The electric car: it might be coming, but do we want it to?

The argument about whether electrically-powered vehicles will become commonplace on our roads or whether they will never be more than a curiosity, an evolutionary dead end, continues to rage as strongly as ever, with no clear winner yet in sight. And yet this argument is itself just a part of a wider debate about the extent to which technology alone can help us deal with the problems generated by motoring.

Rik Thomas

26 August 2011

According to Brian Price of Aston University, who analysed the data from the West Midlands CABLED EV trial, the provision of publicly accessible charging infrastructure turned out to be less necessary than originally thought as users gained confidence

Volvo is one leading car maker to try and overcome the range anxiety problem by making its EV batteries smaller... to make space for a petrol engine to keep the car going once the battery range has been passed

Guardian journalist Sam Wollaston ended up voting against the EV, at least for the time being, largely due to problems recharging an electric vehicle

The recent news concerning electric vehicles, at least as reported in LTT, has not been particularly good for advocates of the technology. Barely a month ago we reported that the take-up by consumers of the Government’s (up to) £5,000 grant for the purchase of a new EV has been not far short of pitiful, with just 680 vehicles being bought by customers taking advantage of the subsidy in the first six months of the scheme’s operation. In addition, the publication of the...