Ever since the birth of the popular motorcar – which you can ascribe roughly to the launch of the Ford Model T, the Fiat Topolino, the BMC Mini, the VW Beetle or the Citroen 2CV according to taste and preference – getting from points A to B has been relatively simple, if variously expensive. When you need to go farther, you simply pull up to a pump dispensing petrol or diesel, spend about five minutes filling your tank, and you go again. That convenience – however indigestibly priced and environmentally harmful – is why electric cars still struggle to gain…