So why not go up to a higher voltage that would work with the existing  charging infrastructure? "If we went to 300 volts, it would hurt you on  every front that matters," says Zero's Senior Battery Specialist Luke  Workman. "We'd have lower efficiency, lower power, higher cost, higher  drive train heat – and in terms of life safety for the guys that are  working on these things, you go from a nasty tickle … to dead. The  majority of electric vehicles that are using higher voltages are doing  so simply because they've been designed using legacy equipment. You'll  see a lot more EVs going low voltage in the future."
http://newatlas.com/zero-electric-mo...ry-2015/35865/