays farmers to go wild because of emission lunacy? Worse it is pursuing a mass immigration policy building on every piece of land it can!
Netherlands taxing farmers out of existence, New Zealand now copying despite it being a major export. When will or has your govt agreed to cut farming industry with EU over environment playing field?
Currently still lying to blame Russia for UK energy prices! It is the fault of your Govt. For 13 years of failed energy policy!
December 28, 2022
There are many reasons for “going green” and it’s unavoidable.
Climate change, pollution, depletion and nasty foreigners withholding supplies.
However any changeover will be costly and take decades.
So we are, like it or not, in for a good few years of expense before cheap electricity kicks back in. It WILL kick back in when the infrastructure is completed and the benefits of free primary energy are felt.
December 28, 2022
HA,
Rubbish, it is perfectly avoidable. The scam needs to stop. Paris Agreement is to transfer jobs and industry. If it was as you say why has the world not sanctioned and stopped China building coal power stations? Why is UK determined to be reliant on Chinese goods? Johnson was going to stop this.
Compare emissions from China to GB, I say GB because Tories betrayed the country and gave away N.Ireland.
December 28, 2022
Renewable energy will never be cheap. Itâs a delusion. Even if you accept intermittency. Net Zero is a device to destroy the economy and wealth of the West and transfer all its industrial wealth to China. We will dependent on China for all our energy and goods.
December 28, 2022
Indeed net zero the war on plamt food and Sunakâs currency debasement is the cause of the high energy price increases Putinâs evil war perhaps 90% government energy policy and the money printing and 10% Putin.
December 28, 2022
HOPE, ++++++++++++
December 28, 2022
Lifelogic
Yes indeed Mr Toyota speaks a lot of sense, problem is his solution, along with many others, means you would need to purchase a car with two power sources, all at extra cost, which then pushes you above the governments ÂŁ40,000 purchase cost, which automatically means a huge rise in Road tax payments for 5 years.
Stopped off at Membury Services on the M4 yesterday, noticed all charging points were fully occupied with EV’s waiting to gain access.
Had to smile and shake my head, as still had 400 miles left in my ICE vehicle tank, and the Government calls this fiasco progress.
December 28, 2022
Alan. It makes me want to weep with despair when I see the damage being done by a TORY government. I never thought I would see the day where I witnessed such folly.
December 28, 2022
Just keep a small old ICU car is the best solution. For many the alternative to a hybrid (two power sources) is two cars one ICU car and one smaller city car.
December 28, 2022
So waiting in a queue for an available charger meant not sitting indoors with a cuppa and comfort facilities!
December 28, 2022
If only we were part of a large market of 400 million buyers, with no red tape and no border checks and no barriers to free trade
reply We have a free trade agreement with EU and are aiming to join the bigger and faster growing Pacific Partnership
December 28, 2022
Gary :
Whatâs the point of EU membership/SM/CU when it leads to a ÂŁ100 billion trading deficit EVERY YEAR.
December 28, 2022
I paid ÂŁ1,000 for a 2008 Diesel six years ago,
– It can do 700 miles on a full tank
– unlike EVs the manufacturer doesn’t suggest that I limit the fuel tank to 80% capacity or allow it to drop below 20% capacity
– It takes 3-4 minutes to fully refuel (not even enough time to buy an overpriced coffee)
– I expect it’s range will not degrade much with age
– It features quick-defrost
and I have never experienced range anxiety whilst driving it.
December 28, 2022
‘So was the government decision to ban new diesel and petrol car sales by 2030 …’ This decision needs reversing. If electric cars are a good enough alternative, people will buy them. But they’re not, so there shouldn’t be any compulsion. If the government sticks to the same brand of eco-lunacy that May and Johnson imposed on us, you will lose the next election. Policy reverses are needed – and needed now. If politics were boxing, I would be reporting the Conservatives to the sport’s governing body, suspecting that you were intent on throwing the fight in 2024.
P.S. My Christmas Day journey? A 200-mile round-trip in a diesel-powered car. There were no public transport alternatives. My local charging points were closed. And it rained cats and dogs on my way home, leaving me with the prospect of being stuck in a jam.
P.S.2 Happy New Year.
December 28, 2022
I agree in general.
It’s not any kind of lunacy to want to phase out petroleum-fuelled cars, but as you say, electric car technology so far does not give all people what they want as an alternative.
I simply wanted to buy a new, BMW, manual, diesel estate, but they don’t make one any more. I don’t do that many miles these days and it would probably be the last new car that I bought.
I’ll see what the Japanese have to offer…
December 28, 2022
Germany is ahead of us on the road to keeping drivers off the road, and the net zero lunacy generally. The latest is that their government is considering restricting a person’s use of electricity to power heat pumps and EVs. It would be a great irony if German EV owners can’t go out on the road because the eco-fanatics limit their mobility.
December 28, 2022
What silly hysterical language. You might even have a point, but shrieking like that disengages people.
December 28, 2022
not silly, not hysterical and not shrieking MARTIN.
December 29, 2022
I think you posted your comment to the wrong person here, lad. I was picking up on a report from Germany the other day.
Good luck next time.
December 28, 2022
+1 then you get power cuts. Storm Arwen cut off circa 1 million people from electricity – so no heat, no light, no car⊠often in freezing winter storms when most needed.
December 28, 2022
If you donât do that many miles, why would you want a diesel?
There is a new Honda Accord estate coming out. It looks impressive. I have a petrol, automatic Toyota Avensis estate which I am going to keep until it drops. Does 40mpg. And a Toyota Yaris hybrid. 60 mpg, also auto. Why do you want a manual? Many auto boxes are now more economical than their manual version. Toyotaâs CVT auto boxes are superb.
Iâd get a new Accord estate or a Toyota Corolla hybrid estate. Toyota really have the hybrid thing cracked. Great service too. 10 year warranty if you get it serviced by them.
December 28, 2022
Mike
The Government dislike Hybrids, they have plans ahead (as do the EU) to tax them more, just wait until Euro 7 comes into force in 2025.
The proposal at the moment is that only EV’s or Hybrids with a very long electric range will have no ULEZ area charges.
Thus even more uncertainty which is killing the car market.
December 28, 2022
I drove into central London yesterday and entered the number of my 18 year old Honda Jazz into the ULEZ website. To my surprise it stated that it conformed to ULEZ requirements, as did my 20 year old Merc when I tried that out of curiosity. So the whole concept has me totally puzzled. As the reasons for the Covid interventions are unravelling as the data emerges so, I suspect, will the basis for the climate “emergency”. Unless, of course, steps are taken to suppress any evidence that contradicts the official narrative. But that couldn’t happen in the UK, could it?
December 29, 2022
David L
Yes confusing isn’t it.
Our 2007 Toyota Corolla diesel does not pass the London or Bristol number plate test, but a family members diesel 2014 Range Rover, with much higher emissions does.
Only difference would seem to be that my manual say’s the Toyota engine is Euro 4 compliant, the Range Rover with it’s higher emissions is Euro 6 compliant.
So I am equally confused, as the Toyota passes the number plate test for both Bath and Portsmouth.
Getting a bit like the old Wild West, with locals making up the rules as they go along.
December 28, 2022
Good to see you plan togo to a Japanese car and dump one of the EUâs most over priced junk NLH. I personally have been boycotting all EU goods for years. Look at Subaru – honest, reliable and efficient! The bonus is its not European junk!
December 28, 2022
If only the Reform Party and Labour were satisfactory alternatives. But they are not.Whoever you vote for, the Blob is in power.
December 28, 2022
BLOB
Baleful Legacy Of Blair.
December 28, 2022
Is that really what BLOB stands for? I keep reading it but donât know what it means.
December 28, 2022
I wouldn’t trust that definition if I were you.
December 28, 2022
Agree. The banks and money markets now dictate.
December 28, 2022
I ordered a new Mazda3 sport in July and have been given a delivery date of 28th January.
It’s pure petrol and I will keep it till it rots.
Until a viable alternative is available which is not EV.
Toyota boss is right the silent majority don’t want evs.
December 28, 2022
We have the sane scam building the Close Support Vessels for the Navy.
Fabricated in Spain and assembled in Belfast.
Another net zero scam outsourcing jobs to the EU to claim lower emissions in Britain.
Your all con merchants.
December 28, 2022
IW,
Worse than this. Fitting out in N.Ireland means compliance of EU tariffs, regs, EU demanded border checks if goods come from GB.
The full honest facts of their industry and jobs award to the EU escaped Snake, Hunt and Wallace in their disingenuous announcement to make it sound of a triumph for UK. It is not. It is another Tory govt. sell out. I suggest they look up partled, video available of Howard and Clinton being a masters of it.
December 28, 2022
+++
Any more that theyâd want a clockwork car with a ten ton key!
December 28, 2022
How much are you paying for the Mazda 3 Sport, if you donât mind me asking?
December 28, 2022
29k full leather 185 ps with sun roof. Top of range.
December 28, 2022
Nye Bevan said that we live in an island surrounded by fish and resting on coal and the government has made a shortage of both.
We live on that island, on a mass of natural gas and oil, with a rich road structure and cities which are adapted to car use. And the government of various kinds has severely restricted car use in those towns, it has taxed petrol up to the limit and it has introduced, almost without any discussion, the ridiculous idea of Net Zero. Remember, the big freeze which extends right across Russia and North America and, of course Greenland, Iceland and the Arctic Ocean, is caused by weather and has nothing to do with Global Warming which was clearly shown by the English heatwave in Summer time this very year.
And you are surprised that people aren’t buying new cars? Our life now is darker, colder and poorer thanks to our caring, sharing, scientific government.
December 28, 2022
with a reducing health capability, unless you have plenty of money, and your asset, often a house, will be used for your old age Care.
December 28, 2022
Nice piece Sir but are you sure it’s not mainly down to Government insistence on NetZero nonsense given our miniscule output of carbon, because that is the problem in my opinion?
December 28, 2022
Agreed 100% Popeye
December 28, 2022
Good morning.
I am watching this car crash, pun intended, as closely as I am watching the London ULEZ Scheme. Why ? Because it is going to make people wake up to what is really going on and who in the hell is pushing for all this stuff.
As many here know, a lot of things are coming from the UN in the form of their 2030 Breath Life and the WHO, not to forget our old friends the EU and the Euro Emissions Guides. ULEZ for example has has to be implemented thanks to the governments, Greater London Authority Act 1999, as amended under Vehicle Charging Schemes.
So it seems that the government we elect is still taking orders from elsewhere. As always these schemes have an impact further down the line and, with the UK’s energy prices rising and supply soon to be intermittent, I see yet more business looking elsewhere to places like, oh I don’t know, China ? đ
We also have to take into account the tax take the government has decided upon. This too is going to havce an adverse affect, both on consumers and suppliers.
A lot of people are either going to be forced off the road or, they will start to sut costs by not paying VED and insurance. More money lost.
December 28, 2022
Mark B
indeed the ULEZ areas not just in London but elsewhere, will be the beginning of the end of using an ICE car at all.
Went to a family members for the Christmas break, meant I had to use a 400 metre stretch of Bristols new ULEZ at a cost of ÂŁ9.00 if I wanted to go the shortest and most efficient route, as the A4 and A38 are included within it.
Thus I went a more convoluted way, spent about ÂŁ2.00 more on fuel, put out more pollution as a result, but saved myself ÂŁ18.00 in ULEZ charges.
So confusing all these City/Town ULEZ areas with different criteria, just wait until Euro 7 comes in (projected for 2025) and all current Production exempt ICE cars will have to pay. !
December 28, 2022
In the last 6 months I have discussed the ULEZ charges imposed on trade in Bristol and Bath and both have had to increase their charges to customers or go on long journeys to avoid them. What a stupid Government with their net stupid obsession. No one will vote for more of this. The politicos are completely out of touch.
December 28, 2022
Time action.
Our Car is ok and approved for Bath ULEZ as indeed it is with Portsmouth with no charges, the chaos of different policies in different Cities makes a mockery of this sort of legislation, and just complicates any journey planning.
December 28, 2022
Perhaps an observant investor will start to build stabling and livery in London as it will be needed in 2040.
December 28, 2022
I never visit London because driving into London is a nightmare with the various charges and, of course, the nutty parking charges. I wonât travel by train because is am not a cow and refuse to be treated like one.
For many years I worked in London and drove in. I have never understood why there are no Park and Rides around London. Get Disney to run them. They park thousands of cars and run shuttles at their theme parks.
December 28, 2022
They will just tax that as methane is considered worse than CO2 as a Global Warming gas.
December 28, 2022
Perhaps King Charles will offer Household Cavalry premisies for stabling at an eye-watering fee, moving them all out to Windsor?
December 28, 2022
+1
Mark B these pretends Tory charlatans know they signed up to EU level playing field on environment, competition and state aid. Tories know they are making UK dependent on EU energy as if we were still in EU energy pact. The nation voted leave EU!
Tories have deliberately closed many industries in the UK to pass to China and elsewhere ie manufacturing steel, ship building, food production and energy. They have deliberately made our country uneconomic in many areas. You could not imagine a more treacherous govt. acting against the will of and interests of its people. Truly shocking. An article in TCW making the case that this govt. is the enemy of the people, it is hard to argue against!
Look at what they are doing and have done to N.Ireland, yet they call themselves conservative and unionist party. Neither conservative nor unionists!
December 28, 2022
They’re Globalists.
Policies are “promised” on a national basis, because that’s what our sham democracy requires. But the minute the crosses are counted, the national policies are ditched in favour of Globalist ones which have been deliberately placed above democratic control.
December 28, 2022
Talking of getting instructions from elsewhere, I hear China now has 40 permanent staff in their WEF office. Do the WEF not realise that all the awards given by the Chinese to non-Chinese people doing their bidding, makes them useful idiots? History shows these to be the first to go when their usefulness is done.
December 28, 2022
Indeed, the Chinese run rings around our incompetent Western Governments. It’ll come out in years to come that they secretly planted the net stupid, global warming/climate change rubbish into Western Governments policy and thinking to ensure they take over the worlds manufacturing. If the Chinese had a sense of humour they’d be laughing at our Westminster clowns.
December 28, 2022
The Chinese have been playing the long game for as long as I can remember. A slow chess game of tying up future resources around the world, undercutting world manufacturing via freeing dodgy capitalists, putting the money into stealing intellectual property rights, running thousands of hackers and training more within the world universities, ‘owning’ organisations like WHO, and researching disabling tactics just like Covid. Partnering countries until they can take advantages then backing away leaving disorganisation behind. World domination getting ever nearer.
December 28, 2022
I gather the WEF is closing its twitter account and moving onto a Chinese based platform, which means a CCP platform.
December 28, 2022
Surely the UK must align the date of the ban on fossil fuel cars with Europe -2035 or until we have reliable cheap nuclear power, a national charging network and EVs that are acceptable to all. It is a ridiculous example of virtue signaling, that will have no effect on global warming, for the UK to lead us poor humans into the darkness of net zero.
December 28, 2022
++++
There is no global warming.
The planet is fine.
Polar bears have always fished off icebergs.
Glaciers are rivers of frozen water and they flow and melt at the bottom.
This is all more lions and donkey disaster stuff.
They just never learnâŠand this time, well this time it really is curtains!
December 28, 2022
Yes mâdear, na warmin doon ere inât Devon! But ma fire next the anvil is warmin! Oops, silly me! They will ban that TOO!
December 28, 2022
and they call the Winter (more important) Solstice worshippers bonkers!
A heavy metal band, German called Rammstein, do a number called Sonne – even they know we depend on the sun rising. A great head banger!
December 28, 2022
Youtube.
December 28, 2022
…and I believe we still have four seasons
December 28, 2022
Could it be that the British car manufacturers have no faith and beliefs in both EVs as they are, and British government?
They feel they are the offering on the alter of the new religion of Net Zero that is destroying this country.Ä
Other countries aÄș across the world are going to be dependent on petrol and diesel vehicles for the next 50 years especially in the underdeveloped areas.
As more manufacturers race to try and satisfy NZ others will be getting their products to where they are needed.
Not lavish all bells and whistles but basic no thrills vehicles we all used to drive 60 years ago.
December 28, 2022
I was talking about this over Christmas . People we know have an electric car and travel over Christmas was a nightmare. Not only were they nervous about breaking down in one of the many traffic jams but when they reached their destination the friends they were staying with didn’t have a charging point so they used an ordinary power point overnight which only gave a 70% charge. They then had to find a charging point to top up and then charge again after that to finish their journey. I bought a new preregistered car last December and I have thrown everything at paying off the loan so that I own the car and can keep it for many years. My worry is I will get priced off the road by government taxes
Many industries and investors are apparently pulling out of the UK and investing in Italy and Portugal as they are more attractive. Says it all. We are becoming a basket case. Many of the empty factories in Birmingham are now bars, restaurants and night clubs. That’s ok all the time people have money to spend. When there are fewer well paid jobs about that will change.
December 28, 2022
+1
Or as the newly-unemployed, AI replaced docker said.
âWhoâs going to buy all the cheap crap now?â
December 28, 2022
C,
Huntâs last statement made it clear that the UK will prevent companies coming here by punishing them through corporation tax, wind fall tax, capital gains tax and income tax to make UK less competitive than EU, China and others. He did this while imposing a recession on the UK. This was not an accident. Why would top earners, entrepreneurs or strivers stay here? Oh, I know it would make them feel better to give 20% more tax to govt to waste around the world.
It is taking his EU level playing fields to the extreme!
December 28, 2022
When the internal combustion engine started to be used in carriages the infrastructure, blacksmiths, bike shops and the like, were already in place. Getting fuel may have been tricky and the cost high, but over time those who saw the potential of this new mode of transport invested private money and produced more affordable cars. All this was natural. The only government involvement was to restrict the speed of cars of the day and have a man walk in front of it holding a red flag. That’s government for you !
December 28, 2022
this government = social engineering
December 28, 2022
The government, EU and UN objectives are to transfer hat remains of the automotive industry to China (which controls the key resources needed to make EVs) and to reserve car ownership to the nomenklatura and the rich. Ordinary people will not be permitted to drive. Bans on trucks will collapse the economy. Covid lockdown was a trial run to see how much transport could be suppressed. The consequences for our standard of living and dying will be dire.
December 28, 2022
+1
I wonder âŠhave our oh so compliant leaders considered what it will be likeâŠliving in a de industrialised country? What will it be like for them, their children and grandchildren?
Looking through local historic directories one can see the continuity of business ownership down the generations.
Wasnât all that worth fighting for instead of this abject surrender?
December 28, 2022
Culbono
Indeed the plethora of coffee shops, Estate Agents and Charity shops in Town Centres will never make up for the lost manufacturing industries, and the research and development of new products/systems.
As a Country we have lost our way, guided by politicians and their policies which have slowly but surely, eroded the very DNA and make up of the population, their education, work ethic, innovation, enterprise, risk taking, innovation, justice, and sense of fair play.
Such a shame, I dread to think what this Country will look like in 50 years time !
December 28, 2022
+many
December 28, 2022
Reading your comment, Cuibono, I realised something that hadn’t struck me before. You say ‘living in a de-industrialised country’. They don’t live in a country, any particular country. They’re anywheres, not somewheres, as the term is. They’re forever gadding around the world on international conferences with the global high and mighty. They take their cue from bodies outside the UK, like the UN and the WEF, and identify with that mindset and lifestyle. They don’t really live here.
Their children and grandchildren? Their children admire Greta Thunberg and woke Hollywood icons, and glue themselves to motorways. As for their grandchildren, they won’t probably be allowed to know the world we knew ever existed.
December 28, 2022
+1
I actually meant the more lowly ones.
I think they are called âuseful idiotsâ in a revolution.
Usually they are disposed of first post revolution.
December 28, 2022
Our so called betters are like locusts. They will just simply move on to the next victim to be devoured. The man who now occupies Number 10 had, until very recently, held a U.S. Green Card.
December 28, 2022
+1
Agree but I really meant the ones at a lower level.
December 28, 2022
Mark, when youâre that rich you can live anywhere in the World.
They do not feel a deep connection with the UK. Look at Milliband and Clegg, following the money.
The more you think about what the Tories imposed it was mainly against their own voters, they tripled tuition fees against English teenagers only! A graduate tax (that is impossible to repay because of the interest) but only for the English, they donât even apply the graduate tax to Scottish graduates earning in England so theyâre nearly 10% better off, yet the Scottish residents pay no more tax for that. Introduced 2012.
They take off the child allowance when one person in the family earns over the UEL, which families like to have Mum at home. It makes no difference if Mum is earning or not. Introduced 2013.
Clawback the personal allowance over ÂŁ100,000 an effective 62% tax rate introduced 2010.
When we had Labour, they privatised Dentists. In 2006 they opened up the Post Office to competition and began the road to privatisation. HS1 started under labour and plans for HS2 was sold to us by Mandelson. You just donât know what youâre going to get anymore.
December 28, 2022
‘You just donât know what youâre going to get anymore.’
Oh yes we do – heaps of misery.
December 28, 2022
BMW has already agreed to transfer the electric Mini production to China, following the energy price hike and Hunt taxes. This means closing all British mini manufacturing in Oxford by 2030. We now have a UN/WEF controlled government with all ‘opposition’ aligned.
December 28, 2022
I wonder who has interests in China? Ah yes, we do know that.
December 28, 2022
He has a close relative who appears on state sponsored CCP TV
December 28, 2022
Well British people should stop buying Minis they can only do it while we let them get away with it.
December 28, 2022
Iâve been wondering for decades why British people have been complicit in the destruction of their own country – by buying loads of imported goods.
December 28, 2022
Our government could start Mike and only buy/rent mobility cars made in the UK. Supporting British jobs.
December 28, 2022
All to save the world.
December 29, 2022
The world needs saving from international politicians, eco-warriors and billionaires.
December 28, 2022
Net zero, unachievable. All electric cars on the road, unachievable. LL calls it bonkers! I say no sane person could make this stuff up and present it as policy. Knowledgeable experts calculate that it will not be possible to supply the raw materials for all electric cars. Further, there will not be enough electricity to charge all these ev’s. Owners will find their car battery has been drained instead of charged overnight, to balance the grid!
Another negative is that the extra weight of batteries in ev’s will cause a great deal more wear on the roads causing extra cost in maintenence.
Once again, what a coincidence that WEF stated intention is to end private car ownership! I will not be buying one and will keep on with a far more environmentally friendly ice vehicle until I am prevented from buying fuel. Total loss of freedom.
December 28, 2022
Well, loss of petrol stations is a dead cert when many more ev’s are on the road, just as we have seen the decline in small independent petrol garages, which seems to be the way this govt (and Labour, come to that) want to see their dreams come true. The oil companies won’t care, they will still keep selling to the poorer and more sensible countries, with less regulation and taxes.
December 28, 2022
Oil companies won’t invest in the UK or any other companies with Corporation taxes rising from 19-25% and windfall taxes imposed and threatened in the future. This Government are against us, not acting in our interests, deliberately engineering a recession and the Snake and Hunt just grin their smug unelected, unwanted and already rejected smiles.
December 28, 2022
The EV and the madness of banning ICE is only UK & EU …the rest of the world think we’re mad
December 28, 2022
It seems we have industry leaders collaborating with a government agenda. Not new. How many leaders in the hospitality sphere, or for that matter any sector of the economy spoke out against the government’s economically disastrous lockdown policy? You just need government-friendly ‘experts’ to be enlisted in support of the agenda and given blanket media coverage, and most people will be too intimidated to speak out.
Then you have the fact that the sector is not a unified bloc, with everyone having identical interests at stake. There are manufacturers who are profiting very nicely from EVs, thank you. Just as there was Deliveroo and the online economy that profited very nicely from lockdowns. Each time the problem seems to be the same: government-imposed agendas. Or rather agendas imposed by those using governments to drive through their ideology.
December 28, 2022
+1
They are obviously working on a new type of âPeopleâs CarriageââŠof flimsy construction and electric this time, of course!
December 28, 2022
It is becoming walk or buy a battery supported bicycle. Cripple ICE car buying, then kill off production, England was basically first to start manufacturing industry and the forces out there want it to be first to have it destroyed.
December 28, 2022
+1
They know that given our head we could beat the rest of the industrialised world into a cocked hat. ( Marxism having been kicked out that is).
Too much like competition.
With insider/quisling help how easy to render a country incapable of producing the things it needs!
December 28, 2022
Certain companies particularly elsewhere in Europe do indeed have a track record in following bad government-imposed agendas – and have lived well to hear the tale told.
December 28, 2022
My apologies for my oft repeated complaint, this is just more big government, driven by this green ideology. With mass immigration we need to retain as much as possible of our manufacturing base,to provide employment for the population. I fear a change of government will not provide any solace.
December 28, 2022
The alternative government would inevitably be a coalition of Labour, the SNP and Lib Dims.
Anybody with any memory will know that this unholy alliance would be infinitely worse than the current lot of faux Conservatives.
Miliband found out that English voters will not support any coalition that involves Sturgeon, and she is now even more hated than she was in 2015.
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/04/03/00/273C95B800000578-3023911-image-m-52_1428016900661.jpg
December 28, 2022
The polls currently sho a Labour landslide. Even if the Tories claw back much of what they lost they still will not be in government and if there is to be a coalition government it is more likely to be a Labour / LibDem one with no SNP involvement.
December 28, 2022
+many
Yes.
The reality of our situation is terrifying.
We here have built up quite a good hedge re energy bills but even so we have been cold ( fear of what the energy company might do).
And no doubt the govt. plans to ban wood burners and tax us for non compliant houses.
Local authorities are actually putting in place ways to limit our freedom of movement.
What use will cars be pray?
And still this silence and Pontius Pilote style hand washing from those who should be looking after us.
December 28, 2022
As every year goes by ICE car ownership becomes more and more expensive. All because too many people in power are following the ridiculous nonsense of ‘climate change’ Remember when it was called ‘global warming’ That looks a bit silly now with the current temperatures in N.America.
C02 is a trace gas amounting to .45% of the Earths atmosphere. To credit it with the ability to change the Earths climate in multiple ways is a total nonsense.
EV’s are simply out of financial range for all but the most wealthy and often impractical. Our brilliant Government is now going to make them dearer by adding VED.
Car manufacturers aren’t helping them selves either with the cost of a new ICE car. Just as an example:
Four years ago I bought a one year old Peugeot 2008 from a dealer it cost me ÂŁ16K !!!
However I rather like the car and briefly considered replacing it with the new model, until I saw the price. ÂŁ31,000 for the equivalent model !! It’s hardly a prestige car, it’s a family runabout ÂŁ31,000 ludicrous.
December 28, 2022
Old Albion
I wonder how much a very basic ice vehicle would really cost without all the gadgets we take for granted today.
In the olden days the wealthy travelled by coach and the poor by hay cart but at least they travelled. The majority of trips are short in time and mileage as long as the traffic isn’t in gridlock.
Do we really need all these all these gadgets? I think not. In truth all we want is to get from A to B safely.
December 28, 2022
I often wish I still had my first car …. a 1968 1500cc VW Beetle, which my father passed down to me when he bought a Golf. It was a fabulous little car; absolutely no bells and whistles, but very reliable. When I, in turn, passed it onto my cousin it had 160,000 miles on the clock and was still on the original clutch, gearbox and engine.
December 28, 2022
Indeed perfectly good second hand cars with year left in them for for under ÂŁ1000.
December 28, 2022
I saw some figures years ago. At the time a new Ford Sierra was ÂŁ8k. Apparently it came off the production line costing ÂŁ2.5k. The difference was R&D for the next model.
December 28, 2022
You can easily keep old ones going for 20+ years but they will force you off the road. Keeping your old ones going actually saves CO2 too. So what is there real agenda?
December 28, 2022
Turboterrier, I know your point is about all the extra gadgets, and I concur! But your remarks about coaches and hay carts⊠is what some want us be like, without the hay carts. They wonât be needed with insects on the menu. Itâs all a bit surreal!
December 28, 2022
Turbo, the Tesla has no gadgets or than a touch screen. For an expensive car I was surprised with this cheap looking pleather interior, very stark, no dials, speedometer, fuel gauge, buttons etc. Now Iâm used to it I prefer it, just a fake wood panel to wipe down.
December 28, 2022
But still expensive and totally out of reach for most.
December 28, 2022
The company trialled three cars a Kia, Tesla and a Lexus.
The Kia lost its battery charge one night and the user couldnât get into work until lunch time. Otherwise it has been running very well.
December 28, 2022
built for ease of mass production, sold at a ‘mine’s better than yours’ con trick.
The profit must be breathtaking.
December 28, 2022
OMG how boring.
December 28, 2022
One correction OA – 450ppm is 0.045%..
The theory of AGM, that CO2 causes atmospheric warming is easily disproved, as there is no correlation between CO2 levels and temperature over the last 600M years. That’s roughly the time there has been complex life on this planet (defined as Eukaryotes). No correlation, no causation.
December 28, 2022
Thanks ’twas a slip-up by me. I also should have added. The UK is responsible for 1% – 1.2% of that 0.045%
In other words virtually nothing.
December 28, 2022
……………………..and our manmade contribution to that figure of 0.045% of the atmosphere is estimated to be 3% of that total figure. So do we believe we’re responsible for any change in climate? Of course not. It’s a religion NOT science.
December 28, 2022
Atmospheric CO2 400 ppm = 0.04%
December 28, 2022
Yes, of which only about 3% (of that 0.04%) is “man-made”
December 28, 2022
+1 Old Albion. CO2 is only .04% of the atmosphere!! But essential for all life.
December 28, 2022
So what powers our ministers’ official cars today? Electric?
December 28, 2022
They need ICE vehicles for reasons of national security.
Unaffordable EVs are what they decide are good enough for you and me, not them obviously.
December 28, 2022
The armoured ministerial cars are about to be replaced – by German-built Audi A8s – as it seems that no UK car manufacturer is capable of building and delivering what’s needed any more (I’ve seen it reported in recent days that last year’s car production output in the UK was the lowest since 1956 and less than half of 2016’s output). It appears than skills shortages and supply chain issues caused by certain Conservative government policies are a factor in this situation.
I’m also seeing it reported that this Conservative government is refusing to publish its estimates of the economic benefits of the trade deal it is negotiating with Israel. Why not? So pitiful as to be embarrassing?
December 28, 2022
Thats a disgrace
December 28, 2022
I blame the government. Things were working fine before Net Zero. Now the politicians have legislated against affordable private transport. Fewer people want or can afford EVs, don’t blame the manufacturers for this.
They are selling to a niche market: the woke or virtue-signalling rich. So of course it’s a luxury, essentially throw-away product. The rest of us want something practical and affordable, whose engine will last for decades and which will therefore have a decent second hand value. Try selling a 10 year old EV. Any takers?
December 28, 2022
As it happens I read an article on this very subject recently. And, yes, there is a market for a 10 year old Nissan Leaf. Which surprised me. I saw a thing on YouTube where people who had bought second hand EVs were asked to report. I remember one bloke who had bought a 6 year old Leaf and he was very happy with it. Iâd happily have an EV. 90% of my journeys are local. But for the 10% that are hundreds of miles, Iâd want an ICE car for them.
December 28, 2022
Goodness, a politician complaining about the response of industry to, guess what politicians forcing it to go down a net zero route when the technology is nowhere ready plus schemes like Ulez. Just like the tosh about the cost of heat pumps, boilers running on hydrogen etc.
Physician heal thyself.
As for not talking to consumers, nonsense. Range anxiety and quick recharging is well known and billions are being invested in both the industry and universities etc on battery technology.
In any event, who cares. I always buy a cheap, in good order, high mileage, car and use it until I have to send it to the breakers.
December 28, 2022
OT
It is reported that the Chinese have lifted their travel restrictions. Japan , India and the USA are putting in new restrictions to check visitors.
Is the UK going to adopt the “come on down policy” as they did last time and let Chinese visitors flood in with no screening?
December 28, 2022
I hope not Turbo. They are going down like flies now around me.
December 28, 2022
turboterrier.
Of course they are not. That would be wascist !
December 28, 2022
The anti-car buying thing is akin to the whole anti-work thing, and to some extent linked to it.
Cars are no longer a pleasure. Silly and dangerous so-called smart motorways, 20 limits in town, high prices and taxes which change at will. Fuel fads change at will from petrol to diesel to petrol to electric. Aggro to go to France and back. Aggro to park. Police and others closing motorways at will. Roads torn up for water/gas works then just left with or without traffic lights.
People just can’t be bothered to invest in new, then of course there’s the linked issue:
People won’t want to go out to work when paid to stay at home for 2 years, seeing others do the same, taxed to the point where it’s not worthwhile, pension contributions taxed before they take a pension, benefits available, government wasting tax money, all the political stuff creeping into the workplace.
The last thing you’d do is go out and buy a shiny new car.
December 28, 2022
Our government and House of Commons are working against the interests of those whom they purport to represent. They are clearly taking instructions from selfish globalists who care nothing for the majority (in fact they want those numbers significantly reduced). There are evil forces at work which must be opposed if we are not to succumb to their tyranny and be enslaved by their actions and those of their puppets.
December 28, 2022
+10
December 28, 2022
Good points. Particularly about charging points. We have about 500 cars in on-street parking in my road (no houses with off-street parking) and we have 5 charging points. As far as I can see there are absolutely no plans at all to build any more beyond converting a few existing lamp posts which the council are doing at a snail’s pace. It will need a massive programme of infrastructure works to install a sufficient number – say 250 – in the run-up and beyond 2030. That’s just one street, every other street withing a radius of several miles of me is the same. I conclude that the 2030 target will be relaxed or the government of the day will be extremely unpopular – or both.
December 28, 2022
In my small west country town (not the satellite estates) I estimate 80% of the cars are parked on the street. You can’t guarantee parking outside your own house and trailing an electric cable over the (narrow) pavements is illegal. Lamp posts, where they exist, are about 100 feet apart. One local car park has had 2 EV charging points installed …. the idea that even half of current car-owners will “go EV” is for the birds. It’s simply not possible.
But that’s the intention: make driving only possible for the affluent and force everyone else off the road (onto the non-existent public transport).
December 28, 2022
Donna, I read the idea is that the more people that have to use public transport then the more of it there will be, problem is weâll all be on our knees to the unions unless we can have driverless systems in place.
December 28, 2022
The Government, on behalf of the WEF, is deliberately trying to force less affluent drivers off the road by a combination of vehicle price, inconvenience and taxes.
I expect many, like me, are holding onto their current petrol/diesel vehicle and intend replacing it with another, shortly before the ridiculous and completely unnecessary ban is implemented.
I will not be “nudged” coerced or blackmailed into buying an EV: they cost too much; it is virtually impossible to charge one where I live and the engineering negatives are too great. The policy has been created by metro-liberals who never venture outside London and have no idea how the real world works.
December 28, 2022
That is just another way of putting it, but spot on Donna.
December 28, 2022
Donna
I am with you on this, but there will eventually be fewer ICE car filling stations, as Hybrids and EV cars eventually grow in number, and who knows how much extra tax will be imposed on us in the future.
Then we have the growing number of ULEZ area’s all with the complication of different criteria, then possibly road/bridge/tunnel tolls, charging per mile.
Then remember if you retain an ICE car, who will produce all of the possible mechanical spares when such factories will be closed by the manufacturers.
We own two ICE vehicles at the ,moment, with a combined age of 36 years, both still running fine, but only Euro 4 compliant, a problem for us with regards to cost in many ULEZ areas.
Have been looking to replace one vehicle in recent years (with probably another ICFE vehicle) but have held back due to unknown Government policy, on tax, ULEZ, etc etc.
Our current vehicles have no depreciation cost at all !.
December 28, 2022
They are also using road blocking, 29mph speed limits, congestion zones, ULEZ, bus lanes and heavy fines should you put a tyre in an empty bus lane or similar – it is all out war on the motorist by governments.
They claim public transport is more CO2 efficient but generally door to door it is slower, less CO2 efficient (given average occupancy and often rather indirect routes), slower, more time restricted and less reliable. Rather useless if you have to carry good, tools etc. too. Or if you need to call at two or three places that day or return at 2,00am.
December 28, 2022
Lifelogic.
Public transport less healthy too, Government know this, hence the suggestion to wear a mask when travelling on them.
Windows no longer open, and Air/heating/cooling circulation with lack of filters, bus seats too small and lack cushioned seats, and leg room very limited for anyone of average size, let alone oversized people, and if you are carrying a bag of any sort, then sit with it on your lap !
Then (on the trains) we have the fiasco of buying a ticket with second mortgage, unless you are a dab hand at working out split ticketing
And they call all of this progress.
Still we have HS2 to look forward to !!!!!
December 28, 2022
@Donna
Yes, and I’ve read that replacing car batteries which have a life of around ten years is almost as expensive as buying a new car.
December 28, 2022
Toyota warranty on batteries in their hybrids is 15 years. They must be pretty confident.
December 28, 2022
I’m prepared to consider a self-charging hybrid when I replace my Hyundai, but not a plug-in since plugging-in isn’t possible where I live.
December 28, 2022
I look upon it as yet another example of how a totally detached and tooth fairy believing government screwed up yet again. Add to it a marxist labour controlled railway system and you have the complete formula for chaos. Dumbos , in a free market economy you cannot dictate to the market what it should buy. That what you dictate is not fit for purpose and lacks the infrastructure to support it is incidental to the established alternative at half the price. In addition you have tried to turn the car owner into a leper/cash cow to cover the cost of all the other idiot schemes you get up to. Back off government, get back to your constituencies where you can do the least harm. Try to understand, you are the problem, everything you touch turns to dust. The saying ” Couldn’t run a piss up in a brewery” is too kind, there wouldn’t be a brewery with politicians in charge. You are a burdon on the UK that is unaffordable, not from the salaries you get, but from the damage you do.
December 28, 2022
“there wouldnât be a brewery with politicians in charge” oh they would have one, just to ensure supplies to the Palace of Westminster!
December 28, 2022
Your last sentence Agrcola, is deadly accurate.
December 28, 2022
Dear Mr. Redwood,
@Agricola,
A telling contribution. When the conversation turns to the capability of our members of parliament I am reminded of a quote, sometimes attributed to Paul Ehrlich, which is as follows “To Err is Human; To Really Foul Things Up Requires a Computer”. One only needs to replace the word ‘computer’ with ‘politician’.
I often wonder why we allow these same politicians to rule our lives. I suppose it is as Winston Churchill once said âDemocracy is the worst form of government â except for all the others that have been tried.
Nevertheless, it is striking how often, faced with intractable problems, do MP’s (with some notable exceptions) arrive at the worst solutions. Perhaps, when MP’s have debated a subject and arrived at a strategy for dealing with it, a completely reverse scheme should then be implemented. Or is that the Blob’s Job already?
January 2, 2023
Well the Swiss are holding a referendum to address issues of unwanted increase in population density or population size? At least they seem to to have a partly functioning system, lets see if they get what they vote for?
December 28, 2022
Your party, and our government made up of believers in world governance from your party, will continue with these disastrous policies. As you state government and industry is not interested in what people want or need. We are expected to behave ourselves and live the type of life forced on us.
Your arguments to counter the problems are based in the past, you are easily ignored by world policies. By supporting the Tory party you are part of the problem along with them.
December 28, 2022
// Michael Gove, UK levelling-up secretary, has announced a âhistoricâ ÂŁ1.4bn devolution deal with north-east England that will create the role of an elected mayor with new powers in the region.
The agreement will include provision for a regional champion, who will speak on behalf of an area of 2mn people, including Newcastle, Northumberland, County Durham, Gateshead and Sunderland.//
It doesn’t matter what Government we elect the policies remain the same, lust like New Labour , Blue Labour are following their policies and we have Scotsman Michael Gove pursuing the policy to dismember England. Who cares if the people there voted to not have a regional assembly they will get craved up into a region anyway. Perhaps as a Scottish person he doesn’t understand English culture is one of parishes, councils and counties.
You might have thought with the despotic rule of Emir Khan the Conservatives would stay well away from creating more of them.
December 28, 2022
Gove gets almost everything wrong a daft lefty English graduate. He made us suffer May, wanted VAT on school fees to distort free & fair competition even more. Yesterday he wanted prettier new housing fine but the main cause of ugly new housing is the planning system, the green crap building regs and the need to pack them in on a site to make any money.
So you get small houses, pokey windows, no gardens, little parking, for owners or guests…
December 28, 2022
These âgreen crapâ building regulations – surely having highly insulated houses is a good idea. Both my lads live in new houses (one five years old, the other is one year old (the houses, not the lads)) and they rarely have the heating on. Seems good to me.
December 28, 2022
They are continuing with the EU Policy of breaking the UK up into regions. More bureaucracy and costs for those living there, you mark my words.
December 28, 2022
Sir John, like the rest of the Net Zero nonsense this will be abandoned as impractical, with major political turmoil. With that in mind, the starry-eyed idealists will need a fall-back plan, but it will have to be put in place without triggering the ‘CO2 is the devil’ alarm bells.
Replacing diesel and petrol vehicles with ones burning methane would reduce our carbon footprint and simultaneously lower NOx and particulate emissions to virtually zero. Let us suppose that in two years time even the most rabid green MPs realise that Net Zero as presently planned is electoral suicide. They will need an excuse to abandon the no ICE policy, and simply legislating that all vehicles built after 2030 should be dual fuel adaptable will be good enough. Politics.
If only we could find a cheap and secure source of natural gas…
JF
December 28, 2022
Can’t afford a new car – book a holiday instead.
Record numbers of holidays booked over the Christmas period. Imagine all that aeroplane CO2 being produced. There will be protests at airports this Summer and our government will not be able to resist the urge to tax flights more to offset the carbon.
December 28, 2022
The tax will be a retrospective departure tax to catch everyone who has already paid for their holiday.
December 28, 2022
I guess I am not alone in planning to buy a new ICE car just before the ban and keeping it for as long as it lasts. Hey, maybe buy a spare engine too! Mind you, I might not be around. Iâll be 78 in 2030.
Despite the general view expressed on this site, here in West Dorset (not a particularly affluent are) there are (to me) a surprising number of electric cars. There are loads of Kia Niros on the road. I looked at a charging point in a council car park in Bridport recently. There were two cars being charged. A notice caught my eye – âParking Charges Applyâ!
So, as well as paying a no doubt extortionate price for the electricity, you have to bung the council 3 to 4 quid too. A good way to encourage the âtransitionâ.
December 28, 2022
Our host and I are both a year older than you, Mike, and here in East Dorset there are a few more electric cars appearing but the range is pathetic and charging times long.
I intend to keep my current hi-tech Audi diesel indefinitely, but if it proves unreliable long term, we have two classic cars with a combined age of 120 years already. I can guarantee that both will still be on the road when petrol is eventually no longer available. Up until then, our sons will still be enjoying driving them ! THAT’S sustainability !
December 28, 2022
The problems with EVs are technical not political. There’s no magic wand to wave that will make them disappear.
They are expensive when new and rapidly depreciate. The answer to that is to buy second hand, even at one year old, they become cheap. (Let somebody else bear the depreciation.)
The main danger is that if a new battery is needed, think of around ÂŁ10,000 for a replacement.
Who knows if the prices will fall. Are the manufacturers just trying to recoup development costs ASAP?
I have owned one for ten years. Wonderful to drive. My battery packed in at only 16,000 miles, fortunately under guarantee. (It took six months to fix it) It would have cost me ÂŁ7000 at that time.
With some cars, the battery can be broken down and individual cells replaced, much cheaper. Check into this when buying.
That apart, I have had ten years of cheap motoring. Fuels cost mainly nil, I have solar PV panels able to meet the slow charge rate. (Supposing one is at home by day.)
So the answer is that it’s an ideal second car/local runabout that meets 99% of my needs.
December 28, 2022
Large sectors of the car industry are heading for oblivion, and on a very short timescale !
Jaguar is to become an all-electric brand in 2025 and their aim is to chase the same high-end customers as Mercedes and BMW. All three willl be leaving a gaping hole in the mass market. Do they not realise that there are only a limited number of buyers for ÂŁ80,000 plus cars ? Never mind the obvious problems of range and charging.
BMW is transferring production of all-electric Minis to China. That means that all production of Minis will end in 2030 if the government goes ahead with its daft plan to end production of all IC-engined cars in 2030. Last year, Oxford produced 40,000 electric minis alone!
BMW are going to look even more stupid if China goes to war over Taiwan and the inevitable sanctions are applied on Chinese-made goods.
Western manufacturers need a medium-term plan to bring production of components and complete cars back to democratic countries, not rely more on China.
In 2019, the cheapest car in the UK was ÂŁ9,000. Now it is more than ÂŁ12,000, while the cheapest electric car is well over twice that price !
December 28, 2022
We have only one problem in this country â POLITICIANS. Can you honestly look back at the last 30 years and come up with one policy that has been beneficial to the indigenous people of this country? Clear out the majority of politicians from the HoCs (Sir John excluded), and scale down the House of Lords to only include only those with expert knowledge who can add some value to debates.
Net-Zero will be the final nail in this countryâs coffin. Itâs obvious to the majority of posters on here that our government is working for a higher order and not for the benefit of its people.
Why people keep voting them in is the biggest mystery to me. The constant brainwashing from the media must have addled people’s brains. If they think Labour is the solution, I give up.
December 28, 2022
Indigenous people! Are we even allowed to say that? Never forget – the indigenous people of this country have no rights and are not worthy of consideration by politicians. We are tax cows to be milked and replaced by immigrants as rapidly as possible. Indigenous people in the Amazon are to be protected and their culture is sacrosanct and must never be diluted by immigration.
December 28, 2022
The lack of an alternative , for a long time it has been a case of voting for the least worst option.
December 28, 2022
It is HMG policy to reduce the number of cars on the road, and they are using the enforced switch to electric cars as a way to not only do that but to make the introduction of zoning easier.
With less cars made in this country, this will add to the loss of skilled jobs, economic potential and will certainly mean our import bill is bigger than it should be.
We really should introduce import charges on foreign cars coming in from abroad – that might even things up a bit but would also provide extra revenue for HMG to waste.
December 28, 2022
Surely government policies have caused this problem? Car manufacturers are, like everyone else, struggling with huge increases in energy costs and the supply of raw materials. Net Zero aspirations are the elephant in the room as they resulted in the arbitrary banning of ICEâs in 2030! Of course we had to be first to take this ludicrous step, it makes politicians feel virtuous! However, the impact on the car industry is enormous causing confusion when deciding which vehicle to build and the most appropriate powertrain. BEVâs are the plaything of the wealthy and those with home charging facilities. Those without home charging are largely excluded from BEVâs, continuing driving ICEâs way beyond 2030. There will be no reduction in emissions. People are now waking up to the reality of these unacceptable policies and the adverse impact they are having on their lives. Regrettably though predictably, government is not listening.
December 28, 2022
The problem is, that none of our political parties are listening. Every party represented in the House Of Commons is signed up to net zero and every other party wants to get there faster than the Conservatives !
You never get sensible policies or good outcomes when there is no alternative on offer.
December 28, 2022
The car industry has been shocked and troubled many times in the past and it is now facing another one now . Back in the 60s it was plagued by a “Piece Work” pay system and afterwards by massive Union disruption . Change eventually came after its weak management and control was got rid of . Many organisations simply collapsed . It has always been a major employer and local and national economic influencer ; the Government cannot overlook this and must intervene without delay ; it should remind itself of the significant contribution Margaret Thatcher made .
December 28, 2022
Itâs not just Zombie companies who have stayed solvent because of near zero interest rates, zombie companies have also been created because of near zero interest rates.
Diversity managers, diversity hires, virtue signalling and net zero products. None of these things help a company to stay solvent. Net zero cars, with no energy infra structure whilst China controls the supply of batteries are zombies companies. Net zero is economic madness.
This doesnât just include the car industry. The Government has been letting millions of immigrants into the UK, with the current barrier at ÂŁ18,500 income per couple. This effectively means these people pay no tax and the burden falls on the middle classes to support them. The older productive, tax paying middle classes are now retiring. The ONLY consequence will be a substantial reduction in taxes and the size of the Government and a fall in the standard of living. The Government continue to be in denial using QE to borrow more money.
Itâs not just the car industry that is creating zombie companies. Itâs the West creating zombie Governments and zombie countries.
December 28, 2022
I was trying to work out the threshold that should be set to ensure that every inmigrant allowed here to work or study is not a burden to the English tax payer. I gave up as it’s certainly double this useless Governments figures. The Torys are importing immigrants on less than minimum wages at tax payers expense. Numerous villages have lost their idiots. Point them towards Westminster and the Home Office.
December 28, 2022
When people are cold, hungry and broke as a result of years of unworkable policies from incompetent governments, there will be plenty of ICE powered vehicles to bring police and security forces to crack down on the unhappy and restive people.
December 28, 2022
”Why doesnât the industry recognise it is not offering the products people want ”
Why doesn’t government recognise that its the ban of ICE in 2030 thats unsettling the market, increasing manufacturing costs of EVs, confusing the buyer, increasing taxpayer subsidy and stopping car sector growth …any blind bat can see that !
December 28, 2022
As the current government policies, view and plans are unrecognisable from the 2019 general election manifesto âŠcould I ask the party to publish a new manifesto in January 2023 â it should be easy as they should know their own plan
December 28, 2022
One regularly see a sticker on the rear window of a vehicle (incorrectly) claiming “Zero emission vehicle”
In the last year Gas has provided on average 12.80 GW or 42% of our electricity (see National Grid Live)
of this around one third is imported liquified natural gas. In 2022, the UK has sourced its LNG from 12 different countries. The United States has been the largest source of LNG, followed by Qatar, Peru, Angola and Russia
USA deliveries equating to 7.1 Bcm in the first eight months, followed by Qatar (6.4 Bcm)
So around one third of our gas is LNG and so around 14% of our electricity is from LNG.
So the “Zero emission” vehicles are no such thing.
I have placed an order for delivery in March for a new Ford Car (sadly made in Romania). I wish to keep it for more than ten years and it will run on petrol.
There is no possibility whatever that the UK can supply electricity from renewables only – the windless days require backup that does not exist – other than gas or nuclear.
December 28, 2022
Our former PM and his Government in their âself created raceâ made the decision to ban new diesel and petrol car sales by 2030, to pressurise people to buy all electric cars.
Was this just to boost the Chinese economy? That’s the only section enjoying the benefits of the UK Government. The Chinese donât see any point in taking the bait, as with most sane Governments, and will phase out their desire to pollute when they see their economy is good and fit to cope. Only a lunatic Government would crucify their economy and punish their people.
The sane thing to do is come up with a viable alternative then create the money(an economy) to fund the aspiration.
December 28, 2022
Ian, I will put my bet that China and India will NEVER stop using cheap power, they are not daft and malleable like our dozy leaders who cannot ever negotiate a good deal for Britain.
December 28, 2022
Apparently 90K miles is the threshold for an EV to use less CO2 overall even before you consider the practical dissadvantages.
Government policy is misguided due to lack of engineers, chemists and general technical expertise amongs MPs and Civil Service. Boris and his wife haven’t helped.
December 28, 2022
Amusing – The VW Group produces their EV’s using power from coal fired power station. I guess they are not alone in this.
Why if EV’s are so good why are their production methods and components not assessed on an equal basis when it comes to World Pollution?
The Governments one and only plan contrived by Boris Johnson, is to close all UK manufacture and import. Government is convinced by the eco science that to remove the capability to respond from the UK and the UK will then be a happier place and the lunatics will applaud them.
December 28, 2022
The biggest problem for EV manufacturers will be battery supply. Nissan Motor Manufacturing has its battery supplier 400 yds from its main gate with a dedicated road to enable just in time delivery.
British volt intends to build it new battery factory in Blyth, it will fail before it gets off the ground.
It isn’t on the door step of its end users. Batteries are too big and heavy to transport to car makers. You would need a fleet of HGVS to keep supply going. You can ship them down and store locally but this increases costs.
Toyota maybe the company to leave the UK first, Nissan will stay due to the amount invested in the Sunderland plant, but in time will leave to ,to manufacture for their domestic market.
December 28, 2022
JCB are developing large hydrogen internal combustion engines for plant and agricultural machinery. It will be interesting to see where this leads and whether the underlying techology is suitable for HCVs and even smaller vehicles. I understand a lot of diesel components are transferable. Not sure how they deal with long term effects of hydrogen on steel components (I’m told hydrogen makes iron and steel brittle over time).
Nobody seems to factor in the security of supply of rare earths for battery manufacture or what the cost of disposal will be when the batteries reach end of life.
I shall stick with my 5 year old car and 50 year old classic rather than buy a new car now, especially since my preferred brand is no longer manufactured in this country.
December 28, 2022
David Paine :
I don’t know why JCB are not using GREEN methane.
The technology already exists and many vehicles in the UK and around the world are already running on it, all ices can be easily converted and GREEN methane is carbon neutral.
The higher burning temperature of hydrogen over methane means it produces more Noxs than methane.
December 28, 2022
Adapt car engines to run on recycled sustainable cooking oil, which is carbon neutral.
Job done.
December 28, 2022
there are plenty of good reasons for not having an electric car. Not yet found a compelling one to have one!
December 28, 2022
When the US thaws out I wonder if we will about hear the cost in people’s lives caused by having an electric car that left them stranded with no battery charge.
//National Health Service is planning to purchase a fleet of fully electric ambulances. //
December 28, 2022
Just walked up to the pub. 72 Reg ID3 parked outside a neighbourâs house. There are loads of EVs round here.
If youâre old, at home all day, can park your car on your own drive, generally do short journeys and can put solar on the roof – I guess a PHEV makes a lot of sense.
December 28, 2022
Mike
Agreed, it certainly does with current regulation and taxes, but that is the problem, current regulation and taxes change, so the goal posts are ever moving, Ev’s will soon be taxed the same as ICE vehicles simply because the Government need the money, and they can do what they like at short notice, change is just a budget away.
One way or another all transport types will be taxed, probably by road charging, which in itself would not be a problem for many, as long as all of the other taxes were scrapped, but they won’t, you know that, and I know that, it’s double bubble for the Chancellor, and he knows that is just a few years away !!!
December 28, 2022
Hello Sir John,
Congratulations on trying to focus on what matters for the UK. But having read all 136 comments so far, I can’t help feeling you are preaching to the converted. There are enough books now published by qualified scientists to show net zero is a pipe dream that will never happen but do any of our MPs or leaders read them? How can it be that your readers, at least 80% of whom will be inclined to vote conservative, are so disillusioned with a conservative government? Don’t you, & a number of senior & sensible colleagues, need to sit down with the PM & tell him why he is going to lose the next General Election? Why are our leaders so blind to what is obvious to us? There is still time to change, but it needs to happen fast.
December 28, 2022
KL,
Tories are beyond the point of saving, too dishonest, too treacherous, it would be best if the party is destroyed for something new to emerge.
December 28, 2022
They live in a bubble. Their only contact with the outside world, other than family and friends, is their constituents or lobby groups. All go to formulate their opinions of the world.
December 28, 2022
Keith. Pathetic isn’t it?
December 28, 2022
Keith From Leeds :
They know what theyâre doing.
The giveaway was when our PM, then Chancellor, said at COP26 :
âSo our third action is to rewire the entire global financial system for Net Zero.â
Greta Thunbergâs speech 30/10/2022 at the London South Bank Centre :
https://youtu.be/ropBOwPvmLM?t=1513
âWe are never going back to normal again [after the pandemic] because normal was already a crisis. What we refer to as ânormalâ is an extreme system built on exploitation of people and planet. It is a system defined by colonialism, imperialism, oppression and genocide by the so-called global North to accumulate wealth that still shapes our current world orderâ
December 28, 2022
Yes well . . . repeal the stupid law banning production of I.C. vehicles by 2030.
How about reversing the higher vehicle excise duties?
I don’t know how we can tell the car manufacturers to ‘get their finger out’!
But why can’t we produce our own semiconductors? Surely we are capable of copying those that have got through.
December 28, 2022
I’ve not changed cars since 2009. This is partly because I have no idea what to buy, if I were going to change.
All the problems mentioned in the piece are at the forefront of my mind, but when I went to look at the latest EV offerings, I found that a small family car is now about ÂŁ35k. That is ludicrous, since not long ago that would get you a luxury car.
I’m beginning to wonder if post-2030 motoring in the UK will consist of people running old ICE cars, as long as there are spare parts available and a way to fuel these cars. I don’t want to change my car for a very expensive EV that can do less for me than the car it replaces.
Perhaps we will see cottage industries springing up to make parts for older ICE cars. Would the government actually ban them from the roads instead of the current approach of preventing new cars being sold?
December 28, 2022
Fair bit of the rest of the world will still be running Diesel and Petrol cars and making the spare parts post 2030. We will be OK unless the government of the day bans fuel and importing of spares. Who knows.
December 28, 2022
The government seems to be going against the citizens of this country for tick boxing nonsense. Many people can see that E.V. cars are not viable for the ordinary working man and as female driver myself I would be worried about running out of charge not finding a charging point or finding one and they are vandalised, there is also a situation where you may be travelling on a long journey with children or a baby and have to wait hours in a remote area to charge your car, the same thing applies to Heat Pumps they are costly and not effective enough to heat the home in this climate, when are the Government going to realise that this box ticking exercise of theirs does not work and are very damaging for this country, surely there is someone advising them with a good old fashioned dose of common sense or are they all young graduates that have no idea of responsibility and life.
December 28, 2022
Cars will be like coaches, where the six inch rectangle of steel with the vin number stamped on it is immortal and the rest of the vehicle is constantly replaced and updated around it. Never officially a new vehicle, and so never has to meet silly new vehicle rules. In the case of coaches the massive additional cost of wheelchair lifts, which hardly anyone uses, which is mandated into new ones, has brought about this state of affairs. It would be cheaper to give disabled people free taxi journeys up and down the country. Cars will be the same 2029 petrol cars will live forever. Politicians really are clueless.
December 28, 2022
Good evening
Would you reply to all these comments please as the common thread is frightening for my children and grandchildren.
How is this all to be reversed whilst there is still time?
Nothing appears to be happening in Parliament apart from immigration.
December 28, 2022
What are your governments plans for work vehicles that do lots of miles per day and canât be charged at the driverâs home? It is not far off, I havenât seen any plans yet? A battery vehicle will not do the work.
December 28, 2022
They know that EVs are expensive and impractical. They also know that there is insufficient minerals to replace all the existing ices. This is why we are not expected to own a personal vehicle and why last year, the then transport minister, Trudy Harrison, MP said :
âOwning a car is outdated â20th-century thinkingâ and we must move to âshared mobilityâ to cut carbon emissionsâ.
Only they will have private transport. For the rest of us it will be âactive travelâ (euphemism for walking and push bikes) and (strike ridden) public transport. Just read the Net Zero Strategy.
Because EVs are impractical with limited range and long charge times I am expecting that public fleets, such as government cars, ambulances, police and security will need to increase the size of their fleets in order to have vehicles always available and also will need to operate a relay system â although I expect Ministers to be using helicopter travel more frequently. So personal EVs may even need to be rationed with regulations as to who can and cannot own an EV.
There is only one reason for Net Zero and that is to destroy our economy and wealth and reduce our standard of living to that of the third world. That is the âGreat Resetâ from which a NWO will emerge.
December 28, 2022
It was all too obvious Sir John that the car has been an overtaxed and very unfair cash cow for decades to the coffers of govt who now realise virtue signalling is killing this golden goose stone dead.
Expecting ÂŁ30k EVs to take off instead they have 3 hours to queue now for a recharge this winter – great disappointment – will the government take responsibility for this disaster? No, with no ownership of bad news sadly.
December 29, 2022
Not to mention the fact that the so called public transport alternative is a total joke.
January 2, 2023
Buying and or renting active-transport is expensive as well. 15 min cities here we come. Don’t worry all you country dwellers. The city will come to you soon enough.