Howard, congestion in urban areas is increasing, more so in the larger ones. I visit our son in Cardiff and have changed my route to avoid some bad routes.i now have long stretches in 20 zones but that is a lesser evil than being stuck in non flowing traffic. I commuted 60 miles each way to Cardiff for 12 years and luckily to the outskirts. Colleagues were taking nearly as long as me to get home across Cardiff whilst I was using main routes and the M4.The problems outside these hotspots are the number of 20 zones in so many villages. These can string along long stretches of road due to the village following that road. Traffic bunches up along these roads as you’d expect due to the speed reduction. Non emergency ambulances are taking significantly longer to ferry people. It appears use of blue lights is now virtually mandatory on all ambulance journeys whether emergency or not. Also, due to schedules being buggered, buses may be allowed to ignore the 20 and run at 30 in bus lanes ( maybe even outside them). There are still plenty of nice driving roads but some having the village20 interruptions. There also appears to be variations in how the different County Councils have kept higher limits, so a lack of conformity. Frustrations are increasing and I see more dubious driving moves. People are changing routes to avoid some zones, myself included using local knowledge. New rat runs created. I expect the numpty politicians to claim these routes as lesssafe and spout biased stats caused by the 20zone imposition. As for the stats being bandied about journey times... utter bulls..t. If I quoted stats in that form for work I’d have been sacked. Public transport as an option? Big joke in Wales! EV in Wales? OK if in the population centres and charging at home with short journeys. Trouble is most of Wales is rural or remote. Anyway, as Noddy says...It’s Christmas! Santa has exemption to 20 zones, this year at least.
^ Considering how many companies offer to butcher an ICE classic into an EV, that's quite funny to bung an ICE into an EV & clever they got the Tesla dash & electronics to function post flood
I always thought it might be fun to stick some faux exhausts onto a Tesla
^ I drove an Insight a few years ago on the hilly test track bit at Millbrook, the car was only two up and we were worried it wouldn't make the final hill, I can only assume we'd depleted the battery, scary stuff when you have no previous with EV's
Maybe this is the beginning of a change in direction. ENI, the Italian fuel and energy giant, has just released a new synthetic diesel.
The following is a translation of part of their website.
Quote
Do you also want to be part of the change?
From 1/10 until 31/12 you can buy HVOlution at the more than 500 HVOlution-enabled Enilive Stations at a super-cheap price, 10 cents cheaper than conventional diesel.
With HVOlution, change is on its way
HVOlution is Enilive's first diesel produced with 100% renewable of renewable raw materials* that contributes to the decarbonisation of transport.**
Check the compatibility of your vehicle with the EN15940 (XTL) product, look for Enilive-enabled stations.
It is a biofuel made from 100% pure hydrogenated vegetable oil. It is a renewable diesel fuel produced from waste raw materials and vegetable residues and from oils generated by crops that do not compete with the food chain. It is not a zero carbon footprint fuel even though it is produced from 100 per cent renewable raw materials, but the company assures that it can reduce CO2 emissions by between 60 and 90 per cent. In order to produce HVOlution, Eni has entered into waste and waste-to-energy agreements and international partnerships in various countries in Africa, such as Mozambique, Kenya and Congo.
The company is engaged in the development of a series of agri-hubs dedicated to the production of vegetable oils by exploiting degraded areas and marginal land not suitable for food crops. From Kenya, the first cargo of vegetable oil produced in the Makueni facility arrived at the Eni refinery in Gela, Sicily; an initial cargo of used frying oils arrived in Venice. With this process, Eni aims to cover 35% of the needs of its biorefineries by 2025.