Who killed the electric car?

Originally Posted by Atomic Duck

Although elecrtic cars still wouldn't work that great overall. They're really nice for stop and go traffic but freeway driving is hell on the battery as the car has to keep up high speeds for long distances. That's why hybrids get lower gas mileage on freeways, because combustion engines are much more efficient for that kind of driving and thus the car lets the engine do most of the work as opposed to city driving where the battery gets it's giggles.

It's actually quite the opposite for me. I drive a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid, and provided the freeway isn't going up a mountain my mileage is worlds better than what a combustion engine gets. The trick is just learning to drive so that you spend a good amount of the time coasting whenever you can. Most time on the freeway is spent with my battery charging rather than draining.

On the other hand, all the stop and go traffic with city driving requires the battery to have to kick in without much opportunity to charge back up. Even then my gas mileage is 2-3 times better than it was with an Oldsmobile.

Jam it back in, in the dark.