But woops, it turns out that plug-in car energy-saving argument is running out of juice.
FORBES: CBO Finds Electric Cars Not Smart: Toyota Pulls Plug On Its iQ
Shai Agassi, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur who dreamed of a world without oil, is stepping down as chief executive of Better Place, the plug-in car company he founded in 2007.
FORBES: Better Place Finds A Better CEO; Founder Shai Agassi Steps Aside
Its EVolve app is intended to help people wrap their heads and hearts around the experience of driving electric before getting behind the wheel of a real plug-in reliant car.
FORBES: Volkswagen, BMW Understand What It Takes To Stand Out
We can imagine the day when you'll be able to charge the battery on your plug-in hybrid car at night, because your smart meter reminded you that nighttime electricity is cheapest.
WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Explains the Smart Grid and Economic Recovery | The White House
This little plug-in electric car sure has come a long way, just as the company has since parent Mercedes-Benz took over management from Penske Automotive Group in spring 2011.
FORBES: Test Drive: Smart Fortwo Electric Drive Is Much Better Than The Gas Version
Another start-up, Fisker Automotive, will debut with the sexy Karma, a plug-in hybrid sports car, then launch a sedan of its own.
And that means Honda is bringing both an urban, battery-operated commuter car and a plug-in hybrid concept to Los Angeles.
Of course, there are some high-profile debuts, most notably the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, perhaps the most-hyped car in history, and the Nissan Leaf all-electric, both due in November.
Austin, Texas, is leading a growing number of cities in calling for car companies to produce plug-in hybrid vehicles that can go hundreds of miles on a gallon of gas.
What the company has said is that a plug-in electric version of the car will go on sale in 2014.
FORBES: The Audi A3 Electric Goes Old School To Take On BMW, Tesla
The commercial success of plug-in hybrids and pure electric car companies such as Tesla will help to drive innovation and competition, accelerating solutions for the range and cost issues.
By comparison, many of the hybrid and plug-in models making the Greenest Car list this year are practical enough to be everyday drivers, including two family friendly station wagons, the Toyota Prius v and Ford C-Max Hybrid.
The latest rendering of Porsche's plug-in hybrid 918 Spyder super sports car.
ENGADGET: Porsche opens 918 Spyder plug-in supercar pre-orders, $845,000 gets you a ticket to ride
German carmaker BMW - SGL Automotive's only customer and owner of 49% of its shares - uses the material to produce body parts for the main cabins of its futuristic plug-in models i3 Megacity and i8 sports car, which will hit the road in 2013 and 2014.
The growing smorgasbord in new car showrooms includes 43 hybrid-electric vehicles, four plug-in hybrids and 12 pure electric cars.
FORBES: Who Buys The Most Hybrid Cars? Northern Californians, Report Says
Sales-wise, Volt has continued tacking to and fro depending on how many of the car GM is manufacturing and, especially, how well the company is doing in meeting the strong demand for a California-ized, car-pool-lane-eligible version of the plug-in hybrid that was introduced last year.
FORBES: Memo To McCann, Mahoney: Come Up With Better Volt Ads
In green car news, Ford's new 2013 C-MAX plug-in hybrid was rated the most fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid available in the US this week.
Now that Tesla is striving to be a mass-market automaker, it cannot realistically expect all 20, 000 buyers a year (the Model S sales goal) to be electric-car acolytes who will plug in at every Walmart stop.
FORBES: Tesla's Gotcha Blog Catches New York Times Reporter Driving In Circles
The plug-in hybrid is an interesting bridge to the electric car, so settle down all you Prius owners!
General Motors is also introducing the Cadillac ELR, similar to the extended-range plug-in Chevy Volt, that GM describes as guilt-free motoring in a high-performance luxury car.
This is a significant step toward actual production of the company's next super sports car, a Porsche that marries unique plug-in hybrid technology and outstanding performance in a visually stunning and purely Porsche package.
ENGADGET: Porsche opens 918 Spyder plug-in supercar pre-orders, $845,000 gets you a ticket to ride
GM's plug-in electric hybrid, the Volt, won the coveted North American Car of the Year award, while Ford won the award for best truck.
The new BMW i3, a tiny electric car, and the BMW i8, a plug-in hybrid, both due in 2013, are the first fruits of that effort.
Pricing on the plug-in Fusion Energi, which Ford says will be the most efficient mid-sized car on the market at 100 mpg equivalent, will be announced closer to its launch date early next year.
FORBES: Family Car Showdown: These Cars Will Change The Way You Think About Sedans
But there are at least two major obstacles hindering wider adoption of plug-in electric vehicles: the premium that drivers will have to pay for an electric car compared with a gas-powered vehicle and the limited number of electric car charging stations nationwide.
FORBES: More Electric Cars Are Making Their Way Across the Country
The company has created hundreds of American automotive jobs and its first model, the Roadster sports car, lit a fire under Detroit to begin producing electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars but with less success.
The marquee green car for the show was the Fusion Energi, a production-intent plug-in hybrid with, Ford says, a combined fuel economy of over 100 MPGe (a measure of gasoline-gallon energy equivalence).
WSJ: Detroit Auto Show's Soundtrack: America the Beautiful | Rumble Seat by Dan Neil
But as an apartment dweller with nowhere to plug in a car, the only greener Ford option that would work for me is the C-Max Hybrid.
The car company delayed the launch of its first and only commercially available model, the plug-in hybrid called Karma, and that caused A123 to lower its 2011 sales forecast significantly.
FORBES: China's Wanxiang Wins Deal To Scoop Up Troubled Battery Maker A123 Systems
Your home, your car, your appliances can all be powered through the advanced battery that will sit inside your plug-in electric vehicle.
CNN: Commentary: Save automakers to help economy and security
应用推荐