I'll be the first to admit it.

Over the past few years especially, I've had little sympathy for some of the major auto-makers that have been losing loads of cash. The way we see it, they brought it on themselves by trying to force the market, instead of supplying it properly.

Especially General Motors.

Back in 1997 GM had an opportunity to lead the world in fuel efficiency with their electric vehicle, the EV1.

The EV1 was an electric car (with an 80-mile range) that GM introduced before the California Air Resource Board's (CARB) original Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate went into effect.

The mandate required 2% of all new cars sold by the seven major auto-makers in California to meet "zero emission" standards by 1998, and 10% by 2003.

But GM, along with nearly every other major auto-maker, played both sides of the coin. While the EV1 was selling, and Toyota, Nissan and Honda were developing prototypes, the big auto-makers also aggressively tried to kill the ZEV mandate.

They were successful.

The lawyers got paid, the chairman of CARB got a cushy new job with the fuel cell institute (after manipulating the hearings on the ZEV to cater to the auto-makers while silencing ZEV advocates), and the EV1 was forced into extinction.

In 2006, this tragic story came to life in the documentary, "Who Killed The Electric Car?" And those who saw the movie called bullsh%$ on the world's biggest auto-maker.

Now, fast-forward to today - 2008.

The Toyota Prius is one of the most popular vehicles on the road. Its exceptional fuel efficiency has helped the company sell more than 1 million units. And as gas prices continue to rise, so does the demand for fuel efficiency.

Every major auto-maker is now offering hybrid versions of their vehicles. And most industry insiders agree that over the next decade, nearly every vehicle on the road will be some version of a hybrid. That includes GM.

In fact, GM, despite years of mediocrity, complacency and bad ideas, may actually have a shot at jumping to the head of the line when it comes to fuel efficiency.

Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles: They Finally Get It!

It's hard for a cynic like me to believe, but it's starting to look like GM may actually be the next major auto-maker to raise the bar in fuel efficiency.

Not counting the insanely efficient vehicles that some smaller companies and garage engineers have already built, of course.

The bottom line is that these guys have no choice.

The oil supply crunch is becoming more and more apparent every day. Gas prices are only going up from here, and consumers are freaking out.

But while some will continue to demand that the government step in and "fix" this problem - which you and I both know is not an option - it will have to be an increase in fuel efficiency to keep our personal transportation moving.

And GM knows this. They finally get it. They've finally decided to stop dictating consumer behavior, and start embracing it.

They're doing it with the Chevy Volt.

The Volt is a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) that can deliver 40 miles in all-electric mode.

To give you a frame of reference, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics has indicated that U.S. commuters drive an average of 29 miles per day. For those who fall into this category, driving to work won't cost a single penny in gasoline costs. And if you go beyond the 40-mile range, the Volt's gas-powered engine kicks in, both propelling the vehicle and feeding an onboard generator that produces electricity while the car is operating.

Last week I attended the Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Conference in Las Vegas, where I had the opportunity to speak with a couple GM reps, and also see the Volt.

For a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, this sure as hell isn't some tinker toy car.

Take a look at these pictures:

It is our hope that GM will be successful with the Volt. It's a big game changer, and finally gives GM some much needed credibility with consumers seeking fuel efficiency.

Don't get me wrong. If they balk or continue to press Congress on inadequate fuel efficiency measures, I won't hesitate to call them out. We have to.

But I have to be honest. There was definitely a different attitude at this year's conference. There were no excuses about past decisions. In fact, there was much acknowledgement of GM's less-than-stellar past performance in the area of fuel efficiency.

These guys finally seem focused.

And we're eagerly awaiting 2011—when the vehicle should finally hit the market.

In the meantime, we remain bullish on the high-performance battery companies that continue to pick up momentum as GM and other major auto-makers begin to embrace PHEVs - the absolute best near-term solution to our oil crisis.

These batteries represent the next generation of fuel for personal transportation. They will enable a significant decrease in oil consumption, carbon emissions and infrastructure vulnerability.

The transitional energy economy is upon is, my friends.

Embrace it.

Profit from it!

To a new way of life, and a new generation of wealth...

Jeff

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I operate a van fueled by clean compressed natural gas. and it is still cheap

You can research any company in the electric vehicle industry from just one website http://EVtransPortal.com with direct links to manufacturers, distributors, developers, battery companies and R & D groups all on this free portal website with no ads. For serious investors details on industry events like Plug-In 2008 in San Jose next week are also listed.

Those who think electric vehicles will bust he power grid, should read the recent article in The Knoxville news Sentinal.. Both TVA and DOE embrace the idea of charging vehicles overnight. TVA said they have so much excess power at night that they could recharge all the cars people on their grid can buy, and still have plenty leftover - so don't believe those who think otherwise, and haven't looked at the numbers.

Also, GM executives that were originally behind the EV-1 were beleivers and gave the same story that we are hearing today from GM. But they were all fired and told to shut up when the program was scrapped. Watch the movie and pay attention.

If we move to electric cars, not only will our electric bills rise, we are inviting vast expansion of nuclear power. I'd rather see us invest in advanced (non-food) biofuels and fuel cell cars powered by biomethanol. Research is on-going and poorly funded, very proprietary and promising.

It doesn't surprise me that GM is holding on until 2011 for the cars to hit dealers. By that time, gas will be about $8 a gallon, and people will be BEGGING for something far more economical to drive. BUT-- too little, too late. Hyundai is shipping a small, all-electric plug-in hybrid pickup truck to the states for the '09 model year. It has a 350-mile range, and can attain speeds up to 100 mph. I know there will be one in my future. Sorry, GM-- you need to pick up the pace-- and kick the unions out on their greedy asses!!!!!

Austin is starting a plug in hybrid program this year, '08, I recall reading. Employers are supposedly going to have places to plub them in at work. Mine does not so far. I'll wait and see what develops.

Don,
Me thinx the lady with the high electricity bills for her car likely lives in an apartment or someplace she doesn't have much land to put wind or solar to at least partially charge up the car. If I'm wrong, what in the heck is she waiting for? Expect to see things like solar cells on cars to offset some of this expense on the grid and additional forms of alternate energy that can provide some *competition* to both price and availability. No matter how you look at it, Peak Oil has arrived and more are admitting to the obvious today, although I've been a staunch believer in Peak Oil for almost 3 years going. I intend to move and get more "off the grid" in a year or two anyhow. I feel guilty that I sold my (very windy) hilltop land in the southern Ozarks, but silver is my present $$ game. Electricity won't be a problem for me to afford, but I would ask where that will come from.

Comment by Bill Stover on 2008-05-21
The idea of a plug-in car sounds good, but it may not be as good in practice. I heard a woman with an electric plug-in car talking the other day and she was lamenting that her electric bill was now over $800 per month.
============================
It's all a shell game. Pay for gas or pay for electricity. I was one of the first people to buy a wood pellet stove. Used to be huge savings in heating costs. Now, it's just like anything else. With the cost of pellets & electricity thru the roof, it no linger makes sense. So go buy your "plug in cars ", all it does is shift the cost to something else.

Wakey wakey. See TH!NK, Norway, Project Better Place in Israel and Denmark, Suzuki hydrogen motorcycle, besides Tesla, Aptera, Reva, Miles, Phoenix, Zap, Renault, Nissan, Ventura, Ebox, Mullen, Smith and a host of others all way ahead of GM. Spread the word, lets make it happen.

OK. So there are some sane heads at GM - late but anyway. Building a plug-in is fine but not enough. You have to provide the electricity (which unhappily in the US is mostly coal generated) and high-tech battery science to provide full electric operation.
Then you are getting somewhere.
Beyond that it might behove a monster like GM to look at what the rest of the world is doing in this field, Renault, Nissan, the Norwegian Gouvernment, Israel. Maybe not the biggest car-makers in the world, but not stumblebums either. American car manfacturers have long ago lost any interest in anything other than quarterly profits and share value growth. And have lost contact with the automobile world. To illustrate this, I was in Europe 2 months ago and rented a fabulous medium car about the size of a Ford Focus, running a 1.8 liter diesel running to 6000rpm, 5 gears, five adult seats and five doors. It ran close to 42 MPG on secondary winding two lane roads and averaged 40 MPG over three weeks. What make ?
This was a FORD C-MAX. With this kind of technology at their finger tips why are they griping about EPA suggestions to run 35MPG 5 years from now ? Or do they think that that car that they brand and sell very very well in Europe is not good enough for the US consumer ? I even suspect that it is built on a Focus platform.
It is time that US automakers stop telling the consumer what he wants and listening the what the consumer says he wants.
The Volt is a positive first step, unless history repeats itself and it becomes the EV-2.

OK. So there are some sane heads at GM - late but anyway. Building a plug-in is fine but not enough. You have to provide the electricity (which unhappily in the US is mostly coal generated) and high-tech battery science to provide full electric operation.
Then you are getting somewhere.
Beyond that it might behove a monster like GM to look at what the rest of the world is doing in this field, Renault, Nissan, the Norwegian Gouvernment, Israel. Maybe not the biggest car-makers in the world, but not stumblebums either. American car manfacturers have long ago lost any interest in anything other than quarterly profits and share value growth. And have lost contact with the automobile world. To illustrate this, I was in Europe 2 months ago and rented a fabulous medium car about the size of a Ford Focus, running a 1.8 liter diesel running to 6000rpm, 5 gears, five adult seats and five doors. It ran close to 42 MPG on secondary winding two lane roads and averaged 40 MPG over three weeks. What make ?
This was a FORD C-MAX. With this kind of technology at their finger tips why are they griping about EPA suggestions to run 35MPG 5 years from now ? Or do they think that that car that they brand and sell very very well in Europe is not good enough for the US consumer ? I even suspect that it is built on a Focus platform.
It is time that US automakers stop telling the consumer what he wants and listening the what the consumer says he wants.
The Volt is a positive first step, unless history repeats itself and it becomes the EV-2.

I had the very ggod fortune to attend the World Ecocity Summit 2008 in San Francisco last month.A slogan we endorsed goes like this:
BETTER CARS BUILD WORSE CITIES.
I would like a class action suit against GM for all the decades of destruction to society, our environment and our health and well being.

A friend in my Lions Club recently bought a Toyota Camry (it definitely isn't a Prius but may not be a Camry) that is equipped as a hybrid, and he is getting well over 40 MPG. He raves about the car. I hope GM does "get it" now, but I don't think you are correct in saying they will ever take the lead. They may take the lead among U.S. car manufacturers.

Plug-in electricity is not cost effective in California due to the power companies rate structure. Any additional electricity used to charge a car comes at the highest rates. Gasoline cost per mile of a Prius is one half of what it would be for a battery charged with household electricity.

Jeff, great article and I also don't
like GM for their past products.
GM is still dragging their feet. The batteries are out there now. If you read all that I do on the electrics
several will go over 100 miles. The
current STOP-GAP cars [hybrids] are
not worth buying, people are suckers for buying them. Noting this morning that OIL is over $130! That should kick the gas to well over $4 in Calif
Cynic Felix

The idea of a plug-in car sounds good, but it may not be as good in practice. I heard a woman with an electric plug-in car talking the other day and she was lamenting that her electric bill was now over $800 per month.

Great article.

I agree but would rather have a pure Electric car for "city driving ".

Economical and non polluting features are very clear !

Other countries are making and using them in their cities; Eg. London,England,so what's the holdup ?

RE: "the Volt's gas-powered engine kicks in, both propelling the vehicle and feeding an onboard generator"

Unlike the Prius where both motors propel the car, the Volt has an electric motor only to propel the vehicle. When the battery gets low, the onboard gen set will recharge the battery faster than the motor dischartes it going 70mph on the highway.

While it's sort of true from one perspective, your description fails to make the distinction.

sounds great, but as usual GM is all words. I'll keep driving my Toyotas(2) and getting great gas mileage and service free. I used to be nothing buy a GM person.....

THE HYBRID IS WONDERFUL. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE ALL ELECTRIC CARS MADE BY AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.THEY LOOK OK BUT I NEED MORE INPUT BEFORE I INVEST. THANK-YOU C.K. CLOPPER

Greetings,
great article
Is there a projected cost for this car?
I just cannot believe that the major oil companies do not have a hand in this car.
If most folks drive the 29 miles a day ( As I generally do)and the car is fuled be just electric the poor oil companies will lose money.
thanks

This story is good but enigmatic. PHEV's and BATTERIES. There are probably 100 companies, hardly visible, competing to create the most elaborate, light weight, masterpieces. One will ultimately win this battle. I wonder what EESTOR has been up to lately....sounds promising.

Was that enigmatic enough

This story is good but enigmatic. PHEV's and BATTERIES. There are probably 100 companies, hardly visible, competing to create the most elaborate, light weight, masterpieces. One will ultimately win this battle. I wonder what EESTOR has been up to lately....sounds promising.

Was that enigmatic enough