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There are three basic categories for electric cars: production
electric cars (factory-made and ready to drive). conversions and kit
electric cars (for the do-it-yourselfer), and neighborhood electric
cars (good only for short trips). In order to determine which type
is right for you, consider how you plan to use it, whether or not
you're willing and able to sacrifice some "sweat equity" to save
money, and whether some other alternative fuel vehicle might be a
better choice for you. While electric cars have no tailpipes and
therefore no vehicle emissions, they may still contribute to
pollution if you buy electricity from a power plant that burns a lot
of coal or other fossil fuels. Most electric vehicles are recharged
by plugging into your home power supply. If carbon sequestration
eventually becomes a reality, this will be less of a factor. And of
course, if and when more solar and wind power generators come on
line, the grid will get cleaner.
In the average electric vehicle, you can travel about 25 miles on
5 kilowatt-hours of electric power. Based on today's average utility
prices, that works out to approximately 1.5 cents per mile! If your
gasoline-powered car gets 25 miles per gallon at $3 per gallon, that
works out to 12 cents per mile. That means that electric cars cost
about one-eighth as much to operate as gasoline-powered cars! Many
owners of electric vehicles use solar panels to recharge their
vehicles. In such a case they are literally driving for free (once
the solar panels are paid for) because their energy is coming
directly from the sun.
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 How about the range on electric vehicles? The average
commercially produced EV has a range of about 50-100 miles before
needing to be recharged. The majority of Americans drive less than
50 miles per day. For those of us who don't drive that much, an
electric car may be a clean, affordable alternative. If you drive
more than 100 miles per day, you may want to consider a hybrid or
other alternative fuel vehicle rather than an EV.
What about all those batteries? Are they a problem? Not really.
The batteries used in EVs are totally recyclable. In fact, some
municipalities have mandatory recycling laws for batteries from EVs.
Even before being recycled, the batteries from EVs can be used as
secondary storage for home solar- or wind-powered stations. Even if
your area doesn't require the recycling of batteries, you can easily
find a company that will recycle them on a volunteer basis.
Is an electric vehicle the right choice for you? You can learn
more at http://evworld.com.
[Text from file received from
Chuck Hall]
Chuck Hall is a sustainability consultant and author. His column,
"The Culture Artist," deals with the topics of sustainable living,
environmentalism and ecology. You may contact him by e-mail at:
chuck@cultureartist.org
or visit the Culture Artist website at
www.cultureartist.org.
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