'Are electric vehicles the answer?', a question from a Sheffield Star reader

There will be less harmful emissions. Charging your battery will be much cheaper than filling your tank with petrol.

However, EVs will not solve the problems of some air pollution and of congestion.

About half of the damage to our health caused by traffic comes from tyre, brake and clutch dust.

This problem will continue with EVs and may even get worse because the batteries make the vehicle heavier and so braking will need to be harder.

Above all, EVs will not solve congestion: as a society we try to cram too many vehicles into small spaces. So, we waste time and money sitting in traffic queues and getting angry.

We don’t need different vehicles; we need less of them. We need to cycle and go on foot and once we’ve got through the Covid crisis, get back on public transport or car share or car hire.

Electric vehicles are a bit better for the environment but we need less vehicles on the roads if we’re going to get around any quicker.

Roy Morris

Sheffield

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