But as we\u2019ve covered before<\/a><\/strong> on the blog, electric cars aren\u2019t the panacea that they might seem. We\u2019ve detailed some of the others in our previous post, but this time we\u2019re focusing on one that gets rather less press – parking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Right now, drivers already own 32 million cars in the UK alone. That ownership figure is up 28% since 2001, while our population has only risen by 13%. In other words, more people than ever are driving. By 2050, there looks set to by 44 million cars in the UK, so parking is only ever going to become more of a pressing issue. But why are electric cars going to be contributing to making it worse?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Partially for the reasons we\u2019ve outlined above, the sales of electric cars are still surging – up 73% from last year. The problem with \u2018guilt-free\u2019 driving, though, is that all of the upsides with seemingly none of the drawbacks means that people are going to be drawn to them in even greater numbers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In fact, the Institute for Public Policy Research says that rather than improving air quality by removing exhaust emissions, incentives may just end up making highways far busier and slower, simply due to a rise in the number of vehicles. After all, when you\u2019ve spent a few grand on a convenient guilt-free form of personal transport, it makes sense that you\u2019d actually want to use it. The trouble is, so will millions of others.<\/p>\r\n So, you might be asking, why not just build more roads? Well, that doesn\u2019t work for the same reason. Here\u2019s how it normally works: a route is congested, so a new road is planned and built. Within a few weeks of its opening, the new road successfully cuts journey times. But then as more drivers cotton on to that, more and more of them start using it. Traffic levels rise, and soon it\u2019s just as congested as any of the others. It\u2019s the same self-defeating phenomenon. And soon, it\u2019ll spill over into the world of parking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Right now, there are 8 million cars parked on public streets, all over the UK. What\u2019s more, the RAC Foundation published a report this year that said cars are empty and parked for 23 hours out of every 24. On average, we\u2019re only using our cars 4-5% of the time we own them. For the rest of the time, they\u2019re tucked up at home, largely forgotten – or getting in someone else\u2019s way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The average car takes up seven times as much space as a bike, but only carries between one and five people even when they\u2019re in motion. But electric cars are set to be even bigger. 2020\u2019s three best-selling battery vehicles, the Tesla Model 3, Kia Nero and Jaguar I-Pace, are all wider and longer than their best-selling petrol and diesel counterparts: the Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa and VW Golf. If that trend continues, the amount of space that cars take up (already significant) is set to rise exponentially.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Notably, there are also concerns about the effect on car parking politics – in which EV drivers naturally feel entitled to certain spaces, while those who cannot afford shiny new clean vehicles steadily get pushed out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Nobody likes to hear it, but: stop driving. That\u2019s really it. Nations of the world are currently ruminating on the decisions made at COP26, the recent UN Climate Conference in Glasgow. During the proceedings, it was pointed out more than once that humanity will struggle to \u2018build its way\u2019 out of the crisis, with more technologically advanced solutions to traditional problems. Reducing the emissions of our transport choices is always a positive, but it\u2019s only a partial solution to the issue that electric cars are intended to solve. Making a real and meaningful impact on the environment will involve dramatic changes to our lives – including giving up cars.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Campaigners are already pushing for a greater focus on improving public transport and cycling solutions in cities, encouraging people to walk and cycle wherever possible. And not just in cities either – there\u2019s also a need for more spending on public transport in rural areas, where right now cars might be the only option that people have for getting themselves around.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In addition to the average car only being driven 5% of the time, experts like Lucy Marstrand-Taussig (a government advisor on transport planning) have also pointed out that 58% of car journeys are less than 5 miles, so there\u2019s a significant potential to reduce them. What\u2019s more, roads currently make up 3\/4 of public space – so it would make more sense for them to be open to everyone, not just car drivers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Some cities are already taking the dramatic step of banning cars from their centres entirely – Brighton, Bristol, Leeds and Oxford are amongst those pioneering the most ambitious plans, levying increasingly stricter charges on drivers using their most high-traffic areas, in a bid to encourage people to look at alternative forms of transport. Many of these plans are still in their early stages, so it remains to be seen exactly how effective they\u2019ll be!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It\u2019s all food for thought. And if it\u2019s got you thinking about the next big decision you\u2019ll have to make with your car\u2026 well, that\u2019s where we may be able to help. When the time comes to scrap your car – whether that\u2019s because it\u2019s been smashed up in a collision, or it\u2019s too polluting, or it\u2019s uneconomical to own anymore – rest assured that here at Scrap Car Network, we\u2019ll always be able to give you the best price. All you need to do is\u00a0enter your car reg and postcode<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0into the fields on our site, and we\u2019ll get you an instant online quote before you can say cash for cars. It only takes a few seconds. Curious to find out how much your car is worth?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ah, parking. The bane and daily battle of countless drivers, and sometimes one of the hardest things about car ownership – no matter how much we\u2019d like it not to be. And as of right now, it\u2019s looking like it\u2019ll only get worse in the next few decades – largely due to electric cars. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":1012,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\nThe lightning rise in car ownership<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
![\"Driving\"](\"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Driving-3.jpg\")
<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWhy parking might be about to become a perpetual problem<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
So, what can be done?<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n