DEAR News Of The Area,

THE powers that be seem to be pushing very hard for us all to go to electric vehicles (EV), these are my feelings and observations on the subject.

A recent NRMA Open Road story about travelling from Sydney to Hobart in an EV showed the problems with driving an EV any distance.

There are the problems of finding a charger, having it available (it will get harder when there are more EV’s on the road), and also having it working.

You would have to allow a lot more time for the trip, including waiting time for a charger if you can find one and it’s available.

Around the cities, they might be okay, but for people like us, living in the regional areas and remote towns, they would be useless.

Another problem would be, if there were more EV’s, there would be a lot more strain on an already stretched electrical system, in some states more than others.

Another big disadvantage is initially the cost, then the devaluation, especially as they get closer to the magic ten years when the batteries will need replacing, who can afford to buy the vehicle in the first place then have to pay out over $10,000 for a new set of batteries?

You also have the problem of disposing of the old batteries.

You would also have the problem of getting less distance out of the vehicle as the batteries age.

In my opinion, the powers that be should be pushing Hybrid vehicles.

They don’t use as much fuel as a conventional vehicle plus they have the advantage of using electricity that is recharged by the vehicle itself.

Regards,
Martin MOUNTFORD,
Macksville.