Identification

• Electric cars are an alternative vehicle that uses the electricity supplied by chemical batteries to drive electric motors. This makes them distinct from hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (which do not use batteries) and hybrid electric cars (using a mix of the internal combustion engine and a chemical battery).
  
  

Advantage: Cheaper to Drive

• RAV4 EV
  
  Electric cars are dramatically cheaper to drive, even before the 2006-2008 spike in the price of gasoline. A good way to demonstrate this is by comparing an electric vehicle conversion to its conventional counterpart. The Toyota RAV4 gets 26 mpg on the highway. Between 1997 and 2003, an all-electric version of the Toyota RAV4 was sold, and this cost 9 or 10 cents to recharge the entire battery, which is good for an average of 165 miles of driving. That means the electric RAV4 costs less than 2 cents per 26 miles.
  
  

Advantage: Lower Repair and Maintenance Costs

• The maintenance and repair costs are also much lower for an electric car. This is due largely to the smaller number of moving parts. In place of an engine, the car has a battery, and baring damage the modern nickel or lithium ion-alternative car battery will last for several years. Even the brakes last longer, due to the regenerative braking design that uses braking power to recharge the battery.
  
  

Advantage: Lower Emissions

• Electric cars obviously produce no carbon emissions in and of themselves. However, their recharging draws from the power grid, and therefore they indirectly create carbon emissions in direct proportion to how the electricity supply in a given area is generated. However, using power in this way is more efficient and produces less emissions than a conventional car would. Even an electric car drawing all it's power from a coal-fired power plant puts less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than a normal car. Of course, using non-emission sources for electricity (nuclear, hydropower, wind power, solar, geothermal) open the possibility of completely eliminating carbon emissions from the cycle.
  
  

Advantage: Matching Conventional Performance

• Tesla Roadster
  
  In the past, disadvantages of the electric car were lower acceleration, lower top speed and less range than a conventional car. This is no longer the case. This is best demonstrated by the Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car that can reach 135 mph and has a range of 200 miles. Also on the market are the REVA and the Smart EV, both of which compete with the conventional two-seat micro-compacts common in Europe. Due out in 2010 are a handful of highway-capable SUVs and sedans.