[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

One of the major advantages of the electric car is that electricity can be produced by a wide variety of means, many of them renewable--not just coal-fired powerplants but nuclear, hydro, solar, wind and probably a few others I'm not aware of. Try producing hydrocarbon energy any way other than pumping it out of the ground.

Yes, I realize that each of these has its own set of problems, but I think the diversity of avenues to be explored makes electricity very appealing.

As for personal environmental impact, I've found that one of the major improvements that can be made is carefully combining trips. Go get the mail on your way to the gym, swing by the hardware store on your way home from the gym, pick up the kids and then make whatever other stops you need to make, rather than going out on three or four different trips over many of the same roads. Takes a little planning, but it's do-able.