YOUR VIEWS
Flying in the face
On a whim, I recently downloaded the Flightradar24 app to my phone. At any one time, I can see hundreds of thousands of aeroplanes making their way across the heavens, each discharging, I assume, thousands of tonnes of CO2 and other pollutants during the course of its journey.
Quite apart from being intrigued as to what on earth the reasons can possibly be for so many people to have to travel to other countries in the way that they do, surely little old me and little old you spending small fortunes on ‘going electric’ with our next vehicles isn’t going to make even the tiniest difference to the vital need to cut down on all this sort of thing.
I’m actually fully prepared to embrace electric motoring and would go so far as to say that I’m excited about it and look forward to it keenly, but I can’t believe that while all these planes are buzzing around overhead, my preparedness to ‘do my bit’ is going to be worth anyone’s while. Martin Cooke
Via email
Our World in Data calculated that of the eight billion tonnes of CO2 emitted globally in 2018, 24% was caused by transport. Of this, 45.1% came from passenger vehicles, 29.4% from freight vehicles, 11.6% from aircraft, 10.6% from ships and 1% from rail – KC
Mine of information
You stated that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a source of lithium for EV batteries (‘How to make a greener car’, 24 November 2021). In fact, the DRC is the major source of cobalt, whereas lithium is largely sourced from Australia and South America.
Government legislation to push manufacturers to stop production of ICE vehicles by 2030 will probably turn out to be as wrong-footed as the fiscal policies that drove consumers towards diesel vehicles.
It’s worth reading Guillaume Pitron’s book The Rare Metal Wars and the New Scientist issue of 13 November 2021’s lead article, ‘Clean energy’s dirty secrets’, to
understand the impact on the global environment of electrification.
If we assume that current EVS represent around 4-7% of the global vehicle parc, the consequences of scaling up could well be calamitous.
Recycling is complex, as alloys are involved, and these have to be effectively reverse-engineered.
Given the timelines imposed on manufacturers, electrification is likely to be the most logical direction but at the same time probably not the most suitable choice for our global environment.
I suspect that history won’t look kindly at the decision and that many who live in the areas where minerals for our ‘green lives’ are mined and processed already regret it. Mike King-harman
Mahé, Seychelles
It’s a marathon, not a sprint
F1’s rules are just farcical. They don’t want the best car and driver; what they want is drama (ie sponsorship).
What happened in Abu Dhabi was like stopping the 10,000m Olympic final with 100 metres to go because a backmarker fell, letting the field catch up and then restarting the race as a 100m sprint to the finish. Under F1’s rules, Usain Bolt could beat Mo Farah in the 10,000m.
Mercedes-amg took a barrister with them to the appeal after the race. A barrister! In which other sport (if you can call F1 a sport) do you have your barrister on standby? Why not get rid of the video assistant referee in football and just let the teams’ barristers fight it out. Scotty
Via autocar.co.uk
Joys of springs
The Audi A4 Allroad that you wrote about recently (Buy Them Before We Do, 24 November 2021) is a great car, but it doesn’t come with adjustable air springs: for that you need the larger A6 Allroad – an even better car. The A4 Allroad has raised steel springs.
I love my BITDI A6 Allroad for its understated capability in all weather. Tim Boles
Tomatin, Inverness-shire
Change of course
I’m a 73-year-old codger; a dyed-inthe-wool conservative with petrol in my veins. My adrenaline curdles if I hear any V8 and I’ve loved cars since before I could walk. I’m addicted to the internal combustion engine and I’ve vowed never to buy an EV. However, I’ve just tried out our daily help’s brand-new Vauxhall Corsa-e – my first experience in any kind of EV – and it was absolutely brilliant. Talk about pride and prejudice. The ICE is as dead as the steam engine (and like it will become a fond memory). John Impey
Via email
Reel innovation
I’ve noticed in a number of road tests of EVS mention of storage of charging cables under the boot floor. How many drivers wish to unload a full boot to get to the cables? Why don’t all manufacturers store cables on a spring-loaded reel, like on laundry
washing lines and vacuum cleaners? The driver would grasp the plug from behind a flap and connect it to the charger, thereby keeping the cable off the ground. I do realise that all chargers would then need a standard connection, but isn’t this overdue anyway? Reg Greatbatch
Via email
That sounds like a superb idea, but it would probably require a lot of space. As for plug standardisation, virtually every EV now uses the CCS type – KC
Terminally uncool
Your article ‘How to buy a Saab 900 Turbo’ (8/15 December 2021) brought back memories. I once had an E-reg 900 Turbo 16 and enjoyed it very much.
However, one thing you didn’t mention was cooling system trouble. I couldn’t keep antifreeze in mine. Various garages investigated but nobody could solve it. I was always finding puddles of green fluid under the car and had to keep topping up the cooling system. When I ran out of antifreeze, I regret that I used water: big mistake.
One day, a long way from home, the engine went ‘all funny’. It ran roughly and there were clouds of smoke out of the back. I got it home and my garage found the coolant passages in the head had corroded into a cylinder. They welded and skimmed it, but it was never the same. I part-exchanged it soon afterwards. Jim Benn
Via email
Oh, the irony
The new BMW Concept XM seems to have been conceived at the Japanese origami school of design. “They’re even going after Range Rover”, you proclaimed on the front cover (1 December 2021). I’ve no doubt the XM will be an accomplished car, but it can’t begin to match the understated elegance of the new Range Rover, now with BMW engines.
It’s ironic that BMW designed the excellent L322-generation Range Rover and so started the modern era of Range Rover. (I have a 2007 TDV8, so I admit to being biased.)
Come back to BMW, Chris Bangle: all is forgiven! Martin Castle
Via email