Advantages of electric cars

Sir, – Malcolm Parkin (Letters, March 5) raises the question of how electric vehicles (EV) may be adversely affected in cold weather and if stuck in snowy conditions.

Firstly, EVs consume no drive energy whatsoever while stationary in traffic, as their drive motors are not running, unlike an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICE), which consumes fuel while stationary with the engine running.

The ICE needs to keep its engine running in cold weather to heat the interior of the vehicle, whereas the EV is only using a tiny proportion of battery energy to run the heater, and possibly heat the seats and steering wheel.

Thus the bulk of the battery storage is available for onward travel when needed, unlike the ICE, which may have run out of fuel.

Various estimates show that an EV could sustain heating for 15-20 hours and still have drive energy remaining.

Secondly, the EV is not pumping out emissions that would be sucked into the heater intakes of the vehicles behind.

Even worse, ICEs may draw in their own fatal emissions if stuck in a snow drift, which an EV wouldn’t.

Any worries about range apply more to the ICEs in these situations.

An EV snowplough, if based on Tesla’s articulated tractor unit technology, would have a range of 300-500 miles and enough oomph to move 40-plus tonnes.

As for the police car – they are unlikely to patrol for 24 hours, as they are often stationary, dealing with incidents, paperwork at the station and meal breaks.

David Churchill. Kirktonhill Road, Kirriemuir.