You haven't seen "
Who Killed The Electric Car?", have you?
Basically, the first electric car (GM's EV1) had very good performance, was very quiet, and was about expensive as a gas car at $0.60/gal. 10 years ago.
BTW, I know of 2 of the 70 or so EV1's (which were driven on a lease basis only) that sill exist. They are both disabled.