Plug-in electric vehicles are the future of American transportation. These vehicles store energy in batteries and use no liquid fuels. Instead, they rely on electricity from the grid generated by power stations that are far more efficient than internal combustion engines. That means much lower emissions per mile driven and energy sources that are domestic and secure.
It also means much lower costs. At the U.S. national average price of 11.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, buying electricity is approximately equivalent to buying gasoline at $1 per gallon. Electric cars also have 10 times fewer moving parts than gasoline powered cars. There’s no engine, transmission, spark plugs, valves, fuel tank, tailpipe, distributor, starter, clutch, muffler or catalytic converter to maintain.
Several auto makers have already begun producing plug-in electric vehicles. To learn more about them – and find out where to buy them – you can visit Plug In America. Additionally, the Electric Power Research Institute has published a helpful “Consumer’s Guide to the Electric Vehicle” that you can obtain here.
Because almost half of America’s electricity generation is fueled by coal, this next generation of vehicles will essentially be running on coal half of the time. That’s a whole new mission for the energy resource that has kept our lights on and homes and businesses running for decades.
Look here to see how vehicles that run on electricity are:
