Making a Clean Getaway

This article reviews the battery-powered electric vehicles that are forming a symbiotic relationship with commuter rail. Priced at around $6000, the electric vehicles make little sense for someone who has to get somewhere, when a full-fledged automobile can be had for twice that without any inherent restrictions on use, safety, and range. Perhaps retirees, with eyesight failing and reactions slowing, might be safer in such severely throttled cars. Think City drivers will have to bring their cars to the dealer about every 3,000 miles to have the equivalent of an oil change performed on the battery. The car’s nicad batteries are unsealed, unlike those powering calculators and electric drills, and so they need periodic watering. The average commuter probably is not ready to trade in the well-worn station car for a fancy golf cart, but the little electric cars may just warrant a second look from at least some of the great mass of bleary-eyed riders.