Electric cars have been on sale for years but today I saw my first
electric car in use. This was a Nissan Leaf. To me the electric car is
not
the best solution. The range, even with new batteries, is quite low.
Battery technology is still poor and huge batteries are needed to get
quite modest ranges.
Although politically a "good idea", I feel we will see
better
solutions. Maybe this will be hydrogen fuel cells or power buried in
the roads and paid for by the actual amount used? The latter would
reduce the weight of batteries. Even with large subsidies, electric cars
are expensive. We definitely need a clean, efficient alternative to
petrol and diesel cars but I am not convinced by today's electric cars.
I
watch the next few years with interest and wonder what motorists will
be driving in 20-30 years' time.
We get very little snow over here these days. Today we had the first
real snow of the winter, although amounts were small by the standards
elsewhere in the UK. This photo was taken this morning around breakfast
time.
UPDATE 1525z: All our snow has now gone. Winters over here are far less severe than they used to be. Global warming? If we get even a few days with snow on the ground is now the exception. If the wolrd is warming, it could be critical later in the century. The evidence does seem to be pointing to a warming world, although the increase has perhaps stalled in the last 10 years. The sooner we stop subsidising fossil fuels and adapt to renewable energy sources the better.
