What if residents can’t afford a car? What if they do not need a car? What if they instead have a bicycle, or velomobile? Or a self-charging solar car like the forthcoming Aptera — where a grid connection & charging is superfluous? Or they charge their car at work, or at a supermarket? What if they catch a bus, or travel together with a neighbour? What if they work from home & get deliveries?
Well, then a charging point is wasted money. Wasted time. Wasted materials & wasted energy. We really need to stop wasting so much.
In the UK, our Conservative Government under Boris Johnson introduced this year (2022) a new rule that newly built houses should have ‘EV charging points’ — that means cars. The problem with that is that it locks in expenses that the resident might not ever benefit from. We are already spend disproportionate amounts on the car as a format of vehicle — but that’s for another post.
We should not be specifying the form that solutions take — I believe the term is ‘technology agnostic’ in IT. Instead regulation should be aimed at improving & expanding the range of tools & the way we analyse of those tools.
To push a metaphor — electric cars are a sledghammer. They are big, powerful & in the right conditions — fun! But they are ridiculous to crack eggs & toffee with. You don’t need them to work on phone repairs. & I’ve never seen painters use them.
This regulation, is demanding that every toolbox comes with a display rack for a for a sledgehammer. Electric cars are not a magic hammer — they can’t & won’t fix everything & be right for everyone.
I get it — I understand the urge. In response to a complex topic, it is tempting to try & simplify our attempt at a solution. I’ve been through this myself so many times! “just do…” “Just have a…” “Just” is such an appealing word, is it not?
But the simplicity of defining a solution comes at the price of inflexibility. We don’t know exactly how technology, society, our knowledge & markets will evolve. & I have never, ever seen a government or regulator with either the specific knowledge to solve every individual case, nor the speed to respond to changing conditions.
So delegate those specific case decisions to the individuals. & then believe them when they say “I can’t afford an electric car.”
We know the overall direction, no need to make everyone walk in the exact same footprints. OK… enough metaphor! 😅
- Technology Agnostic.
- Set the direction.
- Support better designs.
- More perfect decisions.
- Then let millions make those decisions for millions of cases.
That ends up with a result that is more complex to get our heads around, but it’s more robust.
See you soon! 😁
