Anyone can say that “There are some very exciting cars on the way and some business concepts that could change not just personal transport but the whole electricity sector.”

But, where is the proof? The Mitsubishi new release does about 160 kilometres on a charge. Whacko! How useful in a country the size of Australia.

“Imagine for example not charging your car overnight, but pulling into a “battery change station” where a machine simply takes out your battery pack and replaces it with a fully charged one…”

The whole electric car waffle is based on ‘imagination’. Nobody has even come up with an alternative to ‘dirty’ coal yet to generate all this wonderful electricity; and we’ve been told by the dills in Canberra that the ONLY alternative, nuclear, will not be used in Australia.

Useful electric cars, like all the you beaut imaginings and visions are like wind power and the wind of pseudo scientist: rubbish

Bout freakin time. If we had a good honest government, when the electric car gets introduced (sooner than later), they would provide free PV/grid-fed recharge stations, like in Sweden (just plug your car into a charger). The infrastructure would be vastly cheaper and easier than oil because you don't need so much more safety measures, employees on ALL of them, etc.

But as always, the progress of the Nordic countries will go very much unrealized down under- including by lots of environmentalists.

But I'm personally getting sick of choosing between getting gouged for petrol money, paying an arm and a leg (As well as a few extra hours wasted) for multiple public transports, or being told to ride a bike the odd 40km across Sydney to my destination.

Until we are producing energy from clean, renewable sources, electric cars are not creating enough of an impact to reduce pollution.

My next car will be a late model 4-cyclinder converted to gas. Besides my home car park is nowhere near a power-outlet and LPG conversions are well-established and Australia has excellent reserves - unless we sell it all to the Chinese, which brings on another headache and the passion for a holistic approach to transitioning to renewable technology instead of the piecemeal offerings from all side of politics.

A good article. Adelaide is looking to put chargers in car parks and in the street. The new lithium batteries are a major break through. They pack a punch and last a life time. The latest models will do 400 kms per charge. It's a start.

Julian - sorry mate but its all of a load of nonsense. Electric cars are not cheaper than their petrol equivalents - they are far more expensive and probably more polluting. Maybe they are cheaper to refuel but they have to be refuelled everyday, and because they are much more expensive to start with the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) is horrendous. As for pollution, battery packs have to be produced and recycled (although that is less of a problem with the latest models). But the main problem is that they draw power from a network that is still fossil fuelled, and that is not going to change. Wind is all but useless as a substitute. All electric cars do is transfer pollution from the city to the power stations. If we used hydro power then there would be an advantages, but that's only in Tasmania.
As for plugging electric cars en-masse into the power network, network managers have kittens over that one. Sorry, but its straight nonsense.

Certainly is nonsense, Curmudgeon. Too many people on OLO have their heads in their armpits. One of them suggests that Adelaide is going to strew recharging points all over Adelaide. I haven't heard that one, even among the wild promises we are hearing prior to going to the polls this Saturday.