Here come the plug-in cars

It’s becoming clearer that the car of the future will be electrified, as we’ve noted in our posting about the “Future of the Car” panel at the New York International Auto Show. And the so-called car of the near future will be a plug-in hybrid. More specifically, the evidence is mounting that it will be what’s becoming to be known as an extended range electric vehicle (E-REV) where the engine only charges the battery pack and is not even linked to the wheels. Such cars have been proposed since the mid-1990s by at least two groups, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), and the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis.

When I first started covering this industry in the mid 1990s, RMI founder Amory Lovins said that real innovation toward more efficient cars like this would likely come from California rather than from the traditional auto industry

Today, that prediction has never looked so true, with at least five companies having shown prototypes of series plug-in hybrids that they say will be on the market starting late next year. Three of the companies are in California, one is a traditional automaker, and one is an offshoot of Lovins’ own RMI, incubated recently in Indiana.

Highlights from the plug-in cars of tomorrow:

Bright Automotive, the RMI spinoff, unveiled its series plug-in, the Idea, in Washington, D.C. Whether the Bright Idea will be as game-changing as its name implies remains to be seen. (For fun, read “Small car brain drain” about such names.) The vehicle is a small van, similar to the Ford Transit Connect. Bright says it will make extensive use of aluminum, composite materials, and lightweight systems. Bright claims it will have a 30-mile electric range when the Idea is launched in 2013. As we understand it, the Bright Idea prototype was driveable. 

The Chevrolet Volt is the most famous plug-in series hybrid (or “range extended electric vehicle, as General Motors wants us to call it). GM says the Volt will have a 40-mile electric range and will go on sale in November 2010.

Henrik Fisker, a former designer for Aston Martin and BMW, is trying to beat the Volt to market by contracting out manufacturing and engineering work and using a gas engine supplied by General Motors. The $80,000 Karma luxury sedan is scheduled to debut next summer.

Tesla Motors, famous for its all-electric Roadster, also plans to sell a plug-in hybrid luxury sedan, called the Model S, starting in 2010. Tesla, founded by PayPal billionaire Elon Musk, has been struggling to raise enough funding to build its own factory for the Model S.

In California, another new startup called Aptera plans to sell hybrid version of its small electric two-seat commuter in 2011. So far, plans for the electric version, called the 2e, have been delayed.

In sheer numbers, these cars won’t take the world by storm, being produced in quantities of around 10,000 or less (up to 30,000 for the Bright Idea.) But if they all succeed, they could sell as many as 100,000 units combined or about the number of Toyota Highlanders or Chevrolet Tahoes sold in a year. As a start, that might be what it takes to move the needle and make consumers notice.

—Eric Evarts

Comments

[Jim F]

The Tesla Model S is an all-electric vehicle. There is no internal combustion engine, therefore it can not be classified as a hybrid, although it is a plug-in.
Jim

[Scott R Lindell]

Eric, I don't know where you got your Aptera information but it's dated. I met with the Aptera CEO, Chief Engineer, Marketing Officer and CTO (and founder) just last week at a "See the Aptera" event. The electric (2e) comes out this year in the fourth quarter, and the plub-in hybrid comes out 4-8 months afterwards.

PS: it's also the cheapest of those cars listed.

[Jeff Dutter]

I'm only 11, but I am doing a science report on plug-in cars and am excited when I will be old enough to buy one.