pic: MARS 1523: Our New Tesla

[DarkFlame145]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

The 1990s called, and they want their electric car characteristics back.

Several major car companies are on track to roll out all electric cars in the next few years (like the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S), and several more are working on plug-in hybrid vehicles (like the Chevy Volt) that will entirely electric for X number of miles, then switch to a hybrid operation. For the Chevy Volt, that X is 40 miles. The average American drives 29 miles per day, which means if the average American bought a Chevy Volt they'd never have to buy gas ever again, unless they went on a road trip or other extended length journey.

Sure 40 miles would be great if you live within 20 miles of work, but i know a lot of people that have an hour or more commute one way. The normal combustion engine has a lot left to offer in fuel economy. A company has a new bearing that will cut friction by a ton and improve fuel economy. I'm not saying electric vehicles are not a good option in the future, but the technology is not there yet. Maybe in 5 or 10 years it will. But there are some major road blocks in the way, such as weight, the amount of batteries (mostly laptop batteries) adds too much weight, which hurts range and performance. The Tesla weighs 2723lbs, while the car it is based on is a Lotus which weighs around 2000lbs. Most of that extra weight is from the batteries. Granted there is a company developing a compound that weighs similar to a sheet a paper that will hold a charge. The current and near future electric vehicles are a great start, just not the answer to replace the current combustion engines yet. By the way, I am a diesel person, which in my eyes is the best way to improve the modern car/truck