Designing plug-in electric cars turns on developing powerful and reliable batteries that can last a decade. But auto industry executives say radios, apartments, toys and extension cords also factor into the mass-market equation.
"Most consumers wouldn't sacrifice a radio for more electric range," Troy Clarke, president of General Motors Corp North American operations, told an electric car conference on Thursday about developing the Chevrolet Volt.
"We're taking those needs into account as we develop the vehicle," he said of the car that is due to roll off assembly lines in 2010. It is GM's global answer to energy independence and the shift from the US industry's core business of gas-guzzling sport utilities and pickups.
"We, as automakers, need to take the lead, no question," Clarke said. But, he added, "government has a significant role to play." Prospects for breakthroughs in battery power vary with US manufacturers calling on the government to get behind large-scale efforts to fund research and development.
US industry lags Asia in battery development, a point driven home by hybrid leader Toyota Motor Corp with the Prius. Supportive lawmakers are trying to leverage the gap as a rallying cry for Congress to help the auto industry.
"We have not had a level playing field when it comes to supporting our auto industry and manufacturers as much as other countries are doing," said Michigan Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow, a staunch auto industry ally. Millions of dollars for battery research are stuck in legislative limbo on Capitol Hill. GM, Ford Motor Co, and utility company executives, economists and environmentalists spent this week in Washington pouring over the prospects of developing and marketing electric cars that can be plugged into household outlets to recharge.