Do Londoners dream of electric buses? • Hacker News Board

Re: Do Londoners dream of electric buses?

#61

Post by walshemj » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 4:34 PM UTC

fifnir wrote: post #24

jeffwass wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a London pedestrian I am fully in favour of electric buses. The NoX fumes are horrible for pedestrians too. Especially when the buses are stacked one after another, idling. I seriously can’t believe the government refuses to act on the diesel disaster. Tens of thousands of people die from diesel exhaust complications per year, but they don’t care.

did anyone vote for more taxes on themselves to cover the cost?

No but diesel owners who have for decades had a nice subsidy from my pocket have been :-(

Re: Do Londoners dream of electric buses?

#62

Post by ben_w » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 4:47 PM UTC

growlist wrote: post #57

mcjiggerlog wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over 3 years in Spain and no plans to return to Brexitlandia. The UK has it's good points, but better quality of life can be found elsewhere.

Not much QOL though if you're one of the millions of unemployed.

And that’s why I never bought a place in Merthyr Tydfil despite being famously affordable, and also why I moved out of Aberystwyth when I graduated despite it looking pretty and being a good place for really long quiet countryside walks.

High unemployment in an area sucks even when you personally have a job. Given nothing will stop Brexit, I wish I could say I thought Westminster cared enough to provide replacements for EU support of the poorest regions of the UK… but, and this is mere opinion, I don’t think it can see past Kensington nine days out of ten.

Re: Do Londoners dream of electric buses?

#63

Post by ben_w » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 4:54 PM UTC

walshemj wrote: post #60

lurcio wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really, when you see the data http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&l... UK is not a particularly attractive destination for either economic/humanitarian reasons compared to Germany/Italy etc.

So why the camps at Calais then? given that the UK isn't welcoming to asylum seekers it makes you wonder how bad it is in other European countries.

Most of those (1) couldn’t speak French, (2) had contacts in the UK and a desperate human need for strong social connection, (3) believed, rightly or wrongly, that any contact with French authorities would result in their applications being rejected and them being forcibly returned to Syria/Afghanistan/wherever.

Source: Girlfriend did supply runs to The Jungle. She also found the place shocking in comparison to a literal slum in Nairobi.

But also: compare the size of that camp (~6500) to the ~million (at peak) who had asylum in Germany.

Re: Do Londoners dream of electric buses?

#64

Post by kaybe » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 4:54 PM UTC

Reason077 wrote: post #45

ditn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's actually the opposite evidence; it's worse to be in a vehicle than walk or cycle, and there's a few studies that say that the benefits of cycling outweigh the pollution exposure. http://www.breathelondon.org/south-east/project/modes-transp...

Most smart people driving in London are going to leave their car's climate control on the "recirculate" setting whenever possible. That gives you a more-or-less closed environment, running cabin air back through the car's filters rather than sucking in dirty air from the street. But cyclists and pedestrians have no such luxury - they're breathing in the filth whenever they're on, or near, a busy road.

If you only have a paper filter that won't help at all.

Re: Do Londoners dream of electric buses?

#65

Post by chris_va » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 5:04 PM UTC

A key difference is that diesel can “recharge” a bus in a matter of minutes, so buses simply queue up at a pump and then drive off. With electric, it takes a few hours overnight, so they had to install a long line of charging points right down the middle of the garage.

... Anyone here know why swappable batteries haven't taken off for fleets?

Re: Do Londoners dream of electric buses?

#66

Post by detritus » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 5:09 PM UTC

superflyguy wrote: post #13

1ba9115454 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- grim North Sea shithole Spend some time in other coutries and you'll yearn to return. Trust me.

Oh yes. My trips to countries such as Thailand, Italy, Holland, Japan, Denmark, the US (Pittsburgh, LA, NY) and Spain can never end quickly enough. The thought occurs to me that you've only visited France and whatever they're calling Czechoslovakia this year.

Whereas as someone who spends quite a lot of time each year in Spain and Italy, and dearly love both; have family in one and a partner from the other - we are both quite glad to return to Britain after a few weeks away.

She, particularly, sees the downsides of her home country quite quickly. I have a bit more tolerance, but there're elements of a certain flavour of society missed. For us, anyway.

Oh, and I visited Czechia (whatever) for the first time last year and was smitten... but I was only there for a couple of weeks. Not really enough time to form any useful - or, indeed, completely useless - comparisons.

/anecdata

Re: Do Londoners dream of electric buses?

#67

Post by dalore » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 5:13 PM UTC

chris_va wrote: post #65

A key difference is that diesel can “recharge” a bus in a matter of minutes, so buses simply queue up at a pump and then drive off. With electric, it takes a few hours overnight, so they had to install a long line of charging points right down the middle of the garage. ... Anyone here know why swappable batteries haven't taken off for fleets?

Would also make sense to help when the batteries start to wear out as mentioned. And swappable batteries could help a stuck bus out if it accidentally has a faulty battery that drained too fast. Makes sense in many aspects.

Re: Do Londoners dream of electric buses?

#68

Post by detritus » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 5:14 PM UTC

A peripheral benefit of electrified buses would be regenerative braking.

I've lost count of the amount of times that grubby, dusty brake pads have led to screeching that makes me feel like my ears are about to bleed, when buses have come to a standstill beside me. I once even wrote to TFL about the problem, weird little man that I am. Never received a response.

Re: Do Londoners dream of electric buses?

#69

Post by dalore » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 5:15 PM UTC

growlist wrote: post #55

lurcio wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really, when you see the data http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&l... UK is not a particularly attractive destination for either economic/humanitarian reasons compared to Germany/Italy etc.

You are the one making that comparison, not me, and that's only for asylum seekers. Net migration to the UK is still near historic highs, with migration from outside the EU actually increasing, and the predicted exodus of EU migrants far smaller than was forecast. The UK is still a dream destination for many migrants.

Yeah but aren't they the right kind of immigrants? /s

Re: Do Londoners dream of electric buses?

#70

Post by jdavis703 » Tue, Jun 26, 2018, 5:17 PM UTC

jeffwass wrote: post #16

neolefty wrote: post #6

TFA has great practical information about the switch from diesel to battery. A few examples: * How do you arrange parked buses in a garage so that they can charge? Diagrams included! * Purchase cost: 2x up front compared to diesel, but improving * Operating cost: 50% lower than diesel (but labor—hiring the driver—is still 60%)

No inclusion of the knock-on benefits of NHS savings from fewer cases of diesel exhaust complications.

What if having people die early from diesel fumes winds up saving NHS more money though [0]?

0: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/18/news/tobacco-giants-analy...