Besides the exorbitant price tags they command, perhaps the biggest drawback of battery-powered cars is the limited distance they can travel between charges.
You're lucky to get 200km out of an electric car and if you get 300 kays then you're really in the pound seats.
Aggravating this factor even further is that with an ordinary 230 V household power outlet, it often takes between eight and ten hours to charge an electric car.
Of course, companies have been hard at work looking for solutions to this, and one partnership - between Volvo and Siemens - has made a very big stride with a fast-charging unit that claims to be able to charge the Volvo C30 Electric in just 1.5 hours.
While it's not enough to usefully extend your range, unless you're planning a lengthy shopping trip en route to your destination, it is certainly a step in the right direction.
The new 22kW fast-charger fitted to the C30 Electric claims to be the world's first on-board charger that operates on a three-phase supply and is small enough to be fitted in an electric car.
Using a three-phase outlet, a charge takes 90 minutes (total range 164km according to NEDC certification driving cycle).
"We're proud to have developed this unique solution. By offering more usable hours a day, we've taken an important step towards making electric cars more viable as a commercial proposition, in both the private and public sectors," says Lennart Stegland, Vice President of Electric Propulsion Systems at Volvo Cars.
"Adding the innovative fast charging solution will radically improve the time and mileage for the daily usage of the car. This will drastically improve the cost of ownership since the customer will now be able to drive many low cost kilometres per day.
"Even a quick 10-minute plug-in adds power for another 20 kilometres of driving," Stegland added.