Category: Electric cars

Goodbye trusty diesel car, hello petrol-hybrid…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Automotive, Driverless transport, Electric cars, Information Technology, Processes and Practices, Reliability, Technology, Transport

The Badger’s trusty diesel car is no more; it’s been replaced. It’s been a good servant over the last 14 years, but with more than 150,000 miles on the clock it had been in the end part of the standard reliability bathtub curve for some time.  The time had come for head to rule heart, and so a couple of months ago the Badger decided it was time for a change. That, of course, meant deciding on what type of newer vehicle the replacement should be.

The Badger approached the process systematically, and with disciplined objectivity rather than emotion as per instincts honed by decades in the IT industry. He set out his primary requirements and did some online research to establish a shortlist of potential vehicles. His primary requirements were similar to those when he purchased his trusty diesel 14 years ago, even though the automotive, social, political, technology, and economic landscapes have changed considerably since. The primary requirements were nothing fancy and likely typical of those of most private buyers. They revolved around price, running costs (including road tax and insurance), suitability for current and future family needs, quality and reliability. Brand, type of fuel, and digital gadgetry were secondary considerations.

One vehicle stood out during test drives of those on the Badger’s shortlist by meeting all his requirements. A good deal was done, Gary Numan’s Cars was the first song on the radio when taking delivery, and the Badger’s been driving an extremely low mileage, less than two-year-old petrol-hybrid for over six weeks now.  It’s essentially a well-engineered iPad-with-wheels, brimming with sensors and driver aids. It’s a revelation compared to his trusty diesel, and driving it is a constant reminder of how digital technology dominates our lives and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

The whole process from valuing the old car, researching models that met requirements, arranging test drives, agreeing a purchase and making payment, and obtaining road tax and car insurance, involved online services which have been efficient, convenient, and secure. The hybrid technology and comprehensive digital driving aids, entertainment, navigation, and safety features make his replacement car a great and flexible package. A petrol-hybrid rather than a pure battery electric car was the right modern choice for the Badger. It represents the best of  both worlds and eliminates range anxiety and the need to plan long journeys around charging points. It’s a balanced and sensible compromise that comes with economic and environment benefits while avoiding the limitations and inconveniences of pure battery electric vehicles. While electric propulsion may be the future, pure battery electric vehicles will be usurped by fuel cells in the coming years. As for completely driverless cars, well, they are a long way off on UK roads, not because of technology limitations, but because people are people and they like to be in control when they are behind the wheel!

Dr Who and the batteries…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Automation, Batteries, Electric cars, Information Technology, Life, Science & Engineering, Smart & New Technology, Technology

The first episode of Dr Who aired on television on the 23rd November 1963. The series became part of the Badger’s childhood routine, although it almost didn’t! It aired on Saturday evenings, and initially the Badger’s parents didn’t think it suitable for their children to watch on the family’s black and white television. They capitulated following tantrums by the Badger and his siblings, however, on the understanding that if  we had nightmares then the programme would be excluded from Saturday night viewing. We never had nightmares, but we often cowered behind the sofa when our parents were out of the room and an episode included the Daleks or Cybermen.

As an undergraduate at university years later, watching Dr Who with friends on a communal television in the Students Union was a weekly ritual, one which always led to discussions about the episode’s ‘whimsical science’ in the bar afterwards. One friend, a chemistry student who became an electrochemical research scientist in the battery industry, always asserted that the gadgets in Dr Who, the Daleks, and the Cybermen had one thing in common – a fundamental reliance on batteries! Dr Who’s still on television today and the Badger’s still in contact with his friend. In fact, we chatted recently after the Dr Who 60th anniversary special episodes. His friend asserted the same point about batteries that they’d made all those years ago, and they added that any of Dr Who’s gadgets, cyborgs, or robots that were more than two years old needed charging multiple times a day! Since the Badger’s two-year old smartphone now needs more frequent charging than six months ago, we laughed and agreed that smartphones proved their point!

The physics, materials, chemistry and design of modern batteries is complex. According to his friend, in the coming years we’ll see improvements in how fast batteries can charge and how many charging cycles they can withstand, but not a huge change in how long they can last between charges. If that’s the case then battery life, charging frequency, charging speed and depreciation will be key criteria when buying goods requiring batteries for years to come. Depreciation is an often forgotten but particularly sobering point because after 3 years an iPhone, an Android phone, and a battery electric vehicle will have lost ~50%,  ~75%, and 50% of their initial value, respectively.

Dr Who, of course, doesn’t worry about such things, but for those of us in the real-world batteries and the depreciation of the goods they power are key aspects of modern life and the cost of living. Dr Who is full of creative license and not practical matters like batteries and depreciation, and so it should be! It’s science fiction and highly imaginative escapist entertainment. It should trigger to interesting discussions about ‘whimsical science’ and batteries over a beer in a Student Union bar for years to come…

EVs, Fire, and the demise of the garage…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Electric cars, Property, Public safety, Technology, Transport

What do you use your garage at home for, that is if you have one? According to the UK’s RAC Foundation, it’s not housing your car! In 2002, 22% of private cars in England were housed overnight in a garage. Most, 50%, were parked outside overnight on your driveway, and the rest were parked on the street. In 2022, the equivalent numbers were 10% and 62%, respectively. It’s pretty clear, therefore, that the relationship between your garage and your car has become much more tenuous over the last 20 years. Rather than a place to house a car, today’s garage has become a general storage space for things like DIY tools and materials, garden equipment, pedal bicycles, and diverse items of unused home paraphernalia. That is, of course, if it hasn’t already been converted into extra living space, a home office, or a home gym or recreation area.

Garages associated with residential property emerged in the early days of motoring. Their popularity grew through the mid-20th century as cars became more affordable. They were high on a home-buyer’s wish-list because, at least until the 1970s, they protected the family car from the weather and rust, and they made it easier to start the engine in cold weather. Since the 1970s, and over the last two decades in particular, garages have become a victim of advances in automotive technology. Today’s cars, for example, are made of corrosion resistant materials and are packed with technology that means difficulty starting in cold weather is rare. They’re also significantly larger than their earlier counterparts due to the introduction of progressive stringent safety regulations. BMWs Mini Cooper, for example, is ~61% larger than the original from the 1960s. Most of today’s popular petrol, diesel, or electric cars, therefore, are simply too big for the garages of the UK’s residential housing stock.

Interestingly, with a future dominated by battery powered EVs, this might actually be a good thing! How so? Well, while EV manufacturers have put lots of effort into ensuring that charging your car in your garage using a properly installed charging point is safe, the fact is that if a fire starts due to battery damage or defective charging then the fire brigade are unlikely to be able to put it out. If this happens in your garage, then you can say good-bye to your car, the garage, and potentially your home. However, the risk of this happening is low, of course, because it seems from the RAC data noted above that few EVs will, in practice, be housed or charged inside a residential garage.

Given that ‘progress’ and battery EVs have made the link between our garage and our car increasingly tenuous, perhaps the time has come to start building all new homes without a garage? Now there’s a meaty thought to grapple with…

To buy a battery-powered EV now…or not…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Electric cars, Technology, Transformation, Transition

The future of that symbol of personal freedom and independence, our car, involves electric propulsion. The push to move us from Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles to battery-powered electric ones (EVs) is well underway. Governments have set targets for the transition, car makers are replacing ICE models with battery powered ones, and there’s a rush to build the ‘gigafactories’ crucial to the EV battery supply chain.

Battery-powered EVs have been on the Badger’s mind recently because the total mileage on his trusty, elderly, diesel SUV has reached the point where it’s inevitable that maintenance and repair costs will soon surpass the vehicle’s inherent value. Sadly, it’s time for a change, so is now the time to change to a battery-powered EV? To help answer this question, the Badger has explored the plethora of information, news, analysis, and opinion relevant to moving to a battery-powered EV at this time. The macro points, summarised below, that he’s taken from this research have influenced the answer to this question.

From a lifecycle perspective, a battery-powered EV is only greener that an ICE counterpart if the electricity used to charge batteries comes from renewables. EVs are expensive to buy, heavy, and minor collisions that damage the battery are expensive to repair. Insurance premiums are higher, and battery fires can be extremely hazardous.  Battery technology continues to advance, and so does fuel cell and synthetic fuel technology. Real-life EV range can vary substantially with seasonal driving conditions and the use of creature comforts (like air conditioning, for example). Journeys in an EV need forward planning to cater for charging which can be a time-consuming chore on long journeys. The national EV charging infrastructure is still developing.

Just like oil, supply of the key materials needed for batteries is not immune to the vagaries of international politics and crises. It’s also inevitable that the UK government will raise taxes on using EVs in order to compensate for the loss of fuel tax revenues on petrol and diesel. Government timescale targets also have a habit of eventually being watered down. However, the biggest influence on answering the question came from an article highlighting the transitional similarities with that of the move from horse and cart to the motor car over a century ago, and an item that reminds us that transitions will follow the ‘S’ curve.

The Badger’s decided that now is not the right time for him to change to a battery powered EV! Taking everything into account, a newer ICE vehicle is the most economical, climate friendly, and sensible option. Does that make the Badger a luddite or climate change denier? No, just clear-eyed and objective. After all, a societal move to battery powered EVs is a huge transformation. Unforeseen circumstances and unexpected downsides will materialise just like they do on all transformation programmes with serious technology at their heart. Waiting is the prudent option…  

The UK 2030 ban on new petrol/diesel cars, and a battery powered EV…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Electric cars, Transformation, Transport, Uncategorized

The car park at Polesden Lacey was busy. Good weather and the school holidays had brought out young and old alike to visit the extensive grounds, gardens, and historic house. Finding a space in the car park looked to be a challenge, but a car backed out and the Badger was quickly able to manoevure his trusty diesel SUV into the vacated area between tall hedges and a Volkswagen ID3 EV. On disembarking for the short walk to the estate’s entrance, the sight of the Badger’s aged, diesel vehicle next to an EV typifying the future of motoring seemed rather incongruous, especially as he’d listened to a programme on EVs and the UK 2030 ban on new petrol/diesel cars during the drive to Polesden.

The sun is setting on fossil-fuelled engines as the dominant means of propulsion for personal motoring, but are battery powered EVs the future? The Badger thinks it’s healthy to maintain some scepticism, to avoid the herd mentality, and to stay objective in the face of evangelism, campaigning, and politicking when it comes to answering such a question. The radio programme had sown the seeds for the Badger to cogitate on the topic, but the treasures of Polesden Lacey’s house and gardens meant these seeds didn’t burst into life until stopping for a picnic lunch on a bench nestled under the house’s South Lawn colonnade.

The UK 2030 ban on new petrol/diesel cars is just six years away, and the motor industry has been ramping up battery powered EV production and discontinuing petrol/diesel models for some time. After considering things holistically, the Badger thinks the 2030 ban will be relaxed. Why? Well, foremost because this is a massive transformation, few of which ever meet their targets. The number of EVs registered in the UK is rising, but they remain economically out of reach for those of modest means. The public charging infrastructure is problematic, the economic case for owning an EV isn’t as attractive as it was, and the Lithium required for EV batteries requires global production to rise threefold by 2025 and six-fold by 2030. Factors like the forced extension of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone, range anxiety, vehicle weight, battery life, and battery fires (e.g. see here, here, and here) are also making people think harder before moving to a battery-powered EV.    

A lot can change in six years, but the Badger believes the 2030 ban on new petrol/diesel car will be relaxed. Of all the cars in the Polesden car park, just a handful were EVs. Progress in their adoption is slow. Furthermore, on returning to his car for the journey home, the owner of the VW ID3 EV parked next to him was on the phone to a recovery company. Are battery powered EVs the future? The prudent answer is…perhaps…

Exploding batteries…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Education, Electric cars, Life, Risk, Technology

A note in a Christmas card this week was not only a reminder that the imminent festive and New Year holidays aren’t always jolly occasions for some people, but also that our modern lives depend on rechargeable batteries. Smartphones, tablets, laptops, household devices, DIY tools, gardening equipment, and electric cars all have a battery at their heart, but do we fully appreciate the risks of having battery powered devices in our households? Probably not. We tend to take their safety for granted because they are certified to comply with requisite safety standards.

The Christmas card and the note therein was from a cousin. It conveyed Christmas greetings, and also information that the battery in their mobility scooter had recently exploded causing a fire and attendance by the fire brigade. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but smoke damage has rendered their home uninhabitable for the next six months.  The Badger phoned his cousin, who has poor mobility due to advanced cancer, and was impressed by their insistence on looking forward with positivity rather than dwelling on events and their new circumstances. The first thing they said was a line from the movie Forrest Gump, namely ‘My mama always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’’  Their objectivity and optimism was remarkable given their health and the stress of having their life turned upside down before Christmas.

A security video shows the mobility scooter, unplugged, not being charged, unused for a number of days, and covered by its standard weather-proof cover, simply burst into flames when the battery exploded! The fire brigade are now using this as part of their campaign to raise awareness of the potential fire hazards associated with rechargeable batteries in, for example, e-bikes, e-scooters, and …mobility scooters used by the infirm.

As we approach Christmas, the Badger’s intent here is not be alarmist,  but simply to make three points. The first is to not only encourage you to be aware of the risk that comes with the use and storage of equipment with rechargeable batteries, but also to raise the profile of related fire brigade safety campaigns. The second is to reinforce a point the cousin made in our conversation, namely that Christmas is not really about material things, it’s about people, community, and looking forward rather than dwelling too much on past tribulations. The third is simply to wish all readers a happy and safe Christmas and New Year, and to encourage optimistic thoughts whatever your personal circumstances. Oh, and there’s one final thing. After the Badger finished talking to his cousin, he felt overwhelmingly relieved that Santa’s sleigh for delivering Christmas presents to children across the world is powered by magical forces, and not by batteries that could explode!!!

Technology has redefined normal life…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Electric cars, Life, Smart & New Technology, Technology, Uncategorized

A century ago, the world started emerging from the Spanish Flu pandemic that followed World War 1. After years of turmoil people wanted change, and the 1920s certainly provided it.  A century later we’re emerging from another pandemic, and the 2020s looks destined to be transformational too. History might repeat itself!  For most people, of course, life today is very different to that in the 1920s. Scientific and engineering advances, and especially the internet and information revolution of recent decades, have put technology at our fingertips and redefined what constitutes normal life for most of us.  

Just how much normal life in the UK has changed since the 1920s can be illustrated, for example, by reflecting on the motor car. In the early 1920s when the UK population was ~40 million, there were only 383,525 cars .  By 1930 the number of cars had risen to 1 million with ~ 7,300 annual road deaths. Today the UK population is ~67 million, and there are 33 million registered cars and around 1800 annual road deaths.  The first traffic light on a road appeared in the mid-1920s, and driving tests became law in the mid-1930s. Cars of the 1920s were ostensibly fuelled mechanical devices owned by a tiny minority of households, whereas today they are essentially fuelled electronic devices with mechanical components which are owned by nearly every household.  Roads are also vastly different, and its amusing to think that any concept of a ‘Smart Motorway’ suggested in the 1920s would have been considered as the ramblings of a lunatic.   

The car and it’s embedded technology has become an essential in the average UK person’s life in less than a century. It’s not only changed the landscape and infrastructure of our country, but also become a fundamental part of our personal freedoms. The 2020s will see cars become powered by electricity, filled with ever more technology to control our driving habits, and become taxed differently to compensate for the reduction in the £28 billion annual revenues currently generated fuel duty on petrol and diesel.  The car as a metaphor for technology has redefined what constitutes normal life over the last 100 years, and that redefinition will continue throughout the 2020s.   

However, there’s something that hasn’t changed since the 1920s, namely primeval human behaviour.  Today’s global connectivity and social media platforms readily bring the most unattractive aspects of this to the fore for all to see. That’s a worry, because the end of the 1920s saw the Great Depression, and if history repeats itself then we could see some similar crisis at the end of this decade, triggered perhaps by a serious failure in the world’s technology infrastructure. If this were to happen, then primeval human instincts will take over and the ensuing anarchy might highlight that life without cars and modern technology is actually survivable, just as it was in the 1920s a century ago

All-lane running motorways and electric car breakdowns…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Electric cars, Opinion, Risk, Smart & New Technology, Smart Motorways

The Badger often flicks through the television channels before retiring for the night. It’s a habit, and it’s rare that something grabs the attention sufficiently to delay bedtime. One night recently, however, the ‘Smart Motorway Committee’ on the BBC Parliament channel proved an exception. A yawn was stifled as the channel was sampled, but the Badger was suddenly hooked when one of the politicians on the committee asked senior representatives from the Police, motoring, and haulage organisations, a clever question. It was this: ‘If your loved ones were driving on the motorway, or you were driving with your loved ones as passengers, which would you prefer it to be a) a controlled motorway with a permanent hard-shoulder lane, or b) an all-lane running motorway with refuge areas that could be more than 800 metres apart’.  

The politician asked for their personal opinion, not that of the organisation they represented. The respondents each plumped for (a), explaining their choice in terms of the human reality and anxiety of breaking down surrounded by live traffic lanes when young children, the disabled, or elderly parents are on board and refuge is some distance away.  To ensure smart motorways are safe, Highways England, of course, are currently implementing the 2020 Stocktake and Action Plan, and their recent report continues to make the case for all-lane running, all be it with further technology-centred  safety improvements. However, as the respondent’s answers illustrate, it’s obvious that people remain unpersuaded that foregoing a permanent hard-shoulder lane is wise.

Although it was late, the Badger’s programme delivery, IT, systems, and risk management experience and instincts kicked into gear with the following point bubbling to the fore.  Smart motorways were conceived mainly to increase traffic capacity and reduce congestion. It feels like ‘safety’ is being bolted on to avoid facing up to a possible uncomfortable truth, namely that all-lane running motorways may not have been such a good idea in the first place. With this point on his mind, the Badger turned off the television and retired for the night.

The next morning a chance conversation, when the Badger was told about someone’s experience of a new electric car that stopped working on a railway crossing, seem to reinforce this point.  The Badger hadn’t really appreciated the difficulty, which can get a sense of here and here, in moving electric vehicles if they stop functioning for any reason. It appears that the days of getting people to help you push it to a safer place are gone!  What will happen when the mix of electric cars on all-lane running motorways is substantially higher than today and more of them breakdown?  Even more expensive technology seems to be the answer to everything these days, but it feels like it would have been better, safer, and cheaper never to have ditched permanent hard-shoulder lanes in the first place!  

Four wheels and a motor…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Change, Climate & Environment, Electric cars

The UK government announced in 2020 that the sale of new petrol and diesel cars would be banned from 2030. Electric cars, powered by batteries or fuel cells, are the future but there’s a very long way to achieve their mass adoption by the public. The marketing of current rechargeable, battery-powered, electric models trying to persuade us to buy one seems to rise weekly. So far, however, none of it seems to have triggered a truly massive step-change in mass demand from the public who, like the Badger, are still a long way from giving up their existing vehicles for an electric alternative.

New figures show that the average age of cars on UK roads is 8.4 years, that only 1.3% are plug-in hybrid or battery electric, and that more than 60% of cars are 7 or more years old.  Indeed, the Badger’s own trusty vehicle is 10 years old, and fossil fuelled. It’s comfortable, practical, reliable, economic, easy to maintain, 95% recyclable at end of life, and it’s used in a climate-friendly way. Electric car evangelists may think this is heresy, but there’s currently no hard-nosed economic case for the Badger to relinquish it for a used or new electric vehicle. Many people appear to have come to the same conclusion and a recent OFGEM announcement about putting ~1800 new ultra-rapid charging points across the UK motorway network’s service stations  is unlikely to persuade people otherwise.  

The transformation of society to electric cars is a marathon rather than a sprint. We may have started on this marathon but there’s an awfully long way to go with lots of opportunity for bumps on the way. Battery technology continues to advance rapidly and batteries with a 5-minute charge time could be in mass production by 2024. If that’s so, then it shouldn’t be a surprise if people decide against spending their money on new or used electric cars that use today’s battery technology. Range anxiety and effective and convenient charging infrastructure remain barriers to adoption. There are also strategic and geo-political issues associated with sourcing many of the materials necessary for battery manufacture. There are also significant recycling challenges  – see here and here – regarding the recovery of valuable elements from end of life batteries.  Whereas the recycling of fossil-fuelled vehicles, where ~70% is of ferrous metals, is well established and straightforward, electric vehicles contain a far greater variety of metals that are much more complex to recover.

There’s much more to the electric car picture than just zero tail-pipe emissions, and that’s why there’s a very long way to go in this marathon transformation yet. That’s also why the Badger’s own trusty vehicle, which still fulfils its primary function of taking occupants from A to B safely with maximum flexibility and minimum fuss, has some years left before it takes its final journey to the scrap heap to be, perhaps, reincarnated as the bodywork of an electric vehicle…