Fill the potholes first - money better spent than on car charging points

Drivetime thinks the cash would be better spent fixing potholes The reviews are in and by all accounts BMW's high-tech i8 hybrid sports car is a jolly good steer. Make no mistake, this is a visually stunning machine promising that rare thing in automotive circles: supercar performance and supermini economy in one package. Granted, not at the same time, but you get the idea.

As you'd expect, all that technology comes at a price. But, being one of those newfangled electric cars, it also qualifies for a £5,000 government bribe, sorry, grant. And this is where I have a problem: the concept of government handouts to stimulate the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles is flat-out wrong. Is it really a good use of public money? I'm certainly not motivated by envy; it doesn't matter to me whether the cash goes to a Nissan Leaf buyer or someone writing a cheque for an i8. The principal remains the same: this carrot and no stick approach to shaping the market is a spectacularly blunt tool. That said, anyone considering dropping almost six figures on a fancy hybrid car is unlikely to be swayed one way or the other by a £5k incentive. Furthermore, the figures speak for themselves - electric and alternative fuelled car uptake is modest at best in the UK, despite the government cash bonanza. It's a different story in other European markets, but dig a little deeper and you'll see evidence of considerable tax breaks, dedicated free urban parking and the huge incentive of free charging to help boost sales.

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, chances are it is a duck. Or bribe, or whatever you want to call it. And the news that in one particular market some eco motoring early adopters started complaining when the free charging incentive was to be gradually rolled back made me smile. Guys, did you seriously think the free lunch was going to last forever? Oh the horror of having to pay for your 'fuel' like everyone else. I don't recall the history books documenting the handing out of free fuel to boost interest in the first automobiles. Anyway, all this financial irresponsibility is a little bit vulgar if you ask me. I'm guessing you still have to dodge some pretty big potholes on the way to work, yet the local council's plans to install charging posts are being rolled out faster than BMW's electric wundercar can sprint to 60mph from a standstill. I'm all for progress but I'm also a cautious person. Not everything new and shiny that comes along will save the planet, but all too often politicians leave their common sense at home, keen to swallow all the hype and throw money at projects demonstrating questionable value for money.

In the case of electric cars, it's wise to let the market decide. In fact, it already has; sales are modest because the basic product suits the lifestyles of a relatively affluent tiny minority. It's up to industry to devise ways to make the product more appealing to the masses, and if it can't then it's clear that other solutions must be found.

Here's something to ponder: the recent announcement of £500 million of public money for the electric car industry could fill an awful lot of potholes. It could also do much to shore up our creaking power generation network. If the doom-mongers are already raising the spectre of blackouts due to a shortfall in capacity, what's it going to be like when all those new milk floats are plugged in?