Electric car industry here?

Roy Leembruggen was in the news recently as the engineer who designed Sydney's revolutionary first double decker trains.

He is also the designer and principal of Elroy Engineering, an Australian company that has already designed 26 types of electric cars, buses and trolley buses, here in Sydney.

Apart from the buses, he also created the Townobil, for four or six persons, which could leave all petrol driven vehicles for dead in view of the rapidly increasingly petrol prices.

The capacity of conventional lead batteries are a problem but if these are replaced by superior types the future of electric transport is beyond question.

Toyota and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, makers of Panasonic, are now building a nickel-metal hydride battery plant in Shizuoka prefecture, central Japan.

Toyota is also building a lithium-ion battery plant for future electric cars.

Lithium-ion batteries are smaller and more powerful than nickel-metal hydrides, and they may be used in the plug-in Prius expected in 2010.

Nissan, which plans to release an affordable electric vehicle in 2010, will be using lithium-ion batteries.

US Presidential candidate John MCain has just promised US$300 for the invention of a battery suitable for effective electric cars.

Could I suggest that the Australian Government follows these examples as soon as possible and take a look at the Leembruggen designs?

An electric car industry for the Central Coast of NSW would provide thousands of jobs.

Klaas Woldring Pearl Beach