I'm more in favor of a hydraulic motor powered car with an accumulator for power storage than a battery powered car. We have cars that get 35+mpg right now, so a car that uses stored power is basically the next step. My daughter gets 38-39mpg right now with a 1999 Cougar sick shift. And it blows the doors off many cars today for power. We had a 50mpg diesel Rabbit several years ago. I just don't see the advantage of electric cars unless they get more mpg’s in a larger car. If you are going to get 40mpg in a roller skate that costs $40k, I don't get it. Back in the 70’s, I saw a car that could pull a dump truck that got 60+mpg invented by a couple of NASA engineers. It was on CBS News and pulled the truck down Seawall Blvd. smoking the tires on an old Volvo. The car was bought by a company in Alvin Texas and never heard from again. This technology is not new and is used in many pieces of heavy equipment. Ford is working on an Expedition with this power. Many trucks use it today. UPS has trucks using it right now. There is absolutely NO media on it. Everything is “electric†and “batteryâ€. You have no batteries to discard and n electrical load to deal with. All it does is store the energy from a gas or diesel engine in an accumulator and release it into a hydraulic motor. Coasting or braking refills the accumulator. Easy. cheap, and off the shelf tech.
Oh, and as a plus, power is practically unlimited and available instantly. Releasing 3000 lbs of pressure to a motor, the tires WILL move and it will "charge" back up in seconds, not hours. As the power is not needed, the motor will go to idle or even shut off. Max mileage will shut the engine down, but it may be more practical to idle to keep the air, power steering, ect running.