Driving along the M27 between Southampton and Portsmouth last week I was thrilled to see at least five electric cars driving at the same speed as the rest of the traffic. Even five years ago, seeing any electric car outside of London was a bit of a novelty. Hampshire is already one of the leading counties for zero emission cars and it is an industry that is growing fast.

As of May 2018 there were 155,000 zero emission cars on the UK roads (there are 25.8 million registered cars in total). Critically it is a rapidly growing sector-with an 11% growth in sales over the last year alone.

There are three types of zero emission cars; EV also know as pure electric, PHEV; plug in hybrid (which normally carry a small petrol tank for additional mileage) and FCEV which are hydrogen fuel cell cars. PHEV are the ones we see most often; but as technology improves the need to include a petrol tank reduces and most future cars are likely to be pure electric or hydrogen.

But are we really helping the planet? In terms of plug-in electric cars, you are still having to charge the car with electricity to run a battery; and that often uses energy derived from fossil fuels. In hydrogen fuel cell cars; hydrogen is most often produced as a by-product from the burning of fossil fuels. Worse still, in some of the earlier hybrid cars, such as first-generation Toyota Prius; several rare earth metals were used in the production of the car-and that will have had a significant environmental cost.

The answer though, is a big yes-we are helping the planet. Firstly; more and more electricity is being generated from zero carbon sources. As time goes on our reliance on fossil fuels for domestic energy will decline further-so we can have the reassurance that plugging in a car at home is far better for the planet than filling it with petrol or diesel. In terms of hydrogen fuel cell technology, the big change is that renewable energy can now produce hydrogen through the electrolysis process. In short that means we can now fill our cars with hydrogen produced as a bi-product of the renewable energy sector. That is great news. Secondly, many new zero emission cars are using recycled parts in their construction-further reducing their carbon footprint at the manufacturing stage.

And if you want to find out more what it means to drive an electric car; why not come to Romsey in Hampshire on June 29th; where you can meet the owners of zero emission vehicles. If you want to find out more then log on to the Transition Town Romsey web site: http://transitiontownromsey.weebly.com/events.html

The future is very definitely electric and hydrogen. The days of the combustion engine are numbered and as demand soars, so prices will fall and charging points will grow in numbers and accessibility. These are exciting days for the future of transport in Hampshire!