Morning:
13°c
Car industry and councils sign up to green cars drive
Benedict Moore-Bridger27.11.08
BORIS Johnson's plan to increase the number of electric cars in the city has been given a boost after leading industry figures and London's boroughs signed up to the scheme.
At the first meeting of the London Electric Vehicle Partnership, representatives of the motor and energy industries and the capital's boroughs agreed to the development of an action plan to greatly increase the use of electric vehicles in the capital. The Mayor said he wanted a far greater proportion of the city's vehicles to be powered by electricity and aimed to persuade London councils, car pools and private company fleets to swap over.
Reader views (4)
Electric cars such as the G-Wiz reduce average emissions by around 100 g CO2 / km when charged using ordinary electricity (UK Primary Fuel Mix). That's a reduction in emissions of about two thirds, considerably more than any conventional car can achieve. When EV owners charge using electricity from renewable sources, the reduction is close to 100%.
Electric cars are quieter and more fun and in London they can reduce your motoring costs by around 90% (yes really).
- Keith Johnston, London
The internal combustion engine has served us well for over a hundred years, but is surely an anachronism in this 21st century. Lift the bonnet on a modern car and it's almost impossible to find the engine itself, buried beneath so many gadgets needed to ensure its compliance with anti-pollution rules.
Sure, there are limitations with the current generation of electric vehicles. But these will be overcome, and I think even the naysayers will be happily driving them in 7 years or so. In road, rail and sea transport, I believe the future is electric - and full marks to Boris for helping speed up progress in that direction.
- John Latusek, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, UK
I am delighted to see the Mayor pushing ahead with this move towards greater use of electric vehicles. But why do so without involving the world's biggest maker of electric delivery trucks and vans?
Smith Electric Vehicles already have more electric vans in use on London's streets than most other producers put together. Yet their name does not appear among the invited participants in Boris's scheme. This strikes me as rather odd. I hope their apparent exclusion is nothing to do with Boris favouring Modec, an electric vehicle company founded by his friend Lord Jamie Borwick!
- John Latusek, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, UK
That would be electric cars that need to be plugged in at night to charge them, using vast quantities of electricity from the national grid, fuelled mostly by coal, which has pumped lots of noxious substances into the sky?
The same electric cars that run on batteries with little re-cyclable material that poisons the earth when it is buried?
Do us all a favour: buy a small-engined Ford Focus instead, or even a 7-seat people carrier or off-roader that will emit less CO2 per seat than any electric vehicle.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland
