The e-cars are coming. You know about hybrids such as the gas-electric Prius, but they were just the first step in a long evolution toward virtually emissions-free, high-mileage vehicles. The next frontier is gas-free, 100 percent-battery powered cars: this year and next, more than a dozen electric vehicles (or EVs) will start to appear in showrooms and rental fleets. To show you what’s coming, we’ve rounded up a baker’s dozen. Our focus is fossil fuel-free vehicles (so no hybrids) from manufacturers with a proven track record. 2011-01-21

Our correspondent hits the New York streets in the electric Smart ForTwo  ED.

Americans are likely to have their first taste of an all-electric vehicle as a rental car. Our correspondent climbs behind the wheel for a test drive.

The future is here. It’s cheaper than I expected, and it’s so small that you could fit two in a single parking space. I find it plugged into a wall charger in the subterranean garage of a midtown Manhattan office tower. It’s called the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, or ED, and it’s one of the first mainstream, all battery-powered cars to hit U.S. roads.

New Yorkers, of course, have seen Smart cars before. The gas-powered version grabbed headlines two years ago for its ultra-parkability, but it handled poorly and wasn’t much on gas mileage. Electrification fixes both of those problems. The ED’s cost per mile — the electric equivalent of mileage — is among the best available. And the added weight from the batteries improves the car’s handling, while electric motors zip it up to speed more confidently. Continue reading A Smart Ride — Testing driving Smart’s electric runabout | OnEarth →