Here's a few possibilites on the next auto king. It's often said the most expensive item consumers buy is housing. I never was sure about that. Seems transportation is higher for some. http://www.zenncars.com/ a Canadian company has a head start and trades on the TSX http://cxa.marketwatch.com/tsx/en/market/quote.aspx?symbol=znn these numbers look opposite of Ford and GM's stock prices. http://gm-volt.com/2008/06/01/exclu...ge-units-cityzenn-and-zennergy-drive-systems/ Good article from GM-Volt on Zenn http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/08/01/100138830/index.htm Business 2.0 did an article on what should be a major contender - note the range / speed of this vehicle is better than most low cost entries at Range / top speed: 112 miles / 62mph http://venturebeat.com/2008/01/10/27-electric-cars-companies-ready-to-take-over-the-road/ more news on EVs
The fortunes of Zenn car seems to be tied to a secretive capacitor energy company called EEstor. http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=batteries&id=18086&a=
This battery problem happened to my Rav4 too. I did not realize the cause; I was puzzled and frustrated. Now that I understood what happened, I don't think I want to buy a Toyota again.