Gas Prices Climb, Technology for Electric Cars Improves

Stanton Zeff owns one of the first Nissan Leaf's sold in America. It's an all-electric car that's virtually silent.

He's an engineer, so technology drew him in, but you don't have to be. Just check out the numbers.

“Before I had my Leaf, I spent several hundred dollars a month on two cars,” said Zeff regarding gas prices.

“In Texas where we have low electric rates, it costs me about 10 cents per kilowatt hour, or around $20 a month,” Zeff said.

There is a problem with his car, and that’s range.

He didn't have enough battery to make it from Plano to the NBC 5 studios in Fort Worth, so we had to meet him in Plano.

That problem, too, is going away.

Chevrolet unveiled the Bolt.

That car can go 238 miles on just one charge. That's pretty darn close to several of the gas guzzling cars many of us drive.

“To me, that takes range off the table, unless we're driving to Austin, Waco, maybe Fort Worth, you don't need that much range,” said Zeff.

The Bolt also won North American Car of the Year, in part because the Bolt gives you that cheap, way of fueling up your car without having to worry as much about when your battery will last -- and it will only get better as technology improves

Zeff is an officer with the North Texas Electric Auto Association, and says they work regularly to increase knowledge and awareness about the electric cars out there.

Nissan is rumored to be coming out with something similar, as well.