Detroit Shows It’s the Race to Bring Electric Vehicles to Market

If everything goes as planned, 2010 could literally be an electrifying year for the Detroit automakers.

That's when General Motors Corp. hopes to launch its innovative Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car, which combines an electric drive train with an onboard gasoline motor to generate electricity when the batteries lose power. And as of this week, the world knows that Chrysler LLC is working on a trio of electric-powered models. Chrysler promises to put one of the vehicles on sale in the U.S. in 2010.

Last week GM gave the world its first look at the production version of the Volt at an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the company. On Tuesday, Chrysler showed reporters three electric prototypes: a Dodge sports car, a four-door Jeep Wrangler and a Chrysler minivan.

Chrysler also unveiled the Peapod (pictured above), a new small "neighborhood electric vehicle" that can go up to 30 miles on a charge.

GM said the Volt will cost about 80 cents to fully charge at a rate of 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is about the national average. After that, the batteries will be recharged by a small gasoline engine that allows the car to travel hundreds more miles. GM said the engine will be able to run on E85 ethanol, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

"It's proof that the century-old General Motors is alive and well and that it intends to lead in reinventing the automobile," Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner told reporters at the Volt’s unveiling.

Like the Volt, Chrysler’s Wrangler and minivan plug into a standard wall outlet and can go 40 miles on battery power alone, but then a small gasoline engine kicks in to recharge the batteries. Chrysler said its vehicles will be able to travel up to 400 miles on 8 gallons of gas. The Dodge sports car, dubbed the Dodge EV, is completely electric and based on Lotus Europa underpinnings.

Chrysler has launched a Web site, www.chryslergoeselectric.com, to give consumers the latest update on electric vehicles from the company, including videos, photography and news. Visitors can also sign up for updates and interact with the company through a blog.

We have a social responsibility to our consumers to deliver environmentally friendly, fuel efficient, advanced electric vehicles, and our intention is to meet that responsibility quickly and more broadly than any other automobile manufacturer," said Bob Nardelli, Chrysler chairman and CEO. "The introduction of the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge electric vehicles provides a glimpse of the very near future, and demonstrates that we are serious and well along in the development of bringing electric vehicles to market."

GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler have been working to get Congress to fund about $25 million in loans after months of tight credit markets, tepid sales and high gasoline prices. The loans would be intended to help the automakers bring fuel-efficient vehicles, such as their electric cars, to the marketplace more quickly and with less risk.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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