Electric vehicles have been in commercial use for a long time. The milk delivery vans in use since the ‘50s in the UK were battery powered to avoid the irritating noise of combustion engines early in the morning. One imagines electric powered vehicles to be quiet but slow moving dull vehicles. Not true anymore.

A German company, e-Wolf, has been developing mean looking electric sports cars for some years. Its latest model, which looks like a Ferrari or a Maserati, is claimed to accelerate from zero to 60mph in less than for seconds with a top speed of 155mph. It has an ultra-light carbon-aluminum chassis and weighs about 900kgs. Each of its four wheels is powered by 134 powered electric motors using flat Lithium ion batteries which allow the car to travel 186 miles without recharging.