Range costs money, right? Now, with the looming launch of the Tesla Model S and its numerous range variations, Tesla is truly putting a price tag on range and basically asking buyers "How much are you willing to spend?" Is $10,000 too much for 70 miles of additional range? Is $20,000 acceptable for 140 miles of added range?

Swiss firm Rinspeed aims to solve the "range anxiety" issue associated with electric vehicles with its range-extending Dock+Go concept. The Dock+Go system is unique in that it's specifically designed to match the electric vehicle that it will be fitted to. Additionally, Dock+Go is easily detached when its range-extending capabilities aren't required.

Limited range is often described as the Achilles' heel of pure electric cars. For routine daily driving of my Nissan LEAF, I almost never feel impinged by its 80 or so miles of range. But once every few weeks, an additional 50 or 60 miles would come in extremely handy. BEA-tricks, a German company that sells electric car conversion kits, recently demonstrated that nearly any amount of range is possible, if cost and practicality are thrown out the door. That's great to know, but the key question remains: What's the best combination of EV range and price?

After driving my all-electric Nissan LEAF like a madman for the past few months, I decided to see how far I could go with babying the motor and batteries to extend its range. The results were fascinating. But now, I think I’ll go back my speed-demon ways.

Americans love gas stations. Europeans don't. That's why Europeans want cars with longer range, such as diesels, and why the number of gas stations on our roads is in decline. I know it's easy to plug in every night, but to many Europeans, switching from diesel to an EV would mean huge changes. That's less true for Americans.