Electric Vehicles (EVs)

Electrical automobiles use an electric motor to drive, rather than an internal combustion engine. They run on either battery power or a combination of battery and fuel cell energy (fuel cell vehicles). They produce few direct emissions but rely on electrical energy that often comes from fossil-fuel-based utilities, meaning they aren’t a zero-emissions solution.

Battery-powered EVs are generally more expensive than ICE vehicles, although the price gap is closing with increased production and falling demand costs. They’re easier to operate, however, and offer some perks that make them worth considering.

Electrical Automobiles: A Look into the Future of Transportation

A well-maintained electric car can typically be driven farther than a comparable gasoline vehicle before needing to be recharged, and the driving experience is often more exhilarating thanks to instant torque. Plus, if you live in a place that offers EV charging stations, you can avoid the hassles of finding parking and dealing with gas pumps at busy times.

The major automakers largely thought about EVs the way they think about any other car in the 2010s: Take an existing model you already engineer, convert it to electric power and call it done. But smaller outfits like AC Propulsion, whose founders helped GM get its EV1 off the ground and who are responsible for many of the electric-related bits in the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive shown here, proved that the big guys don’t have a monopoly on EV technology. Shai Agassi’s Better Place also made a significant impact with an out-of-the-box business plan that included battery-swap recharging stations where you can simply yank the old pack for a new one—shades of those early 1900s New York cabs.