Electric cars are no silver bullet

SO, according to the Minister Eamon Ryan and your journalist Clare O’Sullivan (Irish Examiner, April 14), electric cars are the latest silver bullet to solve the problems of global warming and dependence on imported fossil fuels. This follows hot on the heels of now-discredited biodiesel.

Strangely, they both fail to mention the only real benefit — reducing exposure to pollution from exhaust fumes.

Because of losses in batteries, generation and transmission, electric cars actually consume far more energy than ordinary cars.