Want free fuel forever? This new car could spark the revolution…

In the 90s, the first electric car prototype was built, and then, as fast as it appeared, it was gone. Today marks 9 years to the day that the groundbreaking documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” was shown to critics at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

The film dealt with the history of the electric car, its development, and then its eventual destruction. In 1990, all major car companies in California were ordered to offer electric vehicles alongside their fuel models, before suddenly, all electric cars sold were recalled and destroyed.

There are theories that the oil industry and oil rich countries didn’t want these electric cars to become mainstream – their lucrative gas price would plummet and they’d lose trillions. Because let’s be honest: we could all be driving electric, zero-emission cars if it weren’t for those who benefit from our consumption of toxic fuel.

“Who Killed the Electric Car?” was critically acclaimed and brought one of the most important questions of our technological age to light: why can’t we have electric cars when everything else we have is based on electricity?

Since the film’s 2006 release, there has been some great news: electric cars have had a second wind. In the 2011 documentary “Revenge of the Electric Car”, four entrepreneurs fight to bring back the electric car, including Elon Musk from Tesla Motors, who has been successful in a very big way since 2011. We may be inching closer to fully converting to electric cars – and ones that look good too.

The new Tesla car has just been released in Australia and has looks to rival Mercedes and BMWs. It’s sleek, it’s shiny and it goes ridiculously fast. The best part of all is that it can be charged for free at a charging station while you wait, and once it’s charged, you can drive up to 500km, which is about the same you can drive on a tank of fuel in a brand new car.

It’s already been touted as a game-changer for the motor industry, but would you buy it? With a $100,000 price tag, not everyone can reach that deeply into their pockets, though if you consider some are willing to pay the same for a fuel model Mercedes, it doesn’t seem that far fetched. And think about it: you would never need to pay for petrol or servicing ever again.

We already have several types of electric cars in Australia, including the Nissan Leaf but Tesla’s Model S and X cars are the first to offer 500km for a single charge, plus free charging at your local supercharger station (currently only in Sydney).

It’s clear the more of us get on board with electric cars, the more we can have competitively priced vehicles that are better for the environment and us.

Tell us below, would you consider buying an electric car? Why? Are you upset or impartial that we didn’t have more electric cars before now?