Electric cars seem totally impractical

I AGREE with Martyn Lomas (Sep 17) that electric vehicles in their current state of development are completely impractical. Let me first make it clear that I am entirely in favour of having clean air to breathe in our cities. When used for short, local journeys, most problems will not occur. In addition to the points raised by Mr Lomas, many people do not have space to park on the road outside their own properties. This would often make it impossible to charge their vehicles overnight. Would this be accepted as an excuse for not turning up for work the following day? Will people be expected to drive around the city until they locate a spare charging point? We often travel long distances when going on holiday, which would make battery charging necessary. I can pull into a petrol station, fill up with petrol and continue my journey five minutes later. Imagine on the busy trunk routes cars pulling in and taking 30 minutes even for a fast charge. Acres of parking with charging points will be required to prevent massive traffic build-up and who wants to stand around for 30 minutes or more? In the north of Scotland it is necessary to keep a careful eye on fuel levels because filling stations are few and far between. Electric vehicles are totally impractical for people living in remote areas who do not have any form of public transport. If these points are not addressed and electric vehicles are rushed into use too quickly I think the breakdown services will be inundated with calls from people with flat propulsion batteries. Bill Sutton Chapelfields