The price of oil is up, gas guzzling cars are out, and a race for a fuel-free, practical electric car is on. The creative folks at Silicon Valley California have caught on the frenzy by investing tens of millions to develop a viable electric car, not just a hybrid.


A key factor electric cars never took off has always been the battery technology. Currently, all batteries used in Hybrid Cars are nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery packs claimed to last throughout the car’s lifetime with little degradation in power capability. This is in contrast to our experience with cell phones whereby our NiMH batteries’ longevity wanes over shorter and shorter usage time between charges.


With this enters the lithium-ion batteries to the scene. These are the batteries you use for you notebooks which seems to have a longer lifespan with lesser recharge wastage. Conquering this for the electric hybrid car has become the sole driver and objective of the environmentally-conscious hi-tech Venture Capitalists of Silicon Valley, who pour 10s of millions of dollars into developing the lithium-ion battery driven electric car.


Telsa Roadster - 0-60 in 4 seconds Electric Sports Car Selling Now
The first all-electric sports car is called the “Telsa Roadster” and is made by Tesla Motors, a small start-up in Northern California. The Roaster is propelled by over 6,000 finger-sized lap top batteries, and can cover 200 miles before you plug in to an ordinary wall outlet for a 4 - 30 hours for a full recharge. The Roadster is capable of commanding a 0 - 60 in 4 seconds. And all this without a single drop of oil - a true electric car.


With 1,000 orders for the Telsa Roadster going at $109,000 per piece, it is not car driver’s toy but touts twice the efficiency of a Toyota Prius, making the Prius a gas-guzzler by the Roaster’s standards. Targetting the novel rich both in Europe and America, the Tesla Roadster is set to reeve!


Chevy Volt - The Ultimate Family Lifestyle Electric Hybrid?
In contrast to the small electric hybrid startups in Silicon Valley, big brother General Motors at Detroit is selling the environmentally friendly hybrid concept car, the Chevy Volt, which is a four-door family electric car, unlike the Roadster’s sport car positioning.


The Volt is not purely electric - it is a “plug-in hybrid”, driving on battery power alone for 40 miles; thereafter a small gasoline engine kicks in to recharge the battery while you keep driving.


This is interesting as GM has researched that about 78% of the regular trips in US are under 40 miles per day, for ferrying between home and workplace, shool or for daily amenities. According to this report, henceforth, about 78% of Americans do not use any gasoline at all.


To add to the environmentally friendly theme, the Chevy Volt is a silent car - practically no noise at all, throwing noise pollution out the window too.


The Chevy Volt differs in its intelligent Lifestyle Driven software. The car is capable of detecting where how far home you are, enabling the computer to tell the gas engine to kick in for only the required amount of time and gas consumption. So, you the driver will never be caught stuck in traffic with a stalled car.


And in addition to the above is what worries most potential electric hybrid car buyers - how safe are the lithium ion batteries? Will they burst into flames? Well, according to GM, it has that problem resolved too, although more tests need to be conducted in terms of durability and reliability in extreme weather and road conditions.


Although the Chevy Volt have yet to have a working prototype, GM is already touting the car in TV ads, selling its dependable lifestyle of electric hybrid cars concept. GM targets the Chevy Volt to be in dealerships by 2010 for the mass buyers.


Start ups vs Behemoth, Creativity Unleashed vs Bureaucratic Corporate drudge, The Inexperienced vs The Veterans. The Race goes on…


There will surely be no One winner takes all in this game. As in all businesses, it is what you sell and who you position that counts. Everyone has a niche.


Check out more reads on Hybrid Cars and Environmentally Friendly Cars Here