It is true that commercially viable electric cars thus far have been city cars, but that doesn't mean they have to be.
The Tesla and other electric sports cars have shown that electric propulsion can make a car go fast. Efficient electric motors are already well developed. They are not the problem. The crux of the barrier to the range of electric vehicles is energy density. Petrol is relatively safe and simple, and has an energy density of about 46 MJ per kilo. Lithium batteries on the other hand have an energy density of about 2 MJ per kilo. Electric motors used in cars have an efficiency of up to 90% but petrol engines peak at about 30 to 40%. Even adding efficiency to the equation, petrol still comes out as having just under 10 times the range for an equivalent weight of batteries.
When some bright spark invents a small, light and safe battery with an energy density of over 12 MJ per kilo, the range of electric vehicles will be extended to match their petrol powered counterparts.
Edit->>> 1MJ of energy will run a single bar electric fire for about 17 minutes.
Electric cars make sense in cities, where most journeys are short, it's easy to set up charging points and you don't actually need motorway-type performance. They aren't an all-round substitute for petrol/diesel cars, and the mistake people make is in expecting the two to to be interchangeable. So they have a role as urban transport. Motorsport can help develop the technology.
