Electric Cars 2

Good news. It turns out that I'm not the only one thinking it's time to beat the major automakers by producing a really good electric car. Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal and something of a genius anyway, is putting out a $92,000 electric sportscar called the Tesla Roadster this summer, which can go from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds. The Italian company Venturi also has an electric sportscar coming out, but it's a fairly limited run. And the start-up Universal Electric Vehicle Corp is bringing out something a sportscar called the Spyder that is $70,ooo. Meanwhile, Honda has a hydrogen-powered car called the FCX in production and students at San Diego State have developed a gorgeous electric-bio hybrid called the Enigma.

Apparently, it's quite possible to produce an electric sportscar that runs like a dream. Now, the trick is making one that costs $30,000 or so to buy. The big three automakers, Larry, Moe, and Curly, have yet to produce a viable hybrid car, and are currently being lapped by the Toyota Prius. If the coming electric cars are as well-built as they're reported to be and gas prices keep rising, the internal combustion engine might well die out. I hope the big three can catch up, but if they don't they deserve to go extinct.