After a tumultuous year of poor sales, bankruptcies and the collapse of industry giants, the 2010 North American International Auto Show opens this week in Detroit. This year the buzz is all about electric cars -- hopefully a sign that things are looking up in Motor City.
The Detroit Free Press explains: “Rebuilding in Detroit starts with cars, with sheet metal and engines, leather and plastics, and some new things, too: In-car technology like you've never seen before and more engines than ever powered by electricity instead of gasoline, or, more often, a combination of both.”
Indeed, a number of electric-powered vehicles are set to debut at this year’s Detroit Auto Show as either concepts or cars slated for production. Among them are the highly-anticipated Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf -- which will be made available to consumers later this year.
According to the Seattle Times, electric versions of the Volvo C30, Fiat 500 and BMW 1-Series will also be present in Detroit this week. Just yesterday, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz announced that Cadillac will soon begin production on the electric-powered Converj -- which debuted as a concept vehicle at last year’s Detroit Auto Show.
Nevertheless, CNN Money reports that “electric cars are likely to be money losers, not makers, for years to come, due to high development costs and only niche sales demands.” However, industry and government officials are working hard to make electric cars a viable option for average consumers.
“Proponents of electric cars say a combination of political, energy and environmental forces have pushed the cars from whimsical concepts to daily commuters,” writes The Dallas Morning News. “The strongest shove probably came from the Obama administration, which imposed more stringent fuel economy standards requiring cars to get an average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.”
In fact, Reuters reports that today the Obama administration will “announce the selection of nine projects totaling $187 million aimed at improving the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks.” Though Obama will not be attending the Detroit Auto Show, a federal delegation including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will.
In addition to electric-powered cars, the Toronto Star, reports that “At least 30 new vehicles are scheduled to be revealed for the first time this week at the North American International Auto show, which opens this morning to the media and on Friday to the public.“
If you're in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals.
