The Police station in Berkeley closed years ago, but to keep all of the ol' dears happy, they put in a Police post-box at the Town Hall for ratting on your neighbour. Next to the Town Hall, the Police have their own parking spot to avoid having the overweight, unfit copper from have to walk a few yards. It's opposite the Co-Op, where I've just been. They have an electric Police car! I didn't get the make but it was no Tesla! it is covered on stickers saying it is 100% green. I know electric cars are not cheap but the Police are buying them!
And the life cycle (the car not the copper) is most definitely not 100% green. Just been reading about how the lithium carbonate used to manufacture batteries is currently collected in South America and it’s a local ecological disaster just waiting to happen. Andy
It's interesting that no electric car is truly "green". There is the issue of the environmental damage, of mining Lithium together with charging it up on mains electricity, from Poland, generated by burning coal. In ten years time, after many have shelled out for electric cars, we will be told that petrol is really greener!
The article I was reading, claims that the lithium triangle between Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, has 75% of the world’s resources and that electric car manufacturer is going to increase by 29% annually year on year for the next 10 years. Given the charging life of a lithium chemistry battery, someone has got to come up with a more sustainable battery chemistry before then. Oh, hang on a minute, someone did (based on aluminium) and guess what, totally dropped off the radar. Green is only as green as the greedy bastids want it to be. Andy
You jogged my memory Andy, this is quite lengthy but I found it worth a listen. Keywords (apart from Lithium):- Bolivia, Morales and "Germany implicated". https://soundcloud.com/user-798093289/bolivias-lithium
Here is what happens if you crash your electric vehicle and want it taken away https://climatechangedispatch.com/wrecked-tesla-recycle-car/
There are a few electric police cars in Cheltenham too. Gloucestershire Constabulary, as a public body, probably have to demonstrate a green agenda.
The lithium issue is surely a problem but this argument about them being charged by burning coal is a bit of a red herring. The shift to renewable energy generation will accelerate in the next decade & they’ll be charged by wind & solar generated power. The tech isn’t perfect but it’s unstoppable now. Ducati need to get their act together & start making bikes we want to buy, that we’ll be allowed to buy!
I used to crew a two man rescue unit in the fire service and was involved in several hundred very serious accidents, so i think i can speak with a little knowledge in regards to cutting vehicles to extract casualties. Tesla or indeed any electric vehicle in this situation would present life threatening risk to both the casualty and the rescuers who may even be passing civilians. The fact your driving an electric vehicle could well be the instrument of your demise. I wont even try to go into the fire fighting arguments. There have been arguments re plus and minus points of having lithium on your bike, but its ok to wrap yourself in them in a car ( acvident)? From a first responders ( medically retired) point of view ,they really scare me, i think this will become a major issue in the future.
In future it might be a red herring -ideally a British one as they are happier- but currently I don't think it is. When added to the mining issues, the batteries effectively giving the vehicle a relatively short useful life, and the problems with disposing of the batteries, ECO friendly hybrids & electric cars are more like the emperors new clothes.
Surely they are unwanted imigrant fish. Get back over to the French side of the channel you finned Knut.
Yeah I kinda agree Jez but it’s an unstoppable global movement now. The resources will be there soon(ish) to provide mostly true green SOURCE power, the arguments that others have put here do need attention. I wasn’t even aware of the first responder issue for instance
Electric cars & bikes with long-life batteries, using batteries made from non hazardous chemicals, charged from wind or solar power, that aren't a fire hazzard are the way to go. Personally i see the current situation the same way I do when an obviously overlarge person has a double rum with diet coke... But maybe I'm being too harsh.
FECK!!! That's me! (not really, as I've given up the "Diet" Coke rubbish! Just go for the full sugar sh1t as I know that the "diet" crap is not the way to go!)
