Electric dream’s still a good way off yet

A NEWS item on a local television programme featured a reporter comparing the relative values of electric rechargeable cars against petrol or diesel engine ones. He went to considerable lengths to extol the virtues of the former (lower emissions, etc) and he reported there were 4,000-plus charging points against not many more petrol/diesel filling stations.

What the programme failed to say was that an electric charging point serves one vehicle at a time and takes many minutes to completely recharge the battery, whereas the filling station can serve as many as 10 or 12 at once (in less time) and as many as 15 or 20 in motorway service areas.

Also, that there are many, many more filling stations locally than recharging points and that rural areas are remarkably deficient of recharging points.

It was mentioned that the latest vehicles from a well-established electric car maker would be capable of a 250-mile round trip. Is it any surprise then that we motorists prefer our current vehicles on petrol or diesel which can travel some 300 miles on a tankful and have the benefit of knowing that there will be a lot more refuelling opportunities should one become necessary?

If I should fill up with petrol and not use my car for a month then the fuel in the tank will still be available for me to use afterwards. This is not so with battery-powered cars which, when charged but not used for a comparable period of time, will I am given to understand, need a recharge before they can be used again.

OK, so electric vehicles are very likely to be one answer to the pollution problems of the planet but the existing battery technology is, in my opinion (and the opinions of the vast majority of present-day motorists), a long, long way behind what would be suitable or even acceptable. JB Greenberg, Erdington