YP Letters: Cart being put before horse in drive to bring in electric cars

The Government is simply aping France with this “policy” of rapid transition to electric-powered road vehicles.

Where is the planned additional electricity generation necessary to charge these battery-powered vehicles? Or the network to deliver the incremental power?

This proposed abolition of fossil fuel-powered vehicles in 20 years demonstrates that our Government cannot deliver strategic thinking.

Coal-fired electricity generation was abolished, while we no longer benefit from anything approaching a cohesive nuclear generation policy.

We survive by drawing on France’s nuclear generation capacity. The cart is well and truly being put before the horse: the requisite battery storage technology does not yet exist to meet this proposed switch to electric vehicles.

While increasingly relying on wind and solar power generation, the Government simultaneously pins significant faith in hoping that battery technology will evolve in that time to provide storage for electricity generated by wind and sun.

From: Graham Lund, Girvan.

WE currently see great changes in the transport industry. Britain will only allow electric and hybrid cars in future and Volvo have indicated that they will produce hybrid cars only.

Both are a move in the right direction but will the National Grid cope with the extra demand? We need an overall reduction in fuel used and CO2 emissions produced from the transport industry.

We need to restrict the use of land given over to transport which would otherwise be given over to agriculture or woodlands.

It is disappointing to see further delays in extending rail electrification from Kettering to Sheffield, then forward to Doncaster, also Leeds via Barnsley. Liverpool to Newcastle and beyond should be fully electrified.

Have we seen any case put forward or on board batteries to displace bi-mode trail operation? Apparently there is an early battery-operated train of some 60 years vintage still preserved on Speyside.

Cost overruns need to be addressed. Surely we need an inquiry into why costs increase after major work has started and these are paid after the initial bids were accepted.