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Comment by qprofyeh | Hacker News Reader

If you have ever been to a city that has banned fossil fuels then you can absolutely tell the difference, to most of the overpopulated European cities that I have visited. It’s astonishing how peaceful and comfortable it is to run or even stroll when every breath is just 100% refreshing; you feel 10 pounds lighter. Meanwhile the blackened filter of our home HVAC needs replacement again… and allergies.

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Which cities are you referring to? Some cities have policies that discourage gas and diesel cars, and plans to outlaw them by 2030, but I'm not aware of any that have banned them outright yet.

Zermatt (Switzerland) is one

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zermatt#Transport

This is a more fun / less clinical read: https://www.motortrend.com/news/swiss-town-went-straight-hor...

Sadly, fossil fuel (pollution) has been marketed as a masculine culture thing now. In the free (=individualistic) West, I expect it to stick around for at least another 50 years.

I expect less than 10. Once you drive an EV, every big noisy diesel feels impotent and gutless. Kind of like a small yappy dog that’s all bark and no bite. There’s just nothing like the zero-lag gut-punching acceleration of an EV.

The industry is trying their best to fight against it. The EU is currently planning to ban new ICE cars from 2035, but the conservative German government & car lobbyists are trying to get them to drop those plans... That, combined with high tariffs for cheap asian EVs will probably artificially keep us on ICEs for a while longer.

Like many other "masculine culture" things, the propaganda sold to men about what's masculine doesn't necessarily have a connection to reality.

Unfortunately it's not really up to us plebs, it's up to the rich and powerful, who have every incentive in the world to continue fossil fuel use.

Trump has outright said he's pro fossil fuels and his policy choice shows it. If there was a proposal to ban or limit EVs in the US, I would not at all be surprised. These people do not care about you or me or all, just their pocket linings.

Maybe you mean this, but does "fossil fuel" really mean Diesel engines? Those were very awful to breathe around and were widespread in European cities as we all know.

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