Hence the taxpayer hand-out.
I think that handout is actually pretty good value, compared to the £700m "brown envelope" we gave Nissan to stop them leaving after Brexit...
Hence the taxpayer hand-out.
I think that's a GOOD thing. As a result of Brexit, we lost out to Germany when Tesla were looking for a battery factory site, and now Tata is offering us a second bite at that cherry. In an ideal world, we'd have some significant lithium reserves too, but fate doesn't seem to have been that kind to us on this occasion. I see no reason whatsoever, why British workers couldn't make batteries that are every bit as good as German, French or Chinese workers.
For too long, we have watched European industries steal a march on us. I think it's pretty obvious that we're (the West in general, not just GB), headed for a trade war with China on EVs. Right now, the trade agreement with the EU requires a minimum percentage of UK-sourced content in a car. As the battery is such a big proportion of the total value of an EV, that's a hard target to achieve when the battery comes from China. The only ways round that, would be to either import a battery from the EU and fit it to the car (in which case, they're so expensive to ship, that the car manufacturers will probably just decide to build the whole car in the EU), or build the batteries here.
The plans announced at that point – including Tata’s 40 gigawatt-hour (GWh) plant – were enough to cover only about half the 100 GWh of production the UK would need by 2030.40GWh of cells a year is a full sized factory, great news.
But it isn't the largest planned. Tesla Giga factory Berlin is designed to produce 50GWh and should be starting to produce them this year. Northvolt is already in full flow and is going up to 60GWh. I think they've got another three of the same size planned or in progress.
40GWh of cells a year is a full sized factory, great news.
But it isn't the largest planned. Tesla Giga factory Berlin is designed to produce 50GWh and should be starting to produce them this year. Northvolt is already in full flow and is going up to 60GWh. I think they've got another three of the same size planned or in progress.
Scientists develop ‘cheap and easy’ method to extract lithium from seawater
Saudi Arabia-based researchers employed an electrochemical cell containing a ceramic membrane to extract lithium from seawater.www.mining.com
It would be more accurate to say "currently economically-viable lithium reserves".
It'll happen
There aren't enough EV batteries dying to make recycling viable yet. They're lasting too long so while we're building 15 million a year world wide we're probably only scrapping half a million or less.I certainly hope so, but lithium needs to get more expensive for it to work. Australia currently have it sewn-up, with massive reserves. The USA has just found an extinct volcano full of the stuff. Some Latin American countries have reserves that are economical to harvest, but at terrible environmental and social cost, thanks to poor regulation by the governments concerned. Ultimately, if the scientific press are to be believed, lithium is only a stopgap until sodium batteries are up and running.
What I'd also like to see, is a few more British lithium battery recycling plants. One of the biggest environmental advantages of EVs, is that all the lithium they left the factory with, is still there when they get scrapped.
There aren't enough EV batteries dying to make recycling viable yet. They're lasting too long so while we're building 15 million a year world wide we're probably only scrapping half a million or less.
And how much will it cost to provide access to these magic cables, oh spouter of far fetched aspirations? Must be millions of miles of cables buried in Bristol, but never noticed any that have made it above ground for charging cars. Or have I not been down that particular alley?
So they don't have these in Bristol, then?
View attachment 334747
...or these
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...or these
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...or these
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"but never noticed any that have made it above ground for charging cars."
To quote my post -
So I didn't say there weren't any did I, just that I have never seen them. You need to work on your comprehension.
And how long has Hampstead been in Bristol?????
Most, if not all, of the other photos are London too. So you used photos of London streets to prove there are pavement charging points in Bristol??? Brilliant!!!
And Avocet unquestioningly dived in and backed up your nonsense too. Anyway, thanks for the entertainment. Not had such a laugh in a long time.
Just wait untill someone trips over one of those coiled flexes bangs their head and dies, mahoosive claim for damages to the council or whoever ownes the charging point and also possibly the insurer of the vehicle, then insurance premiums through the roof.
Other countries seem to manage...
200 years ago, people were saying "just wait until someone goes over 30 MPH in one of these newfangled steam engines - they'll spontaneously combust"!
Perhaps, in the 1950s, you'd have been objecting to the emerging "self-service" filling stations? "Just just wait until someone burns to death, using one of those newfangled self-service petrol pumps"!
Self-Service Gasoline Stations
Back when gas cost 5 cents a gallon, self-service gasoline stations were controversial. Fear of fires and explosions caused by inexperienced motorists led some cities and states to ban self-service.www.planning.org
Maybe, at the turn of the millennium, you might have said "just wait until someone's mobile phone goes off in a service station and it all blows up"?
In fairness, algas makes a good point.
Your counters are not so good, IMHO: times were much, much different back then.
Our appetite for risk is much lower nowadays and our appetite for compensation, much greater.
Stringing trip hazards across pedestrian access is inviting issues.
And you still are told off - via the forecourt PA system - if you use your mobile (regardless of it being of negligible risk to anyone or anything).
So... what happens if someone tries to install a kerbside charger outside London, then? Do they explode? The point is, kerbside charging solutions are available. Yes, there are bound to be more of them in London, because... well... there are more EVs in London (d'uh). But they do have lamp posts in Bristol, and those lamp posts do have electricity in them...