19.03.2012 / Green Life
The future is electric
There’s no denying it: gasoline cars are destined to be a dying breed. Not just because the price of gasoline grows by the hour and the actual fuel consumption is often quite different from the one boasted by car firms. The truth is, gasoline motors are making the air in our cities simply unbreathable.
What’s the future of private city transport, then? Most probably an electric future, unlikely as it might seem to us today.
Yet, the signs are already showing up: during the last years, the capacity of electric car batteries has definitely improved and many car companies are making agreements to open quick charging stations in the world’s major cities.
From a practical point of view, electric cars are the ideal means of transport for city commuting, as most people usually drive to and from work covering a distance of around twenty miles per day. Besides, electric cars qualify for exemption from congestion charges.
So what does the market offer in terms of electric cars? Nissan Leaf, which won the European Car of the Year award in 2011, is definitely the Queen of electric cars. Available for sale in 14 European markets – 24 within 2013 - it has a real-world range autonomy of 100 miles.
Peugeut iOn offers 93 miles of complete independence and Citroen C-Zero has an autonomy of 81 miles . Renault’s ZE range includes four different models : tiny Twizy (autonomy: 62 miles), Fluence (sedan, autonomy: 114 miles), Kangoo (working vehicle, autonomy: 105 miles) and Zoe (compact car, autonomy: 83 miles).
Tesla‘s electric sports dream cars have an autonomy of almost 248 miles are equipped with an engine making them capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in barely 3.9 seconds. The only drawback is the price – starting at 109,000 USD.
And speaking of prices, although the cost of an electric car might appear a tad high at first, it is also true that it takes only a few years to write them off, especially consindering the price of fuel, the solidity of electric car models (judged safer according to NCAP standards) and the fact that, having few moving parts, electric cars are much easier to fix.
With a price of 7,000 euros (9,201 USD), Renault Twizy is the most affordable electric car on the market, followed by Renault’s Zoe (22,000 euros or 28,919 USD) and Fluence (27,000 euros or 35,941 USD).
Peugeut iOn and Citroen C-Zero are both priced at 30,000 euros (39,435 USD), while Nissan Leaf starts at 38,000 euros (49,951 USD).
Electric car incentives could be another reason to go electric: while the Italian governement is planning to offer a 5,000 euro incentive for the purchase of each electric car, Obama’s proposal amounts to 10,000 USD per vehicle.
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