There is an elderly vehicle which lives

in the driveway of a house not far from here. At the moment it is away on holiday again but I often see it sitting contentedly there. Sometimes it is being given a careful wash and polish or the owner will be seen giving it a bit of extra "TLC"(tender, loving care). 

It is one of those "VW Kombi" vans from the early 1970's. I have been told it has "done about 660,000 miles" so it is a hard worker. 

And it is not ready to retire yet. It has taken off on what is apparently the annual trip to a northern state. There it will spend the winter in a slightly warmer climate. 

I am writing about this because one of our newspaper columnists owns another old van. It is not quite as old as the VW and it is another make. His hails from the 1980's.

Both these vehicles are worth a surprising amount of money - yes, actually worth quite a bit. This may come as a shock to many who dream of owning "one of those new, environmentally friendly EVs". The journalist was asking the question about whether these fancy new electric vehicles were as good as they were made out to be. Are they?

I know that EVs are supposed to be environmentally friendly. We are told this over and over again. They don't give out those nasty "emissions" that we are told are so dangerous.  Perhaps they don't but emissions are required to build them (and transport them here because we do not manufacture them) and they apparently have a life expectancy of about ten years - because of the battery. If nothing else goes wrong then the battery will apparently last no more than ten years. 

Yes, I know they are trying to improve issues with the batteries for EVs but is that enough? Those batteries are still a problem and are likely to be for some time yet. A fully charged battery still won't get you to the other side of the country without having to stop for a long, slow recharge. Filling the tank with fuel can be done in minutes and you are on your way.  Yes, any car can go up in flames too but it is much less likely if you are using a petrol model.

And that old VW Kombi is around seventy years old. The emissions cost to build it has long since been paid for in the environmental sense. If we think about it overall then that vehicle, which the government tells us should be retired, is still working and may actually be more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly than buying seven electric vehicles and recharging them to do 660,000 miles.  

It's a thought - but I suppose I will still be told that an EV is "better for the environment".