When we discuss electric cars most people automatically assume you mean Hybrid cars as well as the more desirable plug in to recharge version of electric cars. There has been a flurry of research into improving the range per charge and the longevity of the batteries. The list of plug in electric vehicles is growing quickly as consumers and government agencies push for more economical transportation options from automakers.
At this juncture there are only so many "electric cars" on the market so finding the Top Five is really not too difficult. Now sorting this list as to which ones I feel are better than the others can be a daunting task.
Tesla Motors Roadster
This is an incredibly fast and agile sports car that is built completely from the ground up as a plug in electric car! They claim an efficiency of about one cent per mile in terms of electric use from charging off a standard house outlet. The company is working on a four door sedan for release in 2012. This electric car company is setting a standard for high performance and high efficiency! Offering a charge range of around 245 miles per full charge, most commuters average 40 miles per day, you can see that recharging is not going to rule your life! This company has sold over 1000 vehicles driving in 25 countries so far, and their growth is set to explode! When you go to their website and there is a link to "JOBS" then you know they are not sitting still. Once they introduce the Tesla S, which is a sedan they will be firmly on the map! It would not surprise me to see one of the major auto companies try to buy them up some day soon. Is there one major downside to this really cool car? it has a $98,000 price tag!
www.teslamotors.com/goelectric
Nissan Leaf
This is one of the most widely publicized plug in electric vehicles you will see in the news today. This model is truly a production car from a major auto manufacturer. This truly is the first full scale production vehicle for sale in the U.S. that is available to the general public. Most of the previous all electric plug ins have been in the form of limited releases to specific customers, typically on a lease program so the company maintains ownership. This car is a completely new design for Nissan, and it has five doors, with room for five passengers. They claim a range of 100 miles on a charge, and with optional "Quick Charger" yo can recharge the Lithium Ion battery pack in about 30 minutes! The vehicle charges off standard 110 or 220 volt house power outlets. At their most recent update Nissan is offering a base price of $32,850 for this car. Getting in line to buy these cars early would be a wise choice.
Myers Motors
This electric car company is near my home here in Ohio and i have written about them here on AC-Yahoo! before. They are going strong and have come up with their next big model which is a two seater versus the original single passenger model. The company is based in Tallmadge Ohio, and these vehicles have been gaining ground over the past few years as a viable alternative for commuter driving. Their backorder list is fairly long, but if you are patient and have the target price of $24,995 then this is the commuter electric car for you! As with many of the electric and hybrid cars for sale there is a 10% tax credit available which drops $2500 off the price of this vehicle! With a 50 mile range and speeds up to 75 miles per hour this is a real commuter car built on a three wheeled chassis. This enables you to take advantage of motorcycle parking as well with their single seater. The car recharges in about 6 hours on 220 volt power and longer on 110 volts.
Coda All Electric Car
This has been one of the most anticipated all electric cars in recent history. It promises very innovative technologies in a reliable plug in electric vehicle. With sleek body styling and four doors it looks a lot like a standard sedan from any major auto company. With a range of 90 to 120 mile per full charge, and 6 hours to recharge on 220 volt 30 amp connection you will be able to go everywhere you need to without worrying about charging every fifty miles! It has the capability of charging on 110 volt power with a portable adapter you take along, or 220 volt at home via the special adapter that you need to have professionally wired to your house electrical system. selling price is touted to be $37,400 after all applicable tax rebates.
Mitsubishi i-MiEV
This project has been in research mode for over three years now, and every improvement and innovation has been incorporated into the production models. Testing has been done using fleet vehicles in Japan. The strange name represents that their electric car is based on the 660 cc "i" mini car, and it is a Mitsubishi Electric Vehicle. Recharge time is expected to be 30 minutes with optional "fast charger", 7 hours at 200 volts, and 14 hours at 100 volts.
This list does not include some of the Electric Vehicles which are coming to market soon. There are also many EV's which have been sold in the past but have been discontinued over time. Most notable of these would be the Toyota RAV4-EV and the General Motors EV-1, both of which have a proven record of reliability and performance that just cannot be ignored! To learn more about these impressive electric cars please visit this website:
The plug in style "all electric" cars are not a new thing by any means, as people have been working on this for over a century now. In fact some of the earliest automobiles ever built were based on electric motors and batteries!
What we are currently doing is re-learning old tricks with much more modern engineering and technology at our disposal. In the near future it will be impossible for any large auto manufacturer to survive without offering at least a Hybrid model or two, and they will do even better by having all electrics available as well.
What a lot of people do not seem to realize is that we have had the technology to put decent batteries into a car and have these charge up in a relatively short time, but the technology was put on hold when Delphi sold the rights to the battery technology to a large oil company. Imagine how much foreign oil we would have been able to avoid using if these were allowed to be marketed sooner!
All things considered there are still some things that the manufacturers want to work out in terms of charge times and distance traveled before recharge, but that is exactly what they are getting paid the big bucks to do! So I say go ahead and do it folks!
There are many new electric cars, trucks, and delivery hitting the market with a modified drive train that incorporates tried and true "Hybrid Technologies" but so far there are only a few all electric vehicles which are built for highway use. In my opinion you can tell the Hybrid train is coming off the rails when there is a hybrid electric Cadillac Escalade on the market!
I believe that maintaining the Hybrid technology system is our way of appeasing everyone at the same time, this way oil companies are not completely cut off the never ending flow of cash that has been in place for far too long now. The consumer gets the dream of lowering our cost of basic transportation, and the manufacturers get some breathing room to work on the next generation of electric vehicles.
When they do come up with a nice all wheel drive electric vehicle which has cargo space and five doors like my 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee has, then I will be actively looking into buying an electric car. Unless of course I win the lottery and can suddenly afford the Tesla Motors vehicle that I think is the cream of this crop!
I have found that the people at EV World are a great resource for current information on everything you need to know about electric vehicles!
Also there is a wealth of electric vehicle information available at:
Thank you for reading my articles here on AC-Yahoo!
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