WREN members make electric cars (EV) a normal sight in Wadebridge

The Observer newspaper says that EVs will now become more common nationally - http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/29/electric-car-sales-prices - but they are already becoming a common sight in Wadebridge. Five WREN members have now taken advantage of recent price reductions on EVs (and some have also received a £200 cash-back in the local currency - the Wren).

In addition to carbon savings, they have therefore opted to pay all or most of their motoring costs up front. The only running cost for those with renewable generation is insurance (relatively cheap) and maintenance costs are minimal.

As Wadebridge moves towards powering itself on local renewables, we can expect EVs to catch on both for transport, and for storing electricity. Drivers of EVs have noticed a new psychological phenomenon. When they sit silently in a traffic jam they become acutely aware that they are breathing the fumes from the exhaust of the car in front . It must have been like this for the minority of non-smokers in 1960s pubs. It won’t be long before drivers of EVs are as popular as those who first started effective campaigning against passive smoking. Some people do fume when they are stuck in traffic jams. Passive fuming will one day become as much an historical curiosity as passive smoking.