2010 Hybrid Cars - The Year Ahead

The first hybrid gas-electric car in the United States, the original Honda Insight, reported its first 17 sales in December 1999. One decade and 1.5 million hybrids later, the auto industry is ready to embrace hybrids and other green cars like never before.

What are the major trends we expect as hybrid cars boldly move into the first year of their second decade? Read on and prepare for the green car movement to shift into warp speed.

Plug-ins Finally Arrive

In 2010, the Fisker Karma will become the first plug-in hybrid on the market.

The very first plug-in hybrids and mainstream all-electric cars will start to roll out in 2010. The first car out of the gate will be the 2011 Fisker Karma. Originally expected to go into production in late 2009, Fisker is now aiming to produce and sell its first units in mid-2010. The gorgeous sleek Karma is, in many ways, cut from the same expensive cloth as the Tesla Roadster. In other words, it’s pricey at $87,000 and will be produced in low numbers. But like Tesla, Fisker has its eyes on a bigger prize—a second more affordable model still a couple of years away. First things first: Let’s see how Fisker’s first customers respond when they get behind the wheel of the Karma, which promises a unique blend of high-performance, style, and 50 miles of all-electric range.

News of the Fisker Karma will get drowned out by Chevy Volt Mania 2010. Bob Lutz, GM’s Volt executive sponsor for the Volt, promised a media blitz for the company’s green car poster child. In September 2009, Lutz said that once GM has about 200 preproduction Volts in stock, it will “pull out the heavy artillery and get Volt buzz.”’ So, much of 2010 will be an extended drum roll for the Chevy Volt until the first production models roll off the line around November. All indications suggest the Volt will be worth the wait, notwithstanding low production numbers, limited availability mostly in California, and a price tag north of $40,000.

The pre-production Chevrolet Volt engineering test drive along I-80 near Toledo, Ohio Tuesday, October 13, 2009.

Not to be undone, expect Nissan to shout the praises of the all-electric Leaf while it prepares five mid-size test markets—Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, Nashville, and San Diego—for the first 5,000 models and the accompanying charging infrastructure in late 2010.

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