4 May 2022

Probing the polls: safe speeding and making the change to electric vehicles

| Genevieve Jacobs
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Electric vehicle charging

A different kind of filling up – but would you make the change to electric? Photo: James Coleman.

Can you speed safely? Even just a little bit?

ACT Policing says no.

“Infringements or warnings can be issued to drivers who exceed the limit for any amount above the posted speed limit,” they warn.

Once your car is travelling faster than the posted speed limit of the road, you’re classified as speeding. The first penalty level in the ACT backs this up, encapsulating “any speed up to 15 km/h over the limit”. For this, you’ll lose $297 in fines and one demerit point, although there can be some wiggle room for the police officer concerned to issue a warning instead.

But when we posed a question in last week’s poll about whether it’s OK to accelerate through the lights and nudge the dial on a long empty stretch of road, the answers were not necessarily law-abiding.

We asked, Is it OK to exceed the speed limit by just a fraction? A total of 1,224 people participated and the votes were surprisingly close.

READ ALSO Is there such a thing as ‘safe speeding’?

Your options were to vote No, it’s the law and speed limits keep us all safe. This received 39 per cent of the total, or 481 votes. Alternatively, you could choose Yes, if conditions warrant, it’s no big deal. This was the winning option, with 61 per cent of the total or 743 votes.

This week, we’re wondering about electric vehicles.

They’re promoted as the future for everyday motoring and there’s plenty of discussion about charging points, distance and other issues.

But the biggest hurdle for many ordinary people is cost. At around $50,000 for the most basic models, electric vehicles are still a steep climb beyond a new car starting at just north of $20,000.

And that’s before you consider that Australians have one of the oldest car fleets in the developed world. Many motorists will never buy a new car, and the transition to electric is bound to be lengthy, whatever incentives are offered.

Range remains a perennial concern, associated with a lack of charging stations in public and at home and concerns about whether you can tow a caravan or risk ruining the weekend.

But would it make a difference to you if the price came down substantially? Would you be prepared to switch from an internal combustion engine if there was no meaningful difference to your hip pocket?

Or are you convinced that electric vehicles are still a long way from matching the performance of a conventional internal combustion engine?

Our question this week is:

If electric vehicles were cheaper, would you buy one?

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Before you buy an electric car watch this TedTalk. Electric cars a greater C02 footprint than petrol vehicles!

https://www.ted.com/talks/graham_conway_the_contradictions_of_battery_operated_vehicles

i) I am not persuaded that EVs plus their supporting infrastructure are truly green, this issue is not going to go away any time soon. let alone battery disposal
ii) our car is a Subaru Forester SUV with just <87k kms on it, since mid 2015. We are retired and don't drive ever day. 2-3 times max a week locally.
Once or twice a year long distance (to and from Toowoomba last year, Sydney once this year).
Last but not least, that you've been pushing the EV thing despite the significant negatives set out below. For the very many retired Canberrans, most of whom might just have a clue about 'the maths of finance' – has tended – for me at least – to make you look just a bit dumb and a tad pushy.

Whoops > Frank Capari .. have just noted in this new Riot format that URL are shown as black type, not blue as usual.

Frederick Burman8:52 am 07 May 22

EV technology is still very immature, particularly the batteries. Prices will have to be closer to conventional vehicles for them to be widely adopted.

When the next gen batteries come out with greater range, those $80k EVs that people have recently bought will be worthless

Interesting that today it were announced Korda Mentha appointed as voluntary adminstrators for Mugga Lane solar farm.
The firm said the move was “necessary due to the recent external effects on the financial arrangements of Mugga Lane Solar Park”.

Still can’t figure out why you would place a solar farm next to a tip where dust and wind just love a solar panel

The EV is an expensive ride my neighbour bought a new tesla, but he could only drive it around town, he didnt know that you had to pay tesla motors another ten thousand dollars so he could use it for highway driving. Once that money is payed tesla will send over a link via sattalite to activate the car, so he could use it on the hwy to me that is extortion at is best. At least i know if i buy a new petrol powerd car i just fill up the tank and go anywere i want.

Pray tell more? The only reference I could see was for the ‘self-driving’ experience. According to my reading, your neighbour can take the car on the highway as it is now. Although the idea of geo-fencing cars/drivers is not a bad idea, would keep all the ACT drivers in the ACT!

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