Why Are Electric Cars Becoming Popular Once Again?

Electric automobiles are not recent inventions. They have been around for a very long time. In fact, back in the early 1900s, more electric vehicles were being driven than gasoline-powered vehicles. During the early 1920s when vehicles were becoming very popular, gasoline was very expensive. It was also very difficult to start a gasoline engine because you had to turn a crank in front of the car many times in order to get the car started. Keys were not used to start cars like we have today. Gasoline vehicles at the time were very noisy and emitted a lot of smoke and pollution. The cars had no muffler or the muffler was not very effective. Thus, electric vehicles became very popular and the vehicle of choice. There were over 50,000 electric powered vehicles on the roads and streets of America at one time.

Soon electric cars faded away. New technologies to produce gasoline cheaply were being developed. The electric starter was invented so that gasoline vehicles can be started with a key instead of a crank. Gasoline vehicles could go much farther than an electric vehicle. Soon gasoline-powered vehicles became the main transportation method for people. Once again, electric cars are being developed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions released into the air by gasoline cars.

Electric vehicles do not burn gasoline in an engine. They use electricity stored on the car in batteries. 12 or 24 batteries, or more, are necessary to power a vehicle. Similar to a remote-controlled, model electric car, electric cars have an electric motor that turns the wheels and a battery to run that motor. Charging the batteries of an electric car is as simple as plugging the vehicle to a regular electrical wall outlet overnight. Others need a larger outlet like the kind that a stove or electric clothes dryer plug into. Electricity is then stored in the batteries of the vehicle.

The batteries of electric cars can be lead acid batteries, similar to the batteries found in flashlights or regular gas cans. They can be ni-cad (nickel-cadmium) like the kind that operates portable video recorders or a portable video game player. Better batteries that hold more energy and last longer are being developed. Most electric vehicles today, however, can only go about 100 miles before you need to plug them in and recharge their batteries. They are not like the Energizer Bunny that keeps on going, and going, and going. But, 50 to 100 miles is plenty for most people who only drive a short distance to and from work, to and from school, or to do some shopping.

Another type of electric vehicle is a golf cart or neighborhood watch vehicle. These battery powered electric vehicles are used to patrol in small, private neighborhoods, travel around the golf course, or provide small distance transportation in various situations. Electric vehicles are more expensive to buy than gasoline cars, but when more and more electric vehicles are made, the price of electric vehicles should drop to about the same as gasoline cars.

Automobile manufacturers and scientists are constantly developing new methods to fuel our vehicles in a cleaner, more environmentally friendly way. The production (or return) of the electric car is an exciting one that will be embraced by more and more people.

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