Morning:
14°c
You won't be seeing many Lightnings on the streets. Yet there is a growing sense that the time may have come for electric cars.
This week the world's first familysized electric car, the Ze-O, was unveiled. Meanwhile, Gordon Brown has promised thousands more charging points nationwide, while
Mayor Boris Johnson has pledged to treble the number of such points in London to 100.
The advantages are obvious. The average car driver spends £2,677 a year on fuel. The Ze-O uses 3p of electricity per mile - on average mileage, a saving of more than £2,400 a year. Even allowing for the carbon doxide created by generating that electricity, you'd still more than halve your annual emissions compared with an average family car.
So is electric the answer? Not quite. For a start, it's hard to see the capital's drivers switching in large numbers. The Ze-O has a range of just 65 miles and takes at least eight hours to charge. Even if there were hundreds more charging points, it would still be an around-town vehicle. Long battery life remains an elusive holy grail for manufacturers.
There are more practical alternatives, too. The electricity needed to power the Ze-O emits 70g of CO2 per kilometre (unless you use electricity from a renewable source) against about 160g/km for an average family car. But the Toyota Prius petrol/electric hybrid emits just 104 g/km. This week Ford unveiled a Fiesta that produces 98g/km.
Electric cars will certainly have a bigger role in future. But for now the growing numbers of hybrids - 8,600 were registered in the first six months of this year - and improved fuel efficiency are going to do more to reduce our carbon footprint.
