Have we finally reached the tipping point?

quiff wrote:

You two are describing me past and me present! Pre-pandemic, lived in London, had a car which was only ever used for long journeys out of London. Never even contemplated using it around town because it was so unpleasant and slower than cycling / bus / tube. I now live in Cardiff (commuting to London once a week by bike/train) and it’s being used even less – basically only holidays and weekend trips where all the family needs to travel. I’m curious about going totally car-less and just hiring / car-clubbing as necessary, but reckon the savings would be relatively modest and it makes it harder to be spontaneous.                 

£700 a year for insurance, tax, service and mot pays for quite a few car hires

Dnnnnnn wrote:

The pandemic + current inflation + long-running weak growth in real incomes have helped depress ownership and use levels in recent years. But those things can change – and we want them to, 

Do we?

Since high consumption is not environmentally sustainable, why do we see a return to high consumer lefestyle as desirable?

It’s worth noting that as we

It’s worth noting that as we collectively move toward a future where cars aren’t propelled by fossil fuels, cheap vehicles whether new or used are going to cost far more than their internal combustion engined (ICE) counterparts.

ICE vehicles are already considerably higher to purchase now in comparison to pre-pandemic days as manufacturers move away from city cars to SUV’s which have a greater profit margin while also removing the lowest specced cars from their ranges. Pre-pandemic the cheapest cars in manufacturers ranges were approx. £13k, now they are approx. £18k.

In the end, whichever way you

In the end, whichever way you look at it, the consumer society is unsustainable.

If we’re serious about doing something about climate change we need to start living smaller lives, which is why I’m extremely pessimistic about the future. We really need to go back to the pace of life at the turn of the last century.

Less stuff, less travel, less food, less energy. There’s plenty we can do to chip away at externalities at the edges of what we do (and car usage is one of them) but fundamentally we need to buy.less.stuff

For example, 80% of the lifetime environmental cost of a laptop, or pretty much any electronic device, is locked up in production and distribution. So, if we can make our phones last 5 years rather than 2 (current average replacement time in the UK) that has a huge positive impact. Recently both Google and Apple have committed to 5-year service life for their current generation phones, so change is coming. 

I do wonder how we seen
I do wonder how we wean ourselves off miles. Any system of constraint has the downside that the wealthy can buy themselves round it, but I suppose if that is the case we just have to have a high rate of escalation.

I imagine we could have a mileage allowance which could reduce over time. However, that still needs to constrain what people consider necessary mileage like commuting and work. If businesses want people driving they should have to pay s premium to top up their employee’s mileage. If people want to commute, there should be a limit on mileage that can be claimed – there should be pressure to stop the 90 minute car commutes.

In the end, which ever way you look at it, unconstrained car use is unsustainable. Constraining it will be unpopular but at some point it has to happen. London has more constraint than the rest of the UK – and has had the funding to alleviate most of the pain that goes with it.

I car club now having got rid

I car club now having got rid of 2 cars.

Costs me £10/month for membership, plus £5/hr which covers all other outgoings. I can still book a vehicle for longer durations at £46/day plus a minimal fee to cover petrol at £0.20/mile for petrol or £0.05/mile for electric.

I’m with Co-Wheels and found the service fantastic.

Hard to say – I think the

Hard to say – I think the post-pandemic picture is still to settle, inflation and supply issues will abate (but when), and the nature of the transition to EVs is still unclear.

The pandemic + current inflation + long-running weak growth in real incomes have helped depress ownership and use levels in recent years. But those things can change – and we want them to, which might bring renewed growth with it.

Ownership and use aren’t the same thing, of course. As noted, plenty people in cities have cars but don’t use them much. And people may increasingly use cars without owning them (Uber, car clubs, etc.).