"slots" like the old slot race track toys, for recharging on the go...

Vehicle detectors at intersections use induction to count vehicles. If you stop on one you could theoretically use inductive coupling to charge your battery, at the expense of the government.

I have seen plans for charging up battery and flywheel powered vehicles in this manner, but with more powerfull inductors.

I never realised motor size was a problem though. We still need to do something about the batteries. If they have a fuel cell that runs on regular petrol, diesel or LPG, that would be a bigger help.

Conveniently, electric motors have infinite torque at zero RPM.

Whaaaaaaa? There is no such thing as "infinite torque."
Electric motors produce their maximum torque at 0 rpm. And this amount of torque depends on the size of the motor, the current, etc.

Did you hear about the Toyota hybrid recall that kept stalling because its internal computer didn't know when to switch from electric to gas? Over 33 of them have been found at fault but almost 44,000 have been sold this year. That's not a recall, Ford is the king of recalls. Engine stalling vs. car blowing up. Your call.

But have really, really crappy efficiency in "real world" situations.

Case in point- the turbine powered M1 tank. Performs like a bat out of hell, at least as far as tanks go, but tanks spend a *lot* of time sitting around idling. I could idle my old M60 for an entire night and still have a nearly full tank in the morning. (In practice you usually run the engine for a short while to recharge batteries and shut down.)

Now try to do that with an M1- you'll be out of gas in a heartbeat. The problem is so severe that the M1A2 has a second mini-turbine engine just for idling so that it will only drain 3-5 gallons/hour.

Stop and go traffic with a turbine car will get you something that makes a Hummer limo look like a Prius.

I think it's safe to say that when we say, "fast" here, we're talking about the torque that allows for rapid acceleration, not top speed. In car teminology, we're talking about the zero-to-sixty time. In drive experience terms, we're talking about the force of acceleration pinning you to the driver's seat; that sense that you get of "speed" from the rate of acceleration, not velocity.

If electric cars really can deliver that in a way that surpasses (or even on-par with) internal combustion engines, then I think we'll be seeing the end of the IC engine in the next 20 years... that's a big "if" though.

That has never been the issue. Electric motors deliver their maximum torque at 0 RPM. They are always good at giving torque from launch as long as you have enough electricity to give them (and use a big enough electric motor to begin with, but that's never been a practical issue). Acceleration like that takes a lot of juice, which means the range of the vehicle just dropped significantly. It's the range of the electric cars that has always been their biggest fatal flaw.

>>but, seriously, why do so many people try to equate a fun, powerful car with penile size?

Because these things are mating strategies. Chimps and other primates (people) make loud noises in public to attract attention and express dominance in the local group. People now have very complex dominance hierarchies, but the behaviors are still ingrained from the quite recent past when we all lived in small groups just like chimps. Chimps and gorillas yank on branches and throw things around. People rev their engines. But it's all fucked up and nobody understands it because these guys can BUY loud engines/harleys etc. We do it without understanding why, just like all instinctual behavior. Of COURSE it's fun! Being at the top of the dominance hierarchy means you get the most sex, food, places to hang out, and you also get to push around those lower-ranking doofs. And doing these behaviors (revving engines, playing loud music etc) are going to FEEL fun to our brains, because the unconscious part of our mind knows it's going to pay off in mates, food, position etc.

People equate these things with 'small penis' as a shorthand way of saying 'this guy wouldn't even make beta male in a real primate group.'

I have a question for all you folks out there: why don't women ever rev their engines, burn off their tires etc? Nobody talks about "whoa, she must be making up for her tiny vulva" or something.