SIZE MATTERS

Switching to electric vehicles is making our roads cleaner, but no less congested. There's a simple solution to this problem, but no one wants to hear it

- by QUENTIN WILLSON

Imagine the vision: silent streets and sweeter air.

Slippery-shaped two- and three-seaters cleaving along dedicated routes, batteries charged by induction coils embedded in the road. Featherweight, efficient, urban mobility solutions. Like those drawings of the futuristic cities in the comics I used to pore over as a kid — no smog, jams or parking wars. A fiction soon to become a reality, surely? Well, actually, no.

We've been able to buy small, compact electric vehicles (EVs) for quite a while. The Fiat 500e, Ora 03, Renault Twizy, Smart ForTwo Electric, Citroën Ami, the Microlino (left) — and the car that started the EV microcar revolution — the notorious G-Wiz. They've been available, reliable and practical for years. Smaller, lighter, easier to park and own, and potentially with longer battery range — all solid benefits of micro EVs that you think would have galvanised interest from early adopters. But sales have been glacial.

The fact is, most consumers — even those who go electric - don’t want tiny EVs. They want muscly SUVs.

SMALLER EMISSIONS, BIGGER CARS

I was debating SUVs with a nice man from the Clean Cities Campaign on BBC Breakfast recently. We agreed that all those cliff-fronted, combustion-engined Defenders, Discoveries and G Wagons have no place in British towns and cities - and for very good reasons. Pollution, pedestrian safety and size are just a few.

But, and here's the unpalatable, depressing and inescapable truth: trying to legislate against the SUV would be like trying to draw up laws against the sea. Because in 2024, a staggering 62 per cent of all new cars sold in Britain were SUVs. An increase of 23 per cent since 2023.