In the answers to questions column today INSURANCE can be up to 60% MORE on an EV which cannot help the case for an EV!!

One of my colleagues has a Tesla 3 - and bangs on all the time about charging it for free at public chargers to 'save money'. She appeared genuinely surprised when I questioned the wisdom of this against the £40k up front cost (although i suspect its on lease, and they had an XC90 before, so it might appear 'cheap'!!

If you believe that EVs are an idea whose time may come in 20-40 years that's your choice.

Sales of ICE cars are down for the last 4 years, offset slightly by increases in EVs and hybrids. Costs of every day EVs are reducing and range increasing - they will soon be competitive with ICE.

A rapid sales decline (within 3 years) in the ICE market will follow as the tipping point is reached. For most people most of the time EVs are (or soon will be) entirely competitive in performance and range.

There are a few applications for which EVs will not work. But those intent on finding reasons not to embrace new technologies will rapidly find themselves driving maginalised cars:

• diminishing infrastructure as fuel stations close,
• car companies and parts suppliers go out of business,
• confined to park and ride schemes due to emissions legistion in cities and towns
• facing zero trade in value due to a lack of demand for ICE

I don't see many EVs up here in the North of England. Perhaps the market would benefit with a little support from the writers of our TV soaps, Coronation Street for example. How about Weatherfield Council installing a charging point on every lamp post and Roy Cropper swapping his polluting Morris 1000 traveller for a nice new Renault Zoe. Conversation in The Rovers could turn towards environmental issues, with any denialist voices being nipped in the bud by Ken Barlow pontificating about how mankind will self destruct unless it adopts a lifestyle more compatible with nature. I'm not quite sure where all this would leave Kevin's garage business though.