The electric vehicles listed in our tables are still very costly and have limited range, even though they do provide great green performance . California and some other states are hoping to expand the market for battery electric cars through mandates and incentives. One option might be electric minicars, which are being explored in station car demonstration projects or for use in other community settings. Plug-in electric cars are likely, however, to remain burdened with the problems of high battery cost and limited vehicle range. No big breakthroughs are in sight that would allow battery-only electrics to make large inroads into the mainstream car and light truck fleet.
Fuel cells are like batteries in that they convert chemical energy directly into electricity.
But they have the big advantage of being able to do this from an onboard fuel, ideally hydrogen. Fuel cells have powered many space missions. They were an exotic technology until breakthroughs over the past decade brought their costs down to where commercial applications now look feasible. That's why all of the world's major automakers are investing in fuel cell research and development. Fuel cell buses have already been demonstrated in actual transit service.