4th option (trivial in some countries, difficult in others):
Adoption of EV’s in the Netherlands, and in Norway, seems to be running just fine I’ve been told. (Fast) charging points growing like mushrooms leading to the highest density in the world. Many people get into EV-sharing schemes. Mostly in the cities where it is indeed problematic to have a charging point for every car. Range of today’s EV’s is more than enough for people to get out of the city for the weekend. All in all, such sharing schemes are much cheaper than owning a car could ever be for most people.
So I don’t buy the argument that EV’s are for the richies and also don’t buy the prediction that EV’s cannot get much more than 50% adoption.
Oh, and for those who are so afraid that we will soon be living under either a right-wing or left wing dictatorship (see other threads) what is there not to like to get your own solar power? Not all people will be as stingy and narrow-minded as Peter’s neighbours. Although I’m feeding into the grid on balance, I do need some power at certain times and my provider is a not-for-profit green energy supplier. They stimulate communities to set up joint PV installations, either on a piece of land or on top of an apartment building. Seems to be working.
Come on folks, stop thinking in terms of problems.
EVs have a 5.5% market share in the US for Q3 2022. That’s a little lower than Q3 a year ago but higher than a couple of years ago. I think EV market share will continue to very slowly rise, topping out at 10 to 20 percent. Laws attempting to dictate higher percentage will be ‘adjusted’ to reflect what people are actually buying.
My ‘problem’ is the potential of being forced to buy an EV, and to live with its limitations. My solution is not to buy one regardless, and not worry too much because the facts don’t support it happening anywhere I want to travel. The exception might be the possibility of a prohibition on riding my motorcycle in Europe at some point in my lifetime, but I see totalitarian trends in the region slowly starting to reverse in the face of public experience.
Ultranomad wrote:
4th option (trivial in some countries, difficult in others):pass an exam, get a license, do it all yourself legally, charge your neighbours to do it for them.
Not sure about other countries, but in the UK qualifying in these ‘domestic trades’ – e.g. electrical work, gas/plumbing – requires one to work for a certain non-trivial amount of time for an already-qualified employer and basically get them to sign off your practical work as competent. That in addition to completing the relevant theoretical study and passing some exams.
This serves the dual purpose of 1) providing a continuous supply of very cheap labour for existing tradespeople to hire as assistants, and 2) protecting those tradespeople from competition from the likes of me who might do as you suggest and eat their lunch. Rooted in the guilds / apprenticeship systems.
Peter wrote:
And, you would never have guessed, an electrician cannot (broadly speaking) do work on your house if he finds any wiring not compliant with current regulations
Maybe in the UK….
I don’t know what’s so funny but over here it is explicit that installations that were legal when made are still legal even if the regulations have changed. In fact you can make minor modifications to such installations according to to the rules in force when the main installation was made. I have employed several different electricians at various times and none of them have had any issues with this.
Graham wrote:
Not sure about other countries, but in the UK qualifying in these ‘domestic trades’ – e.g. electrical work, gas/plumbing – requires one to work for a certain non-trivial amount of time for an already-qualified employer and basically get them to sign off your practical work as competent. That in addition to completing the relevant theoretical study and passing some exams.
Some countries have interesting exceptions in the regulations. For example, in Czechia, a degree in physics or electronic engineering + 1 simple exam qualifies you to be an independent electrician.
The electrical trade in the UK pushes hard for it to be made completely illegal to do any electrical work yourself, and publishes much FUD suggesting it is already the case.
The current regulations limit the non-qualified homeowner to relatively minor work, but are widely ignored by those with a basic understanding and enforcement is zero. You cannot pay someone for electrical work unless they are qualified, so on a project like automating our driveway gates (done by gate specialists, not sparkies) the final connection to the domestic circuit is often made by the homeowner. This avoids the farce of paying an electrician £200 to come out for 15 minutes and make a single connection.
@Ultranomad that is interesting. It would never fly here, the trades would be up in arms about loss of revenue customer safety.
