Pirate's Cove

Hmm, could this be true?

Electric cars to prompt more traffic jams, government report warns

The rise of electric cars will cause an increase in traffic jams across the country, new analysis conducted by the Government shows.

The revelation has emerged as part of research into the benefits of EVs, which are set to account for four in every five vehicles sold in the UK by the end of the decade.

A surge in congestion across Britain’s roads will be fuelled by the reduced running cost of EVs, the Department for Transport found, which will lead to drivers covering more miles.

The report, published late last week, estimates that the cost of congestion will be £78bn over the next 50 years – which is higher than previous predictions of £52bn in March.

It also estimates that EVs will soon cost an average of four pence per kilometre to run, compared to almost 10p for cars with combustion engines.

This will create a “rebound effect” as motorists will be happy to drive more given the prospect of cheaper mileage.

On the face of it, that makes sense. It’s just like how people will travel more when gas prices are down. But, not that much more. It’s actually more like people drive less when energy prices go up, which is what will happen because there just isn’t enough energy production to charge these vehicles. Will people drive more in the UK rather than taking some sort of public transportation as usual?

However, there’s one big fallacy here: that people will be able to afford the vehicles. Eventually, EVs might be in a range where the middle and working classes can afford an EV, perhaps even a new one. They will still most likely not be able to go far, not unless there’s a big breakthrough that is cost-effective. But, how long will it take to get there? 10 years? 20? All while the Government is forcing citizens to get out of petrol vehicles, and expecting massive numbers to be sold by 2035, mostly ending the sale of petrol vehicles (except for the rich folks and government officials, of course, because that’s the way this works).

The government report said that because zero-emissions vehicles have lower running costs than petrol and diesel equivalents, “there may be a resultant increase in miles driven.”

However, it added that an increased number of traffic jams could ultimately deter drivers from making some journeys.

Nah. It’s the inability to be able to afford the vehicles. Get them charged. And let’s not forget that insurance and repair costs are way higher. Oh, and they get totaled out by insurance companies a lot quicker than petrol/diesel vehicles, which means a lot more ending up in salvage yards faster.

Oh, and lots of them will be sitting there charging and waiting to get to a charger, because it will look like a line waiting for gas in the 70’s, hence, they won’t be on the road.