Potential Environmental and Social impact of ELECTRIC CARS
             A wise person once said that: "The only thing that we know about the future is its uncertainty". This uncertainty opens the world of opportunity to us, allowing progress to pave the road to tomorrow. Over the past fifty years, the automobile has become our primary way of transportation and not only for leisure, but a necessity for most people. With the convenience and the increasing number of cars each year, however, come serious consequences with long lasting effects.
             For the last hundred years, ever since the first automobile was developed, most vehicles have been gasoline powered. An internal combustion engine, which utilizes chemical bond energy in petroleum, has been practically the only means of powering the vehicle. This type of engine has evolved a long way since its invention by a Dutch physicist Christian Huygens, in about 1680. Efficiency, noise and pollution levels have been drastically improved in its life cycle especially in the last 30 years, however the fundamental problem of reliance on petroleum products and simple chemical reaction of oxidation is still and always will be apparent. These shortcomings didn't cripple the development of automotive industry in the past, but today, when people are becoming more and more aware of problems associated with mass use of gasoline powered vehicles, there is clearly a need for an alternative source of power – the electric power.
             Despite stringent standards to improve tailpipe emissions, the number of vehicles and miles traveled are increasing every year. Scientists predict that our reliance on the automobile could increase pollution levels 40 percent by the year 2010. In California, 75 percent of our petroleum is used by the transportation sector; that represents one-half of all energy used in the state. In addition, greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, are expected to increase...