Out and About Spring 2021

Out&About leisure

MAURICE HARDY says an electrifying revolution is already under way MOTORS

R ange anxiety is a term that has widely come into usage since the arrival of electric cars and describes the anxious eye kept on the battery level gauge and the indicated remaining miles of travel. But forget about this being a 21st Century phenomenon. We had it in the 90s when unleaded petrol arrived, but there were few forecourts with pumps to dispense it and anyone who experimented with LPG as a clean means of fuel will have memories of wondering where to get a next fill, such as I did back in the 70s. It probably goes further back than that. Maybe as far as the Pony Express riders of the Wild West, who wondered if their non-Ford mustangs, as opposed to the all-electric Mach-E Mustangs Ford sells now, had received enough fodder to keep going at full gallop until the next change of steed? In all these scenarios we have learned to adapt and doubtless will again. After all, with the sale of new cars solely powered by petrol and diesel engines banned from 2030 under current Government plans there’s little choice other than to plug in to the new way of doing things. Already, sales of conventional cars are plummeting while those of hybrids and full-electric models are zooming ahead. However, it’s too fanciful to imagine that travelling by battery power alone is going to lead to zero emissions. That’s greenwash because wherever you go by whatever means leaves an environmental footprint. Walking deposits a thin layer from your footwear and anyone who has ever ridden in a horsedrawn vehicle will know all about invisible, but highly scented, methane clouds. Friction is the big cause of the problem. Without it, you go nowhere, but with it there’s wear of the friction surfaces, invisible over many years for the road itself, but obvious in a shorter time on your car’s tyres and brakes. And that wear leaves deposits of easily-inhaled dust that eventually washes into the sea and will remain

in need of a solution long after particulates have stopped billowing from exhaust pipes. The emissions from exhausts are replaced by those from Gridserve electric forecourt and lounge

power stations, either short-term clouds from oil- or gas-powered generators or spent fuel rods with thousands of years of degradation still to come from nuclear power. It’s all because battery power is only drawn from a store in your car – the energy has to come from somewhere and the way to get it for free has yet to be invented. Wind power and solar power? Forget them as the panels and turbines all consume energy in their manufacture and if you were to see the vast temporary roads installed to create windfarms, never mind the trucks and cranes that travel them, you would seriously wonder at the credulity of their promoters. But all that put aside, electric cars are the route to future personal mobility and we have to get used to it. Entrepreneurs will take over where government does not and install the infrastructure to support electrified motoring. Gridserve recently opened the first fully-electric filling station with multiple charging points and there’s the promise of a network of 100-plus to come. Each will have a waiting lounge with free Wi-Fi, as well as retail and restaurant facilities. And while we have still been driving our fossil-fuel cars, manufacturers have been working hard behind the scenes, often forming consortia to

find ways to expand battery capacity while reducing weight and ensuring longevity. Aside from that, they’ve also been working out how to have common refuelling systems so that we get a standard. It’s a bit like the Betamax versus VHS video tape battle, although let’s hope the best one wins – and that wasn’t VHS. Adopting electric cars does require a change of mindset. Arriving home and plugging in will be a necessity for many of us, while knowing where to find a little-used fast-charging station will become the norm for households without a driveway. Wet cables will need to be stored on cold, damp days until someone comes up with wireless charging like you now get for mobile phones. And maybe with a range of 300-400 miles between charges, people will learn to take proper breaks on their journeys rather than a hurried five-minute pause at the pumps, like we do now. The hidden benefit of electric power might actually be reduced driver fatigue because we will pause to refresh ourselves as well as our cars. For that progress in personal mobility alone, we should be thankful.

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O&A SPRING 2021