You bet your lithium ion battery they are. From the $400,000 Venturi Fetish pictured above to the $105,000 Commutercar Tango and $100,000 Tesla, these cars are fast and capable. The new Tesla will smoke a Ferrari with 3.9 seconds 0-60 acceleration and still able to travel 250 miles on a single charge.
Now, admittedly, most of us can't afford a $100,000 electric sports car, but hope appears to be on the way in the form of Mitsubishi's MIEV and Subaru R1e battery electric prototypes, which initially will be available in Japan within the next four years.
Europe long has been a hotbed for electric car development from Peugeot's 106 (top left) to Th!nk Nordic's (middle right) City, which was briefly owned by Ford Motor Company. The cars on the lower row are Italian-built that can be purchased as electric models with small internal combustion engine range-extenders.
The principle advantage of the electric car is its extraordinary efficiency and ability to be recharged from a wide array of primary energy sources including fossil fuels, nuclear, solar and wind power. New, more powerful battery technology promises to improve their range and recharge time.
European Connection
In the wake of the oil shocks of the 1970s, the Europeans took a serious interest in electric vehicles, especially the French who embarked on an ambitious program to build nuclear reactors and high-speed electric trains. At one point, there were several thousands of electric cars running about France, with smaller numbers elsewhere across the EU.
The dream continued to live on in many revivals of electric vehicle technology as demonstrated by the variety of cars below built from Norway to Italy.
Coming Soon
Although the major carmakers largely abandoned the idea of battery electric cars, Mitsubishi(top left) and Subaru (top right) announced in 2005 that they would be manufacturing lithium ion-powered cars before 2010. AC Propulsion also is working on a Toyota Scion conversion, and Cleanova in France is developing an electric version of the Renault Kangoo (bottom right) with an integrated APU range-extender in co-operation with TM4 Engineering in Canada.
Fast and Furious
American-made electric cars are few and far between in 2006. If you want to buy one, your current options are the Commutercar Tango (left) and Tesla EV (right). Actor/producer George Clooney is Commutercar's first customer.
Both the Tango and Tesla can out-accelerate most of the world's fastest production sport cars, the Tesla doing 0-60 in 3.9 seconds.
EVs on Three Wheels
They're not your usual electric car, but neither do they cost an arm and leg, either. And they are available today. The zebra-stripped EV is a Chinese model imported by ZAP. It's got a top speed of 40 mph, so its meant for in-town travel. The Meyers NMG (formerly Corbin Sparrow) is designed for highway travel -- for one. Both have roughly a 30 mile range between recharges.
Orphaned EVs
Of the 4-5,000 electric cars built for California's ZEV mandate in the late 90s, only about 1,000 remain on the road. These occasionally come up for sale, mainly on the West Coast.
