"Fuel" cost comparison: the Tesla Roadster sport car's plug-to-wheel energy use is 280 W·h/mi. In Northern California, the local electric utility company PG&E says that "The E-9 rate is mandatory for those customers that are currently on a residential electric rate and who plan on refueling an EV on their premises. Combining these two facts implies that driving a Tesla Roadster 40 miles (64 km) a day would use 11.2 kW·h of electricity costing between US$0.56 and US$3.18 depending on the time of day chosen for recharging. For comparison, driving an internal combustion engine-powered car the same 40 miles (64 km), at a mileage of 25 miles per US gallon (9.4 L/100 km; 30 mpg-imp), would use 1.6 US gallons (6.1 l; 1.3 imp gal) of fuel and, at a cost of US$4 per 1 US gallon (3.8 l; 0.83 imp gal), would cost US$6.40.
The Tesla Roadster uses about 17.4 kW·h/100 km (0.63 MJ/km; 0.280 kW·h/mi), the EV1 used about 11 kW·h/100 km (0.40 MJ/km; 0.18 kW·h/mi). Other electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf are quoted at 21.25 kW·h/100 km (0.765 MJ/km; 0.3420 kW·h/mi) by the US Environmental Protection Agency.These differences reflect the different design and utility targets for the vehicles, and the varying testing standards. The actual energy use is greatly dependent on the actual driving conditions and driving style.
Cars with internal combustion engines can be considered to have indefinite range, as they can be refuelled very quickly almost anywhere. Electric cars often have less maximum range on one charge than cars powered by fossil fuels, and they can take considerable time to recharge. This is a reason that many automakers marketed EVs as "daily drivers" suitable for city trips and other short hauls. The average American drives less than 40 miles (64 km) per day; so the GM EV1 would have been adequate for the daily driving needs of about 90% of U.S. consumers. Nevertheless, people can be concerned that they would run out of energy from their battery before reaching their destination, a worry known as range anxiety.
The Tesla Roadster can travel 245 miles (394 km) per charge; more than double that of prototypes and evaluation fleet cars currently on the roads. The Roadster can be fully recharged in about 3.5 hours from a 220-volt, 70-amp outlet which can be installed in a home.
One way automakers can extend the short range of electric vehicles is by building them with battery switch technology. An EV with battery switch technology and a 100 miles (160 km) driving range will be able to go to a battery switch station and switch a depleted battery with a fully charged one in 59.1 seconds giving the EV an additional 100 miles (160 km) driving range. The process is cleaner and faster than filling a tank with gasoline and the driver remains in the car the entire time, but because of the high investment cost, its economics are unclear. As of late 2010 there are only 2 companies with plans to integrate battery switching technology to their electric vehicles: Better Place and Tesla Motors. Better Place operated a battery-switch station in Japan until November 2010 and announced a commitment to open four battery switch stations in California, USA.
Another way is the installation of DC Fast Charging stations with high-speed charging capability from three-phase industrial outlets so that consumers could recharge the 100 mile battery of their electric vehicle to 80 percent in about 30 minutes. A nationwide fast charging infrastructure is currently being deployed in the US that by 2013 will cover the entire nation. DC Fast Chargers are going to be installed at 45 BP and ARCO locations and will be made available to the public as early as March 2011. The EV Project will deploy charge infrastructure in 16 cities and major metropolitan areas in six states. Nissan has announced that 200 of its dealers in Japan will install fast chargers for the December 2010 launch of its Leaf EV, with the goal of having fast chargers everywhere in Japan within a 25 mile radius.