Questão de Inglês — compreensão de texto e estratégias de leitura

Sales of electric cars have grown rapidly over the past decade, driven by falling battery prices, government incentives and growing concern about air pollution. Yet the expansion of charging infrastructure has not kept pace, particularly outside large cities.

For drivers who live in houses with a garage, charging is relatively simple: they plug in overnight and start the day with a full battery. Those who live in apartments or park on the street face a different reality. They depend on public chargers, which are often concentrated in wealthy neighbourhoods and along major motorways, leaving rural areas and smaller towns underserved.

Long journeys pose a further challenge. Fast chargers can restore most of a battery's range in under an hour, but they are expensive to install and require robust connections to the electricity grid. In regions where the grid is already under strain, a cluster of fast chargers at a highway service station may demand upgrades costing millions.

Heavy vehicles add another layer of complexity. Electric trucks need much larger batteries than cars, which reduces the weight of cargo they can carry and lengthens charging times. For this reason, some analysts believe that hydrogen or overhead power lines may prove more practical for long-distance freight, although neither option has yet been adopted on a large scale.

Governments are therefore under pressure to plan networks rather than leave the market to decide where chargers go. Without coordination, experts warn, the transition to cleaner transport could deepen existing inequalities, as those with the means to charge at home reap the benefits while others are left behind.