You want a pure 100 percent electric car? Well, there are companies out there who are selling them. One such vehicle is the Zap. It has three wheels and travels at a top speed of 35 to 40 miles per hour.
Or do you prefer one from a major automaker? Well, Nissan, Daimler, and Mitsubishi are working on EVs. However, most of the companies (i.e., Toyota) are turning to plug-in hybrids that can carry larger batteries.
Currently, the biggest problems with electric cars concern the batteries. Now the batteries are expensive to dispose of and they contain toxic chemicals. Moreover, they are large. The battery pack in the Tesla Roadster weighs close to 1,000 pounds. That is one-third the weight of the car.
Our take? Until EVs have batteries that can match the range of a standard gasoline engine or, even better, a hybrid, look for them to be niche vehicles for the foreseeable future.