The Wall Street Journal's Joseph White has gotten the message that electric cars don't have to be slow, and it was something of a Road to Damascus conversion for a reporter who'd been somewhat skeptical about the prospects for EVs. EVs have waxed and waned over the last 100 years, he said, and right now they're waxing.

The catalyst for White's conversion was a drive in a Tesla Roadster Sport, the new gilding-the-lily model that adds $20,000 to the $109,000 base price and a hair-faster 3.7-second zero-to-60 time. White writes, "The steering is stiff. The suspension is jittery on rough pavement. There's gobs of wind noise, and hitting a pothole causes the car's carbon-fiber composite body to shake, rattle and roll. But you can have enormous fun within the legal speed limit as you whoosh around unsuspecting Camry drivers, zapping from 40 to 60 miles per hour in two seconds while the startled victims eat your electric dust."

Exactly. I drove EVs in the 90s that were indeed slowpokes (and some, like the Indian-made Reva G-Wiz, still are) but for the most part it's time to retire that hoary cliché. I've been behind the wheel of almost all the EVs that will hit the road in the next two years, and not one of them is a snooze.

Here's a brief rundown of some recent close encounters with fast EVs:

Chevrolet Volt. I drove a "mule" version of the Volt (it was in the body of a Chevy Cruze) at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan in June. What a blast. None of the writing about the Volt has focused on it as a fun ride, but here's an excerpt from what I wrote then: "The Chevy Volt will give you a jolt; it's as much a kick in the pants as some caffeinated colas I could name. I have seen this range-extended sedan, which some consider the brightest light on GM's horizon, all over the U.S., but always motionless, and usually turning on a show stand. [The Tech Center offers] not only plentiful Canada geese but also great roads for getting this little rocket up to speed. The Volt can go 40 miles on its battery pack alone, so we had range to spare. With the help of its onboard 1.4-liter gas generator, the Volt can travel about 400 miles."