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Both needs drive the future of electric cars, likely to be the vehicle of the future. In the last three years, there has been a drastic fall in sales of gas cars in the US. Manufacturers are competing with one another to produce the lowest emission vehicles.
Toyota has brought out the Prius, a hybrid car which runs up to 25 kilometers per hour on electric power after which a petrol engine takes over. The energy to recharge the batteries comes from the petrol engine. The Prius has been a hit in the US.
The heart of an all-electric car is the battery, which at time of writing is also its weakest link. Present day batteries are heavy, have a limited lifespan, and are expensive to replace. There have recently been improvements in lithium-ion cell technology. These are batteries used in most cell phones and laptops today. They can out-perform other forms of current battery technology. The drawback is the cost.
The Telsar Roadster is a silent sports car that is successfully running on Li-ion battery technology. The Telsar attains a top speed of 210 km/hour, and accelerates to 100 km/hr in 4 seconds. It has dispelled the commonly-held belief that electric cars are slow. It is also comparatively cheap to run. The estimated running cost is about 2 cents per km as against 8 cents for an efficient petrol engine.
It would appear that with more efficient battery technology, the future augurs well for the electric car. Quite probably a few years from now will see silent electric cars at prices more accessible to all.
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