Hydrogen is fuel solution

Sir, - How naive do the Green Party and some car manufacturers think we are?

Yes, we need a new form of energy to replace fossil fuels but the use of electricity to propel cars is utter madness for many reasons,

and, as another reader suggested, hydrogen is the only possible substitute.

Heavy rechargeable batteries are required to power electric cars and those all contain both lithium and cobalt.

Apart from the weight (20 kilogrammes) of those metals in each battery) much of the supply of those metals rests in the hands of the Chinese.

As three quarters of the world supply of lithium is already being used in the tiny number of batteries currently being produced, where are we going to get the vast amounts of this rare metal for every vehicle?

Cobalt is not as rare but we can be sure the moment electric car production starts in earnest the price will rise.

Stand on a bridge over a motorway, look at the volume of traffic below and then consider the cost of setting up electrical charging points in every home and workplace. It will financially cripple not only the National Grid and force all electricity prices to rise exponentially but will impoverish all vehicle owners, with or without electric cars.

Petrol stations will start losing customers and many will shut down as electric cars make them uneconomical.

The question arises as to where farmers, transport companies and rural communities will go to obtain their diesel and petrol supplies. The answer is hydrogen. Let’s forget electric cars.

Archibald A. Lawrie. 5 Church Wynd, Kingskettle.