I don't believe battery cars or hybrids are the answer. The former have poor range and and take ages to charge, the latter still burn polluting fossil fuel.
Hydrogen cars are a much better idea. The hydrogen can be produced by electrolysing water using excess renewable power from wind and solar. There is already one hydrogen filling station that produces its hydrogen from its own wind turbine. (
http://www.itm-power.com/project/wind-hydrogen-development-platform ).
The cars have none of the practical disadvantages of electric cars, have ranges limited only by the tank size - typically 300 miles per fill - and are virtually maintenance free (Brakes and tyres). There are only two models available in the UK and they cost around £60,000, but one can expect this to fall rapidly if they become popular.
Cars on average do 40 miles a day, and this would need about 0.75 kg of hydrogen. To produces this using the most efficient electrolyser would require about 40kWh. A 3MW turbine can be expected to supply about a third of that - 1MW, or 24MWh - so in a day would produce enough hydrogen to meet the needs of 600 cars.
Some time back I read a piece by an American worried about where the water would come from. Unlike our country, theirs is chronically short of water, and the needs of cars would have a significant impact on it in some parts. But he seemed to have forgotten that the exhaust of hydrogen cars is water which could easily be collected and recycled. One kg of hydrogen would produce 9kg of water, which could easily be stored on board and returned to the filling station!
In line with the 'full disclosure' policy of Blueskier I admit to having a Medium sized diesel and a small petrol car. Both have their disadvantages, and I can't wait for hydrogen cars to arrive at a cost I can afford (about 10p at the moment!)
