EV opposition in the media is ramping up

[GaryMG4]

Good spot.

Search for police BMW fire, there's a BBC Cumbria report

 

[Rolfe]

Only seeing reports of an incident involving a police car a year ago.

 

[Harry 17]

@Rolfe

Living not very far from Stamford, which is a very beautiful town with many historic buildings and often used as the location for TV Period Dramas, I know the "locals" are very "protective" of it. I think I'm right in saying they refuse to allow fast food companies, e.g., McDonalds, to open there! (That may, or may not be a good thing!)

But to block the installation of chargers for very spurious "reasons" really beggars belief. I wonder if the local residents are almost exclusively owners/drivers of Chelsea Tractors and so rather despise EV owners?

There is a Maccie D’s in Stamford, it is on Ryhall Road…..but your point is valid….they tried to stop Dominos opening on St Paul’s Street, but it opened anyway.

Stamford is nice, but it does have delusions of grandeur.

 

[GaryMG4]

Only seeing reports of an incident involving a police car a year ago.

I think there were other reports, not sure of dates though.

 

[siteguru]

 

[Archev]

Goals? Should this be an Olympic sport??

 

[Rolfe]

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Just been watching PBS America on World War one and they had German documents reporting on the morale and thoughts of captured Tommies . One of their complaints was concerning the "letters from the front " pages in our favourite rag the daily mail. They say that the authors of these letters had obviously never visited the front and were made up to kid / fool the British public. It seems nothing changes, a leopard cannot change its spots, and the culture of lying and massaging "facts" carries on 110 years later, and yet as then, a percentage of the population, either educated or not , fall for it . I despair!

 

[5teep]

Just been watching PBS America on World War one and they had German documents reporting on the morale and thoughts of captured Tommies . One of their complaints was concerning the "letters from the front " pages in our favourite rag the daily mail. They say that the authors of these letters had obviously never visited the front and were made up to kid / fool the British public. It seems nothing changes, a leopard cannot change its spots, and the culture of lying and massaging "facts" carries on 110 years later, and yet as then, a percentage of the population, either educated or not , fall for it . I despair!

It goes a lot further back than that, there's a copy of a newspaper article in the Smithsonian from the 1770s gaslighting the American colonies, saying they could never afford to be independent and that the crown would not bail them out.

 

[Rolfe]

That's what they said about Scotland in 2014 too. Nothing changes.

 

[Ian Key]

That's what they said about Scotland in 2014 too. Nothing changes.

If the Scottish independence vote had been open to us sassenachs I'd have voted for it.....

....together with the reinstatement of Hadrian's Wall

Mind you with the balls-up that's been made by the politicians of leaving the EU it would take the rest of this century as they do their best to overturn the vote.

 

[Rolfe]

I don't think Scotland ever proposed annexing half of Northumberland, you know. But I think mean-spirited comments about friends and neighbours are not really called for here.

 

[JimD]

I don't think Scotland ever proposed annexing half of Northumberland, you know. But I think mean-spirited comments about friends and neighbours are not really called for here.

I reckon most people in Northumberland would have welcomed it.

 

[Ian Key]

But I think mean-spirited comments about friends and neighbours are not really called for here.

Apologies.

 

[kiwi]

@siteguru Cooks Beach NZ - Electric car ruled out as cause

Watch: Aerial footage reveals scale of multimillion-dollar mansion fire

$3.7m home wrecked on Saturday by a blaze that drew more than 40 firefighters.

www.nzherald.co.nz

and

Devastating Coromandel fire: EV not to blame, $3.7m mansion owners thank community

Social media speculation had incorrectly blamed an EV for the fire.

www.nzherald.co.nz

“Social media post suggested the fire had been started by an EV (electric vehicle) in the home’s garage.

But Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) investigator Ed Hopping said that was not the case.”

The social media EV haters won’t be posting this follow up.

 

[salty]

@siteguru Cooks Beach NZ - Electric car ruled out as cause

Watch: Aerial footage reveals scale of multimillion-dollar mansion fire

$3.7m home wrecked on Saturday by a blaze that drew more than 40 firefighters.

www.nzherald.co.nz

“Social media post suggested the fire had been started by an EV (electric vehicle) in the home’s garage.

But Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) investigator Ed Hopping said that was not the case.”

Unfortunately ANY vehicle fire now, it must be an EV, unless indisputably proven otherwise. And even then, they'll somehow try to blame an EV.

 

[kiwi]

Yes, never let facts get in the way of a good story.

 

[chowbenter]

More news from Stop Burning Stuff;

As you will probably be aware, COP28 is being held this week, which has undoubtedly instigated a number of activities and announcements regarding the transition to cleaner transport and energy solutions.

Earlier this week, UK government voted and passed the ZEV mandate into law, by a large majority - 381 for, and 37 against. This will come into force on 1st January 2024 and is the single biggest policy initiative the government has lined up to reduce the UK’s CO2 emissions. A definite step in the right direction! You can read about the details here:

Government sets out path to zero emission vehicles by 2035

There was also some initial talk of EV sales slowing, following the SMMT's announcement that year on year EV sales in the UK had dropped in November by 17.1%. (Fleets fuel new car market but only four weeks left to fix EV trade challenge). However it does seem as though this is a blip, as in general, EV sales are increasing - as Bloomberg reports 'No sign of an EV slowdown'

Zero-Emission Vehicles Factbook: COP28 Edition | BloombergNEF

We've also seen some positive news that the EU are set to suspend Brexit tariffs on EVs for three years, which is very good news for the UK car industry, and EV transition A 10% tariff on UK EVs being exported to EU (by far the biggest export market) would have been disastrous. The Guardian have provided a good summary:

Why the EU now plans to delay post-Brexit tariffs on electric vehicles

And today, we've heard the announcement that the UK Government is investing £70 million in a pilot scheme to support motorway services to deliver rapid public charging - a long overdue and very welcome activity:

£70m pilot scheme to help power up motorway service areas - transportandenergy

Lastly, and sadly on a less positive note, across in North America, Donald Trump set out his manifesto at a Town Hall in Iowa this week, where topics such as EVs and green initiatives were slammed. The upcoming presidential elections are likely to put a great deal of pressure on EV and clean energy initiatives (particularly if Mr Trump is elected), and the misinformation campaigns and negative repercussions will be felt much further than just north America. We are already seeing some of this North American misinformation leak into international waters, so are therefore putting plans in place to help counter this. Further updates to follow.

I'll provide a separate SBS update very soon with some details of what we have been working on, but in the meantime, wishing you all a good rest of the week,

Kind regards

Claire

This motorbiking channel I follow on YT has some interesting facts & figures concerning the ZEV mandate. Worth a watch if you've got 20 minutes or so to spare.

 

[Gadget Geek]

ITV West News this evening was reporting about the number of potholes, and I couldn't believe it when they actually said that heavier EV's were part of the problem!

 

[salty]

ITV West News this evening was reporting about the number of potholes, and I couldn't believe it when they actually said that heavier EV's were part of the problem!

Oh, believe it! That's just the type of b0llocks that's spouted about EVs.