ElectricCar

The electric car has arrived, but odds are that there isn't one in your driveway. Several factors have gotten in the way of the eco-friendly automotive revolution, but at least now we can ask conspiracy theorists -- who argue that oil companies and the government are blocking plug-in cars from the road -- to leave the room and take their tinfoil hats with them. The electric car is here; drivers simply don't want them yet.

GM CEO Dan Akerson is charged up about the politically manufactured controversy surrounding the Chevy Volt. "We did not engineer the car to become a political punching bag," he said. Tough words -- but rescuing the Volt's reputation will be a tough fight.

Last week, the auto paparazzi brought us pictures of the prototype 2013 Corvette, which will apparently reprise the classic Vette formula. But in an era of high gas prices and tightening environmental regulations, how much longer can GM's horsepower party last?

Upstart automaker Tesla Motors confirmed this week that its groundbreaking Model S, an all-electric luxury-sports sedan, was on track to enter production by this summer. It already has pre-orders for more than 8,000. Is the moment coming soon when electric cars go mainstream?

In the State of the Union address in January, President Barack Obama set a goal of getting 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015. Now he's proposed $7,500 rebates, instead of tax credits, to reach that goal. Will that be enough to make it doable?

Proterra, a maker of electric vehicles, unveiled an all-electric bus that can charge in 10 minutes. The company unveiled its EcoRide BE35 at its plant in Greenville, S.C., on Dec. 16. The bus will offer a fivefold improvement in fuel efficiency compares with a diesel bus and can yield operating...

The automaker plans to roll out its first all-electric passenger car in 20 U.S. cities late next year.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car plans to buy 500 electric cars from Nissan Motor Co (NSANY) as part of a strategy to make the vehicles more widely available to renters. Enterprise Holdings, which owns the brands Enterprise, Alamo and National, will include the Leaf vehicle in its rental fleets in eight...

Toyota, maker of the popular Prius hybrid, is preparing to move into other alternative-fuel technologies such as hydrogen fuel-cells and biofuels. Its recent large investment in Tesla Motors is just the first such partnership the world's largest automaker is pursuing.

BMW AG (BAMXF) plans to build a battery-powered city car with a lightweight shell made out of carbon fiber, the same material used to protect Formula One drivers, Bloomberg News reported. The car will be cocooned in hardened carbon fiber supported by an aluminum frame, the company's development...