Green carmakers may emerge as next US car industry

Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens is investing in a new car factory in Louisiana. The San-Diego-based company, V-vehicles, is keeping tight wraps on what type of car will be produced there, but Pickens said in a statement that it will be an “environmentally friendly” vehicle that will run on gasoline and eventually may offer a natural gas option. (In related news, the Potential Gas Committee on Thursday upped its estimate of available natural gas reserves in the United States by about 34 percent, due to improved recovery technology.)

This got me thinking about all the new start-up car companies popping up around the United States, as the traditional Detroit automakers (and even big imports with U.S. plants) are faltering.

Several we have written about here before include:

Tesla Motors – founded by PayPal billionaire Elon Musk, and based in Palo Alto, Calif., Tesla builds a $100,000 electric sports car, the Roadster, and has plans to build a seven-passenger electric sedan, the Model S. The company is seeking more than $350 million in funding from the Department of Energy to buy an existing factory to build the Model S.

Fisker Automotive – based in Irvine, Calif., is developing a plug-in hybrid (range-extended) electric luxury sedan called the Karma. Run by former BMW and Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker, who designed the car, the company has outsourced everything from manufacturing to engineering. The Karma will be built in Finland.

Carbon Motors – Based in Hermosa Beach, Calif., former law-enforcement officers and automaker executives are leading the company to offer a new, purpose-built police cruiser. So far the company is still working on developing a legal framework for the car, although it has shown a prototype. It says the car will be made in the U.S.

Zap – This long-time electric bicycle-maker based in Santa Rosa, Calif., has branched out into making small electric cars, including the Zebra 3-wheeled coupe and pickup.

Aptera – Run by a group of former auto industry executives, based in Vista, Calif., is developing a three-wheeled electric two-seater that it says will be built in California later this year, and initially only sold in the state.

Bright Automotive – based on a spinoff from the Rocky Mountain Institute think tank, Anderson, Indiana-based Bright plans to market a small(ish) electric delivery van, called the Idea, in 2011.

Myers Motors – born out of the defunct Corbin Motors, Myers, based in Tallmadge, Ohio, bought the fiberglass tooling and design of the Corbin Sparrow, which it sells as the Myers NMG, for No More Gas.

EV Innovations – Based in Las Vegas, EV Innovations has been converting cars to electric power for years, and it is now developing two of its own vehicles: the two-seat Wave and the Inizio sports car. Both are supposed to be ready by the time the competition begins for the Automotive X Prize later this year.

Admittedly, this is only a partial list. Other companies, are launching new motorcycles in the U.S., including Zero Motorcycles, and Brammo, which will be sold through Best Buy stores. The XPrize alone has attracted dozens of competitors developing plans to build fuel-efficient alternative cars in the U.S. And an industry has developed to build low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles such as the G.E.M. car around the country.

Just like the dawn of the 20th century, which saw a proliferation of horseless carriage builder, most of these modern startups may not last. But one or two, or one that follows behind them, may eventually thrive. So as Chrysler and General Motors shrink and become dependent on government support, it is encouraging to see American ingenuity springing in to fill the void.

--Eric Evarts

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Posted at 12:05:15 PM in Alternative fuels | Auto X Prize | Eric Evarts | Fuel economy | Technology

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