When will someone make a decent EV?

Question

I drive only 5-20 miles a day, but part of that is on the highway at 70 mph. I need an electric car that can do decent speed, but I don't have $100,000 for a Tesla.
When are the major manufacturers going to sever this incestuous relationship they have with the oil companies and start selling what folks like me need?
I'll probably always have a fueled vehicle - nitrogen gas or hydrogen or fuel cell or biodiesel or even (gasp) gasoline - for long distance trips and hauling the family.
But for my daily drives to work and back, I don't need capacity, or even much range, just reliability and speed. And I don't seem to be alone - there are a lot of drivers on the road with me who are alone in their cars.
Does anyone have an idea when we might see a real "plug-in" car?

I drive only 5-20 miles a day, but part of that is on the highway at 70 mph. I need an electric car that can do decent speed, but I don't have $100,000 for a Tesla.
When are the major manufacturers going to sever this incestuous relationship they have with the oil companies and start selling what folks like me need?
I'll probably always have a fueled vehicle - nitrogen gas or hydrogen or fuel cell or biodiesel or even (gasp) gasoline - for long distance trips and hauling the family.
But for my daily drives to work and back, I don't need capacity, or even much range, just reliability and speed. And I don't seem to be alone - there are a lot of drivers on the road with me who are alone in their cars.
Does anyone have an idea when we might see a real "plug-in" car?

Does no one read the question? "Someday" is no answer, and neither is "no demand" and neither is "try a search." If anyone has an idea, please let me know, but if you haven't a clue, keep your comments, please.

Answer 1

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Take heart. You do have a few choices for an electric car, the information is just not widely available.
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If you can wait a year, this is a pretty good choice. It's a Chinese import (the Chinese are doing quite a bit of work in the EV area.) The car goes 80mph, does 200 miles per charge, and will cost $28500.
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http://www.milesautomotive.com/products_xs200.html
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If you can't wait until next year - or if the Chinese car above doesn't pass certification tests for US roads (wouldn't surprise me), there are electric cars for sale built by dedicated EV small businessmen and hobbyists - like me. Look at this page:
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http://grassrootsev.com/convert.htm
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The above is run by a guy who takes old, cheap cars with good bodies (mostly from the 1980s) and removes the engine. He then installs brand new electric drivetrains. All these cars do freeway speeds. The best part is the price. These cars start under $5000. You won't get state-of-the-art (ranges are more like 50 miles, not 200) but the low prices mean you'll get your investment back in fuel savings quickly.
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Another place to find used EVs and hobbyist-built EVs is here:
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http://www.austinev.org/evtradinpost/
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I own an old EV, built back in 1980. EVs are extremely reliable. My 25-year-old car has all the original motor and electronics parts from 1980, which have never needed service in all those years.
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Incidentally, even when powerplants burn fossil fuels, EVs still generate much less pollution. The reason is the vastly improved efficiency of electric motors over gas engines. And also the efficient delivery of energy over wires (95% efficient) versus delivering gas by inefficient truck.
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Answer 2

There HAVE been genuine EV's manufactured and produced, one of which was G.M.'s little EV1. Matter of subjective perspective whether or not it was "decent". But there isn't enough of a demand for them to be profitable to manufacture.
Additionally, battery chemistry has come a long way, but it is by no means satisfactory at this point for EVs.
Batteries can be designed for them but at this point the only people that can afford them is either governments and large corporations, or NASA 9a government organization), all paid for with tax money.
In whatever economy one prefers, it is going to be demand that drives the cost down. Most cannot afford even the entry level EVs, never mind the maintenance.
As far as the PLUG-'n-DRIVE, in America at least, it still requires the burning of fossil fuels to recharge them from commercial power, because we are still generating electricity with coal, CNG, and in some cased oil.
This isn't going to change over night.

Answer 3

Try using yahoo to get search. But any decent electric car is going to be costly. Your best bet is to make one yourself out of a gas-powered donor car. I've seen several very good websites to do just what I described. It still takes money, but the car will be better than anything made at this point. You might want to check out www.theaircar.com as well.

Answer 4

Tesla has plans to make cheaper cars in the future. They started with $100,000 cars to make alot of profit and get the company going.