For decades, the motor industry's (0) DEPENDENCE (DEPEND) on petrol and diesel looked unshakeable. The electric car has changed that picture almost entirely. Tightening limits on vehicle 1EMIT, combined with steady 2TECHNOLOGY improvements, have turned what was once an eccentric minority interest into a mainstream consumer choice. A modern electric car is no longer the slow, limited vehicle of stereotype; it is quiet, quick and 3ENVIRONMENT far friendlier than its fossil-fuelled equivalent. The greatest obstacle to wider adoption has always been 4AFFORD, though falling battery costs have narrowed the gap considerably. Another concern is the availability of convenient public 5CHARGE, without which longer journeys remain awkward. For many drivers, however, the combination of lower running costs and 6ATTRACT design has already proved decisive. Manufacturers insist that the 7RELY of modern electric motors now matches or exceeds that of combustion engines, which were in any case far more complicated machines. Governments in most developed economies are offering financial 8INCENTIVE to speed the transition, though the scale and duration of these schemes vary considerably from country to country.