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Japan set to ban sales of new gasoline cars in mid-2030s: reports

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By Behrouz MEHRI

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Not a world leader, but a good move nevertheless.

The next step would be to ban the combustion of fossil fuels for electricity generation with same frame work.

Along with a deadline for the end of nuclear thermal electricity generation.

This would give Japanese industry a lead in time to develop and commercialize a range of large scale renewable energy systems. They have a lot of catching up to do in that area.

A timeline would create a focus.

gary

-6 ( +4 / -10 )

Where is all the electricity going to come from? Nuclear? Is there going to be enough lithium for all those electric car batteries? Don't get me wrong, I think it would be wonderful if Japan could reach carbon neutrality, but what are China and India going to do about it? Furthermore, why hasn't Japan produced a decent electric car? The Leaf is an UPOS. Teslas are hella expensive to import and difficult to fix if something goes wrong. I think there are only like 2 or 3 other electrics sold in Japan that are also POS. Japan needs to get on its electric car game.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Japan's LDP government had set many goals such as gender equality since 2013. 

but goal that they cleared is nothing.

Recent years, Japanese government effort to pretend as if they effort about something.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

oh god, billions of tax payer dollars are going to be given to auto makers to catch up. In 2200. 1

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Great news. I used to live next to the 246 and the stench of car/truck fumes made it impossible to open the windows. I would get a headache sitting on my balcony. All of that will be gone.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

I've owned three hybrids over fifteen years, one of which I still have, but even I am happy to admit that hybrids are gasoline cars. Most of the top selling hybrids get significantly better fuel economy and pollute less than non-hybrid versions, but some don't. The Subaru XV hybrid gets pretty much the same fuel economy as the non-hybrid version.

So rather than caring about whether a car can be described as a "hybrid" or not, what matters is whether a car is economical on fuel or gets low emissions for its size. All Formula 1 cars are hybrids with KERS, but they are not economical.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Zichi... I think Boris said 2035.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I doubt that battery powered will become the majority.

Fuel cell powered cars have much more potential in becoming the mainstay with it's much shorter fueling time.

Most people do not wants to wait 3 to 12 hours waiting for their car to recharge.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

zichi, Britain initially said 2035, but they have recently declared their resolve to bring that back to 2030 (as per the article). France has said 2040.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Then there is the issue of charging the vehicles. Absence of on-street parking in Japan makes charging less of an issue, but it is still a problem for people who live in apartment blocks. There's a whole bunch of infrastructure which needs upgrading before electric cars become viable.

actually no China has similar problems as Japan many live in apartments, so theyve developed battery swaps stations that can change out the entire car battery within 5 minutes, youre basically leasing the battery which makes the car cheaper and its still cheaper per milage to run an electricity instead of gas.

charging stations are also modile so can be moved to where peak demand is, book your battery swap with a phone app.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTsrDpsYHrw&feature=youtu.be&t=391

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Elon Musk asks where will all the electricity come from. Large scale wind and solar plants, and even wave generators, will not be able to produce the amount of electricity to charge the number of automobiles currently on the road in the world, and as more Chinese and Indians move into the middle class, that number will only increase. China is building dozens of new coal-fired power plants to give it the electricity it will need. What is Japan's plan for power to match this gasoline-engine phaseout?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Mr. Kipling, no the ban is 2030 with an extension to 2035 for some hybrids.

Japan needs to make this a firm legal mandate, and immediately address the issues around its implementation.

Nuclear can be a safe base load in the low carbon mix, but not the large legacy technology based systems which are intrinsically unsafe and require hugely expensive measures to mitigate the hazard.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

wtfjapanToday 08:31 pm JST

actually no China has similar problems as Japan many live in apartments, so theyve developed battery swaps stations that can change out the entire car battery within 5 minutes, youre basically leasing the battery which makes the car cheaper and its still cheaper per milage to run an electricity instead of gas.

charging stations are also modile so can be moved to where peak demand is, book your battery swap with a phone app.

This doesn't really work since the batteries are situated below the sits above the floor panel and the mono-cox body of a car requires a rim to maintain stiffness to the overall structure. If place the batteries above the rim part then the you will need to heighten the overall structure then you add more weight.

You also need to guarantee the amount of charge within the batteries for a fixed lease price but batteries will wear down as they grow older resulting to less charge in which the station will dispose the batteries which can only charge less than 75% meaning the burden will fall to the station while the user may swap good batteries with bad ones after getting better batteries at the station.

The other may happen as well resulting to breakdown of customer/service provider relationship.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

It would be better to generate the energy to power these vehicles from renewables,as the UK is planning to do first...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The assumption that Suga and everyone is using here is that many people will still have a private car. This could completely change with self-driving. If that comes in, basically all you need to do to go somewhere is call a self-driving taxi owned by Google, Uber, Toyota, or whoever. It will charge or refuel itself where it needs to and will be cheaper for almost everyone than owning a car. It can run on hydrogen, batteries, or nat gas, whatever is available at the base station it goes to. The need to swap batteries or have hydrogen filling stations for the public will all be circumvented.

Me and missus drive loads and have efficient second hand cars, but driving still costs her 55 and me 45 yen per km. Most people never work this per km cost out and probably don't want to know because the cost is so high. However, if the mindset flips, a self driving taxi that is even 600 yen for 10 km will be cheaper for most people than car ownership. fwiw, a Nissan Leaf can go 10km on 2kWh of electricity, about 65 yen at peak (domestic) rates. That leaves 550 yen to cover 30 minutes of car rental. Peak/offpeak pricing may be necessary but in a city, I think there is a workable business model in there.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

They'd better start setting up a hell of a lot more fast-charging stations all over the place then. The logistics haven't been thought out. Typical. Most of their "___ goals" have never been met.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Great idea. 2005 will be a great year...oh, still waiting...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What happens when the batteries freeze up during the cold winters? What happens if everyone has their cars plugged into charging station over night to charge their cars. What will happen to the power grid!!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

What happens when the batteries freeze up during the cold winters?

That's a question I asked a friend who owns a Tesla in a place that has bitter cold winters. They have built in battery heaters. Now in a really cold environment you need to plug it in when it is parked or the battery heaters will drain the batteries down over night. Before you say that is a deal breaker, consider that gasoline cars and trucks in the colder parts of North America have to use engine block heaters, some even have transmission heaters, to keep them from freezing while parked. The cars have a cord under the hood that has to be plugged into an outlet either at your parking spot at work or at home. The infrastructure is often already in place to facilitate keeping the batteries charged while you shop or work.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I can't decide if I want to get a coal-fired car or a nuclear-powered one.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Like people in the UK have commented on their plan; when they have a car that can go 500 miles in the winter with a family on board, without a couple of charging stops, they will consider one. For Japan, the equivalent would be the Shogatsu or O-Bon trip back to the folks in the country, 800-900 km distant.

Those poor kids in the Congo mines will be working double or triple time to provide enough cobalt for these cars, if they can find enough electricity for them.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

A quite long time span for making plans for...lol You can’t even overlook the next few months or years, if you are honest. In 2035 you will be extraordinary happy if you have enough luck that this place is unchanged on the maps and you ever still are capable to breath and can produce or sell anything to anyone.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

This goal won't pass because it will basically cripple the Japanese auto industry, the last lifeline of Japanese economy and employment stability.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Most of the lawmakers here won’t be alive in 2035, so it’ll fall on the next generation to follow through.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Septim Dynasty

This goal won't pass because it will basically cripple the Japanese auto industry, the last lifeline of Japanese economy and employment stability.

Why would it cripple the car industry? Quite the opposite, demand for electric cars will increase as everyone converts to electric.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

so how will they supply enough electricity ? How will they heat all those buildings ? Oil, Gas, Coal, wood ?

majority pollution from power generation, space heat etc. Simply switch to LNG/CNG in IC motors and will be cleaner than Battery Electrics. No you cant get near enough with Solar or wind! HYDROELECTRIC if you have water power So how is Germany doing with over 10 years green agenda ? USA pays .11 KWhr Germany .40KWhr

https://energy-charts.info/charts/power/chart.htm?l=en&c=DE

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Good idea, but what about fan heaters? Every house has one, in my case 8 and all burning paraffin 18 hours a day...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The problem with articles like this is the underlying assumption that carbon is bad. It isn't bad. It's good. It's natural. It's essential to life on earth. It is the most efficient way of storing energy that we have and it's the most efficient way of transporting and transmitting energy we have (aside from nuclear energy).

People who get their information from today's "education" system and the popular media are woefully ignorant about carbon and its relation to so-called "global warming". Get some real science background and you might learn about the main reason global temperatures fluctuate the way they do: it's the sun, not automobiles.

If you want net 0 carbon emissions, you might as well kill off all animal life forms on the planet because carbon is a waste product of animal respiration. Of course, when you do that, you'll be killing all plant life forms as well, because they ingest carbon in order to excrete oxygen, which is a waste product of plant life.

Politicians who make policy based on junk science do so either because they want to virtue signal or have been bought and paid for by people who stand to benefit politically and financially from these policies. Never mind that these policies will destroy every industrialized country to benefit the globalists who want China to succeed at the expense of the rest of the world because they are heavily invested in China's success.

People like Suga will never experience the consequences of their own decisions because by the time these policies become mandatory they will be long gone.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

the main reason global temperatures fluctuate the way they do: it's the sun, not automobiles.

We are not talking about fluctuation here , Lawrence.

Never mind that these policies will destroy every industrialized country to benefit the globalists who want China to succeed at the expense of the rest of the world because they are heavily invested in China's success.

That MUST be true because you picked it up from the internet somewhere.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Lawrence Gordon

The problem with articles like this is the underlying assumption that carbon is bad. It isn't bad. It's good. It's natural. It's essential to life on earth. It is the most efficient way of storing energy that we have and it's the most efficient way of transporting and transmitting energy we have (aside from nuclear energy).

Wrong. Excess manmade CO2 in the atmosphere is heating our planet in catastrophic ways and it's time for the science deniers to educate themselves about it. Because if we don't act now, it will hit a tipping point to where we can't do anything about it.

garymalmgren

*the main reason global temperatures fluctuate the way they do: it's the sun, not automobiles.*

Wrong. First of all, we aren't talking about fluctuations. We are talking about annual global mean temperatures rising and causing more wildfires and sea level rises. The cause is excess manmade CO2 in the atmosphere.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Lawrence Gordon

The problem with articles like this is the underlying assumption that carbon is bad. It isn't bad. It's good. It's natural. It's essential to life on earth. It is the most efficient way of storing energy that we have and it's the most efficient way of transporting and transmitting energy we have (aside from nuclear energy).

Wrong. Excess manmade CO2 in the atmosphere is heating our planet in catastrophic ways and it's time for the science deniers to educate themselves about it. Because if we don't act now, it will hit a tipping point to where we can't do anything about it.

garymalmgren

*the main reason global temperatures fluctuate the way they do: it's the sun, not automobiles.*

Wrong. First of all, we aren't talking about fluctuations. We are talking about annual global mean temperatures rising and causing more wildfires and sea level rises. The cause is excess manmade CO2 in the atmosphere.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Lawrence Gordon

The problem with articles like this is the underlying assumption that carbon is bad. It isn't bad. It's good. It's natural. It's essential to life on earth. It is the most efficient way of storing energy that we have and it's the most efficient way of transporting and transmitting energy we have (aside from nuclear energy).

Wrong. Excess manmade CO2 in the atmosphere is heating our planet in catastrophic ways and it's time for the science deniers to educate themselves about it. Because if we don't act now, it will hit a tipping point to where we can't do anything about it.

garymalmgren

*the main reason global temperatures fluctuate the way they do: it's the sun, not automobiles.*

Wrong. First of all, we aren't talking about fluctuations. We are talking about annual global mean temperatures rising and causing more wildfires and sea level rises. The cause is excess manmade CO2 in the atmosphere.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Lawrence Gordon

The problem with articles like this is the underlying assumption that carbon is bad. It isn't bad. It's good. It's natural. It's essential to life on earth. It is the most efficient way of storing energy that we have and it's the most efficient way of transporting and transmitting energy we have (aside from nuclear energy).

Wrong. Excess manmade CO2 in the atmosphere is heating our planet in catastrophic ways and it's time for the science deniers to educate themselves about it. Because if we don't act now, it will hit a tipping point to where we can't do anything about it.

garymalmgren

*the main reason global temperatures fluctuate the way they do: it's the sun, not automobiles.*

Wrong. First of all, we aren't talking about fluctuations. We are talking about annual global mean temperatures rising and causing more wildfires and sea level rises. The cause is excess manmade CO2 in the atmosphere.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What about those damn diesel trucks!! diesel trains?? Heavy vehicles? Maybe in 2100...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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