When it comes to electric cars, everyone wants to know, "How far, how much, and how fast."
How far can electric cars go on a charge?
Ranges vary, usually between 40 and 100 miles, some may be less, some may be more. For example, the Nissan Leaf
will go 100 miles on a full electric charge. The Chevy Volt will go 40 miles using electriciy and then will switch over to gasoline.
With charging stations your range will be much greater than these limits because you'll be able to top off your charge as needed.
How much will these cars cost?
While most manufacturers have not announced their prices yet, Nissan has published a manufacturers suggested retail price (MSRP) of $32,7000. With the $7,500 tax credit, the effective price will be $25,200!
Check with Nissan for most recent pricing. GM has announced the pricing of $41,000 for the Chevy Volt. With the$7500 Tax credit the effective price is $33,500.
More pricing information can be found here.
An electric vehicle typically costs 3 to 4 cents a mile to drive as compared to 15 cents a mile to fuel a gasoline vehicle that gets
20 miles per gallon (at $3 a gallon and not including the oil changes, etc.)
How fast will these cars go? How fast will they charge up?
Most electric cars being released starting in 2010 are fully highway capable. The Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, and the plug-in Prius will
provide a comfortable ride on a highway.
Charging time varies depending the following variables:
- size of battery in the car (the larger the battery, the longer the time needed)
- how depeleted the battery is (an empty battery will take longer to charge than a partially depleted battery)
- the voltage of the charging station (a 240 volt station is four times as fast as a 120 volt station).
In general, charging times range from two to eight hours.
An empty battery of the new Nissan Leaf will take about five hours to charge up at 240 volts.
It would take significantly longer to charge up at 120 volts.
Other information
The new plug-in vehicles are cleaner than conventional vehicles, are great fun to drive and cost less to operate. Almost every auto
manfacturer will soon be releasing electric vehicles. Additionally there are many new manufacturers that will also be
delivering electric vehicles. There will be a wide variety of cars to choose from. Take a look at the new cars
using electric technology that are coming (thanks to Plug-in America for maintaining this extensive list). |
