Where's the Electric Car Gone?

Pictured above is the Venturi Fetish which costs about $540,000 and I don't believe this to be NZ Dollars. This was the worlds first electric sports car but with it's staggering cost is only available to the wealthy and not the everyday consumer. The Commutercar Tango is $105,000 which is a fair decrease in price but still very much out of range and even the most recent Tesla at $100,000 is also out of most people's pocket.
These cars perform exceedingly well with zero emissions and with a cost saving over a long term. With oil prices controlling most of the worlds economic pressures the electric car is under threat from Big Business. The production and R&D costs are staggering however if we see these cars Mass Martketed we could see a drop in their retail price where the public demand would be satisfied. (ref to documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car")
Electric Car Economics calculate that for 25 miles travelled on 5kWh of electric power, that it costs you about 40 cents. To cover the same distance (@ 8 cents/kWh) it takes a gallon of gasoline at $2 and $3 a gallon at current (2006) prices.
So with the cost of these electric cars being relatively expensive to purchase up front they could be seen as a long term benefit not only on a global stage but in the pocket of each household. Hope in this regard appears to be on the way in the form of Mitsubishi's MIEV and Subaru R1e battery electric prototypes, which initially will be available in Japan within the next four years. Europe long has been a hotbed for electric car development from Peugeot's 106 (top left) to Th!nk Nordic's (middle right) City, which was briefly owned by Ford Motor Company.