In the first half of 2023 the European Union sent up one of their usual virtue signal flares, announcing to the world the complete ban on the sale of Internal Combustion Engined cars from 2035. Initially, most car makers were supportive of the ban. Having already started investing heavily into their EV products, they welcomed it. But, as we know, reality is a mean old bastard. The truth is adoption rates have not exactly been “as predicted” in the vast majority of Europe. Users have described harging infrastructure as sparce, frustrating and unreliable.
Now in fairness, Europe and the UK are a little different from countries like SA for example. Their charging infrastructure has been improving over the last few years. But it is still nowhere near 100% adoption capabilities. Nor is it uniformly spread throughout Europe. With many countries have excellent facilities. Whilst others are only scratching the surface. Not to mention that public charge infrastructure is doubly important there, since most cars are parked on streets or in basements. The vast majority of homes, not having designated garages for their cars.
EV’s don’t do well when they have to tow
I grant you that collectively, Europe and the UK are a MASSIVE market for new cars. But, this ban on ICE vehicles seemed to completely ignore the needs and requirements of countries like South Africa. Firstly, EV’s are not exactly suited to a lot of our driving requirements because of the larger distances we tend to cover.
We are a country where people like to tow boats, caravans, motorcycles etc. and we all know that EV’s don’t do well when they have to tow loads. And even though we do have far more people in this country who have their own garages to park and charge their cars in, we have a pitiful public charging infrastructure. Not to mention that if everyone in the country started cruising around in EV’s, I’m pretty sure that Eskom would simply roll over on its back and die.
ICE BAN – one of the factors that opened the floodgates for Chinese brands
Manufacturers have been quietly rumbling that a full ban on ICE vehicles in 2035 could be the final nails in their coffins. Forced to build vehicles that simply aren’t selling for the next 10 years in the hope that once the ban comes in, people will start buying EV’s because they have no choice. In fact, I believe, although just one of many factors, Europe’s focus on going electric, is one of the factors that opened the floodgates for Chinese brands to start taking over market share all over the world.
The problem with large governments, is that they are extremely slow to move. But, by far the BIGGEST problem, is that they are even slower to back-track a bad decision. Banning ICE sales from 2035, was clearly a bad call.
Boxster and Cayman will have Petrol engines
We had to suffer a couple of years of Porsche, and the ICE Ban threatening us with electric Boxsters and Caymans. However, I’m please to say, that the ban has been lifted! There are still lots of strict conditions and laws that manufacturers will have to be mindful of. I’m sure with enough time, those will also be relaxed. My point is, the new Boxster and Caymen will now officially be offered with Petrol engines!
So why my massive frustration? Well, how was this allowed to happen in the first place? It was blindingly obvious from the start that this was a terrible idea! Now I could make this a topic for another article if you guys want me to, but a few years ago I did a LOT of research on the topic of cars and their associated emissions. I won’t bore you here with the details, but the scientific data is CLEAR. The “inconvenient truth” is in fact, that the environmentalists don’t really know what they are talking about. The scientists and the data they have collected has proved that personal cars probably contribute less than 0.4% to global emissions.
BUT, they are a very visible and easy target to pick on if you are trying to spread climate hysteria. They are used by almost everyone, so it’s easy to make EVERYONE feel guilty about them. They create great opportunities for the new culture of virtue signaling. So rather than going after the real problem areas, it’s much easier to pick on cars as the villains.
They certainly have their place
Well, I for one, am glad to see a return to common sense, however slight it might be. Bring back the V8’s. Bring back the noise. Give us cars we actually WANT to drive. I’m not saying, get rid of EV’s…. They certainly have their place and I think they do a great job in their intended space. However, on a weekend, on one of the Western Cape’s excellent driving roads – Who doesn’t like a bit of suck squeeze bang blow? ICE BAN MUST FALL!