Electric-vehicle commuter car battery requirements

In order for the battery-powered commuter car to become a realistic transportation alternative to the gasoline-powered vehicle, it must be capable of being safely integrated with existing traffic; have sufficient range to accomplish the driver´s mission objectives; be competitively priced in initial cost, cost per mile, and total life-cycle cost, and be convenient to use and inexpensive to maintain. The electric vehicle drive system is inherently less complicated than the conventional internal-combustion engine vehicle and should be less expensive when produced in the same quantities. The Achilles heel of the electric vehicle (EV) is, therefore, the battery, which is the subject of this paper