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In the last decade, hybrid cars have become all the rage. They’re efficient, inexpensive to drive, and environmentally friendly, giving texas electricity providers and all the other ones something to think about. Opponents of hybrids cite their lack of power as their most notable drawback and, by and large, they are correct. The price paid for that efficiency comes out of their horsepower and speed. On the surface, this seems to be due to the car running less on a controlled explosion and more on an electric current. That reasoning could lead the average person to believe that as cars become more electric, power will only go down.
However, there is absolutely no reason why a car utilizing electric power should be slower or weaker. The low power is to maintain fuel efficiency and battery life, since more power necessarily requires, well, more power, which can cut down on how far a car can drive before it needs refueling or recharging. But pure electric cars, the ultimate goal of green transportation, could be just as powerful as older, gasoline-using automobiles.
Several such cars are in development or production already, through companies such as Toyota, Peugeot, and GM. One company, Tesla Motors, is marketing their Tesla Roadster as an electric supercar. While perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, the Roadster is very much a sports car. It has legions of optional features and it performs very well. The Roadster, on electricity alone, boasts 288 horsepower, a 0-60 time of less than four seconds, and a top speed of nearly 130 mph. Nor does it suffer as much from range problems. Most electric cars can go less than two hundred miles before needing to recharge, a process that can take several hours. The Roadster can travel two hundred and fifty before needing a recharge, and can plug into a wall outlet. It may be a little pricey at just over $100,000, but it never requires you to buy gasoline, so over time that price is somewhat mitigated. If the Roadster is an example of the future of cars, than even the staunchest opponents of electric vehicles may have very little to complain about.
