The internal combustion engine dominated the twentieth century. It changed landscapes, industries, communities; it fundamentally altered the way we lived. However, its drawbacks went hand-in-hand with its benefits and the high environmental cost of motoring remains a matter of intense debate in countries across the world.

Here’s the rub; cars are machines that rely on ever-dwindling resources and create emissions, yet their use is entrenched in our societies; not driving is simply not a viable option. It’s this problem that has lead to the growth of interest in electric cars as potential solution and this month Comment Visions talks to a man who believes it is a very real solution.

Jacques de Selliers is an engineer and the founder of the European Association for Battery Electric Vehicles. While realistic over the limited impact electric vehicles have made in mainstream motoring he argues convincingly that their time will come; largely because it has to.