Gasoline’s fledgling rivals: the race to power your car

The alternative fuels race is on. Again. After a 20-year hiatus, ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, electricity, and other potential fuels are pushing to challenge king gasoline at the pump.

Driving 20 to 40 miles a day on electricity stored in a modern lithium ion battery would be like driving on gasoline costing just 75 cents per gallon, Luft says. “Electricity is cheaper, cleaner, and better performing than gasoline or any of the other fuels on every parameter,” he says. “But that can only happen if manufacturers make plug-in hybrids so people can connect to the grid.”

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