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NETWORK / 10 / FEBRUARY 2019 INTERVIEW are a good example. I have asked numerous establishments I've visited how o en the chargers are used and the usual answer is 'all the time.' Q. With a ban on the sale of diesel and petrol vehicles coming in from 2040 and a continued increase in the sale of EVs, what are the impli- cations for the whole energy system and its supporting infrastructure? I think they will be less disastrous than many assume. An important side note, we have three major oil re• neries in the UK, their combined consumption of electricity is huge, similar to a major city like Manches- ter. This is never put into the overall equa- tion of the energy impact of oil consump- tion, CO2 output from transport, etc. So if we re• ne less oil, we'd need less electricity for re• ning. The other really major factor is the ownership model, individuals owning cars that are not used 90 per cent of the time. I think that will slowly change, the numbers of young people taking driving tests is in steep decline. The desire to own a car is dropping. Car sales are dropping, the system as we know it today doesn't work, particularly in cities so I think there will be less cars, used more o en, and they will all be electric and intrinsically linked to the grid and used to help balance supply/ demand. Q. If there was one thing that could be done to support or progress EVs, what should it be? Keep the current incentives for another • ve years, allow EVs to use bus lanes, encour- age urban car sharing systems, install 7kw charge sockets on all spaces in new parking development, encourage car makers to stop advertising boring old combustion cars and advertise electric. Q. What's your view on other forms of decarbonised transport such as hydrogen powered trains? I love hydrogen powered trains, buses, trucks, earth movers, ships and anything other than small passenger cars. I think hy- drogen will be a key sector in decarbonising everything, fuel cell technology is advanc- ing and if the production of hydrogen is only from excess renewables, then it's a win win. Q. What are your thoughts on the energy sector in general? I think if you worked in the energy sector 25 years ago it would have been quite boring, essentially maintaining the system and keeping it running. Now, it must be incredible, very exciting, the changes we'll see in the next 10 to 20 years are mind boggling. There are ample op- portunities for innovation, new businesses and systems. Q. Your fi rst outing as a presenter was on Scrapheap Challenge. Did this ignite your passion for engi- neering or did it come before this? Strictly speaking my • rst work as a pre- senter was for the Open University, a series of programs about science. It was through that experience that I got pulled into pre- senting Scrapheap Challenge. I was always interested in engineering and science, just sadly without the requisite skills, ability and intelligence to actually be an engineer. So it was the perfect job for me. Q. What motivated you to start making Fully Charged? Working in California from 2001 to 2006 when we made 'Junkyard Wars' which was the US version of Scrapheap. I met so many engineers working on the nascent electric car revolution, I could sense something was happening. The more I read about it, the more I heard, and this is back in 2009-10, the more obvious it seemed that transport and energy was going to see huge change and disruption. Q. Fully Charged has more than 300,000 subscribers. What do you make of the success of the show? "I would hope, and experience bears this out, that as new economic opportunities arise as a result of the electrifi cation of transport we'll not only see the general population embrace this new technology, we'll see new industries and systems developed to support it." charge sockets on all spaces in new parking development, encourage car makers to stop advertising boring old combustion cars and What's your view on other forms other than small passenger cars. I think hy- drogen will be a key sector in decarbonising everything, fuel cell technology is advanc- only from excess renewables, then it's a win senting Scrapheap Challenge. I was always interested in engineering and science, just sadly without the requisite skills, ability and intelligence to actually be an engineer. So it was the perfect job for me. Q. What motivated you to start making Fully Charged? Working in California from 2001 to 2006 when we made 'Junkyard Wars' which was the US version of Scrapheap. I met so many engineers working on the nascent electric car revolution, I could sense something was happening. The more I read about it, the more I heard, and this is back in 2009-10, the more obvious it seemed that transport and energy was going to see huge change and disruption. Q. Fully Charged has more than 300,000 subscribers. What do you make of the success of the show?

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