Alternative Fuels - the future of power for automobiles
Electricity
Unlike other ways of powering vehicles, with electricity, mechanical power comes directly from it without the use of combustion. The major advantage of using electricity is that the vehicles themselves don't give off any emissions. However, the power plants that create the electricity do give off emissions.

The most popular way to store or create the energy is through batteries, although fuel cells which convert chemical energy to electricity are being developed. Many different types of batteries are being tested for use in electrical vehicles. Here's a list of some of the different types of batteries being used or tested:

  • lead-acid
  • nickel
  • cadmium
  • nickel iron
  • nickel zinc
  • nickel metal hydride
  • sodium nickel chloride
  • zinc bromine
  • sodium sulfur
  • lithium
  • zinc air
  • aluminum air

    • Links for more information:

  • Hybrid Vehicle Propulsion System
  • Scientific American: Article: The Case for Electric Vehicles (November 1996)
  • CALSTART
  • Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas

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