Electric cars do have some drawbacks but improvements are making electric cars easier to live with. The primary drawback is the high cost of production passed on to the consumer. Electric cars cost between five and ten-thousand dollars more than gasoline powered cars because it takes many years to develop it and the expensive materials that it takes to build the cars (Pratt 52). For example, the research takes at least four years t

The prices for the materials will also go down if there is enough of a demand so that the materials can be made in a factory instead of being specially made. For example, batteries which costs two thousand dollars now will become less expensive once researchers have found the right one because they can be mass produced (Society Of Automotive Engineers 59. The major part of the cost is finding a battery that is fairly inexpensive, lightweight, safe, and holds lots of energy. Currently electric cars use lead-acid batteries but research is being done to perfect lithium, sodium-sulfur, and nickel-zinc-iron battery types. These new designs have a higher power density than lead-acid type so they can hold more energy which means longer running times before needing a recharge (Society Of Automotive Engineers 63). With many of the major auto makers devoting more of their resources to improving batteries, we should see more inexpensive, powerful, and safe batteries coming soon.

This program called the United States Advanced Battery Consortium combines the efforts of the big three auto makers, Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors, to improve battery technology. Even in todays advanced car designs, the battery is the one component that has not changed much. It is still the same lead-acid construction that was used twenty years ago (Society Of Automotive Engineers 144-148). The reason why the electric cars made today can go farther and faster is due to the more power efficient motors, lighter weight, and improved aerodynamics. However, this kind of performance is still not enough to convince people that electric cars can satisfy their needs, which shows battery technology needs to be improved.

The potential problem with increasing the amount of research is that consumers will still not buy electric cars because they are unaware of the advantages and disadvantages. People need to be informed so they can make decisions based on facts rather than assumptions. A way to inform people is to advertise more especially in public car shows where people can look at the product and ask the company representatives any question they might have. This type of advertising lets people get slowly aquatinted with electric cars so they will hopefully realize the long-term economic and environmental benefits these cars would offer to us.

The oil companies are a big obstacle to the development of electric cars. Oil companies are economic powers that utility companies must battle with. With all their wealth, oil companies will lobby Congress and try to block strict anti-pollution laws that will favor having electric cars. Also they try to control the price of oil so it is cheaper now than the same amount of electricity. This affects the consumers choices since they will use oil because it is cheaper than electricity. What people do not realize that oil prices will eventually rise in response to the scarcity of non-renewable oil supplies. We are spending about 65 billion dollars on imported oil which is a large part of the 90 billion we spend on foreign trade (Worsnop 15). Having electric cars would certainly save a large part of the money spent on imported oil. Owners of gasoline stations would also be opposed to electric cars replacing gasoline ones since this would put them out of business. However, some of these station can shift to become charging stations and provide service to electric car owners. Also the costs of replacing their equipment initially will eventually be recovered in the long run.

We will definitely see electric cars in California in less than four years, but to make them more common the government, oil companies, utility companies, and auto makers must work together to offer enough incentives for consumers to buy electric cars. With all the benefits electric cars have to offer, we need to consider them as alternatives to gasoline cars.

A final benefit of electric cars is that they

Some common words found in the essay are:
Automotive Engineers, Ford Motors, , Southern California, Impact Utility, electric cars, Japan United, Motor's Impact, Electric Vehicle, President Congress, Los Angeles, electric car, auto makers, society automotive engineers, electric vehicles, oil companies, buy electric, charging stations, society automotive, automotive engineers, buy electric cars, chrysler ford motors, gasoline powered, electric car owners, gasoline powered cars,
Approximate Word count = 2708
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)