Delay in EV takeover more than welcomed by farmers

The electrical vehicle (EV) takeover will not be taking place just yet, which is likely to be considered good news by the majority of farmers.

In February 2023, an attempt to totally banish cars and other light vehicles powered by internal combustion engines (ICE) was narrowly defeated in the European parliament.

Attempts to electrify larger off road vehicles, such as tractors, have ground to a halt as it becomes obvious that battery technology cannot match the demands of long days at full power in the field.

Yet, farmers are just as affected at the other end of the vehicle scale.

Living in the rural community means regular travel around the locality, including trips to the mart with cattle in a trailer, a huge drain on a battery.

The problems won’t stop there. Charging a small fleet of cars and running a farm on a single phase electrical supply will be nearly impossible, as the expense of installing three phase will need to be met.

Should farmers switch to a three phase supply on mass then there will also be billions needing to be spent on upgrading the grid, nobody in political circles appears willing to commit themselves to this.

Electric cars, SUVs and jeeps are not going to fit in with farming at all easily.

The story so far

The delay of a total ban on ICE powered cars is primarily due to Germany insisting that those sold after 2035 must be capable of running only on renewable fuels, rather than suffer outright abolition.

What has become quite clear during the argument. and it has shone through the fuss over electric cars for a long time now, is that the powers wish us all to rely upon the battery to get around – with only begrudging allowance being made for other forms of energy management.

Germany, supported by several other smaller countries, pushed for the retention of ICEs, just so long as they could only be run on carbon neutral fuels, yet EVs still remain the goal of many pressure groups and politicians.

This total reliance upon one power source has always been met with some disdain by certain commentators upon motoring, not least by Farmer Clarkson himself – as he leans upon his rustic Cotswold gate addressing a significant audience.

Mounting support for ICE

Many motorists themselves have also joined in the chorus as opposition to the imposition, which appears to have multiplied considerably over the past 12 months.

While it was considered rather odd, and even a little radical, to question the mainstream narrative at the time of the attempted ban, the shoe has now transferred itself firmly to the other foot – with even the more sober social media platforms being hotbeds of dissent, where EVs were once applauded.

Evidence from the ground is also striking. There is much talk of EVs in rural circles, where they will have the greatest impact, and none of it is good.

Everybody appears to have an opinion or anecdote, and all are overwhelmingly negative.

Such talk can be dismissed as being simply anecdotal, yet a browse around the web will quickly show that all is not well for the manufacturers who have invested billions in EVs, and now find themselves having to double down on the marketing in a bid to shift them off the forecourts.

Hard facts

Volkswagen, for instance, is offering up to €10,000 off its dedicated ID range, the €3,500 grant already available obviously not being enough to overcome the suspicions of the apprehensive motorist, so the company has thought it necessary to nearly treble it.

Second hand cars are fairing little better and it is easy to find signs of unwelcome depreciation on the various listing sites.

One example is a two-year-old hatchback from a major manufacturer which would have carried a sticker price of €33,600 when new, it is now available for just under €18,800.

Premium brands do tend to fare better, Tesla and BMW are not showing quite such dramatic falls, but diesel SUVs still hold their value well and are in demand.

BMW has recently indicated that it is set to abandon electric cars and take up with hydrogen power instead, although it appears to be favouring the fuel cell route, rather than direct combustion as JCB and Kubota are.

It is reported that the company has overcome a major obstacle to hydrogen power, the chief one of which is the expensive platinum catalyst required.

If it has developed an alternative and much cheaper catalyst, then it may well be a large step forward.

It might be wise to sound a note of caution however, for BMW has also had its knuckles rapped, along with MG, by the British Advertising Standards Authority for claiming its EVs are zero emission – which is clearly not the case.

Seeking scapegoats for ICE enthusiasm

Battery advocates in the UK are clearly rattled by the lack of enthusiasm among consumers, as market penetration remains one of the lowest in the west – just 16.6% last September, most units going to company fleets rather than private motorists.

In a bid to explain this lack of sales, a report from the House of Lords went so far as to blame Rowan Atkinson, a keen saloon car racer, for committing the cardinal sin of describing them as “soulless”.

The fall comes despite the carrot and stick approach of subsidies and legislation to try and force the abandonment of ICE powered cars.

Faced with this failure of current policies, the EV advocates have come up with a cunning plan – more of the same.

Targets to be met

The Irish government has set a target of having 30% of the car fleet being electric by 2030, yet it doesn’t define whether that is fully electric or electric and hybrid.

It all started going downhill for the EV lobby with a well-publicised fire on the Fremantle Highway as it drifted around the North Sea, abandoned and burning, for several days before being towed to a port in the Netherlands.

Other fires, such as the one at Luton Airport in October may not have been caused by a faulty Li-ion battery, but it did promote a discussion on the the issue of trying to extinguish a substance with a built-in oxygen supply.

Car ferries were highlighted as one major concern.

In Germany, there are already underground car park bans in place due to fears of the excessive heat from a Li-ion fire causing damage to the surrounding structure – in a way that ICE conflagrations will not.

Familiarity breeds concern

It was probably hoped by the EV lobby that as they became more commonly owned, the public would gradually be charmed by their utility, modernity, economy and planet saving graces.

Unfortunately for those committed to supporting them, the opposite appears to be the case.

Insurance costs, cold weather performance and battery replacement expenses have all emerged as negative factors in ownership.

Despite being heavy items, the batteries are quite fragile, in that a slight knock to them might cause internal damage – leading to a fire at some point in the future.

Replacing the whole item will often cost tens of thousands of euros, pushing up insurance premiums in the process.

The possibility of damage to the battery is a big unknown when considering buying a used EV, it will not show up in an NCT test due to the inspection being limited to visible wiring. It is one of the reasons being given for poor used EV prices.

For now, it appears that consumer preference is set to defy EU diktat and the farmers protests do appear to be having some effect.

The demise of carbon-based fuels is by no means certain.