Carmakers step up electric vehicle production

Carmakers around the world have started introducing electric vehicles to the market. In January 2009, Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled a prototype based on the iQ gasoline-powered ultra compact, while General Motors Corp. also introduced its concept model of another electric vehicle, well before its original 2010 schedule. GM’s electric car will use components from South Korea’s LG Group, which will make the parts in what will likely be the first batteries-only factory in the U.S. to be set up by a major automaker. American automaker Ford Motor Co. announced that it would start selling an electric commercial vehicle in 2010 and an electric subcompact car in 2011, while Germany’s Daimler AG introduced its concept electric car, which is set to launch by 2010. Among Japanese automakers, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is expected to begin the world’s first mass production of an electric vehicle in the summer of 2009. (January 13, 2009)