Ron - Wes is referring to the use of regenerative braking to put some charge back into the batteries every time the car is slowed while running downhill in the mountains. Basically, the energy normally wasted as heat in conventional brake systems is converted to electricity and fed back to the batteries. Here is a good link that details the system:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-p...ve-braking.htm
The high prices on some of these electric cars are more reflective of low production volume and up front R&D costs than anything else. If and when any sort of assembly line production happens, they will fall in line with equivalently equipped and performing conventional vehicles.