Electric cars have long been the butt of many jokes, but car manufacturers ploughing millions of pounds into the investment of electric vehicles are hoping they'll be laughing all the way to the bank. Are they wise to be putting so much money into electric cars or will they just end up looking like fools?
There's one massive problem that electric cars have to overcome if they are to win over drivers, and that's something that General Motors have termed 'range anxiety'. This is a term to describe how drivers feel about electric cars - that they cannot travel far enough, or that they will end up stranded on a road because there is nowhere for them to publicly charge their vehicle. Until electric cars can travel more than 100 miles on a full charge many drivers who need to travel long distances from time to time will not be convinced to make the change.
This goes hand in hand with the fact that the infrastructure just isn't in place at the moment to make driving an electric car anything other than an inconvenience at times. If you can only charge your car at home this means taking a car away for the weekend may prove impossible. Although there are plans to have 1,300 charging points in the capital by the end of next year, for everyone not living in London electric cars just aren't a realistic option for their travel needs.
However, if you only use your car for shorter journeys and the lack of public charging points isn't a problem, you should seriously consider an electric car, as fuel costs can be around a tenth of the price. However, the initial cost of an electric car - at least 15,000 - puts it out of range for many prospective customers.
So yes, electric cars are the future - because they're certainly not the present. At the moment, the disadvantages of electric cars are only outweighed by the benefits for a few drivers. Until some serious issues are overcome it will stay that way.
There's one massive problem that electric cars have to overcome if they are to win over drivers, and that's something that General Motors have termed 'range anxiety'. This is a term to describe how drivers feel about electric cars - that they cannot travel far enough, or that they will end up stranded on a road because there is nowhere for them to publicly charge their vehicle. Until electric cars can travel more than 100 miles on a full charge many drivers who need to travel long distances from time to time will not be convinced to make the change.
This goes hand in hand with the fact that the infrastructure just isn't in place at the moment to make driving an electric car anything other than an inconvenience at times. If you can only charge your car at home this means taking a car away for the weekend may prove impossible. Although there are plans to have 1,300 charging points in the capital by the end of next year, for everyone not living in London electric cars just aren't a realistic option for their travel needs.
However, if you only use your car for shorter journeys and the lack of public charging points isn't a problem, you should seriously consider an electric car, as fuel costs can be around a tenth of the price. However, the initial cost of an electric car - at least 15,000 - puts it out of range for many prospective customers.
So yes, electric cars are the future - because they're certainly not the present. At the moment, the disadvantages of electric cars are only outweighed by the benefits for a few drivers. Until some serious issues are overcome it will stay that way.