Quote Originally Posted by Mark
I'm sure in many places they didn't go away. In Zurich for example, as well as a dense tram network they also have trolley buses which go right out into the suburbs - they do have diesel buses too. But it means in the city centre there are very few oil burning vehicles, and it's a nicer place to be as a result.
Zurich is a very pleasant place to be. The Tram network is extensive, regular and punctual. I was able to commute from the Airport to the opposite side of the city in about 30 mins.

What I like about Zurich is that the centre has very few cars because it just doesn't make any sense. Would be great if this happened in UK cities.

The problem we have in the UK is that the we have a different transport model. Most European Cities have a commercial centre surrounded by housing which is serviced by a good public transport network. The UK is much more fragmented and people commute across areas more.

For me, unless I worked in the centre of London, it would be impractical to use public transport. Even if I worked 20 miles way in Basingstoke, it would cost more and take longer than using a car and I live on one of the busiest train lines in the Country and Basingstoke is a major Town nearby.

Anyway, Electric cars. As I have said, they are not at all viable on their own at this time. I think there needs to be more joined up thinking with the manufacturers about including more complimentary technologies. Solar, KERS etc and at least another type of power generation source. Electric on it's own is too restrictive and battery swap out stations wont work. You would have to get buy-in from all manufacturers to standardise battery terminals and that wont happen. It will also mean, even with standard size and terminals, that swap out stations would have to hold a massive stock of legacy batteries as new ones come out each month. After all, if you have a nice new 2021 year Tesla with super doper, long life, high power battery and it gets swapped at the first station for a crappy 2014 battery that's knackered, has restricted power output, takes 10x longer to recharge and lasts a fraction of the time when used, would you be happy? So, what are you going to do?

Just wont work.

So, electric car + solar + Energy Recovery + additional power source that can be refilled will work. For me, with the current and emerging technology is Hydrogen electric generation to power the electric motor and batteries and can easily be dispensed with minimal investment from existing fuel stations.