A Swiss school-teacher, Louis Palmer, stopped by my University earlier this fall in a solar-powered, 100% carbon-neutral car after traveling 300,000 miles and visiting upwards of 40 countries. He undertook his journey around the world to prove that the technology for a zero emissions car is currently available-it just hasn’t been picked up in the world market yet!

Electric cars, which have no tailpipe emissions and are oil-free, are more environmental petroleum cars. Because they get power from the grid, they are not carbon-neutral, but will be if grid-electricity is ever generated renewably. They also have lower fuel costs-recharging the battery is a fraction of gas prices. And, as Palmer demonstrated, the technology is here. So why is it that electric cars- are still such a ‘fringe’ vehicle in the United States?

Opponents to the electric car beleaguer it for its handicapped performance compared to petroleum cars-slower speed, limited range, and inconvenient refueling. While it is true that most electric cars being driven in the US, an estimated one to two thousand, have maximum speeds of 50 miles per hour or so, improvements in technology are rendering these claims less salient. The Tesla Roadster, the fastest electric car, goes from 0 to 60 mph in an acceleration of 3.9 seconds and has a maximum speed of 130 mph.

As for the limited range, most electric cars on US roads have a range of 40 to 60 miles. An average American commutes 32 miles a day to work, comfortably within the car’s battery range-but paltry when compared to the 200 miles per tank that most petroleum cars get.

However, electric cars are not as far behind as these numbers might suggest. The Tesla’s range is up to 224 miles. And in 2002, Toyota sold several RAV4-EV’s, a pure battery electric vehicle to gauge consumerís response. These cars at $45,000 a pop, had an average range of 100 miles. Their owners even touted them as being less maintenance intensive and more fuel-efficient than petroleum-cars. As for the inconvenience of having to recharge on the road, most users preferred the ease of ‘home-based’ charging which they did over-night.

At the current battery life, all electric cars would have to be recharged en route if you wanted to drive to the nearest ski-resort. But many states are working on implementing reliable and frequent charging stations on interstate highways. In particular, California has peppered I-80 from San Jose to Reno with battery outlets and is working with the Electric Auto Association to unite San Francisco with Seattle.

Other concerns with electric cars include problems obtaining parts and finding technical support, but these concerns would be addressed if electric cars were more prevalent. Meanwhile, improving technology is outpacing claims that electric cars have compromised performance and short-lived batteries. Electric cars are feasible! Their production just has to pick up speed.

Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Chevrolet, among others, are currently developing electric cars of which they expect to sell tens of thousands in Europe in the next few years. But it is a different story in the U.S. Despite Toyota’s electric success, their car is not available. Americans are left with two unsatisfying choices for electric cars, either purchase the Tesla, which entails long waiting lists and 100,000 dollars, or settle for the reasonably-priced but performance-restricted cars currently available. How frustrating!