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Tired of feeling bankrupt at the pump? Fed up with oil companies throwing dirt in your eye? The automobile messiah may very well be here, in the form of the electric car. For you skeptics out there, this isn’t some prototype, or future model that might enter the car market in a decade. The real thing is here, and car manufacturers say they will be on sale, starting next year.

The recent North American Auto Show was centered on environmental issues and auto makers, for the most part, did not disappoint. GM, Toyota and Fisker Automotive unveiled there new “Green” models that run entirely on electricity, with Fisker claiming their model, a luxury sports car called the Karma, will be available on the open market by late next year. The price tag on the Karma may be a whopping $80,000 but we should see a noticeable drop in price over the next several years as technology is improved and manufacturing becomes less financially cumbersome. Nearly all of these new plug-in models use a lithium-ion battery, which some automotive experts feel is still in its infancy stage. Another unresolved problem is the unfeasibility of owning such a car without a garage. The majority of potential owners without a garage will have trouble recharging their vehicles because re-energizing will take place mainly at night. Not all car manufacturers are climbing on the plug-in car concept just yet. Honda has announced that it will concentrate on hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles which it plans to release in the summer in limited quantity. While an electric car may very well mean more money stays in American pockets long term, the short term costs could be significant. Without proper infrastructure, car maintenance could increase astronomically. The transitions required to accommodate the new automobiles could take time, but it would seem that short term monetary pains will eventually be offset by future prosperity.