Welcome to Electric Cars Compared!
Electric powered cars use one or more electric motors instead of an internal combustion engine to drive the wheels. Currently available electric powered cars all derive their electricity from on-board battery packs, however future technologies may include the use of ultracapacitors or spinning flywheels to store electrical power.
The two biggest advantages of electric powered cars over traditional cars are environmental friendliness and running costs. When you compare electric cars to cars with internal combustion engines you find that electric powered cars use energy far more efficiently resulting in considerably lower running costs. They also have zero emissions which is great for large cities with poor air quality. There is negative information on electric cars concerning the shift of air pollution from one source to another but even if the power plants are only using fossil fuels electric powered cars still only contribute about half the carbon of an average internal combustion engine car because of their more efficient use of energy. Electric grids are becoming more and more green as governments switch to sources such as solar and wind power, so the carbon output from electric powered cars will only improve.
Electric powered cars are the future and are getting ready to storm the market. Battery technology is improving at a rapid pace and will continue to do so for some time which will make electric powered cars far more practical and viable than they have been in the past. Over the next decade we can expect petrol engines to increasingly give way to electric power, both as hybrid and pure electric powered cars.
It can be hard to compare electric cars because their vital stats aren't always easy to find. Electric Cars Compared has collected all the information on electric cars for you and gives you the vital information on each EV car. We compare the main attributes of electric powered cars to assist in choosing a vehicle to buy.
When you compare electric cars you will find that they currently fall into three main categories - the low speed neighborhood electric powered cars typically utilizing heavy lead acid batteries, the faster but still mini sized subcompact electric powered cars, and the sports electric powered cars offering breathtaking acceleration. The latter two electric powered cars use the most up to date lithium ion battery technology. Midsize and large electric powered cars are noticeably absent. In the past this has due to the power to weight ratio of low horsepower electric cars but with improved batteries and motors we can expect to see some larger electric powered cars coming into the market.
Please also visit our sister sites, Most Economical Cars, where you can compare the most fuel efficient internal combustion engine cars for each class of vehicle, and Hybrid Cars Compared, which is dedicated to hybrid cars and provides information on hybrid cars across all classes of vehicle, both plug in and regular hybrids.
Electric Cars - Latest News
New Nissan electric power carSep 09: Nissan are currently in the final stages of developing a new small electric power car. They have created a prototype based on an electric version of their Tiida model and they hope to be selling the new car in 2010 initially in Japan and the U.S.
Nissan are yet to release detailed information, but we do know the new electric powered car will feature an 80kW motor, regenerative braking and a range of 160 kilometres. More...
McDonalds offers electric car recharging
Jul 09: A new McDonalds branch has opened in the U.S. and has facilities for charging plug-in electric cars via a ChargePoint station.
The owner, Ric Richards, wanted a green restaurant and so has also built the restaurant using eco-friendly building materials. He said, "McDonalds is enabling a better environment for future generations by supporting zero emissions transportation infrastructure". More...
Electric Cars - Articles
Better Place aims to solve electric car battery range problemsBetter Place are a company focused on building networks of electric car battery swapping stations. They hope such infrastructure will be the tipping point towards electric car acceptance. Their networks will also offer battery recharging for those who want to leave their car with them for the necessary time.
By building a network of electric car battery swapping stations the large problem of insufficient range is solved. The idea works something like this. When your electric car is getting low on power an onboard GPS would tell you where your closest swapping stations are. You drive to a battery swapping station, drive up a ramp and a battery shuttle robot will locate the battery on the bottom of the vehicle. It will then remove the depleted battery and replace it with the correct type of charged battery. The battery shuttle returns the depleted battery to a charging bay. You then drive away with no need to pay as your account will automatically be billed at the end of the month. More...
Hopes of cheap electric cars dashed... for now
Oct 09: EV's are yet to break through in the same way that hybrids have done and one reason is cost. Electric car manufacturers, it seems, are not yet able to produce cheap electric cars. Mitsubishi's much anticipated iMiEV went on sale in July 2009 in Japan but the price tag was a disappointing US$50,000, around twice as much as the Toyota Prius hybrid. Other electric car makers are having similar problems. Subaru's Stella, also due for release this year, will cost around US$60,000.
All car manufacturers are saying that prices will fall considerably as production increases. Indeed, Mitsubishi are saying that we should see the cost of their electric vehicles fall by 50% when they get some economy of scale. While this may be true, who wants to be the sucker that buys their car right now when they're still expensive? More on cheap electric cars...
Electric Power Cars - Where's the love?
Electric power cars currently find it hard to compete with traditional internal combustion engine cars and hybrids. Electric cars are expensive to buy mainly due to their costly battery packs and the issue of range and recharging is still outstanding. You can drive 500 miles in a traditional car, pull over and fill up in a mater of minutes and then drive another 500. The range of the best electric power cars is only 150-200 miles and when your batteries are out of juice you're looking at hours to recharge them, not minutes.
Now these problems with electric power cars will be overcome. Technology is improving at a tremendous pace. Battery packs are becoming more powerful and cheaper to produce. Range is consistently going up and fast charge technology will eventually result in recharge times of just minutes. But lets assume all these issues are overcome tomorrow and we have an electric vehicle that is the same price and as practical to own as a traditional car. Are we ready to make the change? Are we ready for an electric power car? More on loving electric power cars...