Oxford Is Banning Everything With An Engine - Starting In 2020
Well, how do you like this? Anything Paris can do, Oxford can look down its nose at. The English city, famous for its university and for generally hating cars in general, has announced a zero-emission zone starting in 2020.
This ban is more clearly-worded than the others we’ve seen. It’s a straightforward zero-emission policy, banning petrol and diesel cars as well as any hybrid that has a fossil-fuel combustion engine. So, if you live just outside Oxford, work in the centre and have just bought a Porsche 918 Spyder thinking you’d be safe from low-emission zone restrictions, Oxford City Council would like to tell you to get bent.
Actually, it’s not quite that bad. In 2020 just a few streets will start operating a policy that sees every vehicle with an engine banned. Even taxis and buses will be affected. Gradually, the whole city will be added to the scheme and even HGVs will be stopped from entering to deliver goods. If there aren’t widely available (and financially viable) electric trucks and vans by then… well, the people of Oxford will be in trouble, won’t they.
The full scheme won’t be in place until 2035, but busy city centre streets will be metaphorically roped off to combustion engines in just over a couple of years. How, exactly, are deliveries going to be made? Will the postal services have to invest in electric vans just for Oxford? This reeks of poorly thought-out political point-scoring.
Oxford’s EV infrastructure growth plans at this point are pretty pathetic. There’s half a million pounds on tap for charging points for taxis, and £800,000 more for – wait for it – a whole 100 charging points for residents. Yep, £8000 each for something you can buy yourself for your home or office for comfortably less than £1000. That’s including fitting, too. Here, good CTzens, is typical British council mismanagement at its finest. Idiots.
Meanwhile, the population of Oxford is currently about 160,000. A hundred charging sockets isn’t going to cut it. The council is throwing this new legislation around while the actual practicalities of making it happen – we call it ‘common sense’ – has been forgotten. Well done, guys.
Comments
That’s shocking(sorry but someone had to)
“The English city, famous for its university and for generally hating cars in general”
“Generally hating cars in general”
Well, Venice already banned cars since a while, and Stockholm wants to do the same (or Helsinki, I don’t remember). Honestly, I don’t see the problem about that.
Great! Look I love driving but city driving is not driving. It’s boring, unhappy and a nuisance for pedestrians. The sooner cities are ICE free the happier I’ll be.
Finally someone who has logic. I’m not against ICE cars at all, and I truly love driving, but according to CTzens who, for a good part of them, have never driven at all, it’s like if the end of the world would happen in 2020. Good luck trying to have fun driving in big cities: you won’t. You won’t have more fun being stuck in traffic in a Lambo than in a smart car. Real world isn’t like you imagine: it’s not “fun” by any mean. “Car guys” won’t be more sad or more happy: they can’t do shit with a sports car anyway in a big city. This is just good news. Big cities aren’t a place for ICE cars. I honestly couldn’t agree more with you.
At this rate, Oxford will soon be banning breathing because it emits carbon dioxide. Good luck winning the boat race.
True.
Guess where I live!
Soon a term “petrolhead” won’t be a term used for a car guy as non-car people are washing pur brains into thinking that EV’s are good!
Why don’t they just use the good old gas and diesel engines and when oil is going to run out just use methanol instead or biodiesel…
Pollution caused by cars isn’t as bad as pollution caused by cows, peoples and volcanos.
We have to think about it this way:
If non-car people would somehow dissapear in their prius accidentaly hitting a 200mph diesel truck… The amount of pollutant people would decrease, the same as it would fix the problen of hunger an lack of space as there would be maybe 10mln people on earth.
Just think about the possibilities of a race track around the whole itally or greece, or building a gigant bridge to connect USA with Europe
Dreams and hope that are not going to happen… Sadly :(
“Pollution caused by cars isn’t as bad as pollution caused by cows, peoples and volcanos.”
That’s like saying theft isn’t as bad as rape or murder.
Also transportation accounts for over 60% of air pollution.
Oxford circa 2026 A.D.
We wanted prius less city they gave us that! But they retired our passion reason (us in 2030)
Shame the council didn’t ask the university about the effects of this moronic ban first