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Daily life a plug-in car

I'm setting off along West Coast Highway and all I can hear is the tyre roll and the hum of the air-conditioner. Except when I put my foot down and the response is a tiny whine, like a jet aircraft from a distance ... or a dentist's drill up close.

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But the result is remarkable - similar to the kick you get when you floor the pedal in a turbo-diesel BMW.

And probably a bit like the Tesla Roadster - the all-electric sports car that does zero to 100km/h in less than four seconds.

Except mine was a little ol' Ford Focus made extraordinary by the removal of its petrol engine and replacement with 45 lithium-ion batteries and an electric motor which produces 300 Newton metres of torque (hence the bat-out-of-hell acceleration).

This electrified car is the product of Kewdale-based EV Works, which specialises in converting your average petrol motor car to an electric vehicle.

It promises no more petrol or diesel bills, no more reliance on the oil industry.

If you think the Tesla was the first all-electric car when it was unveiled with great fanfare in California in 2006, think again.

Nor was it in 1997 when Toyota introduced the all-electric Rav4, or the previous year when General Motors launched the EV1.

No, the electric car dates back to 1894 when the Electrobat was rolled out on to the streets of Philadelphia.

Why we haven't seen more refinement and mass production in the ensuing century is a subject for another debate, to which conspiracy theorists are invited.

My object in driving the Focus was to see whether my in-principle support of a battery- powered car translated to day-to- day practice.

The good news is that the car drives as it's supposed to - it's quiet and economical. Charging costs about $5, which equates to 4¢ per kilometre.

The gears take a bit of getting used to because the Focus uses an automatic-manual mix. You can start in second, third or fourth and stay in that gear for your whole trip.

Or you can change gears, though to do so requires a quick depression and release of the clutch pedal, not a gradual movement as with a "normal" car.

EV Works says the motor operates more efficiently at higher revs, so driving in second or third gear is more economical; but driving at 70km/h along West Coast Highway in second takes getting used to.

You also need to make sure the motor is still before changing gears or there's a big shudder.

The big issue is with the range, which is supposed to be about 130km, though using the air- conditioner will reduce it.

I didn't think my typical routine of about 75km a day would create any issues.

But there were times when I needed to do more, and then I would look nervously and continuously at the level of battery charge.

The reassuring feeling of nearby service stations in the metropolitan area doesn't exist with an electric car. You simply HAVE to get home or to the office to recharge, or get roadside assistance.

That assistance was required one evening when the car lost power cruising up to traffic lights.

I felt helpless in resolving any issue, however trivial.

In fact, the problem WAS trivial - a loose relay switch, which never happened again. For some reason, I kept getting interference on the radio - but only on AM stations and sometimes only when I had my foot on the accelerator (which, of course, meant almost all the time).

Charging the car every night or during the day at work was not an issue. It takes up to 12 hours on single-phase power; less than half that on three-phase.

More batteries would extend the range, and it's worth noting the Tesla Roadster has done more than 500km on a single charge.

So is the electric car the way to go? After all, if you've got solar panels on your roof, there's a case to make the cost even less, in financial and environmental terms.

It's just a pity it's taken more than 100 years to get the world talking electric again when others are talking hydrogen fuel cells and the tantalising prospect of cars being powered by water.