Built for quick trips across town and tooling around golf courses, electric vehicles tend to be poky. But a few pricey models kick it into high gear, clocking performance that challenges gas-gulping exotics: Their lithium-ion or advanced lead-acid batteries give ’em enough juice to accelerate as fast as a Ferrari or Porsche. Unfortunately, you’ll spend more at the dealer than you’ll save at the pump. At least you’ll be in good company - George Clooney drives one. - Michael Spinelli
Venturi Fétish
0 to 60 mph: 4.5 seconds
Top speed: 106 mph
Battery: Lithium-ion
Range: 220 miles
Price: $550,000
Cool features: Scissors doors, WiMax-based telemetry for remote maintenance.
Bottom line: An everyday street racer for environmentally aware techies with wads of Googlebux.
Tango T600
0 to 60 mph: 4 seconds
Top speed: 150 mph
Battery: Lead-acid
Range: 80 miles
Price: $108,000
Cool features: Four-point race car harnesses, 300-watt sound system. (This is Clooney’s ride.)
Bottom line: Emission-free urban transport that can outrun a paparazzo’s motorbike - or at least fit in the bike’s parking spot.
AC Propulsion TZero
0 to 60 mph: 3.6 seconds
Top speed: 102 mph
Battery: Lithium-ion
Range: 300 miles
Price: $240,000
Cool features: An optional trailer with a hybrid-drive engine gives long-haul backup. Outdrags Ferraris and Corvettes.
Bottom line: A green muscle car for hardcore gearheads.
Eliica Electric Supercar
0 to 60 mph: 4.1 seconds
Top speed: 230 mph
Battery: Lithium-ion
Range: 185 miles
Price: $260,000
Cool features: Eight-wheel drive!
Bottom line: Forty years too late to appear in Gerry Anderson’s Supercar (or Thunderbirds for that matter), but 10 years too early for mass production.
Venturi Fétish
Tango T600
AC Propulsion TZero
Eliica Electric Supercar
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