Just yesterday, Dominic Pino noted reports of trouble/absurdity arising out of a California mandate that provides that starting in 2024, any trucks (which I now know — never change, Dominic — are known as “drayage trucks”) intended to be used at a seaport or intermodal rail yard would be required to be zero-emission. Older drayage trucks that are already in use will be grandfathered for now.
2024!
Maybe this was intended as California’s tribute to the centennial of Lenin’s death (stock up on the champagne) next year, because only central planners could approve of such a potentially damaging deadline being fixed without any serious regard to reality.
Pino (my emphasis added):
On July 16, the Wall Street Journal reported that there are fewer than 700 electric-truck chargers at depots in California right now. The state projects it will need 157,000 by 2030.
The deadline isn’t moving, and trucking companies have started purchasing electric trucks to comply with the regulations. “As automakers deliver new electric trucks to fleet customers, parking lots that once needed enough power for a few floodlights now might need to draw as much power as a skyscraper,” the Journal says.
Building that kind of infrastructure takes years. In the meantime, temporary solutions include electric-vehicle chargers powered by diesel or natural gas.
Oh.
And now to Wales (via the Daily Telegraph):
A council has been using diesel generators to charge its new electric bin lorry fleet after a problem with their charging stations.
Cardiff Council started transitioning to electric vehicles for its waste collection in 2021 as part of its efforts to hit net zero by 2030.
But it was forced to admit that it was charging the vehicles using diesel generators after a local resident spotted the backup power.
A local resident, eh?
Was it a green vigilante, I wonder, or a passing cynic wanting to make fun of yet another green fiasco?
The Daily Telegraph:
A spokesman for Cardiff Council said: “The council’s waste department is modernising to ensure that both the workforce and the vehicles that are used can deliver an efficient service for residents.
“For some time, the council has been transitioning away from diesel vehicles towards electric and we currently have 12 electric vehicles in our fleet. The council has infrastructure at Lamby Way Depot to charge electric vehicles. This equipment charges the smaller vehicles without any issue, but a software problem between these electric chargers and the new electric Denis Eagle RCV vehicles, causes the system to ‘trip’.
“To mitigate this, the council does have portable diesel generators onsite which are being used on a temporary basis when issues occur. This is being used while we wait for portable electrical chargers, which are engineered by the vehicle manufacturer – Denis Eagle – to be installed.”
The good news?
We can all be sure that the Lamby Way Depot’s race to net zero, despite some stumbles, will be a major win for the planet.
The even better news?
The bin trucks designed by Denis Eagle contain five packs of lithium ion batteries, and typically take between 6-7 hours to recharge.
Ah, progress.
Meanwhile:
Earlier this year, it emerged that York Council could not yet use its £8 million fleet of electric bin lorries because it did not have sufficient charging infrastructure.
The Government is facing pressure over its 2030 deadline to phase out sales of petrol and diesel cars because of concerns that the charging network cannot cope.
Last year, Fife Council purchased 13 new diesel bin lorries, despite calls for them to go electric, blaming a lack of charging infrastructure.
At this point, I’ll just quote something I wrote the other day:
A significant part of the problem with net zero comes not so much from the project itself, which is bad enough, but from the lunatic way in which it is being implemented: C doesn’t follow B, B doesn’t follow A.
Central planning is what it is.