Electric car meltdown

THe chief executive of the Moto motorway service stations hit the nail on the head when he questioned

the ability and capacity of the National Grid to provide sufficient electricity to power chargers for electric vehicles (Mail).

if 56 super chargers will use a third of the electricity needed to power exeter, what chance is there for the extra electricity needed throughout the country?

A lot more energy is needed — but how? More power stations or increased capacity from renewable sources, which will require power storage solutions, otherwise known as battery farms, which are large numbers of lithium batteries.

However, i feel that there is a far more serious and pressing issue regarding power supply: at street and house level, are electricity cables able to carry this extra power?

in the close where i live, electricity supply was affected by a tree root, resulting in a brown- out where appliances worked at low performance or not at all.

some years ago, London suffered from fires in cables in pavements caused by system overload. i suspect a lot of power cables will need replacing and upgrading to deal with the demands of electrical vehicles.

As the car batteries age, they will need charging for longer or more often, so demand and the need to meet it will increase.

A vicious circle indeed. when will politicians realise that the move to electric vehicles depends on having the infrastructure in place at street level, otherwise all of us could be seriously affected when the power cuts start?

TED FLINTOFF, Ilkeston, Derbys.