Petrol and Diesel Cars 2035

[Constantbee]

I think you're probably right about the pre-owned market - see my posts above. If people are able to afford a new one, or nearly new one (say 1 year old), then I would expect the range of a decent low end car to be at least 150 miles, so unless you live 75 miles or more away from the hospital, it should be feasible. If your hospital (or destination) is around 30 miles, then either consider electric cars, and make sure there are charging points at the destination - hospitals should be able to do this, though whether they will ... or alternatively go for a plug-in hybrid - and there may be some of those available in the sh market.

You may be right, Dave, but I know enough about car sales never to trust a manufacturer’s claims about mpg. It’s always about 10 mpg less than what you actually get, and that will vary enormously depending on where you live and the type of driving you usually do. I suspect EV range is the next big sales gimmick, and however well the range seems to suit your needs it almost certainly won’t.

[Dave2002]

You may be right, Dave, but I know enough about car sales never to trust a manufacturer’s claims about mpg. It’s always about 10 mpg less than what you actually get, and that will vary enormously depending on where you live and the type of driving you usually do. I suspect EV range is the next big sales gimmick, and however well the range seems to suit your needs it almost certainly won’t.

I have allowed for some "inflation" of manufacturer's figures, plus my own observations, and in the case of electric cars, discussions with owners.

I certainly wouldn't recommend a pure EV car dated from - say - 2017 - as (a) at the time even the manufacturer's weren't claiming a very high range and (b) there would probably have been some deterioration in the battery due to use. Perhaps some dealers would offer a vey reasonable deal/guarantee on batteries for older vehicles, but without that I'd suggest avoid like bubonic plague.

However, I think this year's models may be viable. It all depends on how people want to use their cars, and the deals they can get. One manufacturer was offering several weeks of regular hire cars for anyone who had to do long journeys, the assumption being that most journeys would be shortish returns, and doable in a day.
Some households have more than one car, which makes a significant difference - even with petrol or diesel cars, as if there's any downtime - due to maintenance or incidents, then life can carry on with a modest adjustment. Other people don't have that luxury, so may be more reluctant to put all their eggs in one basket with an electric car.

[ardcarp]

When something 'new' comes on stream, there are often teething troubles; and usually the price comes down as more and more people buy a product. Until they've cracked it for rural users, I think I'll remain a petrolhead.

[Dave2002]

Where I live at the moment the nearest public transport is a sporadic bus service that is just over 3km away and there's no car park at that point; car dependency is thus unavoidable and I have noticed these buses on occasion running around the area, always empty. I have no idea who funds these unused services but it seems unlikely that they're fully subsidised out of the profits from school, tourist and city services run by the company that operates them.

Where we live now there is hardly any public transport worthy of the name before 11am on Sundays, which is rubbish if one wants to catch a long distance bus or train. No wonder people buy - and also use - cars.

[cloughie]

Where we live now there is hardly any public transport worthy of the name before 11am on Sundays, which is rubbish if one wants to catch a long distance bus or train. No wonder people buy - and also use - cars.

Could make people late for church!

[gradus]

Could make people late for church!

No problem with getting to church in Suffolk, we can walk across the field, unfortunately the nearest bus is 1.5 miles away - relatively close by some country standards.