Are Electric Cars the future of Transportation

It is obvious that petroleum is a non-renewable resource, so could electricity someday replace the petroleum based fuel that energizes the vehicles today?  It seems like an easy answer but with so many different factors contributing to it like cost, use, and environmental concerns it is not a simple to determine.  We do need to cut down on our dependency of oil and transportation is a major part of the consumption. 

Electric cars are starting to climb down from the expensive prices they were when first manufactured but it is not easy to find an abundance of used electrical cars, which does not make them available to every ones income.  Ford has introduced a new all electric car ( http://www.plugincars.com/ford-focus-electric/review ) that could be affordable to the average American priced around $30,000.  Being a little more expensive than the average sedan you would think that it would pay itself off fairly quick by not having to purchase fuel.  Your electricity bill and battery life are also factors that contribute to the cost of an electric car.

Batteries in electric cars do not hold charge near as long as you can go on a tank of gas.  The Nissan Leaf advertises that it is "built to go 100 miles on a single charge."  To get the 100 miles out of the fully charged Leaf the driver must consider many factors such as: climate, speed, driving style, cargo, and inclines.   http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/index?dcp=ppn.39666952.&dcc=0.216879795#/leaf-electric-car/range-disclaimer/index  It also can take several hours to fully charge the batteries of an electric car which with a 100 mile range if you drive as instructed could be a roadside disaster waiting to happen.

I think that everyone realizes the need to be environmentally safe but we also need to be knowledgeable about how to do that.  While we think of electric cars as being guilt free for the environment we also have to think of where the electricity comes from when you plug in your car.  Lots of the electricity that we use is acquired from nuclear plants and coal plants that give off harmful elements to the environment. http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/193sources.html  While reducing emissions by using an electric car we might be secondhand contributors to harming the environment.  The other way to be environmentally friendly while recharging your vehicle would be having your electricity made from solar panels or come from a wind farm.

Although pricier than a combustible engine vehicle, the more demand there is for a new style of cleaner living vehicle the less cost will be for it.  Also with no fuel to buy and no oil changes required maintenance on these vehicles sounds promising.  Technology seems to be advancing at a high rate as more interest builds for a cleaner planet.  I am sure that in the future when more research develops the battery life and travel range of the battery will expand.  An electric car is a plug-in battery powered automobile which have a potential of reducing pollution by producing no emissions when driven.  Electric cars have many advantages by not polluting the environment and they would give us less dependence on oil.  I think that there is a desperate need to convert our ways away from the harmful emissions that our cars make.  With advances in technology expanding every year and more informed citizens the electric car seems like the choice for the average person to help do their part to save the planet.

Introduction

Hello I am Brian Lowry, I live in Mount Vernon and I am 27 years old.  I have decided to come back to school to finish my degree with hopes of finding a job that I am not traveling every day, which is the situation that I am in now.  I would like to do this so that I can spend more time with my wife and soon to be daughter.  She is scheduled to be born in the middle of May. 
Good luck to everyone.