Behind The Wheel
- Ford, Hyundai, Audi Gaining Interest
- Cadillac Converj Smart Extension of Volt
- Chrysler Makes Smart Call Staying Unplugged—For Now
- China Growth Shows GM Good Fortune
- Inflatable Seat Belts Aimed At Second Row Safety
- Do You Buy Marchionne's Turnaround Plan?
- October Shows Auto Rebound Will Be Slow
- How Mulally Got Ford Back in The Black
- Green Car Incentives Are Just Starting To Roll
- GM Touts Progress, Serves Up Details on Latest Refunds
MOST SHARED
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates Share Their 'Optimism' With Eager Columbia Business Students
- Pharma & Social Media
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Is Euphoric Market Ignoring Warning Signs?
- Housing Recovery 'Still In Uncharted Territory': HUD Secretary
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Limited Options To Boost Jobs
- Disney CFO and Parks Chief to Swap Roles
- Microsoft's Bill Gates Praises Apple's Steve Jobs For 'Saving the Company'
- Gold Is a Bad Inflation Hedge—Like Oil: Stock Picker
- Intel's Andy Bryant Offers An Explanation
- US 'Actively Working' on Weaker Dollar: Fund Manager
- Options Boil on Biotech Buyout Rumors
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Activision Blizzard's "Modern Warfare 2" Sales Break Records
- 5-Star Manager's 5 Stocks for Changing Markets
- What's The Forecast from Retailers? Proceed With Caution
- Job Market Politics to Keep Interest Rates Low
- AIG, Symbol of Crisis, Watches Its Stock Zoom Back
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Bill Gates Praises Apple's Jobs for 'Saving the Company'
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Cramer: The Real Reason Stocks Fell Thursday
- Is Euphoric Market Ignoring Warning Signs?
- Video Game Sales Plunge, but Have They Hit Bottom?
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Few Options to Boost Jobs
RSS FEED
They've been jockeying for position for some time. But this morning, auto makers around the world will take big steps in the race to build mass market electric cars. When Energy Secretary Steven Chu announces grants for the development of fuel efficient vehicles and technologies, Ford, Nissan and Tesla will be the immediate beneficiaries.
Each company is getting a chunk of the $25 Billion Congress has set aside for the Department of Energy to allocate for developing greener vehicles in the future. Keep in mind, greener does not necessarily mean electric cars only. But it is clear, the White House wants the auto industry to rev up development of electric cars. So far, 75 auto industry firms have applied for DOE money.
So which auto makers are leading the electric car race.
Tesla: The California based company turned heads couple of years ago with it's Tesla Roadster. As impressive as the Roadster is, the Tesla's upcoming Model S is far more important because it's more of a mass market model with an expected price tag of $57,400. Tesla says the Model S will be on sale by the third quarter of 2011. With Tesla already having a loyal following of supporters, look for the Model S to do well right off the bat. 
Ford: The auto maker plans to have a yet to be named electric car in showrooms by 2011. I've driven a modified Focus packed with the technology that will go into Ford's new electric car. It's performance was impressive during a very short test drive.
Nissan: CEO Carlos Ghosn says Nissan will sell an electric car in the U.S. by 2010. It's been letting reporters test out the technology behind that future vehicle and it's generating some positive buzz. CEO Ghosn says Nissan's electric car, with a range of up to 100 miles, will be built at the company's plant in Smyrna, Tennessee.
GM: The Chevy Volt comes out in 2010 and it has received plenty of attention. GM has done a good job of trying to generate buzz with the Volt, but it's estimated price tag of $40,000 has some wondering how successful the Volt will be. Nonetheless, GM wants to be first with an electric car and hopes the Volt will do for GM what the Prius has done for Toyota. 
Toyota: While others have made a big deal about their electric car plans, Toyota has been relatively low-key. It has shown a small car proto-type and says it will have an electric car for urban areas out in showrooms by 2012. Toyota's cautious approach to talking about electric car plans should not be taken as a sign the company is not working hard on the next generation green car.
Chrysler: The company has shown a number of reporters, including me, an array of electric car proto-types. These cars have technology new owner Fiat will develop as quickly as possible. But keep in mind, this is a company with a whole host of issues it needs to fix. So be patient waiting for Chrysler to roll out an electric car.
_____________________________________
Click on Ticker to Track Corporate News:
- Ford Motor [F
Loading...
()
]
- General Motors [GMGMQ
Loading...
()
]
- Toyota Motor [TM
Loading...
()
]
- Nissan [NSANY
Loading...
()
]
- Honda Motor [HMC
Loading...
()
]
_____________________________________
Questions? Comments?









