Tesla Motors Club

This article about Porsche's expected difficulty in meeting very strict emission control standards brings up a thought that I've been chewing on for awhile: it doesn't seem too far a stretch to envision a future where gasoline (or perhaps just gasoline cars) suffers the same fate as cigarettes and trans-fats: legislated to the point where it's all but illegal.

I'm sure Porsche engineers will rise to the occasion of whatever standards arise in the near term. They've already announced their hybrid Cayenne. But if the clean trend continues, I'm betting they and all manufacturers will be forced to pay all-battery cars a very close look, if they haven't already.

One interesting snippet from the article:

The Cayenne Hybrid is expected to get 25 percent better fuel economy than the non-hybrid. It's also expected to be able to cruise under electric power alone at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour.

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Doesn't the Prius top out around 9 MPH on battery alone?