ELECTRIC cars may well be  the way forward for the  future but the journey to get  more and more people to buy  them still has a long way to go.Forty years ago we had visions of  people buzzing about in little mini  aircraft by the Year 2000 and yet the  date came and went with everyone still  clogging up the roads in cars, lorries  and vans powered by petrol and diesel  engines.Electric cars are starting to appear but  the initial outlay still makes them very  expensive, putting them beyond most  people’s pockets.And also until they have batteries that  can take them on long journeys they  will not be regarded as much more than  local runarounds limited to 100 miles  inbetween charging.Until the days come when  electrically-powered cars can be  recharged in the time it would take to  fill the tank with petrol – OK, well a  little bit more then – it’s unlikely the car  manufacturers won’t be rushed off their  feet with orders.