Electric cars but where’ s the power?

SIr, – The SNP announcement of the phasing out of new petrol or diesel cars and vans by 2032 could be seen as a dramatic and boastful new plan but is this realistic?

Where are we starting from? Currently it is estimated that there are about 4,000 electric vehicles in Scotland and about 724 charging points. As a rough estimate there are also about 2,700,000 petrol and diesel cars.

How could such a dramatic change and growth in electric vehicles on Scotland’s roads be managed and paid for? Has this proposal been fully costed and analysed or is it just the usual SNP “black hole” economics?

In the fullness of time we will need a much larger electrical base capacity within our generating industry to provide the extra power needed. Electricity capacity needs to be increased by about a quarter of the current total to match the proposed vehicle demand. Scotland’s power generation will also need a serious upgrade but without using coal, gas or nuclear. Is this really feasible or sensible?

Electric cars might offer great savings in terms of emissions but no savings in terms of energy consumption or money spent. If the source of the energy for powering the electric car is based on fossil fuels, then energy consumption will not differ much.

It is a sad fact that many of the SNP headline policies rarely deliver the anticipated benefits and have unintended consequences.

David Philip, Knockhall Way,

Newburgh