Is America Ready to Move to Electric Cars?

Imagine driving every day and never stopping at theyour battery while you stop for a meal.
gas station. Ever. The Nissan Leaf is an electric car -Before you buy one, you should check for quick
not hybrid or gas powered at all. This also means itcharge stations in places you might travel. Over time
has NO emissions. But there are reasons that electricthey'll become more available. If coverage is weak in
cars have not already replaced the gas engine. Thethe places you drive, you might not want your new
first is range. How far away from home can you get,Leaf to be your only car. Still, in a two car family, an
and will there be a place to recharge wherever you'reelectric car would be an ideal day-to-day commuter
going? How much does it cost? Does it have power?car.
The Leaf can drive up to 100 miles on a full charge.The electric battery is expensive, so historically electric
That's far more than most people drive in a single day.cars haven't been able to compete with gas engine
Most of the time you would plug it in to chargecars on price. The Nissan Leaf hasn't yet announced
overnight. It only takes 4 to 8 hours to fully charge theits retail price, but some experts anticipate a price of
battery, so you could program the car to charge latearound $25,000, including the $7,500 tax rebate. That
at night when demand for electricity is low. For thoseputs it within reach of the average family. The battery
times when you want to go further than 100 miles in alasts about 5 years, so you'd have to figure in the price
day, Nissan is working with various cities to install quickof a battery every five years against the gas savings.
charge stations that can charge the battery 80% inWhat about power? We've all driven electric golf
about half an hour. You could find these quick chargecarts. Is that how an electric car feels? Not this one.
stations with the Leaf's navigation system and chargeThe leaf accelerates like a V-6 gas powered car.