Not-so-green batteries

sir – Amid the rush to fill our roads with electric vehicles (Letters, November 23), attention must be given to the environmental impact of mining and extracting the rare earth metals required to operate the millions of batteries that the UK will need.

Lithium extraction is hugely water-intensive, yet deposits are often found in countries such as Chile, where water resources are scarce, and water for mineral extraction is diverted from agriculture. The largest cobalt deposits are found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where “artisan” mining is not subject to high standards of health and safety or child welfare.

I hope the Government investigates the implications of battery power before swapping an environmental headache for a environmental and humanitarian crisis.

Jane Sullivan

Evesham, Worcestershire

sir – The success of the motor car is due to its adaptability, and the egalitarian nature of motoring. Anyone can buy a car.

The Government’s plans for electric vehicles will disenfranchise a majority of drivers (including most city dwellers and the poor), allowing the wealthy to rule the roads. A cut-off date will also skew the car market, as drivers will wait until their cars wear out and scrap them in 10 years.

A fairer way to promote change is through tax. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency should evaluate each car and create a scale whereby, for example, a power-hungry vehicle pays five times the current rate. It should set out a 10-year schedule, with a 10 per cent increase per year, to avoid the need suddenly to scrap 60 million vehicles.

John Hanson

Canterbury, Kent