The biggest transition in the 100-year history of the auto industry will happen in the next 24 months. As GM and Chrysler are going through reorganization their focus is shifting toward Electric Cars. All major automakers worldwide, except for one, have electric cars in some phase of development. The difficulty arises from the lack of infrastructure to provide for the charging of these vehicles. City and state budgets nationwide are operating at a negative therefore will not be able to install the infrastructure themselves.

Federal Government stepped in to get the Electric Vehicle (EV) initiative off the ground with a $2 billion stimulus package, not including tax credits and rebates. President Obama has outlined goals for US automakers to produce 1 million EVs by 2015. WinterGreen Research Firm issued a forecasting report that goes even further: projecting 32.7 million electric vehicles worldwide by 2015.

The largest barrier to a wide spread adoption of plug-in vehicles is the electric charging infrastructure. Urban cities where only 1 in 6 automobiles is stored in a garage, make it impossible for EV owners to charge their vehicle at home. Cities, retailers and Interstate road systems must incorporate a new infrastructure of charge spots. All these players must build a new system of connectivity in order to line up charging times, billing, consumer preferences, and grid capacity. Such changes create a multitude of barriers, not the least of which is “how can all these changes happen simultaneously and in a coordinated manner?”

Vehicles Available Now

• BMW Mini-E (EV)
• Columbia ParCar Mega (NEV)
• Chrysler Global Electric Motorcars (NEV)
• Miles Electric ZX40 (NEV)
• Myers NmG (NEV)
• REVAi (available in India) (EV)
• Tesla Roadster (EV)
• Think City (available in Norway) (EV)
• ZAP Xebra (NEV)

Late 2009

• Fisker Karma/Sunset (EREV)
• Mitsubishi iMiEV (to be available in the U.K.) (EV)

2010

• Nissan LEAF
• Pininfarina B0 (EV)
• BYD E6 (EV)
• Chevy Volt (EREV)
• Daimler Smart EV (pilot testing now in the U.K.) (EV)
• Ford Transit (EV)
• Lightning GT (available in the U.K.) (EV)
• Miles Electric XS500 (EV)
• Optimal Energy Joule (EV)
• Persu Mobility (only in California) (PHEV)
• Saturn Vue (PHEV)
• Toyota Prius Plug-in (PHEV)
• Visionary Vehicles (PHEV)

2011

• Ford Focus EV (EV)
• Opel Ampera (EREV)
• Renault ZE (EV)

2012

• Bright Automotive (PHEV)
• Toyota FT-EV (EV)
• Venturi Volage (only 25 to be built) (EV)
• Volvo ReCharge (PHEV)
• Concept Models (No Production Announced)
• Aptera 2e (EREV)
• Cadillac Converj (EREV)
• Chrysler 200C EV (EREV)
• Chrysler EcoVoyager (EREV)
• Dodge Circuit (EV)
• Dodge ZEO (EV)
• DuraCar QUICC! Van (EV)
• Ford Escape (PHEV)
• Green Vehicles Triac (EV)
• Imperia GP (PHEV)
• Jeep Patriot/Circuit (EREV)
• Johnson Controls re3 (PHEV)
• Mercedes E-Cell (EV/EREV)
• Mindset E-Motion (EREV)
• Phoenix SUV/SUT (EV)
• REVA NXG (EV)
• Subaru R1e/Stella (EV)