INCREASING the number of electric car charging points in Cyumbria and the Lake District is vital if the national park is to be ahead of the curve in what is likely to become the major transport revolution of the 21st Century.

Electric car prices are falling and despite perceptions about the life of batteries, experts say they last longer than most people think.

The company behind plans to increase the number of charging points in the Lake District says more drivers are realising their daily journeys involve nothing like the 100 miles a battery can last for.

And as technology and battery life improves and prices fall there will be more demand for such motors.

Perhaps one day all cars will have to be battery-powered if the world is to seriously combat the effects of man-made climate change.

With a cash pot of £50,000 to create dozens of new top up points in the Lake District, it’s also a relatively modest investment to ensure that the area is not left behind.

Such niche motors are likely to remain more popular in large cities where it is easier to zip around.

But we have to consider tourists visiting the Lake District expecting the network to be the same.

Owners of electric vehicles will only be confident to drive them to and around rural counties if there is certainty they will be able to charge them at convenient locations.

To some extent, installing top up points is a leap of faith - but the early pioneers of the UK’s mobile telephone network faced similar challenges when there were too few communications masts to guarantee signals.

But companies with vision knew investing in the network would eventually pay off - and so, indeed, it has, although coverage blackspots still exist in some remote areas.

A similar scenario is currently being played out with high-speed broadband coverage, which started in cities and towns and is gradually spreading out to rural communities.

Ensuring that we have sufficient electric car charging points around the country - especially in rural communities - will need much the same sort of investment and determination.