Electric Vehicles

             Electric Vehicles.
             Matt Scott College Prep Environmental demand for cleaner air has put a heavy burden on the automobile, much improved by stringent exhaust stands but still a significant source of pollution. High cost, technological obstacles and the resistance of the public to abandon gasoline have deterred the discovery of new cleaner alternative fuels to help 5the environment. Electric Vehicles are the cleanest burning of the alternative fuel vehicles now available. They are an efficient way to utilize fossil fuels (oil and natural gas) and convert them straight into automotive power. The fossil fuels are burnt at a power plant to produce energy to make electricity to recharge batteries rather than being used in air polluting internal combustion engines.? (Encarta)3Substances that pollute the air can be controlled more easily at a power plant than at the tailpipes of millions of gasoline-burning cars.? (Encarta) Electric cars are a simple and effective way to harness existing energy because any energy source can be turned into electricity. Electric cars have many advantages: Less dependence on foreign oil because of a reduction of petroleum requirements Reduction in maintenance costs Reliability Simplicity of operation Improvement in air quality because of elimination of vehicle exhaust emissions Low energy cost? (Barbara Whitener 9) Despite these advantages electric cars have not been widely adapted yet because they are not able to compete with gasoline powered cars. They have many limitations including power, acceleration, reliability and range. All of this however is about to change when the next line of EV's are released. GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Daimler-Chrysler and Even the U.S. Army are in on the race because electric will be one of the leading alternative fuels in the near future. Electric vehicles may have appeared as early as 1830. Historians generally credit J.