Mythbusters take on electric vehicle misconceptions

One of the most popular shows on the Discovery Channel is Mythbusters and recently Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman and the rest of the team have been taking a look at gas vs electric vehicles for an upcoming episode. Right now Hyneman has an article on Popular Mechanics about their experiences. The crew looked at 5 pairs of vehicles (one of each with gas and electric drive). One pair consisted of Saturn sedans, one of which has been converted to run on lead acid batteries. The Mythbusters also built a pair of go-karts, ran a pair of ATVs (one of which was the Barefoot Motors Model One for whom Hyneman is a technical consultant), and tested the WrightSpeed X1 against a race car. Tesla had been invited to participate but declined, which is why the WrightSpeed was included. The X1 is a battery powered version of the Ariel Atom which is among the least practical cars anywhere in the world. As expected, all but the converted Saturn did well and easily matched or beat their gas powered counterparts. The converted Saturn was ok on level ground or down hill but you don't want to stop it on a hill. We'll be looking forward to seeing the full comparo on TV soon.

[Source: Popular Mechanics, thanks to Matt for the tip]