Nice car but I can't afford the motor tax

[ClubMan]

Keep driving it is the better option when compared to buying a brand new car.
Your old car has embedded energy in it, the longer it is being driven by you or by another the more that embedded energy is diluted & by extension it's relative impact is reduced.

Not necessarily.
There's eventually a tipping point when it's more environmentally friendly to buy a new car even allowing for the "sunk" CO2 and other environmental costs of the manufacturing of the new one. Here's one analysis, for example. There are plenty of others and, I'm sure, academic research on the matter.

New EV vs. old beater: Which is better for the environment?

EVs require more energy to build, but they are far more efficient to operate.

www.arstechnica.com

 

[roker]

True, but you also have to consider safety. My son was a passenger in his friend’s dad’s car which was involved in a heavy collision with another car traveling in the opposite direction.

Both cars were less than a year old and were extensively damaged to a degree that they were both written off. All the occupants walked away without a scratch but the assessor said that if the cars had been 10 years old or more, there would have been injuries.

Food for thought.

There is no safety issue, it has a NCT every year

True, but you also have to consider safety. My son was a passenger in his friend’s dad’s car which was involved in a heavy collision with another car traveling in the opposite direction.

Both cars were less than a year old and were extensively damaged to a degree that they were both written off. All the occupants walked away without a scratch but the assessor said that if the cars had been 10 years old or more, there would have been injuries.

Food for thought.

 

[roker]

True, but you also have to consider safety. My son was a passenger in his friend’s dad’s car which was involved in a heavy collision with another car traveling in the opposite direction.

Both cars were less than a year old and were extensively damaged to a degree that they were both written off. All the occupants walked away without a scratch but the assessor said that if the cars had been 10 years old or more, there would have been injuries.

Food for thought.

That is one man's opinion, and not manufacturers, there is no rot etc on my car otherwise it would have been off the road years ago

 

[skrooge]

There is no safety issue, it has a NCT every year

NCT is a minimum standard of road safety, if even that. Yes ensuring the brakes work and the wheels are broadly pointing in the same direction is a good thing but the NCT is a low bar and far from perfect (as prime time found)

RTE Prime Time Testing the Limits - NCT Problems

RTE documentary on NCT - vehicle roadworthiness testing in Ireland

youtu.be

Obviously it's good to have but I'd be aiming higher than that.
Something like a euro ncap will show how safety measures have improved (for most but probably not all models) over the years

 

[Salvadore]

That is one man's opinion, and not manufacturers, there is no rot etc on my car otherwise it would have been off the road years ago

It’s nothing to do with the condition of a car relative to its original condition.

Newer cars have better safety features than older ones. That’s the reality and something I think should be taken into account if considering whether or not to change cars.

 

[Cervelo]

It’s nothing to do with the condition of a car relative to its original condition.

Newer cars have better safety features than older ones. That’s the reality and something I think should be taken into account if considering whether or not to change cars.

I think you also have to factor in the type of driving you do as well, Mrs Cs car is an 07 Qashqai that has all the safety features she would need for the driving she does which is mainly in and around the Blackrock, Dun Laoghaire area

 

[Purple]

Not necessarily.
There's eventually a tipping point when it's more environmentally friendly to buy a new car even allowing for the "sunk" CO2 and other environmental costs of the manufacturing of the new one. Here's one analysis, for example. There are plenty of others and, I'm sure, academic research on the matter.

New EV vs. old beater: Which is better for the environment?

EVs require more energy to build, but they are far more efficient to operate.

www.arstechnica.com

It gets complicated when the potential energy output from your litre of fuel is looked at.
A good modern petrol engine is 35% thermally efficient. (it turns 35% of the potential energy of the fuel into power. The rest is lost in head and through the exhaust)
A modern power station is 35-49% thermally efficient. That sounds good but we then lose around 8% of that 35-49% through the transmission network (2014 figure) so power from older plants, which are less efficient than newer ICE cars, plus the loss through the transmission network (radiation loss, conductor loss, dielectric heating loss, coupling loss and corona loss) means that if we are comparing the environmental impact of running an electric car powered by a coal or oil fuelled power station and a newer ICE car the latter may have a lower environmental impact in purely running terms.
From what I can see this is not taken into account when comparisons are made.

The transmission losses from wind will be greater as they are more dispersed and generally further away from population centres so there are more power lined between them and the consumer. If we have a surplus of green energy then the answer is straightforward; the electric car is better for the environment.

 

[Leo]

From what I can see this is not taken into account when comparisons are made.

There was a study that did factor that in, finding lifetime carbon emissions for EVs were lower except where the majority of electricity generation came from coal.

 

[Purple]

There was a study that did factor that in, finding lifetime carbon emissions for EVs were lower except where the majority of electricity generation came from coal.

Is there a link to the actual report? I'd like to see the data.
The lifecycle of the vehicle is important but I'd like to see data on the proportion of the potential energy realised.

 

[Leo]

Is there a link to the actual report? I'd like to see the data.

It's linked in there and subscription required, but here it is

 

[Purple]

It's linked in there and subscription required, but here it is

Thanks, I saw that but I don't have a subscription.