Zoomi Life

Well, it’s the end of the year, so it’s time for everyone to start rolling out their favorites lists and summing up what they saw during the year. This is our top five favorite electric cars that are either on the market or will be before 2010.

#1 – Fisker Karma

While this car has some drawbacks, namely the price tag, it’s got a lot going for it: great styling, beautiful concept, and a well-put-together package of performance and practicality. I really like this car and hope that other car makers stand up and notice it.

#2 – Honda FCX Clarity

Although the car’s looks aren’t all that breakthrough and it’s definitely not getting the kind of publicity that the Chevy Volt and similar cars are getting, I feel that this car is probably the most innovative design to hit the roads so far. Released in limited numbers for testing to Hollywood celebrities and mogul types this summer, the car is quietly revolutionizing how people think about energy. If the car had been designed to look a little cooler, it might have made number one.

#3 – Aptera

This is, design-wise, easily the most innovative car yet. Due to hit the roads soon, this car has all kinds of great things going for it. The hybrid version gets great mileage and is capable of long distances while the EV is practical enough to be useful. Either way, the aircraft design elements in this car make it extremely unique. That’s coming from me, who generally doesn’t like trikes.

#4 – Tesla Roadster 1.5

This car and its design (as well as Tesla themselves) have had some real ups and downs this year: from Tesla claiming they’ll have the sedan model out in 2010 with a new factory to boot to their claim a couple of months later that they’re going bankrupt and need government money. The year for Tesla has been rocky at best. Still, this car is the benchmark to which almost all electrics are compared. That despite the exorbitant price tag the Roadster sports.

#5 – BYD F6DM

OK, not the most stylish or even innovative car out there, it’s still hitting the roads faster than most. Leave it to the Chinese to take a concept like “electric car” and make it affordable through mass production. I hope to see these on the road here in America on their promised 2010 release date. Meanwhile, we can watch the other side of the world drive them for a while. Work out the kinks for us, will ya?

There were others I wanted to put on this list, but most were either too far out to make the 2010 release or were just not quite good enough to really be counted. Even though electric vehicles are still considered “cutting edge,” there’s enough of them out there now and a long enough history that many “new” designs are really just rehashes of old ideas and a lot of “breakthroughs” just don’t give you the “wow” factor anymore.