To give some merit to Linc's point... if we could have a turbine engine with very high efficiency (inherently efficient anyways)running a compact generator, only need ~20kw at the most, so both would be quite small; that is your energy source... With a small powerful battery pack of between 10 - 20Kwh, made from the uber cells that Luc. has access to, would be provide a ton of power, and the whole power system would be quite light weight and would be very practical. You could have roughly 20-40 mile all electric range with the pack, then gen set kicks in, with 70% efficient turbine, running a 90% efficient gen., makes for a very good well-to-wheels efficiency, very, very good range, and is capable of going on long range trips, all day, same as an ICE car. Overall, this would be, if you factor in all costs, manufacturing, lifetime of components, more environmentall sound than an all battery electric EV with a mediocre battery... as soon as you replace that pack, the impact it has made has gone up.
If a system like this were developed for mass production, it would be very cost effective, and would be almost maintenance free.
I will admit, batteries are not an answer, but more environmentally friendly made batteries (ex. LiFe) are still better over their lifetime than ICE vehicles, several times over.
Linc. btw, I am not sure about in the states, but here in Saskatchewan, Canada, our power generation plants use a clean burning technique by grinding the coal and literally spaying it into the combustion chamber and all that comes out of the smoke stack is not much of anything, just a wisp of white smoke. Much of the power being generated is not used most of the time, so it would not contribute to much of anything. It bugs me when EV critics use that as there main excuse when they don't even bother to look at the numbers... not pointing fingers at you Linc.
