Pro: They are very quiet. They typically have good starting torque. They have no significant polluting emissions. Con: Current batteries have relatively short trip capacity. Recharge time can be hours, so you don't just stop at the station for a couple of minutes and continue on your way. Batteries only survive so many recharges before they require replacement and they aren't cheap yet. Batteries currently contain unfriendly chemicals that must be handled properly. They tend to be much more expensive to buy and maintain. Fewer places can service them (so far). Our electric infrastructure would not handle the load if many thousands came into use soon: we have seen some problems with the electric loads we have already. Generating the electricity, charging the batteries and converting the charge back into motion is very inefficient - each step has waste. Except where nuclear, solar, geothermal or hydroelectric supply is dominant, this may not be a big net plus environmentally. Fuel cell cars will address many of these concerns, but they are not yet ready for the market. I am sure I have missed some pros and some cons, but the reason they are not everywhere yet is that the list of cons still outweighs the pros for most users.

There have been a lot of new developments to electric cars since this question was first posted. Users interested in following along as electric cars evolve to become more efficient and begin to reduce the US demand for oil should follow websites like GreenCar.com. They just posted a new story 5 Electric Cars You Can Buy Now. Everyone interested in electric cars should read it!

There really aren't that many cons. They have invented batteries that go 300 miles off of a single charge, and since the average American only drives 29 miles daily, that is more than enough. Electric vehicles also don't emit any pollutant by-products, or create obnoxious noise.

Paying $6000 for a new set of batteries when these ones die.

Why do we need/want electric cars? Because they are enviromentally friendly and stop our dependance on oil. Wrong. Electic cars will lower demands for oil but increase demand in our elecrtical grid. The majority of our electricity is devloped via fossil fuels. Many less effecient than gasoline. The electical grid has massive amounts of transmission loss due to heat and distance. Electical cars don't stop our damage to enviroment. In fact, it may worsen it. What we need is a massive energy revolution and then electrc cars.

Pro's - they keep the treehuggers quiet for a bit. Con's - Too many to list.

I don't think that drugs are the answer to your problems....

The pros are that the cost of running them is very,very little in cost,it helps the environment greatly,and is the way of the future.The con is that right now the cost of the vehicle is unnecessarily overpriced.This is due to the oil industry only,and is a ploy to prevent mass production.

This article is written by melina for her group!:) I researches it all by myself and i hope we get an A+ Electric cars use the energy stored in a battery(or series of batteries) for vehicle propulsion. Electric motors provide a clean and safe alternatirv to the internal combustion engine. There are many pros and cons about electric cars. The electric vehicle is known to have faster acceleration but shorter distance range than conventional engines. They produce no exhaust but require ling charging times. This is all about electric car technologies. Some of the cons of electric cars are that they have a limited range meaning that they take long to recharge times or exhorbitant costs associated with continual powering of the battery that runs the electric motor. Although solar-powered electric cars have no longer ranges, they are still dependant on batteries, which have size and weight limitations. To meet the public acceptance, a car must include specific conditions; drive a minimum of 300 miles between refueling, fill up promptly and drive fast enough to match traffic. An electric car cannot go more than 100 miles between re-charging. It is difficult to recharge beyond 60 mpg as yet. The pros are that the cost of running them is very little cost. The erason why we have electric cars is that so we can help the enviornment. The con is that right now the cost of electric cars is too high...16,000 dollars for the car and 6,000 dollars for the battery. The batteries that come in your car have short trip capacity. Therefore. the recahrge time can take hours. And the last bad thing about electric cars is that they will lower demands for air, but it will increase demand in our electric grid...:P Hopefully this helps whoever that needs the information but i did the best that i could...;)