General Motors (and Everyone Else) Aims for Top Electric Car

The Chevy Volt and Spark EV are two innovative electric models manufactured by General Motors. But the American automaker plans to go further by making a new electric car that can do just that. Here are a few facts about GM’s new project and why many more automakers will be following in the company’s tire tracks.

The Straight Facts

This unnamed vehicle seems to be more of a concept than even a concept car at this stage. However, GM has a few criteria to go by, according to an article in USA Today. The vehicle should cost near $30,000 and be able to travel 200 miles on a single charge.

Apparently the 40 miles that the Volt can go—80 miles for the Spark EV—on one charge are not enough. Although the next generation Volt will go farther on a single charge and supposedly cost less, the new vehicle is slated to be a line of its own. And GM hopes that a vehicle with a 200-mile range is just what they need to finally get electric vehicles to catch on.

Electric Cars Are the Buzz

Most automakers have some hybrid vehicle on the market. One of the most interesting vehicles, however, is being produced by Tesla Motors. The company’s enigmatic CEO Elon Musk has wished for a 200-mile range for his famed Tesla Model S for quite a while. This idea is not discounted because he has also been planning travel tubes that look like the equivalent of sitting in the canister at the bank drive-thru and getting pneumatically launched at 400 mph to San Francisco. So his ideas might not always entice.

The Price of Electric

Because of their eco-friendliness and less dependence on fluctuating gas prices, electric vehicles have become a viable novelty. They have sold just enough to keep existing. However, the government has thrown its support behind electric cars. Earlier this year, the Department of Energy released its conceptual measurement: the eGallon. This unit measures the price of driving an electric car mile per mile versus a car that runs on gas.

These prices do not factor in whether or not it costs more to repair an electric car or how much a replacement battery will cost down the road. However, as more money gets behind electric vehicle research, vehicles like the Volt and Spark EV, as well as GM’s mystery-mobile, will continue to go further.

For more information on how electric cars work, check out this article.

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