Forget Detroit, America's car future is in California (Feature)

Business Features

By Andy Goldberg Nov 21, 2008, 4:49 GMT

Los Angeles - These days the big news in the US auto industry seems to be coming from Washington where Detroit's 'Big Three' automakers are begging politicians for a few million greenbacks to save their ailing companies. But the real green in the auto industry was on display at the Los Angeles auto show, where the focus was on exactly the kind of environmentally friendly cars that American automakers so studiously ignored for so many years, to their ultimate detriment. US car makers aren't the only ones looking at the transportation industry with blinkered eyes. Volkswagens's new Jetta TDI was named green car of the year by a panel of experts, ahead of BMW's 335d - also a diesel, the Ford Fusion gasoline-electric hybrid, the Saturn Vue hybrid and the ultra-compact Smart ForTwo. Critics said the sporty diesel was far from the most economical car on the road and was unworthy of the prize. But panelists insisted that the vehicle was recognised for combining performance with relative fuel frugality and showing that eco-consciousness does not have to come at the cost of performance. Still, the choice was better than the winner of last year's green car prize - the massive eight passenger V-8 Chevy Tahoe hybrid. For those who like to sip gasoline a little more parsimoniously, there are plenty of better options. Nissan-Renault Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn announced plans to sell a competitively priced electric car in the US in 2010. Passengers will buy the car but lease the batteries, ensuring that the company can regularly improve battery technology and discard used units responsibly. The vehicle will have a range of 160 kilometres between charges, room for four to five passengers and luggage, and will cost about the same as a similarly sized and equipped gasoline- powered car. That should give it a powerful advantage over the Chevy Volt, General Motors' plug-in hybrid, which will hit showrooms in 2010 but will cost an estimated 40,000 dollars. But there's no need to wait two years to get your hands on an electric car. BMW was showing off its 250-kilometre-range Mini-E, the electric version of its popular Mini Cooper - an iconic vehicle that has seen its US sales rise 30 per cent even when overall auto sales are plummeting. The German automaker plans to lease 500 of the cars for one year to drivers in Los Angeles and New York. The price is hefty, at 850 dollars a month, but there should be plenty of takers for the no- petrol vehicle. BMW hopes the one-year period will give it enough market knowledge to begin selling the electric Mini more widely in 2010. Up-and-coming Korean automaker Hyundai was also jumping on the eco-bandwagon. It unveiled its first hybrid drivetrain powered by lithium polymer batteries that are lighter, more powerful and safer than the lithium ion batteries that are used in other hybrid drivetrains. Nissan's idea of leased batteries received a powerful boost Thursday when a venture-backed company called Better Place unveiled plans to build a billion-dollar network of charging stations across California by 2012. The stations will allow electric vehicle owners to quick-charge their batteries or simply swap discharged batteries for new ones. The plan was backed by local politicians, including California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. 'I'm a guy driving a hybrid, and I don't feel particularly good about it,' San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom told a news conference, adding that all-electric cars would be a 'game-changer' for cutting carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming. He said, 'We're here to reaffirm our desire to be the electric vehicle capital in America.'

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Retool NowNov 21st, 2008 - 08:11:03

Electric 100%, get it, Detroit?

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lanceNov 21st, 2008 - 12:37:42

LA: What a fitting place.

Home of the EV-1, and home of the EV-1 graveyard.

Home of Mass Transit destruction by G.M. (consult federal court proceedings) and conspiracy to destroy the rail system.

Every drive in L.A.? It is full of SUVs, those guys are hardly green.

Hypocrisy pure and simple.

No, the future of cars is not in L.A.

It is in Japan or China. Buy the future now: A Toyota Prius.

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Better Place CommunityNov 21st, 2008 - 17:35:24

We are very excited about our launch in the United States.You can follow us on Twitter @bpcommunity to get the latest updates and letting us know what you think about the electric car network industry. We like to hear from you. See you there :)

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GM SUV OwnerNov 22nd, 2008 - 00:30:03

GM shouldn't get any tax money until the execs behind killing the EV and selling the battery technology to Chevron are prosecuted. Apparently the battery technology in the EV was developped with dept of Energy tax dollars. Then GM bought it saying they were going to commercialize it with the EV-1, but instead sold it to Chevron Texaco so they could bury it. GM's already benefitted from taxpayer investment to make an electric car, and they took that gift and threw it in the garbage so the oil co's could make more money. The current 25 billion bailout to retool factories for fuel efficient vehicles is ALL Detroit NEEDs! The only reason they want more money now is to keep their SUV plants OPEN because the first 25 billion has restrictions against that! The big oil plan is to get people to buy cheap taxpayer subsidized SUV's from Detroit so Oil Co's can make more money!!

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American DissidentNov 23rd, 2008 - 10:50:34

Perhaps, just perhaps, the US government can help support new start-up 'American' automobile companies that would be 'green' from the get-go, instead of the entrenched, slow to change companies that have duped and soaked the American consumer for decades.

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Sad....soooo sadNov 30th, 2008 - 22:53:45

America is becoming a failed state.

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anilDec 5th, 2008 - 13:49:37

screw california. instead of feeding kids like tesla or fisker, detroit 3 can get bailout so that they can start producing electric vehicles from now.

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Forget Detroit, America's car future is in California (Feature)

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