With gas prices on the rise, you might be ready to consider an electric car. It sounds great, until you learn that Washington state's maximum speed limit for electric cars is only 25 mph.

But some drivers are now pushing to speed up that limit. Darren Johnson is one of them.

Every afternoon, Johnson unplugs an electric car and takes to Seattle's streets.

He uses the car to deliver espresso beans for Espresso Vivace., but he doesn't go too fast since state law keeps him driving under 25 mph.

David Shomer of Espresso Vivace says that limitation not only slows Johnson down, but also other drivers as well.

"Being held at 25 is just simply not that courteous to the other drivers," he said. "You're forcing them to slow down and I think people have enough frustration. They're very kind to us, they're gracious, but you can tell they'd like us to pick it up."

Dealers like Greg Rock of Green Car Company say it's time to let the electric cars go faster, and now the Legislature seems to agree.

A bill to raise speed limits to 35 mph has already passed the state House.

"It gets so many more functional electric vehicles on the road here in Washington," Rock said. "And these are cars that are saving huge amounts of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere, saving consumers dollars every time they drive a mile."

The small cars are designed to run short errands. They can go 20 to 30 miles before the batteries need to be recharged. And the electricity to power them is much cheaper and cleaner than gasoline.

A traditional gasoline-powered vehicle will cost you roughly 14 cents per mile to operate. An electric car, on the other hand, costs only 3 cents per mile.

There are only a few electric cars on the road now, but if lawmakers give the speed limit a little boost we may see a whole lot more of them in the near future.

More Information:

Green Car Congress