Charging electric cars

SIR – You report (July 6) that Volvo will be the first car manufacturer to go all-electric.

Having driven an electric car for nearly two years, I can’t praise it too highly – as long as you stay within range of your home charging point.

Should you venture further, you will encounter a nightmare world of payment apps and passwords – one for each company, and there are more than 20 of these.

Your bank card will pay for most things: electricity bills, parking fees and liquid fuel for the other car – but a little electricity for your vehicle? Certainly not.

Sarah Crews

Plymouth, Devon

SIR – James Quinn (Business, July 6) says it is easy for electric car owners to charge vehicles at home.

It might be for the wealthy few currently buying them. Such people are more likely to have drives to park on. But when electric vehicles become commonplace, people who live in traditional terraced accommodation will still be unable to park in front of their houses.

A lot of infrastructure will be needed before power can be supplied and paid for at any point in a street or nearby. Cables trailing across the pavement will hardly do the job.

Chris Jones

Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire

SIR – Concerns have been raised about charging points for electric cars.

The real question, however, is about where the electricity will come from.

To replace fossil fuel with electricity as a fuel will require a vast increase in electricity production. The only way to match the proposed timescale is by using fossil-fuelled generation plants.

Following this path will mean that Britain needs hydraulic extraction of gas for the power stations – plus the scrapping of Hinkley Point in favour of small modular nuclear plants based upon British engineering capability.

M J Marks

Glascwm, Radnorshire