Independents

[greeban]

Just watching a discussion on another forum about a dealership charging £90 for oil!

The reason why I raise this as I am worried for the future of the independent car repair market and DIY, with the current hype of electric and self driving cars and questionable political motivation; it seems to me that apart from the legal issues (which hopefully will prevent self drive), self drive cars will need aircraft style maintenance which will likely see the end of cheap motoring. I also do not mind the option of electric cars but these too will reduce the option of DIY maintenance plus for me they are boring and a potential killer in the cities as they are silent (motorcyclists often blip their engine to warn a pedestrian of their presence, and yes you have a horn but useless if you have not spotted the potential hazard); I know some of you will say how can electric be boring as they are fast but speed is not everything plus I presume there is only so much that can be done with an electric motor compared to an ICE car.

So the question am I rambling towards is what happened to the hydrogen discussion? Putting self driving cars aside for now, hydrogen will allow us to keep running ICE cars (as they meet all the environmental conditions) and give the independents a good chance of being able to compete with the dealerships in the future. You can make hydrogen using the sun from water for free and BMW have proven its use in ICE cars back in the 90s. The only argument I have heard against hydrogen is the transportation issues but we are going to spend I don't know how much of our tax payers money on putting electric points everywhere so I am confused and upset that we are being pushed down the electric route - also there is little discussion on how we deal with all the old batteries, so far all I hear is that they last a long time - so what! Eventually they will need to be replaced but an ICE can be rebuilt and reused. Hydrogen is also the most abundant element in the universe!

Apologies for the rant but just wondering if I am alone - is it time for the car industry to fight back - the last thing I want is my grandchildren to have the option of electric only. Oh and BTW - it was lovely to see the all electric E-Type but for me it is not going to get close to the V12 experience. Couldn't jaguar do the same with Hydrogen??

[XJ40Steve]

Interesting, but I suspect futile.
The petro-chem industry will decide what happens, massive money talks.
Cheap or free hydrogen will never happen !

[greeban]

Yes - this is exactly what I am afraid of! Hey ho.