Whilst stuck behind a 20 year old Land Rover belching fumes for over an hour, with the fan off, vents closed and the windows steaming up I was hoping for emissions controls to be rapidly tightened up, but when it forded the flood when we had to use the other side's pavement he was vindicated. Not sure how happy I would have been to drive an EV into the floodwater.... refer to the handbook first I think.
Jocko hits the nail on the head - driverless EVs are ownerless cars. Even today if Honda could provide me with a Jazz around the city, an Accord for the journey down the A1, and a CR-V for the camping trip I would be very happy (at the right price). As it stands the Jazz is ideal around town, not comfortable enough on a 4 hour motorway, and wasting money going nowhere in a central London parking structure for half the month.
The shift in personal transportation from a capital outlay, to a brokered service is where the natural home of an EV lies.
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In the ExxonMobil staff magazine earlier this year I was surprised to read that 90% of US oil consumption is on the roads; the other products either refined (butane, propane) or derived from the base elements are really ways of disposing of what might otherwise become a waste issue. In what was a quite bullish article, the undertones were really quite grim reading for their long term future - they seem to be pinning their hopes on gas.
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TG