Hitchcocks Forum

Royal Enfield has been reported in the Indian press to be developing an electric engine in the UK for a future range of bikes. It had to come. But maybe is as short sighted as the entire electric vehicle stampede.

When will the public media address the problems associated with and inseparable from this false panacea for climate change? Head in the sand - or buried in lithium?

They are unpopular but if you want energy efficiency, the diesel Enfields seem like the way forwards. Will happily run on carbon biodiesel and hugely efficient. If it's returning 250mpg, it can't be putting out much in the way of CO2 per mile.

As ever though, the issues of ground level particulate pollution and carbon emissions, while totally different are hopelessly conflated.

Don't worry - the oceans are plenty deep enough when we have to start dumping dead batteries into it from the current generation of cars.

That is a joke but I do wonder where they will all go. Our generation find grandad's bantam at the back of the garage - the next generation will be finding a dead Prius. Restoration programs are going to be whole lot less interesting

Diesel shmiesel. This is the sort of Royal Enfield that can save the planet.

Almost every part of an electric car battery is worth cash money.

To the extent that some manufacturers retain title to the battery when you buy the car.

On the subject of where batteries go - see this post on another topic

"Recycling is not straightforward. There is enormous variety in the chemistries, shapes and designs of lithium batteries. These batteries contain cobalt, nickel and manganese. Lithium ion battery waste is already significant. It will grow as demand for EVs increases. Based on 1 million electric cars sold in 2017 it’s calculated 250,000 tonnes or half a million cubic metres of waste will result. Eight gigafactories are needed in the UK by 2040 to service demand for lithium batteries. Electrification of just 2% of global car fleet would represent a line of cars that would circle the Earth, 140 million vehicles. So 100% replacement, the objective, would circle the earth 50 times, 7,000 million vehicles! Landfill isn’t an option. These batteries contain huge amounts of power. We are unprepared to deal with them. Lithium battery fires are also a headache. We need urgent solutions for the whole lifecycle of the battery, from mining the materials to disposing of them again at the end. It is imperative we don’t create another ‘fossil fuel problem’ in the form of battery wastage.

Well there’s a thing! By the way, are cobalt, nickel and manganese sustainable?"

I wonder how much CO2 will result from the construction of these 'gigafactories'!!!!

aethelric I don't think anything will 'save the planet' - certainly not the pedal cycle!

The cause of the problem - greed - will also bring about the catastrophic end of the problem. Human 'progress' since the year dot has always been focused on 'more for me'. And human nature isn't going to change by 2035!

Believe me, nobody is "disposing of" lithium. There is a finite and dwindling supply of it.

Are you trying to tell me that just because a thing is available only in finite quantities it won't be wasted??!!

If that was the case we'd not be where we are now. Waste of finite resources is what this thing is all about. In any case stuffing lithium in batteries for millions of unnecessary vehicles seems to count as a prime case of waste!

If enfield and other bikes go electric i might leave my hobby.

Might need to listen to lawn mower engine sound time to time to calm me down