Everybody buying a used car has the fear that they are going to get a lemon. Picking the right model of a used car is the best way to increase your chances of getting a reliable, cheap used car. Overall, Japanese cars tend to fare the best, but there are also some domestic cars that are pretty reliable.

Toyota Corolla

Honda Civic (1990-97)

Nissan Sentra

So what’s all the beef about? I know some people think that electric cars are just for hippies who like to complain about the environment and talk about “green this” and “green that”. However, there are many other advantages to driving an electrical car…like saving money. This is not a one-sided argument though. We will also discuss the advantages of gas-powered cars.

Fuel Efficiency

You don’t have to put gas in them. Instead of paying $300 a month in gasoline, you could be spending $30 a month in electricity to charge an electric car for the same amount of miles you travel. With the ceiling for gas prices nowhere in sight, this is could be a major factor in rising popularity of electric vehicles

Maintenance

Gas cars break-down all the time. They have thousands of components, many of them are moving. Electric cars on the other hand are much more simple machines with a fraction of the moving parts of gas engines. Since they don’t use the components of a combustion engine, they basically don’t break down. Electric cars might need to have their batteries replaced at some point.

Range – How far vehicles can travel

This is currently one of the major flaws with electric cars. The best pure gas to electric conversion cars only get about 100 miles on a charge. This is great for getting to work, but not exactly the best bet if you are going on a road trip! This is the major advantage that gas powered vehicles have over electric cars. The main reason for the short range of electric cars is battery technology. It is rumored that Japan is developing the best batteries, but for the do-it-yourself person who strips out the engine of their car and installs and electric motor.

Automobile Safey

Gas and electric cars are neck and neck when it comes to safety. This is because converted electric cars use all of the major safety components of traditional gas cars. The only difference is the motor. If anything electric cars are safer because they have significantly less chance of catching on fire and exploding in an accident or fuel leak.

Fueling Time

Electric cars generally take longer to charge. As the case is with may batteries, the faster you charge them, the faster they lose their charge. This is a distinct advantage that internal combustion engines have over electric cars. In general, batteries take at least 30 minutes to charge and have optimal charge time of over 4 hours. This is great if you want to “fuel ” your vehicle while you are at work, but not so great if you need to make a long trip.

Environmental Responsibility

Notice how the pollution in Los Angeles can make it hard to breathe? Well, gas cars are a huge factor that make the air so dirty. I know there are a lot of older people that really don’t care about this, but it’s a really serious thing. If you take an airplane from Denver, CO to Los Angeles, you will notice that the air is much cleaner in Denver.

I would really like to hear your comments, particularly if you are an electrician, electrical engineer or a mechanic. Do you think electric cars are the greatest thing since sliced bread, or, do you think that we should stick with gas-powered cars forever?

Many people are surprised to hear that the fastest electric car on the planet can smoke traditional American muscle cars in a drag race. Yeah that’s right!

The “White Zombie” might not be the prettiest auto you have seen, but this 1970’s compact car accelerates like lightning. It’s even street legal! There are 60 batteries total that power John Wayland’s race car. There is no conventional engine. It started out with 69 horsepower when he built it, but now it has over 300 horsepower.

Mr. Wayland says, “We go into the den of the lion. We go to the drag strip with hot imports and muscle cars. We roll in with our electric car and knock heads with them.” That same day, his car went on to beat corvettes, mustangs and other muscle cars by over a second on average. For a 1/4 mile race, that is basically leaving the competition in the dust. In fact, the White Zombie has even set some world records for acceleration for a street legal vehicle.

Even though the car only has 300 horsepower, it is much more powerful than a gas-powered quivalent. This is because an electric car gets 100% torque. This means that, unlike a gas powered car, all of the energy goes into making the wheels turn.