If you’re looking for news reports on the latest and newest electric vehicle technology, worry no more.
After years of being on the EV scene and watching websites come & go, I can now honestly recommend the following EV news sources, starting with my personal favorite:

#1    The EV Cast

The EV Cast is an online-radio show which has been broadcasting electric car news since March 2008. As well as having entertaining presenters from all over the globe, the biggest benefit to this show is the ability to download the fun, news-filled show as podcasts. This means many EV Cast listeners, such as myself, can catch up on the latest EV news while driving, running errands or working.
EV Cast’s news sources are endless and each show dives into the hottest topics with lively banter, online guests, and in many shows the almost-trademarked shenanigans, where the team parody popular events with an electric car twist (you’ll have to hear to the 12 EV Days of Christmas yourself to believe me).
The EV Cast presenters are Bo Bennett, Ryan Levesque, Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield and Joe Lado. You need the right personalities to survive in the world of podcasts, and the growing audience numbers prove they have what it takes. This means the EV Cast definitely is the site to watch for 2010. Keep those shows coming guys & girls.

Visit The EV Cast at www.evcast.com

#2    Autoblog Green

In modern electric car terms Autoblog Green goes back a long way: They’ve been around since the early days of 2006. This doesn’t mean they need a walking frame though, as all their news is lively and hot off the grille. The charismatic Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Blanco knows his stuff, and is a fairly regular guest on the aforementioned EV Cast.
While Autoblog Green are fanatically green, they don’t run around in sandals avoiding showers. By this I mean their news is professional yet interesting, and comprehensive yet not intimidating. While not every article is on electric cars, it’s always a good read with something for everyone.
The layout of the site is fresh and clean without clutter and I highly recommend checking it out.

Visit Autoblog Green at www.green.autoblog.com

#3    All Cars Electric

Bang! As soon as you arrived at All Cars Electric’s website, you’ve got the choice of 20+ articles to choose from – all evenly spaced out and professionally done.
Maybe I got there on a good day but none of the articles looked dull. All stories are comprehensive and all photos plentiful & well sourced.
The site has good genes too, seeing as Dr. Lyle Dennis (the man behind the Chevy Volt) conceptualized it. All Cars Electric is definitely the place to go if you’re looking for a particular EV story – chances are it’s in there somewhere. The articles aren’t strictly for electric car nutters either: It’s a haven for Hybrid lovers, with the latest car reviews archived for easy access.

Visit All Cars Electric at www.allcarselectric.com

#4    EV World

Possibly the oldest electric car news source on the internet, EV World dates back to 1998. That’s before most of the world’s Youtube stars were born. This history, coupled with the electric car market knowledge of the Editor-in-Chief Bill Moore and more than 22,000 archived articles available puts EV World at the top of the electric car news game.
EV World writes and sources articles from all over the world, with a factual no-nonsense feel, and the site layout is clean and minimalist. Even though the site relies on a $29 a year subscription to operate, the articles are available for anyone to read.

Visit EV World at www.evworld.com

#5    Green Car Reports

Don’t be fooled by the layout of the site. Yes, it’s clean, fresh, modern – and looks almost identical to All Cars Electric – but the writers, stories and staff are very, very different.
This site delivers new and interesting stories, many aimed at the typical pop-culture audience (that means average folks like you and me). The site is clearly pro-electric cars, yet it’s articles takes no prisoners with those who over-glorify and over-hype electric cars. Remember, as much as we hate to admit it, electric cars have limitations too.
A great site with great stories, and even though it’s number five on this list, it’s right up there with Autoblog Green in quality of content.

Visit Green Car Reports at www.greencarreports.com

One of the most common questions electric vehicle proponents are asked is, “Aren’t you just moving the pollution from the tailpipe to the smokestack?”, when it comes to using electricity generated from burning coal.

Most people are aware that coal is a dirty way to produce electricity, but what does this mean for electric cars that recharge off the coal power grid? Are they just as polluting as their gasoline counterparts?

Several investigations on this subject have been conducted from many different institutions and sources, but they all have one thing in common: Electric cars running off coal-fired electricity produce less Co2 per mile than gasoline cars.

What the reports can’t decide on however, is exactly how much cleaner electric cars are, whether or not to include the high efficiency of electric cars in their calculations, and whether or not to include pollutants with the Co2 output.

For example, The American Government Accountability Office reported that an electric SUV recharged via coal-powered electricity is only around 15% cleaner than it’s gas counterpart.
On the other hand a study from Environment Texas shows that electric cars powered by the same dirty coal generated power are 27% cleaner than gasoline powered cars.

In fact the same study states that “more than 40 recent studies show that plug-in cars produce lower carbon dioxide than traditional gasoline-powered cars”. This is good news for countries which have 100% of their electricity from coal (though fortunately, these countries don’t exist).

In countries which have cleaner electricity like France (mostly hydro & nuclear) the electric car produces 12 grams of CO2 per kilometer, compared to 120 grams for current ICE cars. That means the electric car is 90% cleaner to operate in France than it’s gasoline equivalent.

The promising news for environmentalists is that things will only get better from here on as most countries have clean or renewable energy plans already in action. For example, New Zealand currently produces 70% of it’s total electricity from renewable resources, with the goal of being 90% renewable by 2025.

Germany plans to be generating 100% of it’s electricity from renewable means by 2050. That’s certainly something to look forward to in the future. This means that if you’re fortunate enough to recharge an electric car from a completely clean and renewable resource, then the vehicle will operate without a single breath of Co2.

So for the time being you can relax. It seems you have nothing to feel guilty about when plugging in your electric car from coal generated electricity. The only question remaining is how many additional power stations are needed to cover the demands of all these electric cars?

An example of a Low Speed Vehicle

Electric cars have labored under the impression that they’re too slow, and an enormous percentage of the population still believe this to be the case.

The truth is, an electric car’s top speed is not limited in any mechanical way. In fact in 1898 Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat set the world’s first official land-speed record near Paris in an electric car, reaching an unheard-of 39 mph (62 km/h). This record was short lived, being beaten by another, even faster electric car a few days later.

Today, electric cars like the Buckeye Bullet have been recorded reaching speeds of over 300 mph (482 km/h) on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA.

So with speed clearly not an issue, how did electric cars achieve a reputation as being slow, lethargic vehicles? What went wrong?

Several things to be exact, but perhaps one of the largest reasons is that over the last few decades large auto makers haven’t been interested in making electric cars. This means that little companies with little budgets and typical blokes in sheds have been picking up the slack and building them instead. The resulting top speeds of these electric vehicles have often been poor, yet the vehicles still tend to get media attention – for better or worse.

The availability of parts and the cost of quality batteries has always been an issue for anyone building an electric car. To cut costs these small manufacturers sacrificed areas of their EVs by building smaller cars which needed fewer batteries and lower voltages. The downside was that these cars were often tiny, looked unusual, and to top it all off had very low top speeds. The result was that almost every company making these low speed electric vehicles didn’t survive longer than a decade – yet their legacy of lackluster electric vehicle performance lives on. The result is that people still believe electric cars are inherently slow and there’s nothing that can be done about it.

Another reason some small car makers insist on building slow electric vehicles is to avoid putting their vehicles through crash testing – an incredibly costly exercise. If you have a company that builds cars capable of highway speeds, then you’ll need to crash test them before you can sell them. A batch of crash tests typically costs the average car builder around $1m USD – a crippling amount of money for a small manufacturer.

The easy way around this is to not build cars designed for the highway, but build LSV (Low Speed Vehicles) instead, and sell them as suitable for retirement villages and college campuses. It’s a catch-22 as you can imagine: No crash testing means enormous savings; but sales are restricted to a tiny – and already clogged – market.

Thankfully many large auto makers are slowly rising from their 50+ year slumber and are making plans to build highway-capable electric cars in the future. Analysts predict that in 2020 approximately 10% of all new car sales will be electric. Sadly these electric cars are predicted to be priced too high for the common car buyer, so many will be forced to do electric car conversions instead.

It’s taken just over a hundred years but gasoline-powered cars are finally getting reliable – even the cheap ones. So what about the newcomer; the electric car. How reliable is it likely to be, without having a hundred years of technology behind it?

If time is an indicator of reliability, then prepare yourself for a shock: The electric vehicle has actually been around for a lot longer than the gasoline-powered vehicle. In 1838 Robert Davidson constructed an electric locomotive which could move at 6 km/h (4 mph). Not bad for 172 years ago.

In essence, electric cars are inherently more reliable because they have fewer moving parts. A good example of this is during a typical electric car conversion, where a gasoline-powered car would have it’s engine replaced with an electric motor and batteries. Some of the parts no longer needed after a conversion are:

• Spark plugs

• Air Filter

• Oil Filter

• Water Pump

• Radiator

• Fuel Tank

• Belts & Pulleys

• Exhaust Pipe & Muffler

Because there are fewer parts, there are fewer devices relying on them. This adds more reliability. In fact an electric motor has only one moving part, compared to the 100+ moving parts inside a typical gasoline or diesel powered engine.

So how long can you expect an electric car to last? That’s a tricky question. Like any vehicle the lifespan depends on the owner, the driving style, and the quality of the parts used. There’s just no black and white answer on how long an electric car will last in real world conditions.

Of course we won’t really know how reliable they are until they’re parked in every driveway, though this should give you an idea: Electric motors are predicted to take the average electric car owner at least one million miles before needing its bearings replaced. Once the bearings have been replaced, you’re good for another million miles.

That’s another million miles without buying a single drop of gasoline. Another million miles without a tailpipe to produce pollutants. It’s also another million miles using locally made electricity instead of imported oil from the Middle East.

Is uncertainty getting in the way of you converting a car to electricity? Are you worried about doing the right thing? If so, don’t panic! I’ve done the research for you! I’ve researched the world’s major religions and discovered their views on the most divine form of transport: the electric car.

Christianity
When walking wasn’t an option, Jesus’ preferred form of transport was Donkey. It’s eco-friendly, reliable and ran on renewable resources. From this we can safely assume that Jesus would have driven an EV if they were available.

Buddhism
Peace is one of the fundamentals of Buddhism. This is good, because driving an EV is a wonderfully calming experience that puts you at peace with the world. It’s like meditation on wheels.

Islam
According to the Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammad once traveled on a Buraq, which is a lot like a horse with giant wings. Like Jesus’ donkey, this method of transport was reliable, eco-friendly and no doubt loads of fun! Those three things describe electric cars perfectly.

Hinduism
Two main objectives of Hinduism are Kama (sensual pleasure) and Moksa (freedom/liberation). These two objectives are easily obtained when you jump behind the wheel of a freshly charged electric car. The performance is pleasurable and the car itself liberates you from the cost of gas.

Judaism
One of the 613 Mitzvot (commandments) of Judaism is that you are “Not to scheme to acquire another’s possession”. Problem is, the oil industry does just that, keeping you tied to it’s products as your internal combustion engine drinks away thirstily. You can solve this costly problem and live purely by driving an electric car.

Atheism
God doesn’t exist according to atheism. This means that when atheists die, that’s it; the show’s over.
So the logical step to having a longer, healthier existence on earth is to make the world a cleaner, happier place. The no-brainer way to do this is by ditching your gas clunker and going all electric. The air will be cleaner, the roads quieter and the cost of driving your car next-to-nothing.

Disclaimer: Whatever you do, don’t take this article seriously and it’s only for a laugh. Do take electric cars seriously however. Go find yourself a donor car and convert it. Be one of the bold, cutting-edge, eco-friendly and cost-effective motorists I write about so frequently. Checkout this link: electric car conversion