Electric Vehicles
California Electric Vehicle Boom
He said he’d be back, but he never mentioned it would be in an electric car.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who stands more than six feet tall, gets behind the wheel of one of the 11-feet long i-MiEV electric cars on loan to California. (Photo By: Mitsubishi)
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger got an up-close look at the all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV, May 24, when the automaker delivered two to the state. The cars are available for lawmakers and other officials to test drive and learn more about electric cars.
The i-MiEV has been on sale in Japan for nearly a year. Mitsubishi plans to begin selling an electric vehicle in the U.S. next year.
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger joined officials from Toyota and Tesla Motors, May 20, when Toyota announced a $50 million investment in the electric vehicle maker. Tesla will use at least some of that money to buy a former General Motors factory in Fremont, Calif., not far from its Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters.
The plant will be used to manufacture Tesla’s second generation Model S, an SUV that the company said can go 300 miles on a charge. As many as 20,000 could be built annually once production begins in mid-2012.
But Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, said the partnership with Toyota would allow a new vehicle to be in showrooms even sooner. Musk told the San Francisco Chronicle that it would be a Toyota vehicle with a Tesla powertrain, and should be on sale within the next two years.
Tags: Electric Vehicles