Petrol, Diesel, Hybrid or Electric Cars? - up yours, Mr Smug

Although I have still to confirm this with Mrs B, the time may well be approaching for a change of car.

Discussions with Mrs B are simple. Do we need to change the car? The answer is based on: is it knackered, costing too much to run, or is it simply that we’ve fallen out of love? That’s with the car, not with each other, although she may well be considering the knackered and too much to run points in relation to me. Who knows, eh?

Back to the subject. Most importantly, can we afford to change the car? If we can agree on most of the points, then change could take place.

Now, the second part of the decision-making process seems to involve everyone, and the confusion caused me by a tortuous mixture of opinion and fact.

This confusion also includes the opinions of people who prefer to glue themselves to roads rather than drive on them.

Should the replacement car be petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric?

Puzzled by the arguments for and against each one, and unsure of the changes in the rules, I’ve done a little research. Now I’m even more confused.

For some 25 years from the late 80s, diesel cars were in vogue. Initially, commercial users such as taxi drivers bought them and then, steadily, the diesel share of the European and UK market increased. They encouraged us to buy them!

For those of us who drove long distances or covered many miles each year – or did a combination of both – the diesel engine proved to be the most economical choice.

And then bang! Suddenly the diesel engine is out of favour, castigated for fouling the planet and a target for the eco lobbyists. Along came hybrids and then all-electric, the latter being the new idol to worship.

Well, folks, it’s clear, say all the sceptics, no one has really thought this through – at least that’s what I’ve read.

Apparently, we cannot charge enough batteries to keep the electric cars (EVs) going because we don’t have enough charging points. EVs don’t keep going as far as the diesel engine does, so that’s a slower long journey if you have to keep stopping.

Also, the people who glue themselves to the roads want an end to coal and oil generation of electricity. But that won’t come overnight. Add to this, say others, that manufacturing batteries for EVs creates carbon emissions, and it’s a mixed message.

The electric cars weigh more – some a lot more - so if we filled a 1960s concrete car park with them, it could well creak, to say the least.

And we can only presume the heavier cars do more damage to the roads, so why is it their owners currently enjoy zero vehicle excise duty? Given the pothole crisis, shouldn’t everyone using the roads contribute? It seems people are keen to concentrate on air pollution arguments rather than road maintenance, even though my diesel car has to comply with the strict limits laid down for MOT tests.

Someone (a smug person) was keen to point out to me there will be a ban on petrol and diesel cars from 2035. To people like Mr Smug, the champion of the electric car, the large two litre diesel 4x4 Mrs B and I drive is a demon. Up yours, Mr Smug, we’ll choose what we drive as this country is not yet an electric car state.

Thankfully, 2035 only affects new cars, so I can still buy and sell used petrol and diesel cars after that date.

I think I’ve understood that correctly?