Silicon Valley races to bring electric cars to market

Silicon Valley races to bring electric cars to market: "Silicon Valley thinks it can do what Detroit could not - create a thriving business selling electric cars. In the 1990s, General Motors and other automakers spent billions to develop battery-powered vehicles, but they flopped because most couldn't travel more than 160 kilometres before having to recharge.
By tapping the Bay Area's engineering expertise and culture of innovation, a cluster of entrepreneurs, engineers and venture capitalists are racing to bring electric cars to market. But unlike the Detroit and Japanese automakers, they're working on high-performance sports cars for wealthy car enthusiasts.
At least three Silicon Valley startups - Tesla Motors of San Carlos, Wrightspeed Inc. of Woodside and battery maker
Li-on Cells of Menlo Park - are among a small cadre of U.S. companies developing electric cars.
Some major automakers are also working on electric vehicle technology, but most are focused on hybrid cars that run on a combination of gas and electricity, Pratt said. The success of Toyota's Prius and other hybrids have shown there's a market for eco-friendly cars.
But Tesla's Eberhard thinks the Prius is 'terrifically ugly' and believes other wealthy car enthusiasts feel the same way.
In Tesla's workshop just south of San Francisco, Eberhard and Tarpenning offered a glimpse of their first model - a sleek two-seater called the Roadster that resembles a Lotus Elise - but would not allow photographs. They plan to unveil it next month in Santa Monica.
'We're building a car for people who like to drive,' Eberhard said. 'This is not a punishment car.'"