Cars aren't selling...

[Isidore]

Electric vehicles are fine in town for short journeys but they just are not there yet (or possibly ever) for long distances. Let me give you a very simple example: The batteries of a Seg store about 1 Kw.h of energy.and they weigh just over 10 kg. The most efficient internal combustion engines, large 2 stroke diesels as used in ocean going ships or diesel power stations produce 1 Kw.h of work from about 183 grams of fuel. If we call that 200 gms, we have a ratio of weight to stored energy that is some 50 times better for the chemical fuel powered system. So for every pound of fuel, you need 50 pounds of battery! Of course a car is nowhere near this efficient but the numbers still illustrate the size of the problem. This is why (as well as cost) the Chevy Volt needs a gas engine as well as batteries, unless of course you are going to tow a large trailer full of lithium ion cells. For commuting or short in town trips, battery may well be best but it will be a while before you can do a trip that lasts all day. Even the Tesla, a highly modified Lotus Elise carrying an enormous weight of batteries can barely run for 3 hours at freeway speeds. The electric Mini carries 260Kg of batteries, loses half its seats and still has a range of only 150 miles and that is not at highway speed!