Steve Walker wrote:
But we can get to Ireland with *existing* vehicles. The problem is that
we are being pushed to replacement vehicles that cannot make the same
journey. We simply want to maintain the same ability that we have now
and not go backwards.

So that sounds like a business opportunity: quick access to ICE cars for EV
owners who need them on an occasional basis.

It almost already exists: car clubs where you can pick up a car from the
street and use it for an hour or two. You just book the vehicle with your
phone, swipe your phone/card on the vehicle and it opens. The only thing is
the pricing of those doesn't work for long journeys, because they're
designed to be close enough for people without cars to walk to and are
priced to prevent people hogging them for a long time.

Given you might have an EV already, it would be feasible to drive say 10
miles to a car rental place where you can rapidly pick up an ICE car at any
time of the day or night (without humans with all the annoying rental
paperwork and upsell you get from traditional firms). You leave your EV
there (charging?) and continue in the ICE.

This way you get the benefits of an EV for the rest of the time.

This would address another market too: people who drive an enormous SUV just
because they need to tow a boat or a caravan once a year, and pay for it the
rest of the year in terrible fuel consumption.

It just requires a tiny amount of adjustment from your current lifestyle.

Theo