John Day’s article (BDN, July 11) about electric cars being crucial to clean air in the Northeast raises lots of questions.

What is the range in miles or kilometers of an electric car before the batteries need to be recharged?

How do the purchase and operational costs of electrics compare with gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles?

Will someone whose work requires driving 200 or 300 miles a day have to tow along one or two spare cars? Or change cars at way-stations, transferring the contents each time?

If I want to visit family members who live in another state more than 200 miles away, will it require one or more overnight stops along the way so that my car’s batteries can be recharged? There is no public transportation where they live.

What about out-of-state tourists, one of our largest industries? Will they be allowed to drive their polluting vehicles (cars, campers, motorhomes, etc.) in the state of Maine? In the summer months, when pollution is most severe, their miles travelled may exceed those of the natives.

I didn’t see any statistics in the article comparing the amount and kinds of pollution generated by industry and by automobiles. Nor was there any mention of the increased pollution emitted by the utilities that will provide the additional electricity. It seems as though that data should also be presented.

If you have ever stood near an idling school bus, you know that the pollution from those is many times that of an automobile. What’s more, our kids are breathing those fumes every time they gather to board the bus. If any vehicles should be required to use electric power, school buses are prime candidates. Wanna bet?

And, lest all of the above suggests that I am opposed to electrically powered vehicles, I am not. I just think that realistic data is needed before we charge off (pun intended). F. Eleanor Warner Belfast