The basic information on electric cars includes Price, Performance, Range, Pollution, Energy Sources, Maintenance, and Quality. These items are given attention below, followed by important informational trends other than EV range, which is covered on the previous page.
Price: Electric cars are not cheap…new ones at least. This is one of the drawbacks of the EV at this date and time. The costs will be coming down as the cars are mass produced, and subsidized the way petroleum products are now. Look for prices to drop. There are many used EVs to be found in the lower price ranges, and if you are handy, you can have fun while making a difference.
Li-Ion battery packs are now costing about $900 per kWh. The benchmark Nissan Leaf has 24 kwH.
Performance: Contrary to what a lot of people might think, EVs can really fly. They make maximum power right off the line and do not need a lot of revving like internal combustion engine cars. EVs make great drag race cars that can easily smoke many modern day pony cars for example.
The 800 HP Venturi Jamais Contente has set an EV speed record of 515 kph (320 mph) at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Performance varies from the Tesla Roadster created by Elon Musk, to the Flybo electric car.
Range: More important information on electric cars: how far can I go on a charge without getting stuck? This depends on how the car is designed, things like tire pressure, and where and how you drive. Remember that most EVs today have the energy equivalent of from 1 to 3 gallons or so of gasoline or diesel.
Besides battery research, the Nissan Leaf comes with a display that shows battery energy left and a route map with the nearest charging stations. That is a great EV App!
Maintenance: This is one area where the EV shines. Electric motors have a lot fewer moving parts than gas motors. This means a lot less maintenance.
Pollution: EVs are one of the answers to greatly reduced carbon emissions in a modern transportation system. However, EVs still need to be made, which takes energy. The batteries may contain toxic elements, and the EV has rubber tires that will disintegrate and pollute the air over time.
Quality: This depends on the EV of course. Most cars produced today, EV or not, are of a fairly high quality standard and must meet minimum safety requirements before they are legal to go on the market.
Information on electric Cars - Important Trends
In the news at this time, the single most important development trend for the EV is the storage battery. At present, EVs can only practically store the equivalent of about 1-3 gallons of gasoline.
Although EVs are three times more efficient than gas cars at using this limited energy, the stored energy and driving range are still less than ICE cars and even more reduced in freezing weather.
For the latest happenings in energy storage, see the Energy Storage page of this site.
Most research today focuses on some sort of lithium-based battery. There is also research into development of ultracapacitors for storage and the hydrogen fuel cell. Ultracaps are now used to power some City Buses, and there is ongoing research into hydrogen fuel cells.
So, how do you increase the battery capacity without increasing weight and/or cost? There are many researchers actively working on these problems to improve EV batteries. The Envia battery for instance promises to double or triple current Li-Ion storage rates at much lower costs.
