There has been a recent spate of press releases that have announced, both in the UK and elsewhere, that lare companies are now purchasing electric vehicles as they replace their fleets. The numbers are not significant in the context of all automotive sales but they do represent a sign of things to come if battery and fueling technologies improve.

Groups like Tesco and TNT are committing to electric cars and others, especially in areas where there are or will be congestion charging, will follow.

A recent call to the two independent manufacturers in the UK, Modec and Smith Electric Vehicles supports the trend. Both companies, fierce competitors and pioneers in the sector, are flat out and operating at capacity. Order books are full.

this is good news but these companies are small in a global or even national context, and if the demand increases dramatically, then other bigger players will move more quickly and there a risk that these two fine pioneers will get left behind.

We hope that that isn't the case, that they will be able to invest and ramp up and that others will still follow.

The newsflow on electric vehicles is good news, but we need the industry to move more quickly than it is currently able.