What would happen if everyone drove electric cars ?

Question

The government are trying to save the environment by raising road tax on "gas guzzling" cars, what would happen if we all drove electric cars (currently road tax free) and they lost all the revenue on fuel and road tax, we would all be saving the environment but the government would be losing billions in revenue, would they then change their minds and decide electricity resources were on the downturn and want to 'charge' us the earth for using electric cars, what are your thoughts on this ?

Answer 1

There probably wouldn't be enough of some critical material needed to make the electric cars, like platinum or something or other. Just like all of the worlds electric could not be made from photo-voltaic cells, because there the total world production of glass isn't enough to make all of the glass needed for the solar cells.

Answer 2

A small diesel car is far greener and more economical than a hybrid like the awful Prius so forget them.

Answer 3

Heya there,

If everyone drove electric cars, the government would presumably shift taxes onto something else, to remain revenue-neutral. Perhaps it would raise taxes  on the fossil fuels used to generate the electricity, or perhaps increase road tax from the zero rate, or tax something else entirely, like alcohol. In the UK, though the amount of revenue raised from road tax is significant, it is only about 3% of goverment revenue in a year. So its not going to break the national accounts.

As others have pointed out, electric cars are NOT very CO2 efficient, as (in the UK) they rely on mostly fossil fuels being burned in power stations to generate the electricity, coupled with transmission losses. The same applies to hydrogen, really. So your premise that electric cars "save the environment" is not true, by itself.

The "cleanest" cars remain either diesel or electrics fueled from (mostly) nuclear power stations, as in France and Japan.

Answer 4

You'd have a real power crisis... could all the energy demands be met then by power companies... I can't imagine it at the mo' - simple economics, the demand would rise and costs would too, affecting all power use

Answer 5

The three problems with electric cars are 1. you still have to generate the electricity somewhere, probably with fossil fuels, 2. About 60% of electricity generated is lost from the transmission lines and 3. they bypass fuel taxes, so people take advantage of cheap energy intended for other purposes.  Hybrids and clean diesels are a better option, though the best option would be an electric car charged up by a home windmill.  It ain't going to happen in my lifetime!!

Answer 6

Electric cost would skyrocket... as well most other froms of energy...

Answer 7

Can you imagine the signs outside the "Battery Changing Stations" stating "Change your battery here for as little as £150.00. A full 60km guaranteed.

Do we really have anything to look forward to?

Answer 8

the price of electricity would sky rocket as the government would want their share.

brown outs would become a daily thing as all those electric cars would put extra strain on the power grids

Answer 9

No, they will get around the loss of revenue, by charging us to dispose of the batteries in the electric cars which will prove to be non-biodegradable, and therefore causing more damage to the environment than gas guzzlers etc!! its a vicious circle!!!

Answer 10

That's the governments problem all I know is that my Hybrid is saving me a fortune.

Answer 11

Well i don't know if they'll change their mind.. but driving electric cars can also damage the environment..as long as we use vehicles that require battery or gas or etc. we damage the environment, i guess it'll be better if we use bicycles or pedicbs instead of anything else or maybe solar powered cars would be better.. 'coz in electricity we would consume too much electricity and electric companies would think where to get more electricity other than solar, hydroelectric, the wind or any that we get from the environment.. they'll just decide to use nuclear power plants which are dangerous... so.. it's best to use solar powered cars or bicycles or pedicabs... are'nt i right?:-)

Answer 12

Electric cars can improve the efficeincy of the grid by providing distributed storage.

eg a tesla with a range of 250 miles http://www.teslamotors.com that only does a 20 mile commute has a lot of spare electric. This can be sold back to the grid when there is high demand http://www.acpropulsion.com/releases/10-...

plus you can generate your own electric easier than making bio-fuels or hydrogen.

even if the electric comes from fossil fuels there is still a environmental saving in noise, particulates, tankers and refining etc Central generators running at optimum load & temperature constantly monitored and maintainned are far more efficient than any other.

the savings to the health service by reducing noise and particulates, that kill thousands each year in UK, and improved balance of payments by not importing oil will probably offset any lost taxes.

Answer 13

We need to develop cars that run on hot air.

Politicians, yahoo answerer's in general and jonesart in particular could supply the hot air.

Of course the politicians would charge us dearly for their hot air as they effectively do already.

On a more serious note it does not really matter what happens the Government will still find numerous unjustified ways of separating us from our money.

Answer 14

It won't happen ... Electricity can be produced from renewal sources, gas (oil) cannot ...  Oil reserves will eventually be depleted someday, but we will still have electricity from other sources.

Answer 15

Bottom line....it takes money and lots of it to run a government. When revenue is lost from one source, it must be found in another. So, yes, I do think they will end up taxing road tax for electric cars.

Answer 16

The electric or hybrid car is not as eco friendly as you might think.  The battery that is used rakes up enormous air miles before it makes its way into your electric car.   If you really want to add up your emissions, you need to include this.  For the most part,  over the life of the car, it could not emit as many emissions as the frequent flier miles used to get it to you.

Answer 17

The government would then "discover" that the electric cars release something dangerous into the atmosphere and if we own an eleccy car we'd be charged some obscure tax for that.  

I'm seriously considering buying rollerskates.

Answer 18

That first guy totally ignored the question. I hate it when people do that; it's kind of like this guy I knew who met an American woman at a wedding he went to, but he didn't see her again until he was invited to her wedding (she was marrying a much older man in some castle in Scotland or some sh*t like that) but she wasn't very happy married to that guy but my friend decided to marry one of his ex-girlfriends, but the American woman turned up at his wedding and he ditched his fiancee at the alter aand totally got it on with thee American and decided in the end that marriage is everyone's answer to everything but might not always be the best solution so he thought "to h**l with it" and he hasn't made a lot of films since.

Answer 19

Could you imagine how quiet it would be, could hear yourself think for once.

Probably still get road rage. haha

Answer 20

I cant wait for the oil to runout! its making us all poor and poluting the planet thats why all the weathers all f**ked up and why were all out of pocket!

if everyone had solar paneled roofs that cost under £2000 ($4000) to buy and have someone install, all our bills would be halfed! and eventually lower.

electric cars are more environmently friendly, quieter and lighter! Youve made me think that yes when everyone in the future, like in 50-60years? when all the fossil fuels have gone, the government will find someway of robbing money of us, BUT THEIR NOT CHARGING NOW!!!

Answer 21

The power would need to come from some place.