Released:
13:00 November 21, 2021
I don’t know about you – but I’m seriously confused with the electric car malarky. I recently attended a presentation at the Hampton Hilton about electric car charging.
I was thrilled and had the clear ambition to swap my car for an electric model. I was excited and wanted to help save the planet in my little way.
Since it is still a relatively new concept by most standards, I decided to go for the Gold Star level. That’s an excuse, of course, because I just love cars and enjoy every excuse to change and experience something new. So I decided on the Tesla X-series with gullwing doors – lightning or something !!
I searched the internet for a demo model for sale and found what looked like a really good buy and contacted the repair shop for more details. They were of course very happy to hear from me and they had no problem getting the car from north London to Torquay whenever I wanted.
However, I then went into the whole process on a deeper level – like where best to get the car serviced when I should buy it. It was a shock. The closest Tesla maintenance facility is in Bristol and the closest super fast charging station is on the Dart Farm just outside Exeter. You don’t make it easy for yourself.
I’m not that easily put off though, so I think I should try another make now, maybe Mercedes, and arrange a test drive. Then I had a meeting with people better informed than me who pointed out that electric cars are probably not the panacea that everyone seems to think they are.
There are many questions to be answered. Batteries don’t actually last that long and their manufacture and, greatly underestimated, their disposal has a huge impact on the environment. More than driving my current gasoline car, in fact. The other critical problem is that there are nowhere near enough chargers in the UK and, more importantly, not enough technicians trained to maintain electric cars.
This is a huge dilemma for the ill-informed public who wants to do good and help the environment but obviously don’t get the full picture from the government. No change since I can hear you cry
Since then, I’ve kept researching, and it seems that automakers are already looking for an alternative to electric cars – the next big thing is going to be cars that run on hydrogen. I also feel that this is not a completely new idea as hydrogen cars, or hydrogen fuel cell cars, were first introduced by Toyota in 2014 and are a strong case for changing the way we drive our travel.
Hydrogen appears to be a better option in many ways, as cars would be powered by electricity that they generate internally through chemical reactions between hydrogen and oxygen. The only tailpipe emissions are water, as the by-products of the chemical reaction that powers the hydrogen fuel cell are just heat and water.
The electricity generated by hydrogen cars either powers the vehicle directly or charges a battery that stores the energy until it is needed. This traction battery is significantly smaller and lighter than the battery in a fully electric car.
One of the main advantages is that the high-pressure tanks of hydrogen cars can be filled in around five minutes from a gas pump at a gas station. The hydrogen is then stored in a high-pressure tank and can be refilled in a similar way to gasoline and diesel.
With the government shifting the time frame for the end of internal combustion engines to achieve zero carbon goals, I have nine years to decide, but the motor dealers and government are in a great rush to figure out exactly what the best option is. In all honesty, I have no idea what to do so I’m still looking for more information on each alternative.
In the meantime, all of the car dealers I’ve contacted in my quest to save the planet won’t leave me alone! The important thing is that if you want to learn more about this, come to the presentation at the Hampton Hilton on Friday, November 19 at noon – coffee will be served and you can ask as many questions as you like. Everything depends on whether you can park of course!
