Cars. I love em. I don’t have the nicest car around but I drive it to it’s limits (and often past) enjoying most of it. I’m not sure what my next car will be but I can tell you I doubt it will be an electric car or a hybrid. Why you ask? Well I’m a college student. My next car will be used. It might be unrealistic for me to still be looking at 2002 M5s (with that awesome big V8) with the way gas prices are going, but I also can’t afford to get an electric car. Regardless I still am very interested in the future of the car industry. Even if I won’t be buying the future for a while.

Edison with a prerelease version of the Tesla.

Electric cars aren’t anything new. They’ve been around for a while. I won’t go into a history lesson but seeing a picture with Edison and an electric car should tell you all you need to know.  I feel like things are changing now. Blame it on the gas prices going up or people talking about the end of the world. Either way most people will agree electric cars are in the public eye again. I think they have a ways to go before they are in every garage though. So here are my notes.

Make it SEXY!

Tesla Motors | Model S
(c) 2013 Tesla Motors.

Who said electric cars had to be ugly? Why do people think hippie or high school science teacher when they think of owners of electric vehicles? I think for electric cars to take over you have to stop designing an electric car, and start designing a car. Which just happens to be electric. I want to drive a car where people react first about it’s looks and second about whats under the hood… Okay that’s a lie. I want people first wondering what that blur was that just flew by, THEN thinking about looks and finally about what’s under the hood.

Alright so now you have a sexy looking car. What’s next?

Performance. Not ever car can be or should be a sports car. But if electric cars are going to succeed some should be. This is one area where Tesla is ahead of the game. Just watch.

Now that’s cool. Maybe not super useful if you’re picking up your kids up from soccer practice… Actually. Scratch that. It is EXTREMELY useful when picking up your kids from soccer practice. Your kids won’t step out of line once if they think there’s a chance one day they’ll be able to drive that car.

Alright performance and looks are covered. Let’s talk about range.

Range is a big deal with electric cars. Unlike the size of the gas tank that no one really cares about (well unless it’s under 10 gallons or over 25 gallons) range is a big deal in an electric car. For an electric car to take off it needs to be able to do everything and more that modern gas guzzlers can. That means you should be able to go on a road trip with it. Lets test this with the Smith family.

Daddy Smith, Mommy Smith, and the three kids.

Nissan Leaf
(c) 2013 Nissan

5 seats – Check

Trunk space – Check

Range – um….

Yeah last I checked 73 miles wasn’t a road trip. At least the ones I suffered through slept through as a kid lasted longer than 73 miles. That’s okay. The leaf is meant more to be a city car. I understand this is how it’ll be for a while. I’m just saying they can’t take over until they work for majority of people.

Now the Leaf is a leader in one very important area. Price.

So price? Arguably the biggest barrier to break through to take over the market.

The Leaf is good coming in at sub $25k after tax breaks. The Ford Focus and Volt are a little high at over $30k. As for the Tesla? Well it starts at over $50k. So it’ll be a while before thats in my garage parked in front of my apartment.

The Fisker Karma is also a great looking electric (hybrid) car… Just don’t as how much it costs… Seriously.

Fisker Karma
(c) 2013 Fisker

Alright that’s it for me. Might be a little bit more than 2 cents worth but that’s fine I’ve been a little sparse lately.

Oh yeah. One last thing. If you work for any one of these companies I would LOVE to test drive them. I promise to wash them and return them with a full charge. Just comment or email me.

-Martin