Tired of spending $100 a week on gas? Forget fuel efficient… Try fuel nonexistent! A car that doesn’t run on fuel isn’t a new idea. The first electric car dates back to the late 1800’s. Although the technology back then was relatively archaic, the model gave automakers a framework to build from. Just charge and go.

It’s been around from more then a hundred years, yet most still think of the electric car as a novel concept. This little car has travelled many a rocky road. It seemed to get thrust into the people’s life… but then just goes away as quickly as it came. And then we just forgot about it. This has been the yoyo life of the electric car for many years.

Then in the 1990’s, the electric car bounced back with a vengeance. There were nearly 2000 of them sharing the road with their eco-ly challenged cousins, the gas guzzlers. They were becoming so popular that charging stations were popping up next to fueling stations. They even ignited enough excitement that they managed to spawn their own cult-like following. And then the cars were gone again.

It was almost like a dream (or nightmare for their fans)… California passed some law, the auto companies said it would be too expensive to comply with the law… and just like that, the cars were gone again. They were all gathered up, taken to an open field and shot. The charging stations were dismantled and all signs that the electric car ever existed were gone. That is except for the loud, angry voices of those who love them.

And that’s it, the life story of the electric car … born, killed, born, then killed again. Its just the same ole story repeating itself.

Recently the electric car has been making yet another a comeback. After being resurrected by some automakers we’ve heard of and some we’ve never heard of, the electric car is alive again. If there is a hint of truth to all of the stories I’ve been reading, the electric car is here and it’s here to stay. (Well, that’s if the critics and nay sayers don’t take them all out to that open field again.)

You see, we Americans have grown accustomed to our big, roomy mansions on wheels. So when we see these small, goofy looking cars, we just scoff at them. But there has got to be something special about them because they keep rising from the dead. So what is it about these cars? If we can get over the fact that they look so silly, there is actually a lot of good rolled into this little package.

1 – By far the most impressive thing – you’ll never have to spend $100 on gas filling up the tank… you’ll only have to pay a few bucks extra on your electricity bill so you can charge the car (and some of the solar powered ones won’t cost you anything)

2 – They don’t release those harmful emission that are contributing to melting the planet

3 – Most of them, with the exception of this $100,000 Roadster, are relatively inexpensive

4 – Although the quirky designs make them look like whimpy, some of them are able to keep with up and beat their counterparts when it comes to speed.

The electric car is the underdog in this competition. And if the past is any indicaton of the future, the electric car will be dead again. But I am rooting for them!