Of Interest: "An electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor(s) which are entirely powered by electrochemical cells. Electric cars are usually powered by on-board battery packs, and as such are usually battery electric vehicles (BEVs), although some are powered by fuel cells.

Although electric cars often give good acceleration and have generally acceptable top speed, the lower specific energy of production batteries available in 2010 compared with fossil fuels means that electric cars have relatively low range between charges, and recharging can take significant lengths of time. For shorter range commuter type journeys, rather than long journeys, electric cars are practical forms of transportation and can be inexpensively recharged overnight. Longer range journey options are currently being pursued by installing battery swapping station infrastructure throughout several pilot cities such as Tokyo.

Electric cars have the potential of significantly reducing city pollution by having zero tail pipe emissions.  Vehicle greenhouse gas savings depend on how the electricity is generated. With the current U.S. energy mix, using an electric car would result in a 30% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Given the current energy mixes in other countries, it has been predicted that such emissions would decrease by 40% in the UK, 19% in China, and as little as 1% in Germany.

Electric cars are expected to have a major impact in the auto industry given advantages in city pollution, less dependence on oil, and expected rise in gasoline prices. (Source: Wikipedia.org)