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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.

Look at this amazing shot of a Tesla electric roadster sitting atop four Wedgwood teacups at William Ashley in Toronto. It just goes to show how durable the teacups are — and how sexy the Tesla is! Learn more about it, and its cousin the Tesla S, in this earlier post.

Now usually I take public transit to get around Toronto, but once in a while, as I’m waiting for the subway, I dream of driving my electric car (powered by renewable energy) to work, nary an emission along the way. So this week, when Tesla Motors of California released their new Type S electric car, at approx. US$57,000, that dream got a little bit closer. You can order one now, for delivery in a couple of years.

OK, I’m hoping a less expensive electric car will hit the market soon (are you coming, plug-in Prius? Wherefore art thou, electric Mini?), but I’m betting that my next car will be electric. I’ve heard a lot of reasons why electric cars won’t replace gassers (as my partner calls them), and I agree with that — but perhaps EVs (electric vehicles) will become the norm, the gasser the exception.

There are a bunch of arguments against EVs. First, there’s range. For most of us, a car that will go even just 100 kms on one charge is plenty far enough. Yes, we’d need a backup plan for long trips, but most days, 100 kms would be fine. (The basic Tesla model has a 250-km range.)

Next, there’s looks and size. Some people are nervous in small cars. Did you get a look at the Tesla? Does that look like a golf cart to you? Can you imagine anything much sexier?

OK, how about the carbon footprint of the electricity that powers the car? True, if you’re hooking your car up to the grid, and the grid is powered by coal in your area, then it’s not a green car. But if you purchase power from a renewable energy supplier, or your area gets its power from more renewable sources, then that car is looking pretty clean. (And yes, you can plug your Type S into a standard outlet.)

Batteries are often a point of concern. Batteries are nasty! But we have become pretty good at recycling them through reusing the materials, and the batteries companies such as Tesla are using are lithium ion – they pack a lot of energy into a small space, just like laptop and cell phone batteries.

What about speed? True, the top-end speed of the Tesla Type S is only about 210 km/h. Oh wait, that’s crazy fast. The company’s Roadster can go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. Not too shabby.

The most difficult change? Accepting that our deeply worn infrastructure around gas stations and combustion engines will have to evolve. But when I think about the potential for cities and towns to reduce smog through zero emission vehicles, I feel a lot of hope.

How about you, would you consider an electric car, or do you drive a vehicle that seems green enough already?