Electric car's march into the mainstream gathers pace

The emergence of hybrid and electric cars as a mainstream alternative to conventional vehicles moved a step closer yesterday, as General Motors (GM) debuted its long anticipated plug in hybrid, the Chevy Volt, and Tesla Motors released further details of its expansion plans.

The first production version of the Volt was unveiled at an event to celebrate GM's 100th anniversary and was hailed by the company as an indication of its new found commitment to low carbon vehicles.

"The Volt symbolises GM's commitment to the future," said chief executive Rick Wagoner. "The kind of technological innovation that our industry needs to respond to today and tomorrow's energy and environmental challenges."

The small four seater plug-in hybrid is designed to run for about 40 miles on a lithium-ion battery before switching over to a conventional internal combustion engine.

GM product chief Bob Lutz said that the first models should reach showrooms by November 2010, with the company aiming to deliver 10,000 cars in the first year.

He refused to be drawn on the price tag for the new car, but said that it would be well below the $50,000 estimate put forward by some observers.

The company is now in a race with arch-rival Toyota to be the first major manufacturer to deliver a plug in hybrid to market. Toyota last week debuted its first plug-in hybrid version of the Prius on UK roads as part of a programme to test the technology.

Meanwhile, US electric car start up Tesla Motors yesterday detailed plans for a new $250m manufacturing facility designed to produce its next generation four door Model S electric sedan.

The company, which produces the Roadster electric sports car, had been looking for a new manufacturing location in the Bay Area since it was announced earlier this summer that a series of tax breaks offered by the Californian state government had encouraged it to abandon plans to move its headquarters to New Mexico.

The company said yesterday that it was to build a new 600,000 square foot plant on 90 acres of undeveloped land in San Jose. The new factory is expected to be operational by late 2010 and will produce 20,000 all-electric sedans a year, creating 400 new jobs at the company in the process.