Why don't people buy electric cars?

Electric cars are environmentally-friendly so why aren't they more popular?

Electric cars are economically and socially unsustainable.

A major car manufacturer sold just 1,000 of their electric cars in the three years it was being made. This was after an investment of nearly £100million.

Making electric cars was not economically sustainable.

Electric cars have not sold well and are not economically sustainable.

Comparison of typical electric and petrol cars

Social sustainability is about meeting people's needs.

Electric cars are not as fast as petrol cars. They have a short range before their batteries need to be re-charged (which takes 5-6 hours). Practically, electric cars can only be used for short journeys inside cities.

Petrol cars are faster, easier to re-fuel and generally a lot cheaper than electric cars.

The current technology means that electric cars are not popular.

Manufacturers cannot afford to make them if they will not sell.