Is 2011 the year of electric vehicles?

Music Simi Das: By 2020, analysts predict 10 to 13 percent of all cars sold will be electric vehicles, but in the near term, it could be a bumpy ride. Michael Kanellos is the Editor In Chief of Greentech Media in San Francisco, he says the biggest challenge facing EVs right now is cost. Michael Kanellos: Electric vehicles cost a lot because batteries cost a lot, now the price is going to go down over time, but right now an electric economy car, without subsidies might cost $40,000, a regular economy car might cost 20,000. Simi Das: Another challenge, lack of charging stations, once you buy the car, where and how do you charge it? Michael Kanellos: Basically, if you got an EV now and started driving it around, you'd have, you'd have very few places to charge it, if you didn't have a charger in your home, you're out of luck there, finding one in public, you know, there's some from the early '90s out there, but half of them don't work, so if you're driving around, and you run out of power, you're out of power. Simi Das: But John Read, CEO of ECOtality is working to change that in 2011, his company is in a race with other manufacturers to roll out charging stations, nationwide. The plan? To make them accessible in every home, but also to put thousands on the road. John Read: We're putting in 15,000 chargers in seven states that range from Washington State, all the way across to Tennessee, so it's right around the corner, and it's really going to follow the footprint in the path of the cars, themselves. Simi Das: Places like Best Buy, Costco, and Cracker Barrel will soon have stations for people to easily charge their EVs for 15 to 20 minutes, while on the go. So, is 2011, at last, the year of the electric vehicle? Analysts say it could be the start of something big. Why? First, although the cost of electric vehicles is more expensive, it's cheaper to charge than fill up. Michael Kanellos: Let's say you go 20 miles in a car, U.S. car gets about 20 miles a gallon, that's going to cost you $3. To go 20 miles on electricity? That's less than $1, maybe 60 cents. Simi Das: And second, there's a lot of pent up demand, consumers are excited to start driving EVs. Michael Kanellos: Everyone loves electric cars, once you sit behind the wheel of one, you're sold. They're a blast to drive, it's almost like the second coming of the muscle car here. People are going to love their cars again. Simi Das: For Smart Planet, I'm Simi Das.

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