pv83:
I’m pretty sure we’ll still be working with diesel engines in the coming 20 odd years Grumpy, as you say, there are still some oilfields left to discover.
The oilfields aren’t the issue, it’s (i)the environment and (ii)costs. As the number of petrol and diesel vehicles decrease, the price of the fuel will increase so hydrocarbon ICE’s will be priced out of the market.
For me hydrogen is the way forward, not EVs, but the big sticking point is the knee-jerk group-think amongst politicians and the media, plus EVs have a big industry lobby behind them, driving government policy without considering the long-term consequences.
EVs need lithium batteries (LBs) there are supply issues with the raw ingredients (lithium, cobalt, copper and nickel) as demand goes up, so will the prices
Then there are issues with the recycling of LBs. To transport them, each needs to be in a separate plastic bag - very labour-intensive (jobs for the dole wallahs?). But, there’s a limited number of specialist LB recycling sites (two at the last count TTBOMK).
LBs are a lot more hazardous than a lot of people realise, especially the politicians. LBs have multiple hazards, they can burn or explode when damaged, contents are corrosive when they leak, especially in reactions with acids.
LB fires are VERY hard to extinguish, you need the new Lith-ex extinguishers, even the trusty Dry Powder FEs don’t do a good enough job.
The thermal runaway of an LB is tremendously dangerous and happens in the blink of an eye, there’s at least one ship that was sunk because of what is believed to be an LB fire in the cargo area (MV Felicity Ace) and more than one cargo aircraft has been brought down by an LB fire, check out the picture, hard to image that pile of scrap was once a 747 
flyingmag.com/news-ups-747- … ry-danger/
