Car and what comes to mind? Golf carts, those utility vehicles that the maintenance workers at the mall ride around in and...not much else. General Motors had 500 "EV1's" that it leased to Americans to test in Florida, but it recalled them all. (The EV-1 drivers were begging the company to sell them the cars! GM refused because it didn't want to have to keep making replacement parts for ten years.) The EV-1 was a sporty two-seater coupe and, when you saw one going around a corner, the first thing you noticed is that it was completely silent. Electric cars would be ideal for use as tourist rentals in Orlando, Florida as vacationers wouldn't have to pay for $1.99 a gallon gasoline as they drive between Gatorland and Cypress gardens.
The Mini E Electric Two-Seater
500 of the electric version of of the Mini-Cooper will  available for lease in the US for $850 a month over the one year length of the contract.
It is motorvated by a 150 kW (204 horsepower equivalent) direct-current electric motor and has a single-speed gearbox that will allow the Mini E to acheive 62 MPH in 8.5 seconds on it's way to an electronically-limited 95 MPH! It is the first all-electric car with electronic stability control, for peace-of-mind during those pedal-to-the-plastic runs.
The car is expected to have a discharge range of 150 miles during commuter driving. With a special charging adapter insalled in a driver's garage the Mnin E can fully recharge the Lithium-Ion Battery in 2 and-a-half hours. It can also plug-into a standard 110 Volt wall outlet but it will take several more hours to charge.
The Mini-e weighs 3,230 pounds, 662 pounds more than a standard Mini-Cooper. (That's more than 25 percent of the cars weight- an aluminum engine and transmission weighs a lot less.)
http://www.carpages.co.uk/mini/mini_images/mini_car_of_the_year_15_11_05.jpg
There is another electric car that will be in production and will be available in 2009 http://www.gadgetpinay.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/think-city-electric-car.jpg  
The Think City a 2,500 pound two seater with plastic body panels will travel 112 miles an a full charge in it's sodium cell battery at 62 miles-per-hour (100 KPH.) The Think City has a rigid steel space frame that meets US Government standards. The car is made-up of 580 parts assembled in a modular assembly process. In the past, engineers have "home built" electric cars by removing the engine and transmission and replacing them with industrial-type electric motors their own home-built electronic computer controllers. There are two drawbacks to battery powered electric cars, one; as the weather gets progressively colder in the fall and winter the battery's efficiency decreases and going-up steep hills puts a greater load on the drive system, using-up more of the batteries charge. We will see if the Molten Sodium Battery has solved those problems when the Think City starts appearing on Upstate New York roads. The car is assembled in Oslo, Norway where the weather gets as cold as New Hampshire. As electric cars that create more demand for electric power become more common the U.S. will need more electrical generating plants.
 If you have a car or truck that you would consider converting to an Electric Motor: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0830642315/ref=nosim/your_httpgetoveblo-20_id
512 Reads November 18
Thanks to http://www.gadgetpinay.com  for the use of the photo link. 
Thanks to    
motorvated Copyright Steve Lee 2008 All rights reserved
pedal-to-the-plastic Copyright 2008 Steve Lee All rights reserved
__________________________