The internal combustion engine disappears from the new-car options

The internal combustion engine disappears from the new-car options: The range of the average battery-electric family crossover has increased to nearly 400 miles on a single charge, after years of continued incremental improvements in lithium-based batteries, combined with extreme weight savings from lightweight materials, a new generation of superefficient electric motors, and advances in automated driving that reduce energy waste.



The new generation of fast chargers enables vehicles with depleted battery packs to be 80 percent recharged in the time it takes to down a cup of Tim Horton's coffee and doughnut, about five minutes. Even exotic sports cars from Lamborghini, McLaren, Lotus, Ferrari, Jaguar and Borgward are either pure electric or hybrid powered.

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