Electric vehicles are creating a revolution in transportation. As the environmental impact of cars became more widely understood, many companies saw a future in finding an alternative to gas-powered cars, and so the changes began. Where once the best hope was for more fuel efficiency in cars, gradually you began to see hybrid gas and electric cars hit the market. As those cars increased in popularity and the technology improved, fully electric cars began to appear as well. Now, especially in cities, it's not at all uncommon to see electric cars on the road and charging ports at gas stations.

Costs

Anyone who has tried to get an auto loan for an electric car can tell you that the costs are, at the moment, extremely high. This is in part due to the expense of developing new technologies and in part due to the popularity of these vehicles. Resale prices for hybrid cars are already incredibly high due to demand. There is a sense that the money you save on gas generally offsets the extra cost, and that is part of the draw. High demand will inevitably lead to improved supply and that will slowly but steadily drive down the costs.

Improvements

Another benefit of improving technologies will doubtless be new features and improvements to existing features of electric vehicles. Early electric vehicles could not go very far on a charge, which meant that they were usually limited to city use, practically speaking. However, as technology improves, especially battery technology, the range of electric cars also continues to lengthen and improve. Better batteries mean faster charging and increased range. It's easy to imagine a future where the everyday running of electric cars has improved to a point that one could do a long road trip without worrying, just as you would for a gas-powered car.

Environmental Benefits

The environmental benefits may seem obvious but it's worth diving a little deeper. Traditional cars have no choice but to rely on fossil fuels. Biodiesel and other alternatives simply aren't as effective and often create as many environmental problems as they solve. Electric cars, on the other hand, are more flexible. It's not hard to imagine a future where gas stations are replaced by recharge stations with solar panels or wind turbines on the roof. Electric cars are also much quieter than traditional vehicles. While in the short term this creates certain safety concerns in cities, in the long term it could work wonders for noise pollution. Living near a major highway is much less egregious if the road is quiet. Outdoor dining on a city street is much more pleasant without road noise and car fumes. Speaking of fumes, the reduction of pollution from cars could reduce smog in cities and improve air quality everywhere.

Economic Benefits

There are always concerns about the economic impact, but there are also benefits to be considered. Jobs lost in the fossil fuel industry could be found in battery production, in constructing a new electrical grid, and in building a whole new fleet of cars and trucks; and those vehicles could be manufactured right here in the United States if the investments are done properly. There are also benefits to be found in the development of new technologies. It's a lot easier for a car to be self-driving, for example, if it doesn't have to stop for gas every so often. A whole industry could be built around that, and every time an industry is built, it creates jobs. These aren't just any old jobs; they're the jobs of the future.

The future of electric vehicles shows great potential. It's also, to a certain degree, inevitable. Obviously, it won't happen overnight and it won't happen tomorrow. It may not even happen fully in your lifetime, but fossil fuels will run out. Long before they run out, they will become prohibitively expensive, and long before that, they will become increasingly unpopular. Electric vehicles will drive the future, and the future for electric vehicles looks bright.