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Driving home with my partner last night, we briefly got stuck behind a van that was running rich. Barely able to stand the smell of partially burned gas, we finally made it to another lane. Will gassers become a distant memory? I hope so. The sooner the better!

A few months ago I wrote about the Tesla S (shown above). This car will be available next year at a base price of US$49,900. It has a 480 kilometre range, making it a standout. Its super-fast cousin, the Tesla Roadster, is already available to Canadians for $125,000; it has about a 390-kilometre range. It hits 100 km/hr from a standstill in only 3.9 seconds. That’d be something to try!

I’m also getting really excited about the electric Smart car, the Smart fortwo electric drive. They should be hitting Canadian roads by the end of this year, although, at least to begin with, they’ll only be available to businesses and fleets in some sort of a long-term rental arrangement. I don’t have a price yet, but the electric Smart has a 135 kilometre range, making it a great car for commuting and other shorter-haul driving. I had a chance to try a Smart car earlier this year, and loved it.

The Nissan Leaf is coming to Canada in 2012, although I’d heard that it’s coming to Vancouver earlier. It has a 160-kilometre range. The Nissan site says that the car will be affordable, but doesn’t offer a price.

If I lived in Quebec (or the southern US), I would be able to buy the ZENN car. It looks like they’re about US$20,000. A city car, the ZENN has a maximum speed of 40 km/hr. Apparently it takes about four hours to charge the ZENN to 80% capacity from “empty.”

The bottom line: it’s going to be a little while before I can buy an electric car (unless I win the lottery, of course). We’ll see who brings an affordable all-electric car to the Canadian market first!

To compare the fuel consumption of any model of vehicle currently on the road, click here.