I Wouldn’t Buy a Second Hand Car From Quentin Willson, Let Alone a Transport Policy
By Paul Homewood
h/t Philip Bratby
According to former motoring journalist, now Net Zero lobbyist, Quentin Willson, slow consumer take-up of EVs is due to “myths and misinformation”. Concerns about fires, battery degradation, range, charging and servicing costs are all groundless, the former Top Gear host claims, or easily fixable by policy. “By 2035, if we enact the right policies and the right information for consumers, it will be achievable,” he claimed, alluding to the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars by that year. His comments – evidence given to a recent Select Committee on Transport session – appear to be driven by green ideology and funding from the usual Green Blob suspects.
Full story here.
Particularly worth reading is Ben Pile’s explanation of who is funding Willson’s lobby group, FairCharge:
The ECF was set up largely with money from US far left foundations, such as Rockefeller, ClimateWorks, Bloomberg and the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation. More money comes from the Grantham Foundation and CIFF.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Never trust an EVangelist whatever they are selling
There will not be a motor industry based upon evs. Not only is there insufficient energy from renewables, let alone reliable energy, but the local grids/substations which can only supply 1 – 2 KW of continuous power to all houses connected will not have the capacity to charge 7KW ev chargers overnight or the 4 KW heat pumps running 24/7 during the winter months.
The Net Zero plan requires the abolition of private transport and intermittent heating controlled by smart meters.
Absolutely 100% spot on, unfortunately you are now classified as a denier and must write 1000 times “Greta is Good, ICE are Bad, BEV are Great”, no smudging, no sweat marks, no tears of frustration or you will have to do it all again, and again, and again.
Not enough copper, lithium, and other rare earth materials such as neodymium to make all the battery cars either.
I’d like to see how policy can change the physics of battery charge time, or capacity degradation with repeated charging…
Well, apparently politicians can change the laws of physics. It just requires the right (or should I say, Left?) policies.
So no mention of the fact that claimed BEV range turns out in reality to be between 30-60% lower, no mention of the fact that the batteries have a CO2 footprint higher than a ICE vehicle, no mention of the fact that key battery components have dubious sourcing and no-one is thinking about the ethics of using both slave labour in China or child labour in DRC, no mention of the fact that battery fires once they achieve thermal runaway cannot be put out nor that the very fire is a chemically destructive poisonous cloud and that firefighters have to where HazMat to get near the damn things, no mention that the charging infrastructure does not exist in sufficient quantity, but plenty about just how great they are in towns and cities- AND yes, they are brilliant short trip vehicles, but unlike the Few, the Many do not have sufficient income to purchase both a BEV city car and a ICE distance car, they have to make a commercial decision and regardless of the subsidy regime demanded, ICE always trumps BEV for convenience and the knowledge that you will get from A to B and back to A, not only in the same day, but without the stress of worrying about “Will the chargers at this garage be working?, will there be a long queue? and if they are not working, where, where do I go?.
A journey starts with a plan, let’s hope the plan does not include too many unknowns.
As I am reading this the MotoE race is on TNT Sports. So, it has the smallest grid of the GP – just 18 bikes. And it is the shortest race being just SEVEN laps and god help them if there is a red flag and a restart as it has to be a reduced distance. Coincidentally it is the opening races of TT2024 this afternoon and TT Zero was dropped years ago when just 7 bikes rolled up to start the lap – yes, ONE lap. I think they concluded it was just a waste of everyone’s time.
And would you believe it – red flag in MotoE on second lap. Normal races have a 2/3 race distance to call a race but with the battery bikes it is just half. And the restart today will be down to just 5 laps.
Huh, doesn’t it make you so ANGRY that you’ve been misled all along by the BBC et al ( you know what that means). From the Easy listening singer painter on Radio 2 ( used to be our kinda goto station for long hours in the tractor seat before ClassicFM before my recent new with better reception Internet radio – no adverts abt cremations or selling gold or donkey causes etc ), the putup with smoking Radio 1 DJ Presenter, to the Car & for us Tractor Marques, or the footbal teams .. Inverness CT looks like they want to leave the town for Fife. IINO …. aye those In Name Only folk Selling their Soul
Triggering gets me digressing. Used to been keen on the programme until it became showtime. All just geared ( no pun intended) towards greater sales of rubbish. Would have been better spent in them days, educating motorists on the simple mechanics so as not to require vehicles which accelerate quicker than the brain ( their) reacts, and all the rest of it. LEZs coming ever quicker to a place near you based on doubtful data ….. etc…
Are concerns about price groundless too?
Those of us who were or are in the Motor Industry know that what you convey about Quentin Wilson is absolutely correct.
‘Fixable by policy.’ Well, let’s look at Covid vaccine policy. “They are safe and effective, and you will have to get it.”
Government cures misinformation with policy, and censors any other ideas.
I wonder if Willson paid full retail price for the small green car?
{Maybe it was just a photo op.}
The car appears to be a ~2012 Tesla Roadster. Hence, one wonders about its battery. Replaced? More than once?
And so often the maths is done on ONE car recharging at home. Many houses round here have at least THREE cars parked
The right policies require money, lot’s of it! Subsidies and the I’m sure uncalculated cost to significantly upgrade the local area electrical network.
Paid for by all, the majority of whom will not benefit as they cannot afford an ev. The usual reverse Robin Hood scenario.