Letters: Electric cars the way to go

I recently bought a Nissan Leaf electric car in Auckland. My daughter drove it down for me and it only cost her $6 in charging fees.

Everybody will be saying 'yeah, yeah' and how much did the car cost? It was $16,000 for a 2014 model with all the electronics - navigation system, reversing camera, Bluetooth, and you can get an app on your phone to show you where all the charging stations are.

It has about 140km range depending on terrain, is reliable, cheap to run and maintain and the navigation system tells you where to charge up once you've put your route in. All in all it's a real good buy and makes sense financially, so why aren't more people going electric?

GAVIN MUIR
Rotorua

Women treated as second-class citizens is a sad aspect of life in New Zealand. Paid less than men, barely recognised for their sporting achievements - which, in many cases outshine the glory of their male counterparts. As a former ice hockey player, the toughest team I ever played against was a girls' team - and boy, could they skate!

This "men are better than women" nonsense has run its course, it is now time for a change.

Throughout the world women achievers have made their mark - and should have gained vast credit, but instead they get almost ignored by men; and this is very sad.

It is hard to think of any aspect of modern life where women haven't shown up men - medicine, science, writing (shelves full of books by female authors), engineering (our last two flights had female pilots) and just about every sport imaginable, including rugby where the Black Ferns are world-renowned yet hardly mentioned in the press.

Let's not get into the difference in pay - that is a national disgrace. It is high time we showed our gratitude for the enormous part they play in our lives and show them we care.
[Abridged]

JIM ADAMS
Rotorua