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eventually ran into the stone wall of limited battery capacity, which required cars to either be made of ultra-expensive materials (carbon fiber...) or else have crappy range. A $35,000 car with a 150-mile range may be fine if you are wealthy enough to own an EXPENSIVE 2-seat second car solely for commuting to work and have a real car for the other stuff, but if for financial reasons you also have to use your "good" car on trips, haul 2 adults and 2 kids + strollers and sundries all over the place, bring home the groceries once or twice a month, transport furniture, take the family to the beach, etc. you need 4 seats, 4 doors, a good-sized trunk, and a 300-400 mile range. Which is why pure electrics, although really neat, didn't do well on the market, and why eminently practical hybrids (Prius, 250-hp hybrid Accord, hybrid Camry) are all the rage now.
Plug-in hybrids are a good idea, especially if the electricity you use to charge the car's batteries comes from non-CO2 producing sources (nuclear, hydro, wind, solar if you can afford the $$$). But non-hybrid electrics, without onboard generating capacity, just weren't very practical for most users, IMHO.
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