7 Electric Cars You'll Be Able To Buy Very Soon -- Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, Tesla & More (PHOTOS)

We've all heard it before: electric cars are the future, albeit a future that never seems quite near enough.

Though electric vehicles are nothing new, a combination of limited range, speed, inefficient charging methods, and higher prices have kept electric cars from achieving mass appeal.

Thanks, in part, to advances in technology and increased consumer demand for alternative fuel vehicles cars, automakers like Nissan, GM, and Daimler are now in the process of readying electric cars for the mass market. Thanks to strong demand, GM is doubling its production capacity for the highly anticipated Chevy Volt. Nissan has even taken a $1.6 billion U.S. Department of Energy loan to modify an existing US plant to manufacture the Leaf.

And some manufacturers are hoping to appeal to customers' aesthetic sensibilities. Tesla has recently hired a retail expert George Blankenship, who has worked with GAP and Apple, to bolster its retail presence.

The following cars are either in production or will soon be in production and available for sale in the United States within a year or two. None of the prices include the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric cars. State tax credits vary by state from as much as $5,000 in Georgia to $36 in D.C.

Which early entrant into the electric car field is the most appealing? Check them out and vote below:

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Nissan Leaf

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When It'll Be Available: The Leaf will hit the market this December in limited quantities and in limited markets, but a full US market roll-out is planned for 2012. The Details: The Leaf is only available with an electric motor that features a top speed of 87 mph. This motor has three levels for recharging: 120V for level one, 220V for level two and 480V for level three. At level one, it takes 20 hours to recharge fully from empty, level two takes eight hours and level three can charge to 80 percent capacity in 30 minutes. Level three charging depletes the battery’s capacity 10 percent faster, so Nissan recommends against using level three as the primary charging method. Innovative features include a small solar panel mounted on the rear spoiler that can trickle charge the auxiliary battery. The Leaf’s battery will have an 8-year 100,000 mile warranty. Price: $25,000 MPG: 367 miles per gallon, according to Nissan, though many call this number too generous What They're Saying: Autoblog.com reviewed the Leaf and was very pleased with the car. "Few things stand out, and that's exactly its point. Nissan isn't out to change the driving experience, it's just changing the method of motivation. And more than anything else, that's what's going to bring electric vehicles into the mainstream," writes the blog.

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When It'll Be Available: The Leaf will hit the market this December in limited quantities and in limited markets, but a full US market roll-out is planned for 2012.

The Details: The Leaf is only available with an electric motor that features a top speed of 87 mph. This motor has three levels for recharging: 120V for level one, 220V for level two and 480V for level three. At level one, it takes 20 hours to recharge fully from empty, level two takes eight hours and level three can charge to 80 percent capacity in 30 minutes. Level three charging depletes the battery’s capacity 10 percent faster, so Nissan recommends against using level three as the primary charging method.

Innovative features include a small solar panel mounted on the rear spoiler that can trickle charge the auxiliary battery. The Leaf’s battery will have an 8-year 100,000 mile warranty.

Price: $25,000

MPG: 367 miles per gallon, according to Nissan, though many call this number too generous

What They're Saying: Autoblog.com reviewed the Leaf and was very pleased with the car. "Few things stand out, and that's exactly its point. Nissan isn't out to change the driving experience, it's just changing the method of motivation. And more than anything else, that's what's going to bring electric vehicles into the mainstream," writes the blog.

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Comments

[Dave Harpe]

06:28 PM on 11/10/2010

Oops! They came along a little too late for me. I don't make anywhere near the money I used to. I would love to have one. Every time I get in and don't start the engine, I would feel like I am flipping the bird at the greedy, evil oil companies. Hope I get to do that some day. Around here we have electricity at about a dime per KW/HR. In terms of money for miles, that's about a third of the price of gas.

[Elizabeth Gattra]

01:59 AM on 10/20/2010

I put my money on Tesla. Not only do I own stock in the company but I will be getting one of the first year models of the new Model S. Next to public transportation, which is not yet feasible in this country for multiple economic, social, and geographic reasons, electric cars are our best way to reduce dependency on Fossil Fuels. They gives us the ability to ease ourselves off of coal and oil as we ramp up our energy production via solar, wind, and other renewable sources. And like the DVD player and Plasma TV, cost will come down as demand and efficiencies in manufacturing go up.

[peskime]

09:55 AM on 10/09/2010

I want the Tesla in the 20,000-30,000 price range! Colour me sold!

[pufferfish01]

02:36 PM on 10/07/2010

Why not a diesel/electric car like railroad locomotives? A diesel generator provides electricity for the motor. Very efficient. The generator can run on bio-diesel for a even greener alternative.

[justsayknow]

06:57 PM on 10/20/2010

Maybe for commercial vehicles but 100% electric is the way to go for most and solar panels are cheap and getting cheaper. Diesel and bio diesel are still dirty.

[Sean777]

03:42 PM on 10/02/2010

Why there are not more clean-diesel cars, electric cars are interesting but still unpractical and unaffordable for most people.

[justsayknow]

06:59 PM on 10/20/2010

No such thing as clean diesel. never will be. Electric cars are totally practical and getting better all the time. They are also way cheaper to build and will come way down in price once embraced.

[bjefrz]

12:30 PM on 09/30/2010

My beef with this article is that electric motors do not have ranges. They can go for hundreds of thousands or millions of miles. Batteries, however, do have limited capacity before being recharged.

I know it's a nit, but for those who are unfamiliar with the technology (like, apparently, this author) the terms can be a bit confusing.

[deepfreezevideo]

12:12 PM on 09/30/2010

If the dealer is tacking on an extra 20 grand they've just removed the entire economic incentive to own one, and they're actually doing a disservice to General Motors.
This isn't an iPad, it's a fuel efficient car, and unless you're fabulously wealthy and only interested in "image", the lynch pin on these cars is economics.
GM should penalize dealers who tack on ridiculous premiums because it damages the entire Volt program.

[lwisne]

09:20 AM on 09/28/2010

The price of the Leaf is NOT $25,000. It's $32,000. Yes, there is a tax incentive, but it is sketchy that you subtract the incentive for the Leaf but not for the other cars.

[etcgreen]

03:18 PM on 09/30/2010

Good eye - we are not sure why all this hype continues. EV's are not sustainable - Peak Minerals - so we are profoundly disturbed by all the continued attention.

etcgreen.com EV's and Hybrids are not our Future

[justsayknow]

07:01 PM on 10/20/2010

Electric vehicles and solar panels ARE the future. Pure logic.

[BlackbirdHighway]

03:38 PM on 10/22/2010

You guys need to do a little more research. Selenium is not used in electric cars. Lutetium is used to date meteorites, and in positron emission tomography, but not in electric cars. Lanthanum is used in nickel-metal batteries, but none of the cars listed here use those. They all use lithium batteries. Neodymium is used in permanent magnet electric motors. Most new electric cars are going with three-phase synchronous AC motors that don't use permanent magnets. In any case, neodymium is not rare. Copper and aluminum are plentiful and used in lots of products so singling out their use in electric cars indicates you have an agenda that has more to do with opposing the cars than concern about minerals.

[Nellybelle]

06:14 PM on 09/25/2010

Electric cars will be cheaper than gas engines when mass production kicks in , this is because they have far fewer moving parts . Also to run the car will be cheaper because using electricity will be cheaper than gas .

Medical expenses related to respiratory problems like asthma and allergies will be dramatically reduced . This IS a car for the "masses".”

[deepfreezevideo]

12:14 PM on 09/30/2010

Agreed...this is no different than the FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR DVD BURNERS
of the 1990's.
Yep, you heard right! The very first internal DVD burners for home computer use cost $5,000 and only had 1x burn speed.
Today, you can damn near get one for $49 dollars.

[etcgreen]

03:20 PM on 09/30/2010

Actually, EV's are not sustainable - Peak Minerals - so we are profoundly disturbed by all the continued attention. The price of a list of minerals has increased from 300%-800% over the past few years at the concept of large scale mass production of EV's and Hybrids.

etcgreen.com EV's and Hybrids are not our Future

[vetxcl]

01:24 AM on 09/25/2010

i'll be able to buy a 104,000 tesla? really? you guys know something about my bank account that i don't?

[Nicole Nikki P Purville]

12:02 AM on 09/22/2010

Is it just me, or is anyone else concerned with Coned's ability to financially rape us? Will driving once again become something only the rich can afford to do?

[justsayknow]

07:03 PM on 10/20/2010

Two words. Solar panels.

[lletaa]

12:58 PM on 09/21/2010

Electric cars are the future. They will revolutionize drag racing, off roading and nasscar. Imagine a big electric motor on each wheel. No drive shafts or transmissions or gears to drive the wheels just pure torque from the electric motors. Thats what we will see when the next phase of battery tech becomes available. It's exciting!!!!

[SteveDenver]

10:17 AM on 09/22/2010

A way to wrestle NiMH battery technology away from oil companies (yep, they snapped it up from GM) stands in the way of electric car profusion. I believe the answer will come from abroad, the U.S. is heavily fettered by interests strongly against cars that don't use gasoline, oil, or rubber belts.

[etcgreen]

03:20 PM on 09/30/2010

EV's are not sustainable - Peak Minerals - so we are profoundly disturbed by all the continued attention.

etcgreen.com Article: EV's and Hybrids are not our Future

[lletaa]

03:58 PM on 10/10/2010

The sun is the ultimate fuel for electric cars and the technology will be here soon. If we could do that I'm sure the problems of building them could also be solved. Of course all of this is not sustainable including us if we keep multiplying like we do.

[ferrarimanf355]

10:04 PM on 09/20/2010

If I had to choose one on this list, I'll take the Volt.

Otherwise, I'll take a Dodge Challenger SRT-8, enjoy it while I can, and convert it to electric when I don't have much gas money left.

[wedgie]

06:52 PM on 09/20/2010

Any body hear the theory that you can have 200,000 cars plugged in around LA, a brown out starts and the meters run backwards as the charges flow back into the grid to provide emergency power. Pretty cool idea if you ask me.

[SteveDenver]

10:19 AM on 09/22/2010

I like the idea of being able to park under a solar bank and charge the car for FREE on sunny days.

[etcgreen]

03:22 PM on 09/30/2010

You are referring to V2G technology which can reduce the life expectancy of batteries x5. We are talking about a $3K-$23K battery here so if you want to have $10KwH power feeding your house that is up to you, but most will likely pass.

EV's are not sustainable - Peak Minerals - so we are profoundly disturbed by all the continued attention.

etcgreen.com EV's and Hybrids are not our Future

[justsayknow]

07:14 PM on 10/20/2010

Who is the "we" in we are profoundly disturbed? Oil corporations?

[Gary Sallenbach]

04:31 PM on 09/20/2010

The Nissan Leaf is all electric. They posted gas mileage at 367 mpg. Since the car has no gas motor, that makes no sense at all. I'd be glad to take the job there as proof reader.

[bjefrz]

12:27 PM on 09/30/2010

they're using a formula to convert electric efficiency to gas mileage. THe formula (which I can't remember at the moment) has caused some controversy, but is reasonably well accepted.

A better formula would be miles per dollar. Then you plug in the price of gas and the price of electricity where you fuel up and find the number for yourself.