Charged up with lighter, more sophisticated and efficient batteries, and competitively priced with gasoline-driven and hybrid vehicles, the new offers will be marketed and sold primarily as second cars – for running errands, taking kids to school and the like. These silent electric autos will be plugged into home outlets at night and during the day will be able to travel 100 miles or more without stopping for a charge.
Nissan said recently it has developed a mass-market electric car, due out by the end of next year, that will seat five and can have its battery charged to 80 percent of capacity in 26 minutes. It will have all the amenities car buyers want, Nissan says, such as navigation, super stereo and heated seats, and will cost between $20,000 and $30,000.
The company is not alone in pushing the resurgence of all-electric cars. On the drawing boards are cars and trucks scheduled to be introduced over the next year or so by Ford, Mitsubishi, Chrysler and Subaru, among others, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association, a trade group.
“The electric car is clearly on its way back,” said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the magazine Green Car Journal, which covers the alternative energy auto industry. “Every automaker and battery company has been making incremental breakthroughs” in technology.
All Electric Cars Slated For Production soon
All-electric cars coming from automakers for the global market; some of the models will be introduced overseas before coming to the United States:
2009: Subaru, Smart forTwo.
2010: Chevy Volt, Chrysler, Miles (China), Mitsubishi iMiEV, Nissan, Ford Battery Electric Van, Tesla Roadster Sport.
2011: BYD (China), Ford Battery Electric Small Car.
Source: Electric Drive Transportation Association ( www.electricdrive.org)