This week US electric car pioneers Telsa announced their new model (the ‘Telsa S’) should top 250 to 300 miles on a full charge when it goes on sale later this year. Of course, the small print says.. with no head-wind, no aircon, windows closed, tyres correctly inflated and a brand new battery.

Even so, for a car in this class it is a technological breakthrough. But this comes at a hefty price tag of around $70,000. Would anyone, aside from a rich enthusiast, pay this much for a car that may just about get you from London to Birmingham and back?

Even with the high price tag there is cause of optimism as eventually all this technology will filter down to the rest of us. Perhaps.

So far, hybrids (normal petrol cars with a battery and electric motor) haven’t proved to be massively economical offering around 70mpg. The first batch of European small electrics have been expensive and range constrained – often at less than 100 miles. As in many areas of energy storage, battery technology has not evolved to keep up. Lithium Polymer batteries, like those used by Tesla are still hugely expensive.

Enter the Fisker Karma… This American muscle car exhibits a very unique approach that seems to have been overlooked by many manufacturers. An all electric drive train with a small efficient petrol engine used purely to charge the battery pack. The Fisker turns the hybrid concept on its head but is a pure 400hp sports car intended for fun, but still achieves 300miles range with a claimed 120mpg.

Its long been known that around 70% of the energy released in burning petrol is lost as heat. A further 10% can be lost in the drive train, leaving around 20% to actually propel the vehicle. Diesel engines on the other hand can reach thermal efficiencies of 50%.

So our concept for an affordable transitional vehicle would be this:

  • Mid-size people carrier (eg Ford C-Max)
  • all electric 100hp drive train
  • high efficiency 1ltr diesel generator
  • 100 miles of all electric driving range extended to 400miles+
  • Combined 200mpg+

It’s possible that this car could already be on someone’s drawing board… we hope so!