Who killed the electric car? Who knows. But cheaper lithium ion batteries -- 70 percent cheaper batteries, to be exact -- could put a battery-powered car in every garage by 2025, according to reports.
A study says that cheaper batteries is only one-third of the total cost reduction, the San Jose Mercury News reported. Expensive batteries are one of the main obstacles to a road full of electric-powered vehicles, the newspaper reported.
Currently, battery packs cost between $500 and $600 per kilowatt hour, the newspaper reported. That could fall to $160 per kilowatt hour by 2025.
Ford, by contrast, paid $652 per kilowatt hour for its $12,000-$15,000 electric car, the Focus Electric, the newspaper reported.
U.S. & World
Battery research and technology sharing in the consumer electronics field could be what saves the electric car, according to reports. In iPods and iPhones, for example, consumers pay $300 per kilowatt hour.