Electric cars have been in the news recently, thanks to a new £250m government plan to subsidise the purchase of new cars by up to £5,000 per car. The move is aimed at stimulating the car industry and helping us to reduce our transport-related emissions – but how realistic is it?

I’ve gathered together a mixture of links from the mainstream and specialist motoring press that include a couple of electric car reviews and a discussion of the issues at hand:

• The Guardian introduces the £5,000 subsidy scheme and explains how it will work
• A slideshow of pictures of current electric models – again from The Guardian
• Test drives and reviews of both the TH!NK City and the Chevrolet Volt, which I think is a more realistic prospect for mass-market take up, thanks to its longer (petrol-fuelled) range
• A somewhat short-sighted article about the problems with electric cars in The Times – the writer misses the point that all of his objections would once have applied to conventional cars. In fact, almost all new technology seems impractical at first – think about mobile phones…
• The Guardian highlights how fast the electric car market is expanding – with new models constantly being introduced.
• Finally, some electric car owners talk about their experience of owning and using electric cars in The Guardian.

I think that electric vehicles are reaching a turning point – within a few years they really will be viable for a significant minority of people. From then on, it’s just a question of time. Watch this space.