This makes me want to cry! it’s bad enough that we have to kiss goodbye to the automotive magnificence that is the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera or the incredible 911 Turbo S. I might never be able to afford to buy such a thing but the idea that no new ones will ever be made is depressing. But no more petrol bikes - I just can’t get my head around it.
In the interest of prolonging battery range, will the new breed of electric bikes have to reduce the amount of ‘rider aids’ like traction control, sat nav, selectable riding modes, abs, heated grips, electronically controlled suspension, radio, phone chargers, fog lights, heated seat, sockets for heated clothing, water boilers, food blender, parking sensors, reversing gear, sensors etc. etc. etc?
The first paragraph has interesting words like proposed, consultation and feasible. 2030 isn’t far away. I’m hugely sceptical that the ICE will cease production by then. No chance. The penny will be dropping in slo mo between now and then….
I'll never buy an electric one but if fuel and parts are available l'll keep riding the one l've got now. If cam belts are unavailable that would be a problem eventually.
I bought my Suzuki SB200 about three years ago with the intention of making it battery driven electric. Everything was pretty well figured out and I was about to start purchasing parts when I thought it best to check on the insurance situation - that put a complete stop to the project as no-one wanted to know. Not because it was going to be a modified bike - that was no problem at all - but because it was going to be electric. Ended up just rebuilding the 2-stroke engine.
No, not yet. 2022 for the MOT exemption and 2023 for the tax. If anybody ever moans at me for running an old 2-stroke I will tell them to blame the motorcycle insurance companies!
Your reasoning is sound if you believe the Govt and its advisors consider such issues. Motorbikes are just another petrol powered vehicle and therefore merely a subspecies of an enemy that must be eradicated. Look what happened in that London. Motorcycles of a certain age are subject to the absurd and horrendously unfair ULEZ tax despite the fact that a 2001 125 ped (that’ll be £12.50 Mr Minimum-Wage) pushes out a mere fraction of the nasties generated by a brand new Bentley (free of charge to you My Lord). They’re also the quarter of the size of most cars, they don’t sit there idling as much, they produce less particulate matter such as rubber and brake dust and they cause less wear and tear to road surfaces, so you’d think the Mayor would be welcoming them with open arms. Furthermore, motorcycles symbolise fun and freedom which are to a great extent increasingly frowned upon (unless of course the former can be controlled and monetised and the latter can be doled out to us as a reward) along with non-conformist, unconventional lifestyles. It wouldn’t surprise me if at some point the powers that be also try to sneak speed or power limiters into the regulation of them.
We will not be using personal transport in the same way by then anyway, in my guestimation. Extremes of weather are getting worse and climate change will become a huge issue within 10 years IMHO. All that said though, there seems little plan from the |Government (quelle surprise) in terms of producing and delivering the energy to power these vehicles. Producing the electricity is easy enough, we waste huge amounts everyday when the sun comes up, but there seems no country-wide plan to enable people to charge vehicles on the move. They should be doing this now.
Any in any case, if there are not enough petrol driven cars on the road to justify plenty of petrol stations, a petrol driven bike will be useless anyway.
Wonder what happens if the climate doesn’t change as ‘modelled’ and water doesn’t wash away countries? Probably bit like covid, 20% of population will die at least, but we saved you with necessary punitive change to plebs around the world. How lucky we are.
You could cover the roofs of electric vehicles with solar panels but judging by what I’ve read when looking into getting a solar panel for my motorhome to extend its off grid capabilities, after half a day sitting in direct sunlight they might generate enough juice to run the heater, windows and the headlights for a few hours. I doubt very much they’d produce anywhere near enough ooomph to provide locomotive power unless you had a lot more area than an average vehicle roof. Solar panels are also quite heavy (15kg per sq m) and cumbersome. Now imagine someone were to invent photoelectric paint or nano-solar cells that could be mixed into a resin which worked at a decent efficiency…..
Its absolutely insane all this zero emission shit being pushed forward, as the respective governments will discover when they attempt to take the public away from their cars, bikes and vans. The poll tax, miners and race riots will be a non event once you really stop the average joe buying the bikes, cars, trucks, vans etc that they want to buy. Old shitters will become invaluable and be run for decades after decade. Its all fine dancing to the tune of the tiny minority of liberal greenies, but there is NO electric infrastructure even planned, let alone in place to support all these electric machines. It can never be so in the UK where we are all shoehorned into terraced houses, flats, rural settings and want to pull trailers and caravans. Cable theft will be the new hobby crime. Unplugging charging cars will be the new fun youth thing, so the vehicles are flat come return to 'em and go to work time. Or come out the services after your 4 hour coffee break. Basically, the bastards would have us back with horses and carts while the elite flaunt their Tesla's ...'cept of course, horses are not zero emission are they ?
Covid restrictions are the start of the big game to condition the pleb populations that is in their interest… get ready for a MSM and govt led fear campaign to kick on and off every few years for the next 20…. #wheresmyfoilhat
