Free Republic

Germany’s leading car parts supplier ZF has recently been forced to cut one-fifth to one-quarter of its workforce, owing in part to Chinese competition and in part to “weak demand for electric vehicles.” Other firms like Bosch, Continental, and Webasto have also been forced to “restructure.” Yet the CEOs of these companies continue absurdly to believe in the future of “electromobility,” since the European Union plans to outlaw fossil fuel-powered vehicles as of 2035. The short-sightedness of EU bureaucrats will lead inevitably to market implosion and an economic collapse, and the car-makers have no option, it seems, but to comply...

How lovely and clean London’s air will be once that nice Sadiq Khan’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez) has been extended across the entire city and the Government’s ban on petrol and diesel cars has taken effect. Well, not quite. In fact, was there ever such a misnomer as a “zero emission vehicle”? Far from cleaning the air there is evidence that in one respect the adoption of electric vehicles could make pollution worse.Electric vehicles might reduce carbon emissions (though far from eliminating them – indeed their manufacture involves carbon emissions). They might not have exhaust pipes spewing out nitrogen...